When is compost ready!?
#JeffPoppen #BarefootFarmer #Compost #Biodyanmics #BiodynamicPreparations #RegenerativeAgriculture #CSA #eatlocal #eatnashville #nashvilleeats #nashvillecsa #RedBoilingSprings #RBSTN #MaconCoTn #UpperCumberland #TN
Educational opportunities abound on a farm and in a garden. Two groups of school kids spent extended stays here last month, and I spearheaded garden projects at two different Nashville schools. I am learning a lot. Last fall I got a message from Brad, a teacher at High Mowing School in New Hampshire. He had…
A slow wet spring delayed garden work for a few weeks, but June found us busy as bees. The weeds are growing like weeds, and the vegetables are right behind them. It’s been a great growing season as long as you ignore the calendar. Monday deliveries of fresh produce have been lettuce, radish, onion, beet,…
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…
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…
If you garden in Middle Tennessee, here are a few ideas to consider. In April, plant a few rows of Detroit Dark Red beets, an old fashioned, tried and true heirloom. We have learned to make a four inch wide furrow and sprinkle the seed in it, firm them in, and then cover lightly. Thin…
March is the compost month. The cows have cleaned up the hay and are eagerly awaiting the greening of the pastures. By harrowing where they’ve been, old hay and cow pies get spread around and mixed with a little soil. This is called sheet composting, where the decaying and rebuilding of humus happens directly on…