The farm got rain on Friday! The lack of rain up to this point has slowed down some of the plants, but now they are really starting to take off. Amazing how an inch of rain can kick things into overdrive. Beets are still abundant, and I will have extras for all of you who…
By July, we try to hang up the hoes and make much use of mulch. The benefits of mulching are similar to hoeing; it controls weeds and conserves moisture. But mulch has the added asset of bringing carbon into the garden. In June, I like to see clean rows of vegetables. The summer crops like…
Beets are one of those foods that many people find mysterious. I know I stayed away from them like they were toxic for most of my life. Joining a CSA has many effects on people, and one of them is to force us to re-examine food in a new light. As for the beet, we…
Last week we had a small amount of summer squash. It managed to sneak into the harvest with very little fanfare. It also happens to be a harbinger of things to come. You’ll notice cucumbers on the list this week, and both of these crops will become abundant to the point that you won’t want…
The summer solstice occurred at 6:28 am Sunday morning. I didn’t go to bed much before that, and I didn’t get up much after. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, so from here on out our days are getting shorter again. It has already felt like summer for quite a while,…
Here it is, Monday morning, and as of 4am, I am just back from a trip to Ocean City, Maryland, a popular summer destination, which is a 4.6 square mile barrier spit along the Delaware/Maryland coast. It was a family event, which may not seem relevant to you all, but it required me to eat…
Farms are for people. Soils, plants and animals all play their role in agriculture, but the human social aspect is at the heart of it. The farm offers a safe place to live in freedom, experience nature and develop responsibility. The welfare system which takes care of some people’s needs was not necessary in a…
The subsoiler breaks up the hard packed soil that lies beneath the surface. It’s shaft is two feet long and the shoe is two inches wide. When I decided to try to reclaim the flood damage fields, subsoiling seemed appropriate. First of all I had to remove rocks, fill in holes and even out the…