As pure, abstract small farming pleasure, for me so far, catalog season can’t be beat. This year’s catalogs started arriving two or three weeks ago. The first from one of my main seed suppliers has been here only a couple … Read the rest
Finally finished a bit of hot pepper harvest, now there’s a convenient pile of dried heat! A few weeks ago, wondering whether to cover for frost, I decided to also pull up some hot pepper plants, roots and all, instead. … Read the rest
Another installment in the snow-covered series: Winterbor kale! I’m so used to rollercoaster weather and the new winters that never really get started, it’s kind of a shock to have this much snow for three days in a row in … Read the rest
The rosemary’s looking quite fresh and perky, buried tip deep in snow. There are many cultivars, some apparently able to overwinter in quite brutal cold. I have three types here, two without names (one a survivor of last winter’s rosemary … Read the rest
The Jerusalem artichoke leaves died off in the cold a few weeks ago, not too long after flowering, and I’d kind of not thought about ’em in a while (they’re right by the 26 rosemary plants that have to be … Read the rest
Today, I took advantage of a one-day reprieve from the cold—it was a pleasant 9°C (48°F)—to test the new grass-alfalfa mulch on a bed of garlic. I suspected spreading the light, loosely clumped mix would be more of a chore … Read the rest
Dug up about five pounds of carrots for a phoned in order for “whatever there is”. The ground isn’t frozen, but the many sub-zero nights have really chilled it out. These heirloom Touchon carrots benefited from their cool storage conditions. … Read the rest