Sun, Jan 01, 2012 · Filed under Winter
The holidays are fine and all, but in recent years, I’ve liked New Year’s Day! This is the view to the left from the front door—the market garden is about a mile down that road. Our little stretch of winter-like weather is holding, but it’s supposed to warm up and rain a little later, so most of this snow will likely soon be gone. For now, a nice, white and wintry start to what I’m sure will be an interestin’ year all round. I’m up for it. Happy New Year!
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Fri, Dec 09, 2011 · Filed under Autumn, Building & Fixing, Greenhouse
[From Nov. 25, 2011] Finally got around to at least getting the base of the hoophouse anchored. This whole decision of whether to build it now or wait till spring has been up in the air for a while. At least, with the 4×4 rough cut cedar beams that hold up the steel ribs positioned and the anchor posts set, it’ll be relatively easy to get the frame up and then skin it…whenever. Even on a warm day in February or March! Flexibility! Options! Or maybe just…putting it off. I do want to purchase new plastic—what’s on hand now is around five years old, gotten milky, past its prime… In any case, today, I pounded in six 3′ T-bars, three per 20′ side. That little screw is only for the moment, it will all get bolted together with metal strapping or brackets. I’ve done this before… :)
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Thu, Dec 08, 2011 · Filed under Autumn, Farm lab (research!)
Had the downloaded digital version of this book since the 2nd edition, for at least a couple of years now, dipped into it, but still haven’t read it through. I should and I will. This winter! The 3rd edition of Building Soils for Better Crops: Sustainable Soil Management came out last year and it’s even better, full of practical science for the upward-looking tiny farmer and veggie gardener. Here’s the blurb: “A one-of-a-kind, practical guide to ecological soil management. It provides step-by-step information on soil-improving practices as well as in-depth background—from what soil is to the importance of organic matter. Case studies of farmers from across the country provide inspiring examples of how soil—and whole farms—have been renewed through these techniques. A must-read for farmers, educators and students alike.” The PDF version is a free download, the printed version is about 20 bucks. There’s a fair number of soil books and books that cover soil out there, but for the tiny farmer, this is pretty much one of a kind.
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Wed, Dec 07, 2011 · Filed under People, Summer
[From Jul. 27, 2011] There’s talking about biking-not-driving, and then there’s doing it! :) Today, Tracy, Andrea and I all made it in on two wheels with feet doing their stuff. It’s not a hard ride, about 30 minutes each way, Tracy a little closer, and mostly on pleasant bike trails. Fun on a beautiful, sunny summer’s day. Still, even after last season’s driving adventures, commuting to the farm is new, unusual and…bothersome, the way it limits the farm day. At least, by biking, the commute has a payoff, a daily one-hour workout that’s not just exercise for its own sake, it actually has a higher purpose!
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Tue, Dec 06, 2011 · Filed under Autumn, Fieldwork
[From Dec. 5, 2011] It’s a wet December! After only a couple of days of rain, the ground is pretty well waterlogged, to the point where I can’t move the Kubota compact tractor without leaving deep furrows that’ll be totally compacted and eventually dry like concrete. So, before being rained out entirely three-quarters of the way through the job, it was slogging on 100′ round trips through boot-sucking muck, one forkload of hay at a time, to mulch garlic—not a big deal, there’s only a 100′ bed and a half to cover, but the EASIER plan was to use the tractor to push the big round bale to the garlic bed. Guess not. Lesson: Um, don’t wait! :)
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Mon, Nov 28, 2011 · Filed under Autumn, Planning
[From Nov. 24, 2011] Well ahead of the pack, Veseys takes first new seed catalog of the year. They’re a pretty marketing-oriented company, they get their stuff out early—this actually arrived a while ago, but I only got my hands on it now! Which is fine by me. I haven’t been this, well, EXCITED with that new-catalog feeling in a couple of years. That’s good. There is a lot of proper, well-ahead-of-time planning to do, expectations for 2012 run high! Whatever the weather!!
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