End of season??
What kind of season was that??
Not one fresh tomato, not one. Stupid blight!
And oh, moan and grown as I might, I cannot complain too too much.
The abundance of onions and celery, my goodness!
I am though, all too happy to put the garden to bed. This season was extremely strenuous. On the brain.
First: The List
What's been planted:
January:
9 Days till 10 hours of daylight!
1/21:
Seeded
700 mixed salad greens for water table 1
1/25:
Seeded in dirt beds
Happy New Year!
Updates and Mental Notes That I Will Forget If Not Written Down:
We are beginning our CSA 2009 Member Drive.This part is so much fun! Seed catalogs are coming in the mail. Choosing which varieties grew well and which did not, what greens we want to add to our selection, maybe a new squash to try; just so much fun.
There are always things learned from one year to the next that help us to improve what we do. Last year was interesting. We farmed on different land. It had sunshine all day and watering was determined by the Powers That Be. The quality of the soil was knew to us also, texture as well as fertility. We learned that people like Kohlrabi as much as we do, keeping the row cover on the peppers longer means earlier peppers, planting winter squash in the greenhouse in May, means more squash ripe on time and we should plant peas every two weeks for like, 6 weeks.
Keeping track of what everyone receives will begin with a carbon copy receipt book. This will afford the opportunity to have a customized season’s end paper to give each of our members with the season’s actual offerings and what they receive. Of course, there are more things learned than there is room here to write.
2009 will have all the produce we had last year with a few changes: more peas, more kohlrabi, more winter squash, more carrots, more greens. We also will have available fruit at a discount for our Members: strawberries, blueberries, and a possibility of apples and pears as well.
We have increased the share cost as the cost of production has increased, from seeds to hoses to soil for seedlings to labor. We tried to keep this increase affordable.
Last year a share worked out to be $12/wk for 20 weeks, which equaled $240. This year it is $15/wk. for 20 weeks for a total of $300. We decided to begin the Member Drive now to ensure the time that may be necessary. The pocket is tight for many and being able to budget for food in a way that is economically efficient as well as affordable is very important. We created a structure for payment that we hope will meet the needs of our future Members and provide the capital for 2009’s growing season.
$50 down by December 15th is the deposit to hold a place. Then 3 payments of $83.30/ea. due the 15th of January, February and March will complete the $300 Share. Done! The CSA Pick ups begin Sunday, June 7th and continue for 20 weeks. Before last year’s season began, we estimated that our Members would receive an average of approximately 7-10 lbs of produce a week. Far exceeding that estimate, last season’s shares averaged 14 lbs/ wk. Those are the numbers we are using for 2009’s Shares. $15/ wk. purchases an average of 10 -14 lbs. of produce a week over the course of the season. Like last June, this will begin with about 3-5 lbs. the first few weeks, increasing until about 20 - 24 lbs. by September and into October.
The Weekly Order Form via e-mail will be used again so Members will still be able to choose what to receive each week. We designed the CSA to fix a few issues that we, ourselves, identified in other CSA's that would have prevented us from joining if we wanted to. One of those issues is choice. I wouldn't want to pay for food that I don't eat. I absolutely abhor brussel sprouts as does my family. The smell of them cooking is just too potent for me. Why should I have to pay for brussel sprouts and receive brussel sprouts in my share if my family won't use them? I incorporated the Shopping List that worked so well last year. You can pretty much tell what's coming off in the garden a few days ahead to be able to allow the Members the choice. The Shopping List most often would be sent out on Sunday evenings in the e-mail, sometimes I was so tired it would wait till Monday morning(lol). There was listed "Absolutes" and "Possibilities" as well as a decent recipe. It became a wonderful communication devise. This year, I am including different ways to preserve foods in abundance ie: freezing, canning etc.
34% of the Town Of Washington is on Foodstamps now. We are going to work to see how we can accept them at our farmstand. We are also going door to door with our farm brochures. I hope to increase the amount of people from my own town in our Membership and customer base. Local is part of the objective of sustainable. The less I have to travel to sell my produce, the less I need to charge, for my costs are lowered considerably when I minus travel expenses and time. Our prices are extremely competitive with the Health Food Stores as well as the typical grocery stores. We believe that no matter how organic your practices are, if the produce is not affordable than it is NOT sustainable. The Health Food Stores and the Farmers Markets, in general, have rejected through pricing structures, a huge segment of the population. I am part of that population. And this group is who we are marketing to. Good, clean food must be affordable.
