Improbably early corn!
Fresh sweet corn at the beginning of May?! Wow, it’s a miracle! After a period of mild outrage when I first started tiny farming, as it sunk in how far and in what conditions most of our fresh food travels, … Read the rest
Year: 2012
Bucket loading
Especially in spring, with constant seeding and transplanting, moving gear around the field is a bigger deal than it may seem. Forget stuff, even little things like a hose fitting or a seed plate or some twine, and you’re heading … Read the rest
Rain watch begins
The season’s weekly rain watch begins. Weeks start on Monday. The big 25 on the rain gauge is the magic 25mm/1″ mark, the rule-of-thumb ideal for a week—an inch of slow and steady rain over a few hours, and of … Read the rest
Big city garden
My first visit to a big city community garden: FANTASTIC! I was happily startled by the energy flowing out of all those tiny, densely packed, hand-built, trellised plots, even though the garden was largely empty when I dropped by. A … Read the rest
Empty shelves
OK, so it’s only the result of a really good price on rice cakes, and emptied shelves aren’t unusual during sales. Still, this time, standing in from of them, I suddenly imagined how fast ALL the shelves could empty, and … Read the rest
Pea vs drought
Pea vs drought: Sad and scary when plants die from lack of water. Seems way worse to me than being ravaged by pests. Kinda makes you realize how vulnerable we are. This isn’t a full-on drought, just an extended dry … Read the rest
Watering cans
Good tool! These watering cans have been all over—seedling room, greenhouse, field—for the last few years, near perfect for hand watering missions. Five bucks, plastic construction means they’re lightweight, two gallon capacity is decent amount of water that’s still easy … Read the rest