I admit to not living mindfully when I do some chores, like laundry, so I make it pass a little quicker watching Netflix. Netflix is weak on some subjects, but not on documentaries. If you're looking to watch anything about farming, saving the land, living more simply, there are dozens of options. My "Instant Queue" is full of these things, if only because I like my TV to look green and not grey.
I watched Radically Simple, about an engineer who is trying to engineer his simple life. One of his big pushes is, of course, gardening, and my favorite scene is when he chops up tomatoes in his garden, puts them in a pot and sets it up on a solar slow cooker, then cans the food. It's a remarkably quiet DVD, where there are community discussions interspersed with work, splitting wood or gardening. You forget how personal doing work can be, without music running or constant chatter. (I'm sure it would be the better way to do my laundry.) It stars Jim Merkel, Dartmouth College's Sustainability Coordinator. The general idea is that with current population, we each get about 4.5 acres of ecological footprint, an ever-shrinking number.
Last night I attempted to watch Dirt, narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis. I felt kind of like I was watching Sesame Street, with sound effects and cutting from one specialist to another. Interesting as everyone was, I felt kind of overwhelmed by connecting the details myself, by the speed and the noise. It didn't feel like nature, and I stopped watching it.
The one I've enjoyed most is only a half hour, called Save Our Farm. It's about a 14-acre plot in LA that was a free project run on donated land by the city. 14 acres is about 16 football fields. And in Southern California, you can be growing food all the time. The place was a mix of permaculture and annuals, and their "farmer's market" let folks walk around on the property for gardeners to sell crops still growing in the ground. It looked like a fantastic project. The city then made a quiet deal to sell the land back to the developer they bought it from, in order to build warehouses. The trouble here is that of course the land isn't owned by the farmers. These farmers used the land to cut out half of their food budget and could hardly afford their own land. And perhaps it's the city and developer's right to make their deals.
When I look at my land ownership options in Boston, even with a good salary it is going to be difficult to afford one acre for my future family. If you are in a situation where you are making near minimum wage, you just can't do it. And a couple amazing things happen in the documentary, but the outcome was still disappointing.
I think that it's very difficult to monetize the impact of growing food. I see folks getting sued for growing vegetables (and that reminds me of why my parents were sued because my neighbor wanted to cut back the branches of our trees growing over into his yard. We lost. It made sense, but I was still sad for the trees.) When folks are skeptical about the health benefits of sustainable organic, it's not just what you put in your mouth. It's also about keeping green spaces and healthy living land, the physical work of gardening (I probably do several hundred squats when I'm in my garden on any given day), the community effort of any big farming project, the joy of ownership of your own work.
At Chestnut Farms, their recent newsletter discussed legislation introduced that would prevent any farm from having their own kids work on the farm. You understand why this might be, but at the same time, it lets a child fairly young see the fruits of labor and run their own finances if they have a business. You appreciate the work going into what sustains you.
The legislation didn't pass, due to massive outcry by small farmers.
This month's Edible Boston features a multi-generational farm in Belmont. The too were pressured to develop the land, to build a train station and parking lot and make a whole lot of money. But they chose to farm. The generally feeling is that it pays off now, for the family.
I wonder how farming is going to look over the next decade. In MA, there are more small farms now than at the millenium, and urban farming is taking off all over the place.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Perennials
Today we received an order of perennials from One Green World. They kindly added a note to the invoice that these plants would offset about 153 pounds of carbon dioxide per year after they are full grown.
Of course, I love edibles. The order included flowing plants such as akebia and Maypop passion flower, both of which produce gorgeous flowers but also produce fruit. Akebia requires two varieties, so we're adding a pretty white variety to our rosy one. There are several huckleberries, a Korean bush cherry, and lingonberry. I also have five saffron crocus bulbs, and I'm hoping to offset saffron expenses.
I'm planning to put the saffron bulbs into a low, wide blue pot I bought at Pemberton Farms yesterday. I also found some pots that biodegrade after a couple seasons. They seem very sturdy now and are made of bamboo, but in two years, you just pop them into the ground as they start to disintegrate. I'm hoping to create an herb garden out of these. I've bought some herb plants and have several seeds for others.
I discovered that my herbs create the best vegetarian lasagna, and can't wait for this season's. This weekend I made a meat and bitter melon lasagna, which was great, but still not up to par with rosemary, thyme, and fennel.
I also picked up a bunch of gorgeous looking succulents for another piece of the garden. I tried it out last year, but they didn't set too well, so this time they'll be in the ground sooner.
Right now the perennial plot looks like a barren wasteland, but in about a month it'll start looking trim and inhabited. Or so says my ambition.
Of course, I love edibles. The order included flowing plants such as akebia and Maypop passion flower, both of which produce gorgeous flowers but also produce fruit. Akebia requires two varieties, so we're adding a pretty white variety to our rosy one. There are several huckleberries, a Korean bush cherry, and lingonberry. I also have five saffron crocus bulbs, and I'm hoping to offset saffron expenses.