The Harvest:
Roma Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Brandywine Tomatoes
Green Tomatoes
Eggplants , suprising. They slowed down and then picked up production again.
Bell Peppers
Marconi Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
The cayenne's we are waiting to turn red, and man they are loaded with 6 -8 inch fruits!
Tobascos are forming, "stave off, Frost!"
Celery
Celeriac
Leeks
Onions
Potatoes, red & white
Baby Beet Greens with the tiny beets on the end.
Chard
Arugula
Kale
Cilantro
Coming on...
sweet potatoes, dry beans (adzuki,kidney, jacobs cattle,black cocoa,cannelini)
winter squashes (butternut, buttercup,acorn,sweet dumpling,hubbards)
carrots,rutabagas,baby popcorn, beets
Harvesting and cleaning up the garden is sooooooooooo time consuming. Trying to put up as much food as possible, canning, freezing, forming the dry storage areas...
The CSA shares have been averaging, if all the items available were chosen, between 20 and 24 pounds a week. I think that is pretty impressive.
Gotta get ready for the market tomorrow.
Mind you, I'm not complaining. I am, though, experimenting with ways to cook them.
Last night I made a pot big enough to freeze of Eggplant Chowdah. Absolutely delicious. Good thing, too, because I made alot and continued to doctor it until it was yummy. It could have gone very wrong and I'd pour it onto the compost heap.
Ingredients: lots of eggplant peeled and cut to chunks, a dozen or so small patty pan squash just because they were there, a walla onion, a couple cloves of garlic, the first ripe tomatoes (skins and all) and a can of chick peas. Some oregano. Salt to taste. I put the lid on and let it cook a half hour. It was going to be Eggplant Stew. Then I thought about winter and wanting to feel full. I added cream and mozzarella cheese. And voila! Lovely soup for dinner. And for winter.
Welcome retirees, families, young single professionals, blue collar and white collar workers. We are forming a Libertarian Village in Midcoast Maine; where the Constitution is still sacred. We are dedicated to developing a vibrant local farm business whose generated income supports the farm and its residents. We envision this community to have professionals who desire to secure their future through maintaining a clientele off and on the farm as it fits; whose needs for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are fully supported and able to be achieved through living in the community. Your personal finances are yours alone. They do not belong to the community. Community Trade will be conducted using representative money based on the commodity system. Skills/supplies will be negotiated between individuals. All other decisions made by majority rule.
Seeking Skills Including, not limited to:
Farmer
Doctor
Naturopath/Herbalist
Vet
Seamstress
Mechanic/machinist
Carpenter
Accountant
Survivalist
What Is: a 70 acre existing farm in Knox County Maine with approximately 20 acres in woods, balance in hay fields and pasture, 2 ponds and a couple of little brooks and springs.
Equipped with:
a 3-story 140 foot long chicken barn, currently used for hay storage
a 2-story 20 stall dairy barn with milking equipment, currently use for hay storage
a 20 foot band saw sawmill
small bulldozer
small backhoe
3 farm tractors
various farm equipment ie; manure spreaders, plows, harrows, wood splitters, hay trailers, tractor driven generator, haying equipment
What Will Be: A community situated on a diversified farm that grows and preserves its own food to include vegetables and animals, raised and hunted, whose individual members can practice their professions in a free market community, where self-sufficiency is realized and where all members may be freer, more prosperous and more secure. A non-profit will oversee real-estate; land and buildings to avoid property taxes. Members will lease their homes and office spaces for 99 year terms to fund community expenses. Below is listed a brief outline to help you see what we mean.
-Community expenses:
Community Building A:
Farm Store
Kitchen for food preservation, meals we want to share etc.
Root cellar
Laundry
Community Building B:
Professional Office Space:
Accountants office
Basic health clinic with basic medical supplies
Basic vet clinic with basic vet supplies
Community Building C:
Property Maintenance
Garage for mechanic
This is the initial offering/ad.
INTERESTED PARTIES:
e-mail: Cynthia and John , contact@homegrownfarmandmarket.com
phone: 207-845-3048
Crikey! The summer's going fast!
