Too Much Sun

We sat in the field, letting the sun kiss our skin while we watched the butterflies and fairies play, and the wildflowers and grass dance. Our fingers worked to pull up the weeds that were choking the garlic and stealing their food, and in return they thanked us, one by one, with a deep sigh…

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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 and all they offer, and if I’d been born later I’m sure I’d be using…

Consultation Report

After typing up a consultation report to send to a recent client, I thought, “there is a ton of great information in here that people would probably love to read”, so I had to share with you all. The following is from the most recent consultation Jeff did.              …

Golden Nugget

The one thing I don’t like about sweet potatoes is that they taste better than butternuts. When I reach for a butternut to bake for dinner, my arm involuntarily dips in the adjacent basket and it’s sweet potatoes for dinner again. I would say I hate when that happens, but it’s not true. How could…

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 land and you’ll have plenty on hand”, “keep the garden growing by cover crop sowing”….

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Purcell Log Cabin

I have moved. I apologize for the sporadic columns this summer, but I believe I’ll get back into the swing of things soon. There is certainly a lot to write about. First of all, I haven’t moved very far, just a few miles downstream. We spent the last year fixing up the old Purcell house on…

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 the curator of the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is looking for signs of hellbenders. We…

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Seasonal Eating

Seasonal eating has existed for the bulk of human existence, but is new for most of us, as we are used to being able to get any type of produce year-round in the big grocery chains. Our farm offers a different approach, the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Through CSAs small organic farms thrive, and city folks…

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Gardens in December

Beautiful and extremely productive gardens have graced that land around my cabin for the past 16 years. They have been well documented on the Volunteer Gardener program, so many people who hadn’t been able to visit still got to enjoy them. These gardens, open to the public, are where my students learn, and where old…