My late winter farming friends: perlite, vermiculite and peat moss, the raw ingredients for a standard seed starting mix. For most veggies and herbs, I mix all three in equal parts, although a combination of any two would likely do … Read the rest
This is, I guess, the new look of winter. The barrels in the field are barely half covered, compared to the three or four feet of snow that accumulated by this time only a few years ago.… Read the rest
Here’s the barn with the new milkhouse extension, doing fine. We were slightly concerned that the slope of the new roof might be too shallow for snow to slide off, particularly with roll-off from the roof of the barn. The … Read the rest
A little experiment in vegetative propagation—replicating rosemary from tiny, stressed cuttings. Most of the potted rosemary taken up from the herb garden last season got toasted after too many -20°C nights in the unheated greenhouse (a bit of a random … Read the rest
This is what lettuce looks like when it’s just getting started. It’s the standard seed starting mix in action! Yet another off-season image from the microfarm. :)… Read the rest
The first lettuce pushed up overnight! Here, lovely red Granada, an Oakleaf-type leaf lettuce that intensifies into a deep burgundy as it matures. Also in trays, Sierra, Simpson Elite, Two Stars and Red Salad Bowl. Now, how early will they … Read the rest
This is about a quarter of my farming bookshelf. I get a ton of info from the Web, particularly in winter when I have more time to cruise around online, but books I’m still most fond of. Let’s see what … Read the rest