Numero Uno:
The passion fruit vines are fruiting!! We have actual passion fruit.
Well, broccoli is being harvested, all the kohlrabi has been pulled & pounds and pounds of snow peas are daring us to find them all. We had a wonderful experience with an intern last week and hopefully she'll be back for another 3 weeks shortly. She equated picking snow peas with "Where's Waldo?" HAHA. We're battling potatoe beetles and striped cucumber beetles and aphids. Never seen so many aphids in an outside garden!! Okra is getting taller and producing pods and so are the artichokes.
NOTE FOR NEXT YEAR: Plant more salad, kohlrabi, spinach & chard.
Crazy March.
Seeding and transplanting ev-er-ree-thing.
2 years ago we planted celery. First time I ever tasted celery I liked. No bitterness, no strings. Fresh celery! Yummy and crunchy and just darned delicious. Well, one plant over wintered and last summer it grew to seed. I collected the seed and not knowing what would happen because I didn't store them with any care, (like I should have because I love fresh celery, right?) I took 5 plastic flats and seeded the b'jeezus out of them. And now I have like thousands of little baby celery sprouts. I have transplanted over 200 thus far and am not feeling to hot about chucking the rest. So even though the garden plan is to grow about 200 plants, I believe we will be growing more than that!
And eggplants, cayennes, tobascos, jalapenos, marconis, all have sprouted. So the 2 seeds I placed in every spot has left me with double the plants. I have never, and I mean never, have I ever had such germination rates.
Well, the garden, I think, will be even bigger than we planned. Better plan on canning.
We ARE looking for volunteers, workshare folks, apprentices and interns.
Any takers?
Gasp, Help!
Seeding Time!
Eggplants: 144
King Richard Leeks: 304, 385
Bell Peppers: 180
Orange Peppers: 66
Jalapenos: 108
Poblano Peppers: 24
Pepperoncino: 36
Serrano: 72
Celery: 400
Artichokes: 42
Onions, Copra: 2080
Onions, Walla Walla: 400
Onions, Ruby Ring: 1040
Carnations: 36
Delphiums: 36
Marigolds: ALOT
Historic Pansys: ALOT
Delphiniums: 72
Shasta Daisys, Assorted Coneflowers, Burgandy Blanket Flower, Salvia (perrenial blue): ALOT
Well, we made it!
An amazing amount of snow makes everything seem twilight zonish. Or like a land for the little people. The trees are so much shorter! Everything is shorter; the greenhouse, the barn, the mailbox... And it's so beautiful. Sparkly and white. Gorgeous!
Our generator is up and running on straight veggie oil now. This month we will tie to the grid with manual disconnect.
I also get to begin graphing veggie time; when what starts get started, planted outside, harvest times etc. AND THEN?
I GET TO ORDER SEEDS!!!
I love this part!
Happy New Year everyone!
It's been awhile. Been busy, of course.
Created a new web site for the business, creating strategy for next outdoor growing season, boiler system is integrated now with tilapia breeder tank and nursery in the greenhouse...
"Chopping wood, hauling water"
Thought I'd quickly add something here.
Cheers!
(come check out the website!)
Figs
1st Papaya Flower I must, at this point in time, share this and encourage all who visit my journal to go to this link and read.
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873). On Liberty. 1869.
"....That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him, must be calculated to produce evil to some one else. The only part of the conduct of any one, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign...."
It's been awhile. Lots done and lots to do. Diesel generator is on its way, addition to the barn is almost complete, figs are on my fig tree and papayas have buds. There will be more to write when I have more time. Some photos as well. Thanks for checking in.
Cheers!
I awaken in the morning nowadays more thankful than normal. That state of thankfulness fills me. The snow is not here yet, the flowers are still in bloom, the crisp morning air greets my cheeks and the sun is making its way.
So, when I awaken in the morning, anxiety in my chest (the gardens and the greenhouse are our livlihood) and I step out on the porch it is very well critical that I remember this 1 thing:
The Absolute Ultimate Designer of ALL has taken care of me
For 37 years.
Why would He suddenly stop?
.................
The sun, the crisp morning air, the birds singing good morning,
Do they question their Creator?
