Fall Brassicas

Great ground guarantees the growing and gathering of gourmet garden greens galore. We get the soil in good shape by adding lime and generous amounts of biodynamic compost in the spring and growing a garden all summer.  By mid-August, the spring and early summer crops have petered out, and we are ready for fall Brassicas….

Okra

All garden plants have a history with the various trails they took to find their way into our fields.  The huge and mysterious continent of Africa, especially around Ethiopia, was home not only to our ancestors, but also the ancestors of many cultivated plants.  This is where okra came from. History is obscure and uncertain,…

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”….

Healthcare

Tennesee’s health care industry recently reported a $37,000,000,000 contribution to the economy last year. At the same time Tennessee spent $2,000,000,000 on food. We used to spend a lot more on food and less on health care. They have an inverse relationship, when one goes down the other goes up. A new CSA member once…

Incredible

You are all I think about and all I dream about. It is embarrassing how excessively I bring you up in conversation, and my love for you, the raw and true you, is so natural and obvious to me that I am shocked anyone can walk past you without stopping to stare. The buildup has…

GMO’s

The letters “GMO” make many people shudder. “Is the corn GMO?”, I am often asked. Why are people worried about GMO, and what does it all mean? Genetically modified organisms, GMO, refers to a relatively new method in breeding, where DNA is manipulated in a laboratory by shooting a gene of one species into the…

Tractor Guy

I love our CSA drop off, watching everybody explore and get excited about the vegetables. Recipes are swapped while filling up the bags and baskets, children bounce around and laughter abounds. Even though I’d like to be there, the magnetic pull of the farm keeps me here. Potato harvest had to happen, as hot, wet…

To till or not to till

To till or not to till, that is the question. The no-tillsystem works well if the ground is well-tilled, otherwise it is best to till. Tilling works best the less you till, A rototiller  tills too much, destroying soil tilth although it appears to make it look like good tilth. Tillonly until you can no-till,…

Biochemistry

I recently attended an advanced course in biochemistry. You may not want to read any further. On the other hand, if everything in the world can be reduced to a few unreducable elements, let’s try to learn a little about them. N, P, and K are the primary elements farmers fertilize their fields with. They…

Keyline Plowing

Water winds its way downhill, seeking its own level. The Long Hungry Creek swells mightily after a big rain. Lack of moisture in the dry spell limits agricultural production. An obvious question arises, “How can we keep the water that falls on our farms for later use?” Lateral trenches along the contour come to mind….

Storage Crops

Storage crops have always been an important source of income for the farm. Living far from markets, I’d rather go less and carry more. Fresh vegetables are great, but need to be moved quickly. When I go to market, I like to be able to grab bushels from the storage areas that are already harvested…