La Belle's Hobby Farm: Spring is Just Around the Corner

The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.
 ~ Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

F

ebruary is practically a memory and that means that Spring will be here before you know it.  And you know what that means.

Gardening.

Last year I planted more angst in my garden then vegetables.  This year, I promise myself (and my garden) to prep the ground and get seeds and plants in at the appropriate times.  No more waiting until June!

I already have a rough list of the veggies and herbs I want to plant, but so far, I’ve put off building a plan.  But at least for now, I have a schedule for March: what needs to be sown indoors, and what can be sown directly into the soil. This is just a draft list; I’ll be adding more to it.



Yes, I am an Excel nerd.

Since crop rotation is good for sustainability and conservation, and since I still need to get the field plowed where my new veggie garden is going, the direct sow items on the above schedule are going in last year’s tomato/herb garden, except for the potatoes and parsnips.  They need a little more room. 

Now to find a man with a tractor. . . . 

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Want to know what to plant in your region?  Check out Mother Earth News’ What to Plant Now guide!

Top Five Friday: Let It Snow, I've Got My Seed Catalogs to Keep Me Warm!

“It always amazes me to look at the little, wrinkled brown seeds and think of the rainbows in 'em," said Captain Jim. "When I ponder on them seeds I don't find it nowise hard to believe that we've got souls that'll live in other worlds. You couldn't hardly believe there was life in them tiny things, some no bigger than grains of dust, let alone colour and scent, if you hadn't seen the miracle, could you?”
~ L.M. Montgomery

 

W

inter doesn't bother me.  In fact, I love the snow ~ as long as I'm off the roads and in my cozy bed with a hot cup of tea and a good book.  And as January creeps into February, the books I love to read the most on days like today are seed catalogs.

Yes.  That's what I said.  Seed catalogs.  The Fifty Shades of gardners everywhere.

But it can't be just any seed catalogs.  Too many mad scientists and money-grubby corporations have poked, prodded, and genetically modified and otherwise sterlized many seeds.  If you haven't heard of Monsanto, you must be living in a Barbie world and think that food comes from the grocery store. 

Sigh.

All food comes from a seed or a bulb.  Well, all real food that is: fruits, vegetables, grains.  And the best food comes from organically and sustainably grown and harvested seeds.  Also, not necessary, but definitely fun and useful to grow are heirloom seeds: seeds that come from strains of fruit or vegetables grown by our great-great-great grandparents.  Think lumpy, bumpy heirloom tomatoes.  I dare you to eat a GMO'd tomato (even right out of the garden) and then eat an heirloom tomato and tell me they are the same.  There is no comparison.

All five of these seed companies or exchanges sell organic, non-GMO seeds.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

 

High Mowing Organic Seed Company

 

Sustainable Seed Company

 

Seeds Now

 

Botanical Interests

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Are you planning your garden yet?  Try Mother Earth News' Garden Planner ~ it makes it easy!

La Belle's Hobby Farm: Raised Beds Suck!

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. 

~ Lou Erickson

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aised garden beds are a pain in the dupa! Week Six of La Belle’s Hobby Farm Project.  All is not going well.  In fact, it is not going at all! 

I hate raised garden beds.

And smug lumber jockeys who try to sell you treated wood for said raised garden beds.

And 3 inch screws that claim they don’t need pre-drilled holes. Liars.

And lumber that won’t lay flat on the ground while you try to screw them together.

I hate them all!!

But I have 48 baby tomatoes that need a permanent place to lay their green heads.  So now I’m scouting around looking for the best home (lots o’ sun!) for these little guys, and then it’s off to find an inexpensive, used rototiller.

I know!

All the research says raised beds.  You hand till, and leave the worms intact to do the heavy lifting of aerating the soil.

But honey, do you know how much dirt I would have to buy in order to fill up a raised bed?  Whoever came up with dirt cheap has never shopped at the local nursery or Lowe’s for organic dirt for a raised bed.

Plus, the soil already there is rich and ready to support and sustain my precious plants.  So I can get away with just adding compost, etc and not worry about pricey organic dirt.