I'm planning to put the saffron bulbs into a low, wide blue pot I bought at Pemberton Farms yesterday. I also found some pots that biodegrade after a couple seasons. They seem very sturdy now and are made of bamboo, but in two years, you just pop them into the ground as they start to disintegrate. I'm hoping to create an herb garden out of these. I've bought some herb plants and have several seeds for others.
I discovered that my herbs create the best vegetarian lasagna, and can't wait for this season's. This weekend I made a meat and bitter melon lasagna, which was great, but still not up to par with rosemary, thyme, and fennel.
I also picked up a bunch of gorgeous looking succulents for another piece of the garden. I tried it out last year, but they didn't set too well, so this time they'll be in the ground sooner.
Right now the perennial plot looks like a barren wasteland, but in about a month it'll start looking trim and inhabited. Or so says my ambition.
Patriot's Day
Yesterday I went to my garden to plant lettuce and other greens. One gardener remarked, "Oh, so you're one of those people who might think it'll actually cool off." It was 88 out when I left the garden, hardly lettuce weather. And I'm sitting here before 7am the next day, worried that my afternoon-watered lettuce is going to wilt away to nothing before I can next water it. I thought about driving the 45-minute round trip to splash some water on, but decided that maybe this evening would be a better bet.
I read The $64 Tomato a couple weeks ago. It's about the slow dive into insanity as you try to perfect your garden. Battles against bugs, groundhogs, sod, weather. At the end he realizes he is no longer a gardener, but a farmer. And I can see my path clearly ahead of me too.
I read The $64 Tomato a couple weeks ago. It's about the slow dive into insanity as you try to perfect your garden. Battles against bugs, groundhogs, sod, weather. At the end he realizes he is no longer a gardener, but a farmer. And I can see my path clearly ahead of me too.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Sunnyside up
My new go-to ingredient for breakfast is corn tortillas. I really have to learn to make my own, but for now we get packs at the store.
A couple of recent breakfasts:
Two corn tortillas. Cook on one side, then flip and add a spoonful of refried beans, some avocado, and cheese. After cheese starts to melt, plate and add greens. Fast, delicious, satisfying.
This morning's was more involved. We had extra bok choy, which I panfried with just salt and pepper. Then I cooked two tortillas. I cooked up breakfast sausage from Chestnut Farms. I made a salsa out of tomatoes, jarred jalapeños, scallions, garlic, and some cumin and chili powder. And then two sunnyside-up eggs. Place tortillas, then eggs, then salsa. Add the greens and sausage on the side.
Growing up, after my mom found out about salmonella, we stopped doing things like licking the bowl or cooking sunnyside-up eggs. Since most of my eggs no longer come from factory farms, I take the risk these days and cook sunnyside-up. Such a pleasure.
Garden time
This year, I found an interesting deal online for 100 packets of seeds for $$59 at GetSeeds. Given that theses seeds are organic heirloom, that's a fantastic deal. My packets arrived in a nice big bag. Here's the bag, not that they attached some buttercup seeds to the outside:
It was a lovely variety, great for a large plot. There were tons of herbs, as well as a nice mix of peppers, tomatoes, squash, beans, corn, and so on. There were no instructions, but since they put the variety on each packet, it's easy enough to look up.
I started a large tray of peppers and tomatoes this year. Oddly, the peppers are doing better than the tomatoes. Usually it's the other way around. Generally I like peppers better, so I suppose it's a good thing, but I can't seem to figure out why the tomatoes aren't doing well.
The annual garden plots at Codman Community Farm are opening up today. Apparently they had a record number of new gardeners applying for plots. It's great that everyone is so interested in gardening. Looking forward to the new season.
And here's the seeds:
I started a large tray of peppers and tomatoes this year. Oddly, the peppers are doing better than the tomatoes. Usually it's the other way around. Generally I like peppers better, so I suppose it's a good thing, but I can't seem to figure out why the tomatoes aren't doing well.
The annual garden plots at Codman Community Farm are opening up today. Apparently they had a record number of new gardeners applying for plots. It's great that everyone is so interested in gardening. Looking forward to the new season.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Happy Spring
Spring came early this year. I've done some work in the gardens already, planting snap peas and cutting back an akebia vine that was getting invasive. Still a long way to go there.
Akebia is a beautiful flowering vine, but if planted with another variety, it produces fruit too. Max and I are dying to try out this fruit, so we picked a white variety to go with our rosy-colored flowers. It might not work this year, since the flowers are budding so early and the white hasn't been shipped to us yet, but we'll give it a go. It's a good excuse to tame it and try to make the tangle into something productive.
We went a little overboard this year picking out plants. I've pinned a bunch on Pinterest on my Edible Perennials board. I found out that companies may not send ribes, such as gooseberry plants, to Massachusetts. I checked the trusty Wikipedia article on ribes, and it is because it causes White Pine Blister Rust. I hadn't heard of this, but I don't argue too much with stopping non-native disease. No currants or gooseberries in my garden.