Well, I did it. I entered a veggie in The County Fair.
My humongous zucchini to be precise. And you know something else? I'm kind of excited. Neat, it was, watching the exhibits and buzz and hustle and bustle...for the few minutes I was there, entering my zucchini in The County Fair.
Spider mites...on my cantelopes, on my watermelons, on my eggplants. Research says..increase humidity, spray the plants with water to knock 'em off, remove seriously infested leaves....daily routine.
As Rosanne Rosannadana would say "It's always something."
Ok...that was pretty interesting. Eyeballing for a female flower, connecting it to a male flower on the same plant was simple enough. The next part is quite a delicate process: the removal of the male flowers' petals. The petals I snip off with the manicure scissors. Then there is left a firmer green outer sheath that within lies the area the pollen is on. Very gently, I peel this away to reveal an 1/8 inch diameter, 1/4 inch long ...thing. I still do not know the scientific name for this part. (sorry) Then I take this and insert it gently into the female flowers center, hopefully pollinating the flower. I now fully understand that this area is just too small for a bumble bee to do the job. In a few days I will see whether the first flowers took...either the tiny fuzzy female part will begin to grow or begin to turn yellow and fall off the plant.
The steps I took were written in present tense because every morning I hunt for female flowers and repeat the process in hopes that I may have a crop of cantaloupes.
Alrighty...why are my cantaloupes not fruiting? Well, I looked it up. Very convenient this internet is. I remember, as a youngster, being sent to the encyclopedias to find my answers. I don't know that the 'C' book would have an answer to why my cantaloupes are not fruiting. Only because there is a level of detail that, if provided for all topics, would make the 'C' book weigh alot more. So then I would need to go to the library hoping that there was a book with this information in it. Time. Internet saves me time. I do wonder, though, what part of my brain is being sacrificed by not needing to go through longer hands on processes to find my information.
Anywho, I looked up why my cantaloupes are not fruiting. On the vine I find many 1 inch long stems with flowers and then there is also, a little ways up, a flower, on what looks like a tiny cantaloupe. The male flowers and the female is what this is, just like on a squash plant. I read that honey bees are very responsible for pollinating my cantaloupes. I also read that the female flowers must be pollinated by the males from the same plant. We leave the doors of the greenhouse open and there are plenty of bees, just not honey bees. I watch bumblebees hanging around the flowers on my Wall of Fruit. So it's all by chance that a bee, a bumblebee, which is much larger than a honey bee, will come from a male flower and go visit a female on the same plant.
It is suggested to buy a colony of honey bees if one is to grow a serious crop of cantaloupes. Short of doing that were directions on how to hand pollinate my melons. So, what am I doing this morning? I am locating male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. I am carefully detaching the male flowers from the vine. I am then removing the outer petals. I am inserting the male pollen into the female flowers. And then marking every female I have molested with a red marker. There is just something a little lewd about the whole process. Fact remains though, that I have put so much time and energy into helping my Wall of Fruit be beautiful and productive that to stand by and only hope that a bee by chance will fertilize a melon is unacceptable. My European Cukes and my Sugar Baby Watermelons are fruiting like mad. I want cantaloupes, too. The vines are there, the leaves are there, the flowers are there. There should be melons, too.
So, off I go.
Am I crazy?
No. I just woke up yesterday morning to a coolness in the air that was here again this morning. Yesterday, the sun came out and it was glorious. Cool breezes punctuated each warm spell. But it smelled like winter. And I am wearing a sweatshirt 2 days in a row at 6 in the morning when I don't want to. But it's chilly. So I am.
I suppose I ought to get back into enjoying the gorgeous days. Instead of feeling a little dampened by the reminder that summer is nearing it's end. Maybe Indian Summer and Autumn will last longer this year? Maybe the 2nd rainy season will be delayed...I don't mind winter ..........................when it comes in November. Snow is pretty and smells good. The world is quieter, peaceful, subdued. I get to warm my home with soups and stews and the smells of fresh baked bread. Maybe I'll get me a snow suit this year and go play with the kids. Snow men are fun. So are snowball fights and skating on our little pond. I just don't much care for the pre-winter rainy season though. It's dank and depressing and too darn chilly, while being muddy and grey. And I so love the sunshine.
