Sacred Grove Farm: March 2011

20 March 2011

Start with the soil

Spring is officially here! Iz and I took advantage of the warmer weather and the break in rain showers to clean up the yard and prepare some beds for sowing seeds. We have three compost piles at the end of the main garden that we started in the fall last year. Basically we just throw all kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, some paper (think cardboard coffee sleeves), and a bunch of leaves from the fall into the piles and turned them a couple of times over the season. This is a very informal way of composting, but this is an ideal way to compost for us for a few reasons.

The piles are pretty close to the back door so we just throw the scraps in the pile as our compost bowl fills up.

By composting in the garden, you are keeping all the good bacteria, worms, other bugs etc. that have been living in the compost piles in the garden-creating a more cohesive ecosystem. You are encouraging multiple generations of organisms to live in the soil of your garden.

This helps build the soil naturally, allowing for less tilling, and more nutrients to stay in the soil. If you are in an area where you have heavy clay soil, like we do, I think you will understand the desire to make a more "fluffy" or less dense soil for your plants.

I am not saying that everyone should compost like this, this is still an experiment for us and is working...so far. If you want to know more, we suggest the following books: Start with the Soil by Grace Gershuny and One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. I think I will devote a later post to a few more books that have been wonderful references for us.

There is some good stuff under the straw!

After checking out the soil, Iz started sowing a few seeds: Diakon Radish, Chicory and Mustard Greens. All of these are happy to germinate in the cool soil. As I am writing this, I am thinking of other ideas for later posts. I will talk about where we get our seeds why we like seed banks such as Seed Savers and J.L. Hudson over commercial brands such as Burpee. In addition, as things go to seed, I will show how to save seeds from your plants so you don't have to buy any the next year!

Take a look at some photos below. Some of this stuff may seem boring to some people, but once you get a whiff of nice fresh soil, you will be hooked!

Sowing Poppies in the Spring. They like to germinate in the cool earth and bloom when it is warmer.

Daikon Radish from Baker Creek

Directions

Iz preparing a spot for the Daikson radishes, mustard greens and chicory. All are good to sow in the very early Spring.

Breaking up the soil lightly

Tiny seeds will grow into large plants!

Diakon Radish Seeds

Chickory Seeds


After sowing, give the soil a little pat to tamp the seeds in.

After the seeds are in the ground, make sure you keep the soil moist as they germinate. In the Spring it is nice because we usually get a decent amount of rain. Just keep an eye on the soil and water appropriately. Of course I will update with photos when they come up!

15 March 2011

Organized

I organized all our photos of the garden in Flickr for easier viewing! Enjoy!

Changes are coming

Year One Seed Starting

Over the past three years, my husband and I have become very interested in living closer to the land, living simpler-more cretive and fullfilling lives. This started when we moved into I's childhood home and promptly began planning a garden. If you look back through this blog, I have a few entires where we go through starting seeds in the basement and if you check out our Flickr page you will see what we have been up to the past few years.

Year One Garden-just finished

We are also in our third year of investing in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share through Hazelfield Farm in Kentucky. It has been so enjoyable to be able to pick up a bag-full of fresh produce grown locally and sustainably by the same people we interact with on a weekly basis at the farmer's market. We enjoy the challenge of using what is available, creating less waste and becoming more self-sufficient. Iz has begun to realize that horticulture, gardening, sustainable agriculture (whatever you want to call it) is indeed a passion of his. We have discussed the idea of buying property and turning it into our dream permiculture farm and have begun looking at property in ernest. Taking a step further, Iz began to look at farming interships and apprenticeships. We realized that if this was going to happen, Iz would have to leave his current job and commit 100% to his passion. Through luck, devine intervention or whatever you want to call it, Smaller Footprint Farm contacted Iz and asked if he would be interested in applying for their internship in Yellow Springs, OH. We thought, why not check it out? After a few agonizing weeks-debating back and forth-weighing the pros and cons, a visit to the farm and an interview, Iz was offered an apprenticeship with them. By this time we had discussed the subject to death and were ready to take the plunge. Iz accepted the offer this weekendand turned in his letter of resignation at work today.

Some seedlings from last year

It is still a little scary to think about living with one income, being away from home etc. but this is something that we both believe in and believe that it will all work out. The education Iz will get during this apprenticeship will be invaluable. It will indeed be an interesting year and we are looking forward to the challenges. I thought I would take this opportunity to use this blog to talk about our experiences and about sustainable agriculture, small farms, plants and beyond. I hope to visit the farm often to take lots of photographs and report back here.
We are still getting a full-share CSA with Hazelfield Farm this year and we will still have plans for a full garden at home as well. I hope to be able to talk about what we are doing with all of the beautiful produce and how to preserve the surplus.

Largest Raised Bed we made last year

This is still all very new and exciting! I hope I will have a lot of information and ideas to pass along as this spring and summer progress. Of course, I will be posting photos of our garden as it grows this year. I love to see the transition of empty beds to a profusion of flowers and vegetables! I am also going to try and reorganized our Flickr page into collections and sets that are relevant to eachother-probably one for each year for the garden at the house. Since this is the third year, we have a lot of photographs and perhaps they can be of better use if more organized.

Stay Tuned! Izzy & Lizzy