it smells so good outside! there is nothing better than a little warm spring rain, especially when we've been going without for a while. plus it makes a good excuse to take a day off from working in the field.
So we are really rolling now. We've got a bed of Swiss chard, 1/2 bed of spinach, full bed of Magenta head lettuce and 1/2 bed of scallions. The garlic is doing really well and I'm still debating whether I want to sell it or eat it...we do have a lot but we also eat a LOT of garlic and I'd love to have it last us through next winter and save seed. so i think that path may be winning out.
I've come to similar conclusions this season. I've been really reevaluating my goals with the market garden and feeling like my time and efforts are best put toward our family garden and preserving our harvest. For example, with the garlic, why sell the garlic so that you can have money to buy someone else's (non-organic or non-local) garlic, when I could store it for us and continue my garlic obsession all winter long! I still very much like to grow for market and there are of course some food items that we simply will not be able to grown our own and money comes in handy (ex. olive oil & most grain crops). Plus I suppose there are a few things that unfortunately you just cannot barter or trade veges for...but we're working on that :)
I'll be finishing up bed prep and planting the rest of the head lettuce (a romaine) this week and also planting the second half of the spinach bed.
We've got our new irrigation (funded by a grant) in and it has been working well, but according to my rain gauge we got almost an 1 inch of rain last night so I don't think we'll need to turn it on for a couple days.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
blogging...oh boy
Ok, so I'm not the world's best writer nor am I a very good speller and my grammar and vocabulary is, well...lacking. So why on earth would I be creating a blog where the whole world can read my silly thoughts and spelling errors. Does it sound bad if I say because "everyone's doing it"?
Besides being a follower :), I'm also a strong believer in good communication and as a small-scale farmer it is so necessary to communicate with your community and customers. You know..."tell your story" :). So here I am writing my thoughts out for all to see.
The farm is going really well. We set-up the sunflower shoots in a our attic and have already doubled production since last year! I do the growing and Jack does the deliveries. We've set up the 8 foot bike trailer to accommodate the shoots and we are very proud of our human powered delivery system. As soon as the lettuce and scallion transplants are out in the field we'll have even more room for increasing shoot production...so if you are interested in getting a regular flat let us know :)
We are currently farming on the Kemp's lot that we start last year and we've planted a bed (3ftx60ft) of chard and spinach. Head lettuce and scallions will go in next week. I've added a ton of compost to all beds and hoping that will help production this year.
With the help of the Greening of Detroit we are trying to purchase a house and adjacent land. The house is just on the next block and a block south on Theodore. There are 3 lots on the eastside of the house and 5 or more on the west. The house itself is in really good condition but the ownership situation has been a bit confusing and wrecks of scam. So thankfully I've got some assistance to try to figure it all out. If we were able to purchase that land this year, I could at least get it tilled and planted with a cover crop for the winter and then start it up for next year. So we're keeping our fingers crossed.
Besides being a follower :), I'm also a strong believer in good communication and as a small-scale farmer it is so necessary to communicate with your community and customers. You know..."tell your story" :). So here I am writing my thoughts out for all to see.
The farm is going really well. We set-up the sunflower shoots in a our attic and have already doubled production since last year! I do the growing and Jack does the deliveries. We've set up the 8 foot bike trailer to accommodate the shoots and we are very proud of our human powered delivery system. As soon as the lettuce and scallion transplants are out in the field we'll have even more room for increasing shoot production...so if you are interested in getting a regular flat let us know :)
We are currently farming on the Kemp's lot that we start last year and we've planted a bed (3ftx60ft) of chard and spinach. Head lettuce and scallions will go in next week. I've added a ton of compost to all beds and hoping that will help production this year.
With the help of the Greening of Detroit we are trying to purchase a house and adjacent land. The house is just on the next block and a block south on Theodore. There are 3 lots on the eastside of the house and 5 or more on the west. The house itself is in really good condition but the ownership situation has been a bit confusing and wrecks of scam. So thankfully I've got some assistance to try to figure it all out. If we were able to purchase that land this year, I could at least get it tilled and planted with a cover crop for the winter and then start it up for next year. So we're keeping our fingers crossed.
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