If I keep reminding myself of how wonderful everything is when the sun comes out in the winter, which is often; of sun on snow, glistening branches and serene scenes of the pristine, maybe I won't waste the rest of my summer being depressed about winter coming.
My husband keeps reminding me that we have a greenhouse. Where things stay green. Haha. I am looking forward to tending the plants in 70 degree leafy wonderland. Planning what starts to begin for 2008, which part of the property will get dug up next... The papaya trees have grown so well this warm season. Making sure they last till spring is a good thing to do. I believe we will have fruit in 2008! How cool is that?!
I am digging a new bed to border the pond lawn and frame more of the driveway. Cut flowers and garlic is the plan. I was told that the garlic I plant in autumn will greet me with green shoots when the snow is still on the ground. Now that's a nice thought.
When I seeded the carrot bed outside, I just broad casted the seed and crossed my fingers. 2 weeks ago, I thinned the first thinning and came back with a half a cup of little 1/2 inch orangy things that tasted pretty good. Last weekend I thinned again. This time my carrots are 1 - 1&1/2 inches and ORANGE. We sold the bunch at the market. The carrots are still too close together to grow to full size uninhibited. So, I will get to thin again next weekend. I pulled one yesterday just cause I wanted to. It was 2 &1/2 inches long. I can't wait for the yummy baby carrots! This is the first time growing carrots successfully. Is it too soon to say successfully? Maybe. But you see, I have BABY carrots...so it is a success.
The gardens are flourishing and immensely satisfying. My father came back up with mom this weekend. Mom told me how beautiful everything is, how proud she is and about how hard I have to work. You never grow out of wanting your parents approval. So this pleased me of course, to no end. Her and pop both; seeing the looks on their faces of , I don't know, pleasure? relief? just pleased me to no end.. And all I can really think about regarding the work part is that no matter what I could be doing, I would be working hard. Any other job I would be striving to do my best. There would be stresses and I would come home tired. This job? The gardens? Yes, I work very very hard. And yes, I get stressed. And yes, at the end of each day, I'm beat.
And when I wake up in the morning to such beauty, the flowers and green leaves, fruit on the vine, harvesting tomatoes and beans, looking for ripe seed to collect and searching for enemy bugs to mush, I feel ....hmmm.....
Joy. I feel joy.
I didn't feel joy cleaning people's houses, or flipping pizzas in the corner store. I only felt tired.
This job I get to touch the earth every day with my own hands. I get to smell the dirt. I get to smell my own sweat when G-d blesses me with a beautiful breeze on really hot days. I get to catch a Monarch on my Echinacea blooms and watch this beautiful creature dart it's little tongue-like thing into the flowers I planted, I get to catch the hummingbird zooming in place, I get to hang out amongst the bees, unafraid because my fears have been assuaged by the experience itself; the bees want the flowers..not me. I get to learn how each plant reproduces itself, how each seed system is unique and perfect. I get to marvel all the time.
G-d insists.
And life is awesome.
And I am truly blessed to be allowed such intimate contact with creation.
Hard work? Yes.
Rewarding?
Absolutely!
It is perfectly OK that I am tired and I work hard.
I love you, mom & dad.
At 110 degrees in the greenhouse, I didn't finish the support for the Wall of Fruit. That still needs to be done. Man, was it hot!
We were turning on the spray cooler system when it hit 85. But I got to thinking: the melons and papayas like it hot. What'll happen if I let it get really hot? So I began not turning on the cooling and watching what happens. I started letting it get to 110-115 and the plants grew phenominally. I wish I had before and after pictures!
It's exciting to see; the growth as well as baby fruits.
Need to charge the batteries. Then I can take pictures.
I just got to send my pop and my sister off to NY with:
share my life.How wonderful to see my sister sitting on our grandparents swing surrounded with flowers. And how wonderful to hug my poppa next to my pumpkin patch!
It's a paradox: The greatest revelations are to be found not in meditation, study and prayer, but in the mundane world --but only if you would rather be meditating, studying and praying.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe-words and condensation by Tzvi FreemanMenachem Av 12, 5767 * July 27, 2007
( The Count from Sesame Street)
1,2...2 sunshiny days in a row. WOW!
I picked 1 lb. of beans day before yesterday. This morning? 3 more pounds. AMAZING.
