Category Archives: Uncategorized
Plants for Your Garden
If you garden in Middle Tennessee, here are a few ideas to consider. In April, plant a few rows of Detroit Dark Red beets, an old fashioned, tried and true heirloom. We have learned to make a four inch wide … Continue reading
They Like It Hot
Below in an excerpt from a garden consultation that Jeff did last week. Maybe it could help you gain some insight into your own backyard garden! Your garden needs humus, Find this black soil underneath where cows are fed … Continue reading
6th Annual TN Local Food Summit
The 6th annual Tennessee Local Food Summit began almost right on time. With excellent facilities at Tennessee State University’s downtown campus, the event ran from December 2 through December 4, 2016. A partnership with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee … Continue reading
Thinking of You Always
A note to our CSA members. Thinking of You Always When we sort potatoes in the middle of the week, I wonder what you‘ll do with them when we bring them to you on Monday. Then when we sort butternuts I … Continue reading
Mid-October Garden Report
The mid-October garden report finds the farm in pretty good shape. We survived festival season and got a lot of much needed clean up done. Tomatoes and peppers are dwindling, but the fall beans are banging. Besides six rows of … Continue reading
River Run Garden Project
To inquire about having Jeff Poppen out to your small garden or large farm, please click here. About six months ago David approached me with a job he thought I might be interested in. He manages Second Harvest Food Bank … Continue reading
First Press Release: TN Local Food Summit 2016
The 6th annual Tennessee Local Food Summit is at TSU’s downtown Avon Williams campus on December 2-4 this year. Local food means many more jobs, food security, better health and revitalizing family farms. According to Joel Salatin, “Local integrity food … Continue reading
Strawberry Fields
Let me take you down ’cause I’m going to strawberry fields. The harvest is real. Gallons upon gallons are picked every few days, and we are not selling them. Instead, we are trying to set a new Long Hungry record … Continue reading
Educational Opportunities Abound
Educational opportunities abound on a farm and in a garden. Two groups of school kids spent extended stays here last month, and I spearheaded garden projects at two different Nashville schools. I am learning a lot. Last fall I got … Continue reading
Reversing Climate Change Through Agriculture
I have good news and bad news. First the bad news. There is more carbon in the atmosphere than is healthy for our planet, and it takes 25 years for the carbon we’ve been emitting to get up there. So … Continue reading
Compost Month
March is the compost month. The cows have cleaned up the hay and are eagerly awaiting the greening of the pastures. By harrowing where they’ve been, old hay and cow pies get spread around and mixed with a little soil. … Continue reading
Improving the Hillsides
Pastures can get compacted, acidic and in need of renovation. I’ve been doing some things to improve our hillsides. The soil color is getting darker and the texture looser, so maybe I’m on the right track. The most important aspect … Continue reading
Spring Equinox 2016: Feedback Form
Spring Equinox has come and gone, and we are still walking around as if in a dream from all the great energy that you all brought to our farm. How thankful we are to have so many people bring such … Continue reading
I Love Organic Gardeners
I enjoy being around organic gardeners. They are a fun and inquisitive bunch, with lots of questions and unique experiences. Every garden is different, an artwork of soil, plants, and animals created by an artist with dirty fingernails. Winter time … Continue reading
Gertrude and Fred are Dating
You probably already know since I am too excited about it to keep it to myself, but I just got a dairy cow! She is a Guernsey named Gertrude. She started out really angry. I took her away from … Continue reading
Here’s Why: White Oak Bark Preparation
The following is a blog post written by Jeff Poppen in response to the question “Why?” after Kristina’s post about a day spent scooping brains out of a cow’s skull. An open grown white oak tree can attain a magnificent … Continue reading
Dear Facebook Friends: I Don’t Read My Own Facebook
Dear Facebook Friends, I have chosen not to look at computers for a variety of reasons. My time is spent outside during daylight, tending plants, animals and farming equipment, or shooting the breeze with neighbors and friends. I value computers … Continue reading
Cave’s Carvings Deciphered
The old carvings in the cave where we store our potatoes have finally been deciphered. They were carbon-dated at about 30,000 years ago, and resemble carvings in Swiss lake caves and one up in the Himalayan mountains. It reads something … Continue reading
Keep Growin’ It
There are many reasons to grow a fall garden and cover crops, poetic as well as practical. “Don’t ever let a weed grow up and go to seed”, “your garden won’t harden with plenty of carbon”, “give back to the … Continue reading
Hellbenders
Have you ever seen a hellbender? It is a two-foot long salamander that lives in the creeks that flow up to the Barren River. I’ve seen them twice, about 25 years ago, in the Long Hungry Creek. The state biologist and … Continue reading