I picked up my ever-reliable meat share this week from Chestnut Farms. Kim was dealing out "extras", including beef bones, pork bones, and leaf lard. I made a pork bone soup by boiling the bones for a couple hours the first day (we ate the broth straight), then removed the bones and added sliced baby bella mushrooms, sweet peppers, scallions, and some bok choy. Pretty good! The beef bones are great just roasted for the marrow or in a soup. I like making sweet potato soup with that broth. And the leaf lard is supposed to be amazing for pie crust. I'm looking to make a gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free crust, so maybe leaf lard is the answer. It's a tough search on Google, and I'm not sure it's been done before.
Max cooked up four steaks in our share for a family visit. For his birthday I ordered miso from the South River Miso Co. They make several non-soy misos, anywhere from rice to barley to dandelion leek. We marinated the steaks with miso and a few other ingredients, which is always a nice treat. (My recipe is usually miso, sake, mirin, and sugar, sometimes with soy sauce and scallions.)
Happy Easter to everyone, and hope you got to enjoy some local food.
Akebia is a beautiful flowering vine, but if planted with another variety, it produces fruit too. Max and I are dying to try out this fruit, so we picked a white variety to go with our rosy-colored flowers. It might not work this year, since the flowers are budding so early and the white hasn't been shipped to us yet, but we'll give it a go. It's a good excuse to tame it and try to make the tangle into something productive.
We went a little overboard this year picking out plants. I've pinned a bunch on Pinterest on my Edible Perennials board. I found out that companies may not send ribes, such as gooseberry plants, to Massachusetts. I checked the trusty Wikipedia article on ribes, and it is because it causes White Pine Blister Rust. I hadn't heard of this, but I don't argue too much with stopping non-native disease. No currants or gooseberries in my garden.
I picked up my ever-reliable meat share this week from Chestnut Farms. Kim was dealing out "extras", including beef bones, pork bones, and leaf lard. I made a pork bone soup by boiling the bones for a couple hours the first day (we ate the broth straight), then removed the bones and added sliced baby bella mushrooms, sweet peppers, scallions, and some bok choy. Pretty good! The beef bones are great just roasted for the marrow or in a soup. I like making sweet potato soup with that broth. And the leaf lard is supposed to be amazing for pie crust. I'm looking to make a gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free crust, so maybe leaf lard is the answer. It's a tough search on Google, and I'm not sure it's been done before.
Max cooked up four steaks in our share for a family visit. For his birthday I ordered miso from the South River Miso Co. They make several non-soy misos, anywhere from rice to barley to dandelion leek. We marinated the steaks with miso and a few other ingredients, which is always a nice treat. (My recipe is usually miso, sake, mirin, and sugar, sometimes with soy sauce and scallions.)
Happy Easter to everyone, and hope you got to enjoy some local food.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Miso zucchini
Last year I was completely, utterly bombarded with zucchini. You know how they say that if you let the zucchini grow too large, the plant stops producing? Not only did the zucchini grow too large, the plants didn't stop producing until the frost killed them. Months of baseball bats. I brought some to work and received an email, "I hear that you have some weapons-grade zucchini on your desk. I would love to take one off your hands." Love.
So this year I did NOT plant ANY zucchini. In a way this is sad. I was always guaranteed a grocery bag of zucchini. But I am using the space for more winter squash, and the patty pan squash I grow is an adorable, round little yellow zucchini. But it's not, you know, ZUCCHINI, stuff of nightmares.
Still, no matter what you do, if you live anywhere near a farm or gardener you're going to end up with someone, um, "gifting" you zucchini. And I just didn't want more stirfried zucchini with garlic, or to put it into a curry. Last year I bought the cookbook Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go, which I love. The book presents a different way of cooking, combining, presentation than traditional big dish American cookbooks. I've cooked a lot with miso this year, partly due to that cookbook, so I decided to try a miso zucchini.
Miso zucchini
Serves 2
One knob of fresh ginger
Splash of sesame oil (for cooking)
2 tablespoons of miso (the paste, not the powder)
2 tablespoon of Mirin (or a sake/sugar mix)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 smallish zucchini
Sesame seeds
So this year I did NOT plant ANY zucchini. In a way this is sad. I was always guaranteed a grocery bag of zucchini. But I am using the space for more winter squash, and the patty pan squash I grow is an adorable, round little yellow zucchini. But it's not, you know, ZUCCHINI, stuff of nightmares.
Still, no matter what you do, if you live anywhere near a farm or gardener you're going to end up with someone, um, "gifting" you zucchini. And I just didn't want more stirfried zucchini with garlic, or to put it into a curry. Last year I bought the cookbook Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go, which I love. The book presents a different way of cooking, combining, presentation than traditional big dish American cookbooks. I've cooked a lot with miso this year, partly due to that cookbook, so I decided to try a miso zucchini.