So the raised beds are out, gardening the old-fashioned way is in.

Well, not completely old-fashioned: it’s not feasible or possible for me to hook an ox up to a plow and turn up dirt.  If you know of a greener way to plow a field, email me or share in the comments!

In another news, the three basil plants are surviving; I pinched their little purple flowers off.  This ensures they reach their full potential, both in flavor and production.  For more about growing herbs, visit Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden – Herb Q&A.  She highlights some wonderful herb-growing advice from her friend Marie Rose Nichols McGee.  As I’ve mentioned before, Margaret’s blog is my second go-to site for gardening advice ~ second only to Mother Earth News!

I have Friday off, so wish me luck on my rototiller buying adventure!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Ever start a project and then quit out of frustration?  Maybe you decided on a work-around instead.  Share your experience with me and my readers!

Top Five Friday: In the Quiet Green - Five Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

Every time I have some moment on a seashore, or in the mountains, or sometimes in a quiet forest,

I think this is why the environment has to be preserved.

~ Bill Bradley

A

 pril 22nd is Earth Day.  An appropriate time to announce that I will be starting a weekly series here on my adventures in organic farming rather than starting a new blog for just that topic.  There is an art to farming and gardening ~ especially if one wants to actually produce food! 

But one need not start an organic farm in order to celebrate Earth Day and all that is green and reusable.  Here are five things to do to help preserve our national green this weekend ~ preferably out of doors and off the roads!

Read Up!

You know I will always recommend reading.  I have one whole room in my house dedicated to books!  My favorite nature author is John Muir.  Mother Earth News also has some great articles on sustainability and organic farming.  This one deals with GM (genetically modified) crops and this one talks about why we are seeing a decrease in the bee population, which not surprisingly, relates back to GM crops. 

Another great book is Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Create a Kitchen or Herb Garden

Starting out small is good.  Less room for mistakes.  Not that I expect I won’t make mistakes, but they hopefully will be on the small scale.  Begin with a few containers on your patio, desk, or porch.  It’s too late in many zones to sow seed for some veggies ~ although I did just receive my direct sow seed packets ~ and too early to plant seedlings in others. 



from 123rf



Here in Virginia it’s hit or miss.  There is still time for one last nasty frost.  So I’m waiting and spending the time continuing to read (see point #1) and prepping the ground so that once it is time, my plants will have a fighting chance of growing healthy and strong.

A great blog to read for gardening advice: Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden.

Plant a Tree

There are many places that are giving away free trees.  Take them home and give them lots of love and a good mix of organic matter, soil, and compost.  Just don’t forget to plant them!  I, uh, sadly did that last year.  Mea culpa!

Visit a Sustainable/Organic Farm

You can look up local farms in your area here and here.  It is a great way to meet the people who grow your food, and learn a bit about how things are done.  Some farms are part of an organization that encourages people to volunteer at farms to learn more about the agraiein life. 

If P. Allen Smith’s farm was closer to me, I would go there in a heart-beat, as he is the guru of all things green.  Actually, he’s a Renaissance man: in addition to gardening and farming, he cooks, paints, writes, designs, builds, chops wood – I don’t know, he may even sing or play an instrument. 

And he’s good looking.

That is just wrong.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local

This is the mantra of the Piedmont Environmental Council ~ love them! ~ and it is a great economy booster.  You use less gas driving there, and you help create a vibrant and sustainable community.  Plus it’s fun!  Especially if you live in a great small town with cute downtown areas filled with boutique shops and chatty owners and salespeople like I do.   

And of course, we can all start small by carrying around reusable bags [they come in such cute patterns now too!] and not using the plastic ones; buying less items with plastic containers, and donating our gently used items to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or St. Vincent’s.  One woman’s trash is another’s treasure ~ really! 

I haven’t read it yet, but I just saw an interview of Edward Humes, the author of Garbology, where he talks about how much trash we actually produce and ways to reduce it.

Happy greening!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What are some other ways you plan to celebrate and preserve our beautiful, bountiful planet?