Cows, compost and community came together during the vernal equinox on the farm. I rented a compost tea sprayer, and we tackled the job of sprinkling horn manure over the approximately 100 acres of pastures, hay fields and gardens. Six to eight garden plots get it once or twice a year, applied with a whisk…
Wintertime, the down time for a vegetable farmer without a greenhouse, finds me in the forest repairing barbed-wire fences. While there, I meander off with my trusty loppers and cut poison ivy vines at the base of the trees they are snaking up. The revelation that this obnoxious plant did not thrive as a woodland…
I’m enjoying a relaxed spring, as the CSA has retired, and no longer requires the hustle and bustle that I’ve become accustomed to. We are still farming, though, we being Phil and I, both at retirement age, and Glyn at 84 and apparently a long way from retirement. We move slower, but efficiently and grow…
We talk about the weather often. A recurring spring question for gardeners is, “Has the weather settled?” We want to plant frost tender crops, but we do not know when the last frost will occur. As of May 1st, it is not likely going to frost, but there is still a possibility. About 20 years…
Spring brings beautiful things, flowers and bees and a bird that sings. Gardeners are busier than bees, blooming in their exuberance and humming right along with mother nature’s display. We’ve added necessary minerals, gently tilled the soil, and livened things up with plenty of compost and biodynamic preparations. Let’s go!