Miso zucchini
Serves 2
One knob of fresh ginger
Splash of sesame oil (for cooking)
2 tablespoons of miso (the paste, not the powder)
2 tablespoon of Mirin (or a sake/sugar mix)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 smallish zucchini
Sesame seeds
- Chop the ginger. If you like to chew on ginger, then do a rough chop. If you like the flavor but hate the texture, mince it.
- Slice the zucchini into thin rounds. (Gadget alert: If you have a mandoline, this is the sort of thing you should use it for.)
- Heat a fry pan on medium and add sesame oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the ginger.
- When the ginger has cooked for a couple minutes, add the miso, mirin, and soy sauce. This will form a sort of paste.
- Add the zucchini and stir to cover with the paste.
- Cook, stirring off and on, until the zucchini is floppy, but still holds its shape.
- Remove from heat.
- Toss a few sesame seeds on top, give it a quick stir, and serve hot.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Bitter melon and bitter gourd seedlings
A couple weeks ago I posted about growing bitter melons and bitter gourds, but didn't know what the seedlings would look like. I couldn't find the pictures online, so I'm contributing to the Internet today by posting a few pictures of my germinated seedlings. The gourds and the melons look similar.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Progress
Every year I wander around the community gardens with some jealousy. Why are everyone's tomatoes taller than mine? Well, because I try to start them from seed. Inevitably, some of the seedlings die, and then I replace them with purchased tomatoes from, well, everywhere. Farmer's markets, gifts from friends and coworkers, Wilson Farms, Pemberton Farms.
My garden is taking on a life of its own through its various deaths. I keep replacing and diversifying. A coworker of mine left me a bag of homeless plants, so I popped in a couple eggplant, a tomato, a jalapeno, some basil, and a parsley. Luckily, with the exception of the jalapeno, the plants were new varieties. Why I prefer to have two kinds of basil and parsley instead of one is beyond me, but it seems to appeal to my innate need to have as many options as possible. Or, my innate need to hoard. Spring has sprung; I am decluttering the house and cluttering the garden.
But I had a couple people tell me my garden was off to a good start today, and as I know these folks are well weathered gardeners, I'll accept their opinions with optimism.
The corn is about 8 inches high, and the beans are all popping up out of the ground. I'm willing them to send up tendrils so that I can watch them curl around the corn. Doing the same with my sunflowers. Last year, I rebelled against beans, not a one in the garden. This year, six kinds! Soy, red cranberry, scarlet runner, two green pole varieties, and fava. Can't wait. I think I was just avoiding the classic green bush beans. They grow like mad and then you're stuck eating them. Apparently not everyone shares this opinion, so I started giving them out last time I had a glut.
All my squash are doing beautifully. One of the gardeners suggested that in 5 minutes with a stirrup hoe, I could clean out all the weeds in my three sisters. It was true! I mulched the squash down after the weeding, finally. A nice solution. I have four kinds of winter squash and some patty pan going. Still managing to hold off on the zucchini!
I planted bitter melon and bitter gourd to cook with pork later in the summer. And now I have this conundrum...I don't know what kind of seedlings I'm looking for! In this case, I normally let everything grow, including the weeds. Woe. These seeds looked like weird flowers, not like normal seeds. I have only had the melon in dishes at restaurants, so I've never even played with the fruit before.
Meanwhile, I'm eating a lot of greens, radishes, Hakurei turnips, and scallions. It's going well, but I was sure thankful that some hot peppers are setting. I'll give them another week. Dinner today was kimchi fried rice made with Chestnut Farms hot dogs, greens and turnips from my garden at Codman Farms, and kimchi that I bought at Ebisuya but that is made at Chung Ki Wa.
I visited Chestnut Farms this weekend and we took lovely pictures of all the animals! Hoping to post a few soon.
My garden is taking on a life of its own through its various deaths. I keep replacing and diversifying. A coworker of mine left me a bag of homeless plants, so I popped in a couple eggplant, a tomato, a jalapeno, some basil, and a parsley. Luckily, with the exception of the jalapeno, the plants were new varieties. Why I prefer to have two kinds of basil and parsley instead of one is beyond me, but it seems to appeal to my innate need to have as many options as possible. Or, my innate need to hoard. Spring has sprung; I am decluttering the house and cluttering the garden.
But I had a couple people tell me my garden was off to a good start today, and as I know these folks are well weathered gardeners, I'll accept their opinions with optimism.
The corn is about 8 inches high, and the beans are all popping up out of the ground. I'm willing them to send up tendrils so that I can watch them curl around the corn. Doing the same with my sunflowers. Last year, I rebelled against beans, not a one in the garden. This year, six kinds! Soy, red cranberry, scarlet runner, two green pole varieties, and fava. Can't wait. I think I was just avoiding the classic green bush beans. They grow like mad and then you're stuck eating them. Apparently not everyone shares this opinion, so I started giving them out last time I had a glut.
All my squash are doing beautifully. One of the gardeners suggested that in 5 minutes with a stirrup hoe, I could clean out all the weeds in my three sisters. It was true! I mulched the squash down after the weeding, finally. A nice solution. I have four kinds of winter squash and some patty pan going. Still managing to hold off on the zucchini!
