Wheel Hoe Day
Finally, the new wheel hoe arrived today from the Valley Oak Tool Company in California! This simple and amazing garden tool is so little known in these parts, I had to order it from another country… I hadn’t used one … Read the rest
Tools
Equipment for large-scale agriculture is too big or too expensive, and many home gardening tools don’t work efficiently on larger jobs or break easily. Tiny farming on plots up to two or three acres requires its own special gear…
First day at the farmers’ market!
Up at 5 am, in the greenhouse at 5:30 to harvest more early lettuce and arugula. On the road by 6:30. Set up right at the 7 am opening. The photo is OK, though I find farmers’ market snapshots tend … Read the rest
Sorting
Tiny farming requires lots of bits and pieces, gear inevitably gets jumbled and misplaced, and the whole show can start to slow down as things get in your way and you spend time searching for this or that. Sorting things … Read the rest
Flea beetles
All of the brassicas, except for radishes, start out under floating row cover. It’s the only way they’ll survive the flea beetles. Around here, the FBs are a clear and present menace to the cabbage family. They chew little holes … Read the rest
O, the luxury!
No sooner fixed than in the field! This combo of little riding mower and old snowmobile trailer is possibly my favorite tiny farming tool, a decadent* alternative to walking up and down the garden plot.
Around here, you can walk … Read the rest
Carrot science
Welcome to my carrot lab! Carrots have been my biggest early spring headache. In cool weather, they take forever to germinate, 2 or 3 weeks, and by that time, the chance of weed competition is pretty good, and just about … Read the rest
Off to the hoophouse
The first set of tomatoes is now in the unheated (but heatable!) hoophouse. They’re freshly installed in 3″ Jiffy pots (peat pots that can be planted), watered in, and awaiting the first night’s cold. It’s supposed to go down to … Read the rest