Last weekend was a bit nuts. We had Farmers' Market on Saturday and then Open Farm Day on Sunday. What a wonderful reception we had. So many people came to see our operation here, more than last year. For 5 hours or so we walked people around the greenhouse and the gardens and explained the different methods of growing, the various forms of hydroponics and semi-hydro etc... We were informed that some of our gardens were a model of perma-culture. Which I found interesting. We just plant every year. We observe. "Oh, look, this soil is way too wet. It's not draining." So that area became raised beds to fix the issue. Folks enjoyed the gardens, which made me feel good.
This weekend is Washington Days.
Jamming happening shin dig with music, food, vendors, parade etc...
This ought to be pretty lively.
I had an inspiring conversation with my brother that was the foot up my buttocks that I needed. I went and got the camera and took pictures. I am trying to upload them to Photobucket to share. In the meantime I am going to just place them in the margins, while I listen to groovy music and finish my morning coffee.
Shasta Daisies, Bee Balm, Pennyroyal, Wormwood and Ornamental Grasses.
This is great fun!
I love blueberry season. They're pretty and delicious and it's early this year. It's time to make a blueberry sign. We have one for the store. One more needs to be put at the crossroads 100 yards up. The going price is $5.50 - $6.00 a quart. Last year we sold them for $5/qt. and did very very well.
Open Farm Day is this Sunday also. Another sign to post at the front of the property needs to get made. I thought I would spray it red and write in white.
And Farmers' Market is still on Saturday. Lots of harvesting and staying organized. Salad, beets, peas, flowers, zucchini, patty pans, herbs, eggs etc...signs, tags, pamphlets, bags, change etc...
I need to pick up more oil & drop off buckets for oil. Union Fair is letting us get their vendor oil again this year. Most awesome! And we are waiting to hear from Windsor Fair.
I finished planting the new beds in the greenhouse on the east side. Now I have the West side to do. The greenhouse is, of course, very warm in the summer. Come winter it will be kept around 70. Boy, I wish we had the generator already. Lights would help in the winter so much.
This is a picture of our gargantuan Elephant Ears. A beautiful rock 
wall in the greenhouse is a bed for fun: Elephant Ears, a Rubber Tree and an assortment of tropical houseplants. Behind that wall is our little store. When you walk from the store into the greenhouse the Elephant Ear bed is on your right. This winter, in February, we were astonished to see a bloom on it. We have NEVER seen an Elephant Ear bloom!
Boy, aren't they beautiful.Plans are in the making to learn to make jam. My mother-in-law will be here to teach me in a few weeks. I have strawberries I froze after picking and blueberries to freeze just for this.
And I think I am going to go pick some flowers for bouquets. They need to be picked anyway. The more I pick the more they bloom. Isn't that wonderful!
Typically life is busy at home. The gardens are enjoyable AND time consuming. Pulling weeds or collecting seeds, though, are only conversations with my garden. Saturdays, after running helter skelter getting ready, are spent chatting with faces I recognize, meeting new faces...getting paid; it's wonderful! The carry over benefit is that customers at the Farmer's Market come visit our store during the week and my life conversation with the garden expands and I have humans to enjoy as well. (yes, my children and husband are human.....and I see them every day)
Getting paid is neat, too. I am not being funny. Really. Getting paid is neat. All year long is spent with different kinds of tasks to make the greenhouse and gardens more beautiful and productive. The question:
"What is going to make this year better than last? What veggies fed us best, sold the best, grew the best? What area on the property is going to be changed? (we have a little bit over an acre to feed us, make beautiful and bring in income)
Example:
Last year we used way too much garden space for brassicas that we struggle to grow every year. Do we want to spend time figuring out how to make broccoli grow or should we plant more crops that we KNOW do well, feed us and sell? We had like 4 stinking rows planted with cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts. The broccoli and cauliflower produced so little and I spent SOOOooooo much time hand picking caterpillars and beginning my every morning with coffee & vehement disgust, the decision we reached to NOT plant brassicas was quick and easy. Dig it?
Winter time is spent planting new beds inside, evaluating best use of space, inventorying, cleaning the store, planning spring time etc... On the way to spring, seeds are started for seedling sales, for starts in our own gardens... Spring comes and beds outside are prepared, new beds are turned and amended for plants, the question of what is going to make this year better than last is applied always.