I planted bitter melon and bitter gourd to cook with pork later in the summer. And now I have this conundrum...I don't know what kind of seedlings I'm looking for! In this case, I normally let everything grow, including the weeds. Woe. These seeds looked like weird flowers, not like normal seeds. I have only had the melon in dishes at restaurants, so I've never even played with the fruit before.
Meanwhile, I'm eating a lot of greens, radishes, Hakurei turnips, and scallions. It's going well, but I was sure thankful that some hot peppers are setting. I'll give them another week. Dinner today was kimchi fried rice made with Chestnut Farms hot dogs, greens and turnips from my garden at Codman Farms, and kimchi that I bought at Ebisuya but that is made at Chung Ki Wa.
I visited Chestnut Farms this weekend and we took lovely pictures of all the animals! Hoping to post a few soon.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Heat
We're having a heatwave in Massachusetts. I love the heat! And, sadly, I spend my entire days inside a freezing air-conditioned office. But at 6pm, the worst of the sun is over...though I put on the sunscreen anyway, redhead thing...I'm outside in the fields. I wish I were there every night, because every day there's something to take care of, something to miss. Still mourning some lost peppers, but I put in some transplants from Wilson Farms today to alleviate the loss. It gives me more variety. The plants are at the rootbound stage, the "on sale" stage. I think of being a rescuer here, taking in the lost lambs...
I think I've lost plants mostly due to the deadly combination of sun and little rain. Most of my basil has shriveled. You read gardening books, the step-by-step, the pretty pictures, 1-2 pages of info for all sorts of generic crops, and yet, it has so little to do with reality. Reality says "plant me on a day when it will be cool or wet for a couple days" and yet today is the day you have to plant, and it's going to be hot and sunny for a week. Throw in the fact that the water broke in our corner of the farm, and me carting around my amazing orange watering can still isn't a match for the heat.
But why is it that even though my plants are drying up, the weeds are flourishing? I wandered into my perennial plot today to find...a jungle! Weeds pushing up through the strawberries, plants I'd "moved" popping up everywhere, vines going absolutely nuts. I pulled a few weeds, and lo, the first strawberry! And a second due in a day or so. It was magic. The weeds must've hidden it from curious eyes. This weekend I'll need to go at that plot with a vengeance.
Every day I go to the farm I set out a list of must dos. Today it was to get the plants into the ground, and finally get the okra, 3 varieties of cukes, and Korean and tigger melons into the ground. I managed all of that, plus some weeding and much watering. I'm awaiting the moment that the beans I planted this weekend emerge from the soil, the soy, cranberry, and fava popping up in a green mat, and the pole and runner beans entwining themselves around the corn and sunflowers that so graciously germinated and seem to be giving the weeds a run for their money.
Meanwhile, the peas, radishes, scallions, and greens are flourishing. I picked a plastic grocery bag's worth of the stuff today (the strawberry I just ate right out of the plot), and then made a bacon and greens stirfry, then a bacon, radish, and scallion pizza. I love my Chestnut Farms bacon! This weekend is meet the meat time, so my brother and I are taking the trip out. Hopefully the heat keeps up.
I think I've lost plants mostly due to the deadly combination of sun and little rain. Most of my basil has shriveled. You read gardening books, the step-by-step, the pretty pictures, 1-2 pages of info for all sorts of generic crops, and yet, it has so little to do with reality. Reality says "plant me on a day when it will be cool or wet for a couple days" and yet today is the day you have to plant, and it's going to be hot and sunny for a week. Throw in the fact that the water broke in our corner of the farm, and me carting around my amazing orange watering can still isn't a match for the heat.
But why is it that even though my plants are drying up, the weeds are flourishing? I wandered into my perennial plot today to find...a jungle! Weeds pushing up through the strawberries, plants I'd "moved" popping up everywhere, vines going absolutely nuts. I pulled a few weeds, and lo, the first strawberry! And a second due in a day or so. It was magic. The weeds must've hidden it from curious eyes. This weekend I'll need to go at that plot with a vengeance.
Every day I go to the farm I set out a list of must dos. Today it was to get the plants into the ground, and finally get the okra, 3 varieties of cukes, and Korean and tigger melons into the ground. I managed all of that, plus some weeding and much watering. I'm awaiting the moment that the beans I planted this weekend emerge from the soil, the soy, cranberry, and fava popping up in a green mat, and the pole and runner beans entwining themselves around the corn and sunflowers that so graciously germinated and seem to be giving the weeds a run for their money.
Meanwhile, the peas, radishes, scallions, and greens are flourishing. I picked a plastic grocery bag's worth of the stuff today (the strawberry I just ate right out of the plot), and then made a bacon and greens stirfry, then a bacon, radish, and scallion pizza. I love my Chestnut Farms bacon! This weekend is meet the meat time, so my brother and I are taking the trip out. Hopefully the heat keeps up.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
May garden update
And suddenly it's the end of May. My leeks grew up and I've put them in the garden. I also put in a ton of pepper, eggplant, tomato, flower, and other seeds. Most have been popped into the garden at their own peril.
