Past time

Yeah I know.  I'm such a slacker about updating this.  I'm going to make it a point of posting something everyday.  Whether it's my own writing or from around the web.

The winter was very tough here.  The first killing frost didn't come until Christmas.  Then January and February were really cold.  And then March was warm!  I had not done any serious gardening in the winter time before.  I know now what it takes to grow during the winter here.  More row covers,  hoops under the remay, and I definitely see a high tunnel or two in the future.

Spring has been strange.  What little we have of it now.  It's been warm and wet.  Unusually warm.  But everything is doing well.  This year there is more growing.  There's Skunk-yo semi long, French breakfast, and icicle radishes, Bleu de solaize leeks, Sugarsnaps, Mammoth Melting Snowpeas, Green Arrow peas, Bright Lights Chard, Red Russian Kale, Tyee and Long Standing Bloomsdale Spinach, Montebianco Fennel, Bouquet Dill, Jantar Cilantro, Chioggia Beets, Bachelor Buttons, Wild Arugula, Calabrese and Arcadia Broccoli, Des Vertus Savoy and Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage, La Ratte and German Butterball potatoes and Music Garlic.  The radishes haven't seemed to like the warm weather we had in March, but are otherwise doing fine.

My dad and I built a little mini-greenhouse on to the side of the shop.  Aunt Lillian's, Lilliput, Orange Banana, and Aunt Ruby's German Green tomato seedlings are doing well.  As well as Jimmy Nardello and Padron peppers, Anise Hyssop, Winter Savory, and Wormwood seedlings.

The animals are doing well.  We finished up a new goat shelter for the goats dow by the mulberry tree.  The goats love their new area.

There's so much going on right now.

Something to ponder

A 50-Year Farm Bill

By WES JACKSON and WENDELL BERRY
Published: January 4, 2009
New York Times Op-Ed

THE extraordinary rainstorms last June caused catastrophic soil erosion in the grain lands of Iowa, where there were gullies 200 feet wide. But even worse damage is done over the long term under normal rainfall — by the little rills and sheets of erosion on incompletely covered or denuded cropland, and by various degradations resulting from industrial procedures and technologies alien to both agriculture and nature.
Soil that is used and abused in this way is as nonrenewable as (and far more valuable than) oil. Unlike oil, it has no technological substitute — and no powerful friends in the halls of government.
Agriculture has too often involved an insupportable abuse and waste of soil, ever since the first farmers took away the soil-saving cover and roots of perennial plants. Civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland. This irremediable loss, never enough noticed, has been made worse by the huge monocultures and continuous soil-exposure of the agriculture we now practice.
To the problem of soil loss, the industrialization of agriculture has added pollution by toxic chemicals, now universally present in our farmlands and streams. Some of this toxicity is associated with the widely acclaimed method of minimum tillage. We should not poison our soils to save them.
Industrial agricultural has made our food supply entirely dependent on fossil fuels and, by substituting technological “solutions” for human work and care, has virtually destroyed the cultures of husbandry (imperfect as they may have been) once indigenous to family farms and farming neighborhoods.
Clearly, our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities.
For 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe that as long as we have money we will have food. That is a mistake. If we continue our offenses against the land and the labor by which we are fed, the food supply will decline, and we will have a problem far more complex than the failure of our paper economy. The government will bring forth no food by providing hundreds of billons of dollars to the agribusiness corporations.
Any restorations will require, above all else, a substantial increase in the acreages of perennial plants. The most immediately practicable way of doing this is to go back to crop rotations that include hay, pasture and grazing animals.
But a more radical response is necessary if we are to keep eating and preserve our land at the same time. In fact, research in Canada, Australia, China and the United States over the last 30 years suggests that perennialization of the major grain crops like wheat, rice, sorghum and sunflowers can be developed in the foreseeable future. By increasing the use of mixtures of grain-bearing perennials, we can better protect the soil and substantially reduce greenhouse gases, fossil-fuel use and toxic pollution.
Carbon sequestration would increase, and the husbandry of water and soil nutrients would become much more efficient. And with an increase in the use of perennial plants and grazing animals would come more employment opportunities in agriculture — provided, of course, that farmers would be paid justly for their work and their goods.
Thoughtful farmers and consumers everywhere are already making many necessary changes in the production and marketing of food. But we also need a national agricultural policy that is based upon ecological principles. We need a 50-year farm bill that addresses forthrightly the problems of soil loss and degradation, toxic pollution, fossil-fuel dependency and the destruction of rural communities.
This is a political issue, certainly, but it far transcends the farm politics we are used to. It is an issue as close to every one of us as our own stomachs.

Wes Jackson is a plant geneticist and president of The Land Institute in Salina, Kan. Wendell Berry is a farmer and writer in Port Royal, Ky.

