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…
I spent this afternoon scooping the brains out of a cow’s skull. Then I helped shove white oak bark into it. Then I helped bury it in a muddy spot. I’ll get back to it after it stays there through an autumn and a winter. Why This is one of the Biodynamic preparations that we…
The following is an excerpt taken from a consultation report by Jeff Poppen on a farm in Tennessee giving a general overview and synopsis of our planting schedule: In April we plant onion, potato, lettuce, carrot, beet, and swiss chard. In May we plant beans, corn, squash, and cucumbers. Later in May we plant tomato, pepper,…
Here at Long Hungry Creek Farm we like to deliver only the best, highest quality produce. We have these turnips, and we think every single one of them are de-lic-ious, but we heard that some people don’t like the big ones, and some people don’t like the small ones. What’s your opinion? We want to…
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 like this: To advance from wondering nomads to permanent agriculturalists requires little else than land,…
Tennessee’s 5th annual Local Food Summit again celebrates Nashville’s farmers and chefs and their supporters, who are committed to good agricultural practices, eating better, and stimulating the local economy. Although we can grow almost all of the crops we consume, only a small fraction of one percent comes from Tennessee. Industrial agriculture, from corn and…
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. …
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…
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….
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,…
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”….
Microbes make good compost, compost makes lots of good vegetables, and excess vegetables make for good neighbors. I love my neighbors, and we love to give away vegetables. What are cooks to do when they retire? Dan the soup man often shows up with a jar of deliciousness, and then forages around the gardens for…
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…
The following are excerpts from an article that came out in our local paper, The Macon Country Chronicle. The article features our internship program and the interns that we currently have, Tyler, Daniel and Chris. We thought you would all enjoy reading about why our interns are here helping to grow your food this year, along…
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…
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…
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…
One of the best things we can do is give someone a job. I am pretty good at this, as anyone who has visited here for a while can ascertain. By joining the CSA, you have given me a job and I want you to know how grateful I am to have such meaningful work….
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,…
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…