On Thursday I was rushing. It was after work and I got there around 6. I really wanted to put the melons in before the hot summer days coming up over the weekend. And I was so sad for my new little seedlings. It would be unseasonably warm all weekend, with little water, and me, well I was off to Acadia for some camping, fishing, and hiking. (During the drive up, I watched the temperature fall from 86 to 52.) As always, I tried to cram too much into my day...sweet potatoes and tomatoes to transplant, watermelon seeds to plant, everything to water, and my my aren't the weeds getting tall these days?
The mosquitoes had their revenge. They wrote "3" on my left arm...a message that my boyfriend and I have yet to decipher. Though I did get a few bites up in Acadia, it was nothing like my late evening gardening trip.
But it sure paid off. I came back and my corn is now ready for stage 2. I'm trying out the 3 sisters planting...corn, beans, and squash. You plant five hills of corn, with four seeds in each. Then you plant 4 hills of squash, and we picked 4 different kinds. After the corn is 4 inches tall, you plant pole beans that grow up on the corn. And you have this lovely mess of companion planting, tall and short. So far it's quite nice looking, and I'm hoping for productivity.
I'll admit to a bit of jealousy when I look at some of the neat, tidy gardens with careful veggie choices. My garden is focused on getting out as much food as possible in a small space. In my 15x30 plot, I'm hoping for about 50 varieties of veggies. It's pretty easy to do when you only plant one or two square feet of of several veggies. My problem is that it also leads me to buying too many seeds. Johnny's Seeds has been great, and I particularly like their sweet potato sets. But next year I might go for the High Mowing Seeds, since there are less choices and they are all organic. I'm finding that it's a lot easier for me to control my shopping when there are less choices, especially when they're all high quality. Clothes, menu choices, seed catalogs, less is more darling.
The tragedy of the week was that I burnt out some of my peppers and eggplant. I'm thinking that I'll try to replace them with other seedlings from the garden shop. Last year I similarly had problems with both, so I'll need a different strategy in the spring for starting. I figured that my grow light would solve my transplanting needs, but I think I'll need to get everything bigger pots too. I read all the seed packets and try to follow the rules, but so very often it doesn't work out in the soil as it does in black and white. Will keep on truckin'.
On Thursday I was rushing. It was after work and I got there around 6. I really wanted to put the melons in before the hot summer days coming up over the weekend. And I was so sad for my new little seedlings. It would be unseasonably warm all weekend, with little water, and me, well I was off to Acadia for some camping, fishing, and hiking. (During the drive up, I watched the temperature fall from 86 to 52.) As always, I tried to cram too much into my day...sweet potatoes and tomatoes to transplant, watermelon seeds to plant, everything to water, and my my aren't the weeds getting tall these days?
The mosquitoes had their revenge. They wrote "3" on my left arm...a message that my boyfriend and I have yet to decipher. Though I did get a few bites up in Acadia, it was nothing like my late evening gardening trip.
But it sure paid off. I came back and my corn is now ready for stage 2. I'm trying out the 3 sisters planting...corn, beans, and squash. You plant five hills of corn, with four seeds in each. Then you plant 4 hills of squash, and we picked 4 different kinds. After the corn is 4 inches tall, you plant pole beans that grow up on the corn. And you have this lovely mess of companion planting, tall and short. So far it's quite nice looking, and I'm hoping for productivity.
I'll admit to a bit of jealousy when I look at some of the neat, tidy gardens with careful veggie choices. My garden is focused on getting out as much food as possible in a small space. In my 15x30 plot, I'm hoping for about 50 varieties of veggies. It's pretty easy to do when you only plant one or two square feet of of several veggies. My problem is that it also leads me to buying too many seeds. Johnny's Seeds has been great, and I particularly like their sweet potato sets. But next year I might go for the High Mowing Seeds, since there are less choices and they are all organic. I'm finding that it's a lot easier for me to control my shopping when there are less choices, especially when they're all high quality. Clothes, menu choices, seed catalogs, less is more darling.
The tragedy of the week was that I burnt out some of my peppers and eggplant. I'm thinking that I'll try to replace them with other seedlings from the garden shop. Last year I similarly had problems with both, so I'll need a different strategy in the spring for starting. I figured that my grow light would solve my transplanting needs, but I think I'll need to get everything bigger pots too. I read all the seed packets and try to follow the rules, but so very often it doesn't work out in the soil as it does in black and white. Will keep on truckin'.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Spring in my condo
Massachusetts, along with most of the rest of the country, has been suffering a harsh winter. Weekly or twice weekly snows, followed by cold and ice, and melting snow that freezes to ice. Two-lane roads are now one, and drivers are playing vicious games of chicken on the road. "Why should I yield?" seems a common theme. I'm itching for spring, so I decided to start it in my condo.