Come Wind, Come Rain

Ah yes November. It's getting colder here. We've had many frosts by now. The coming months will be interesting to see what does well over wintering. The winter here is mild but it does get down into the 20s on average. I just can't get enough of these crisp, cool blustery autumn days. I love the kaleidoscope of colors and the angle of the light this time of year. Things do slow down a little bit around here. It does get dark at 5 PM now. But I do farm all year round, so there's always busy.

This morning I bush hogged all morning. Yeah that's right get your mind out of the gutter. Bush hogging is using the tractor and attaching a brush mower aka bush hog and cutting brush with it. That means briars, privet, kudzu, small saplings. Pretty much scrub and anything you can run over SAFELY. It can be dangerous depending on the area you are cutting. It can get quite wooly bully at times. The area that I bush hogged is an area we call Bennett's Folly. We have names for different parts of the farm. This area in inside the fence along the gasline that goes back towards the hollow along a ridge. The area used to be pasture, but has grown up with honeysuckle, briars, kudzu, privet, and assorted trees. Well it's almost all cut back now. Some stuff was to big to run over. But it looks a whole lot better. Now I just have to keep it cut.

Then this afternoon I went foraging for wild ginger. I have a order for 15- 20 roots to fill. Wild ginger is all around the place. From what I've observed is that it likes the sides of the ridges along the hollow. Sassafras seems to be a companion to it as it is usually in the same area. When I set out this afternoon I had a location already picked out. I don't like to go to the same area every week. I dig up the whole plant using a digging fork. It took about 2 hours to find and dig 20 plants. The ginger is coming to an end for this season. It goes dormant when it starts getting cold consistently. Which will be the end of November.

Tomorrow will be busy busy. Harvesting all morning then delivering then hanging with my lady love. It will be a grand glorious day.

Fall Fall Fall

It's been awhile since my last post. Things are always busy here. I wonder if anyone reads this?

The fall plantings are coming up pretty well. Oasis turnips, Long Standing Bloomsdale Spinach, Lacinato and Red Russian Kale, Wild Argula, Red Giant Mustard and Georgia Southern Collard Greens are all doing well. The Over the Rainbow and St. Valery Carrots are starting to come up. The Harris Model Parsnips take forever to come up. Calabrese and Arcadia Brocolli have been planted along with Romanesco. Des Vertus Savoy and Mammoth Red Rock cabbage, Lettuce, and Falstaff Red Brussel Sprouts need to be transplanted. Oh yeah and Bleu De Solaize leeks need to be planted as well. Last week I planted 20 lbs. of Music Garlic.

The Muscade de Provence pumpkins are doing really well. I've picked 5 so far. There's lots more to come. The biggest one so far is 30lbs!

I'm starting to pick wild persimmons. Last week I picked a quart and a half. Many people think that you have to wait till it frosts to eat them, but that's not true. At least here in Alabama they start ripening at the end of September. About two weeks ago we temperatures in the 40s and that helped to sweeten them. Persimmons do get even better after a frost.

Simple Pleasures

Summer is all about simple pleasures. Whether it's seeing that first tomato turning color on the vine, or cutting into a watermelon summer time is a marvelous, magical time. It takes longer than you think for a tomato to turn ripe. Watermelons take about three months to ripen. Gardening is all about patience. Early pickers are not welcome in the garden. Patience certainly pays off though. Biting into that first tomato or watermelon just brings a big smile and a deep joy to me.
The summer crops are really coming on strong right now. Harvest goes on just about everyday. There's green beans, squash, zuchinni, okra, purple hull and black eye peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Watermelons and cantaloupes are starting to ripen. Fall vegetables are being seeded into trays for an early start. I'm daydreaming about fall weather right now. I'm also looking forward to a week off in early October.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

It's been hot here. Hotter than usual for this time of year. The heat comes on like a blanket. It makes me want to eat watermelons and tomato sandwiches. I'm behind on summer planting and the compost is running out. Ahhhh!!! But it will be ok. This week I will finish the summer planting. Here's what I have left to plant.....Musquee De Provence pumpkins, Potimarron and Melonette de Vendee winter squash, Boule D'Or melons, and Cannelini beans. Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, watermelons, peppers, and eggplant are all doing well. The rows are 150ft. long. The garlic is totally dry now. It cured in the barn and is now ready to sell. The wild blackberries are starting to come on now. Last Thursday I picked four pints worth. Mulching like crazy.

Blue Jay Way

There's so much going on lately. We bought a billy goat. His name is Zappa. He's a Boer billy. We were just going to buy some more goats to help the three girls with brush control. Then we thought well why not just get a billy. The goats are doing a most excellent job eating the brush down. They really go crazy over it. The weather here has been perfect! Spring is a beautiful time of year here on the farm. My favorite time is late in the afternoon around dusk. The garden is doing great! This morning I harvested French breakfast radishes and baby kale. About the kale. I direct seeded the kale. Well when you direct seed just about anything you need to thin it. Well if you let the kale or say radishes get big enough you can harvest the thinnings. Spring is not yet over and planning for summer is under way. Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, beans, and watermelons have been seeded into trays.