So when summer comes along and we are harvesting the firsts from the gardens; the snow peas, baby patty pans and zucchinis, making little bouquets of edible flowers and culinary herbs, it is immensely satisfying and life affirming to receive, in exchange for our labors, money to pay the electric bill.
Picking strawberries, painting blueberry sign, cutting flowers; bouquets and edibles, herbs, bagging lettuce, picking zukes, making price tags, printing handouts, price tags, labels, eggs, hmmmm.....Farmer's Market is tomorrow.
Too cool.I am pretty practical (read miser). I was considering how to keep an abundance of various seeds dry without having to resort to stealing little silica packets from coat pockets at stores. (karmic issue)
The light bulb went off in my brain!
Wal-Mart sells little clear plastic containers with a pair of knee high nylons inside at 3 for $1.00. That's 6 pieces. Cut them and twist tie the ends and fill with rice. Don't we put rice in salt to absorb moisture? AH HA!
I have knee highs left over from last year. I used them to dry seeds. They were hanging from a string decorating my little store. If the nylons had enough air flow to allow seeds to dry successfully then it seems to me that there may be enough air flow to allow rice to wick up moisture.
I took a nylon and made the little moisture absorbers. One nylon made 4 absorbers. So, for a buck and change (how much can a bag of rice fill?!) I can make 24 absorbers! I am very pleased.
If anyone reading this sees something that will make this not work, please let me know. Having moldy seeds after working so hard to save and collect would really bite!
Today is oil collection day. We collect used fryer oil and make bio-diesel to heat our greenhouse. Presently, we use a furnace. A generator is on the way. Once that's set up, we won't need to purchase methanol and lye anymore...we will just get to burn straight oil! We will have all our electric needs for the greenhouse taken care of off grid.
Being dependent on the electric company bothers me. We have a propane generator for short term power outages but that means we are dependent on the propane company. I don't like that, either. Plus, the money I have to send to these companies every month bothers me. Incorporating a generator will reduce our expenses by approximately $400 a month. Helluva motivation to get it together! We don't have lights in the greenhouse because of the bill. Lights mean better growth year round.
Oil collection happens year round. Summer time, though, we collect A LOT. Tourist season combined with the fact that the hibernation is over (I am in Maine) means a lot more cooking at the restaurants and markets.
When we started going to different businesses to ask for their oil I was impressed by the willingness to give it to us. It used to be that the businesses had to pay someone to pick up the oil. Then it gradually changed to companies picking up the oil for free. These restaurants and markets have nothing to gain by giving their oil to us. They just like what we are doing and want to help.
When to thin carrots? When is my basil going to grow? When should I plant another pea crop? WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP RAINING?
My word! It's been raining for days!
Yesterday, I was up at 4:30 with our little Dingo, (term of endearment and part of her name; Dingo Rose) and began weeding as soon as the sun hit the sky. The last week was a bit nuts. The gardens and paths were getting out of control.
To do list:
In the greenhouse in the center row my husband and I constructed a long bed approximately 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide and something like 38 feet long. In the center we made a slightly raised bed on top. The raised bed is housing passion fruit and cantaloupes, watermelons and European cukes, the climbers. On the outside of the raised section are planted Papayas and Pepino Melons. Because they are shallow rooted and nematodes spell death for them, I planted marigolds in between every tree and bush. It's nice to see such bright colors bordering the bed.
Everyday I walk about between garden chores to do my most favorite chore: searching for seeds. I never collected seed from marigolds before. I found expired blossoms 
and picked. I read that the seed needs to be black if they're ready. I opened different ones and paid attention to just how expired they were. I gently moved all the dead blossom forward and pinched it while holding on to the stem end and wiggled a bit. It loosened and out came black seeds with their whitish tops. Then I put the greenish brown package down, (the seed holder is a little package full of gifts). I gently pinched the black seeds with one hand and the expired blossom with the other and wiggled some more. They separated effortlessly. I continued to do this until I had a nice pile of marigold seeds and a nice pile of seed packages. Then I went through the pile of packages and emptied the seed that remained inside.
9 blossoms produced a 1/2 a jelly jar of seed.