My boyfriend bought me a grow light for my birthday, a fairly basic one with a fluorescent bulb from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Even though most of what I'm planting shouldn't be started until March, I decided to start up my leeks, which take forever, and lettuce for winter greens.
Last year I grew everything on the windowsill, to mixed results. I bought the apartment with no appreciation for a south-facing window, and my only windows face North. But even then, my organic farming teacher once said that there's such a thing as "South Window Syndrome." The plants tend to be very spindly in any window, and he suggested a greenhouse or a grow light. It's nice because the plants are, at the very least, growing straight up. They are still very tender, and I'm beginning to understand the need for hardening. I'll have to put in some sort of cold frame this summer.
But ain't it grand to see a bit of green?
Leeks:
Lettuce:
I note that we haven't had a significant snowfall up here since the groundhog failed to see its shadow. Happy melting.
My boyfriend bought me a grow light for my birthday, a fairly basic one with a fluorescent bulb from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Even though most of what I'm planting shouldn't be started until March, I decided to start up my leeks, which take forever, and lettuce for winter greens.
Last year I grew everything on the windowsill, to mixed results. I bought the apartment with no appreciation for a south-facing window, and my only windows face North. But even then, my organic farming teacher once said that there's such a thing as "South Window Syndrome." The plants tend to be very spindly in any window, and he suggested a greenhouse or a grow light. It's nice because the plants are, at the very least, growing straight up. They are still very tender, and I'm beginning to understand the need for hardening. I'll have to put in some sort of cold frame this summer.
But ain't it grand to see a bit of green?
Leeks:
Lettuce:
I note that we haven't had a significant snowfall up here since the groundhog failed to see its shadow. Happy melting.
Nourse Farms
There's a nice article in the Boston Globe that's mainly about Nourse Farms in Westborough, MA.
The article discusses how Nourse is one of the oldest farms in the US, but that they've managed to continue by adapting with the times. As a kid, my parents would occasionally bring us to Nourse to pick strawberries (and yes, I was the guilty, curly-haired redhead with suspicious sticky red all over my face).
Now that I've moved out of that area, I don't get over to the farm too often. I heard from friends and directories that they have a CSA now, and my parents decided to sign up.
There's more to choosing a CSA than meets the eye. The CSA that I used to belong to was largely a veggie CSA. We'd get a couple containers of strawberries or raspberries in the season, but never enough. Nourse specializes in berries. My parents gets fresh berries for months and months, in quantity. As few foods seem to make my mom happier than berries, this is a great fit and a way to break up her share with fruit that requires no preparation. In addition, the farm has a nice store full of their jams and jellies and other food for sale. One year they offered three berry pies if you renewed your CSA subscription early. So good!
If you are choosing a CSA, try to find out what sorts of crops they grow, and about how much they had of things the last couple years. 2009 and 2010 were vastly different growing seasons in Massachusetts. I love the surprises in each season, but it's also nice to know what I'll be eating all summer.
(Note: it appears that there's another Nourse Farms in South Deerfield, MA that produces berry plants, but I know little about them.)
The article discusses how Nourse is one of the oldest farms in the US, but that they've managed to continue by adapting with the times. As a kid, my parents would occasionally bring us to Nourse to pick strawberries (and yes, I was the guilty, curly-haired redhead with suspicious sticky red all over my face).
Now that I've moved out of that area, I don't get over to the farm too often. I heard from friends and directories that they have a CSA now, and my parents decided to sign up.
There's more to choosing a CSA than meets the eye. The CSA that I used to belong to was largely a veggie CSA. We'd get a couple containers of strawberries or raspberries in the season, but never enough. Nourse specializes in berries. My parents gets fresh berries for months and months, in quantity. As few foods seem to make my mom happier than berries, this is a great fit and a way to break up her share with fruit that requires no preparation. In addition, the farm has a nice store full of their jams and jellies and other food for sale. One year they offered three berry pies if you renewed your CSA subscription early. So good!
If you are choosing a CSA, try to find out what sorts of crops they grow, and about how much they had of things the last couple years. 2009 and 2010 were vastly different growing seasons in Massachusetts. I love the surprises in each season, but it's also nice to know what I'll be eating all summer.
(Note: it appears that there's another Nourse Farms in South Deerfield, MA that produces berry plants, but I know little about them.)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Farmshare Fair
There is a Farmshare Fair sponsored by theMove on Thursday, February 3 at Democracy Center in Harvard Sq. Pick out who is going to grow your summer veggies, dream of summer, dream of melting...melting...melting.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
NOFA Winter Conference
Last weekend Max and I went to the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Winter Conference in Worcester, MA. As a non-farmer, I was a little sheepish about going, but the program included a nice mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced activities. In fact, there were so many workshops on things I am interested in as a gardener and potential farmer that I had trouble deciding what to attend.
The one-day conference also included a key-note speech by an organic apple farmer, a teacup auction for various farm goodies (neither of us won, but we really wanted the Armsby Abbey gift certificate), a potluck lunch, and a nice vendor selection. At the technology conferences I occasionally attend, you don't get cheese samples, seeds, organic soap, and sips of raspberry wine accompanied by roasted beet spread on crackers.
I went to three workshops, one on raising certified organic poultry, one on finding your own farmland, and one on edible landscaping.
The organic poultry workshop was largely new to me. I was interested in what they do to raise the chickens from the beginning of life, and that warm chickens wander; cold chickens huddle. After they are old enough and can fend off some predators better, they are given lots of outside space. I'm used to chickens in school buses, but they talked up the chickens with the movable cages, which is what Salatin uses. It allows the chickens to add manure to the field while cutting your grass. You move cages twice per day, and add new ones as the chickens grow. You can plant on the field, but harvest must be 90-120 days after the chickens have been there. There was some talk of the changing legislation for organic farming solutions, and how it might be to work with the new Congress. Apparently NOFA sued and lost over the organic standards back in 2002, but many of their changes are under consideration.
In the workshop on acquiring farmland, sponsored by Land for Good, I had a wonderful time talking to people who were in various stages of trying to start their own farm. Some were currently working at local farms and hoping to strike out on their own. Others, like me, had a full-time job outside farming, and were saving money. The big thing I learned is that it's very difficult to get land without a business plan and experience farming. It's also very difficult to get money when you are farming. Everyone noted that you can't readily do both at the same time. But a few had done it, one gave up his software job, another really wanted to raise kids on her farm, and she and her husband saved up and now were "living the dream." It was really interesting to see all the paths and ages in the room, and the Land for Good folks are developing tools and workshops to help you sort out your farming goal. I'm currently reading Salatin's You Can Farm, and he really stresses that this is an entrepreneurial adventure, not an escape from real life. And in this workshop, I received a sheet on budgeting and a worksheet on my own values. I also got a healthy idea of what it means to work this out as a couple, and managed to have conversations with my boyfriend that I just haven't learned to frame in the right light. It's a big thing, figuring out a farm.
The last workshop I went to was about landscaping with wild edibles, run Ethan Roland by AppleSeed Permaculture. One of the first pictures Ethan displayed was a woman standing with banana trees in Holyoke, MA. Wow! It turns out that you can grow the banana leaves up here, though the plants will not fruit. You can use these lives in cooking or as serving dishes. He went on to talk about kiwis and American persimmons and the pawpaw, a fruit that is native to North America and tastes like mango. There's a hardy pawpaw that can grow in Zone 6, which is about where I am. I also learned where pine nuts came from (and why they're so expensive...it's a 20-year start-up period to get the tree growing). He talked about an edible landscaping wiki sponsored by the Apios Institute. It includes information about growing the plants, their uses, what to plant them with, and plans of existing gardens that include these plants.
I left this conference wishing I had a couple acres to play with, but instead I must appease myself with dozens of seed packets that need starting. I learned last year that you can't start leeks too early, so I put 50 seeds in the seed trays from Johnny's Seeds. I added water, and now I wait for spring in my landless, balcony-less condo.
The one-day conference also included a key-note speech by an organic apple farmer, a teacup auction for various farm goodies (neither of us won, but we really wanted the Armsby Abbey gift certificate), a potluck lunch, and a nice vendor selection. At the technology conferences I occasionally attend, you don't get cheese samples, seeds, organic soap, and sips of raspberry wine accompanied by roasted beet spread on crackers.
I went to three workshops, one on raising certified organic poultry, one on finding your own farmland, and one on edible landscaping.
The organic poultry workshop was largely new to me. I was interested in what they do to raise the chickens from the beginning of life, and that warm chickens wander; cold chickens huddle. After they are old enough and can fend off some predators better, they are given lots of outside space. I'm used to chickens in school buses, but they talked up the chickens with the movable cages, which is what Salatin uses. It allows the chickens to add manure to the field while cutting your grass. You move cages twice per day, and add new ones as the chickens grow. You can plant on the field, but harvest must be 90-120 days after the chickens have been there. There was some talk of the changing legislation for organic farming solutions, and how it might be to work with the new Congress. Apparently NOFA sued and lost over the organic standards back in 2002, but many of their changes are under consideration.
In the workshop on acquiring farmland, sponsored by Land for Good, I had a wonderful time talking to people who were in various stages of trying to start their own farm. Some were currently working at local farms and hoping to strike out on their own. Others, like me, had a full-time job outside farming, and were saving money. The big thing I learned is that it's very difficult to get land without a business plan and experience farming. It's also very difficult to get money when you are farming. Everyone noted that you can't readily do both at the same time. But a few had done it, one gave up his software job, another really wanted to raise kids on her farm, and she and her husband saved up and now were "living the dream." It was really interesting to see all the paths and ages in the room, and the Land for Good folks are developing tools and workshops to help you sort out your farming goal. I'm currently reading Salatin's You Can Farm, and he really stresses that this is an entrepreneurial adventure, not an escape from real life. And in this workshop, I received a sheet on budgeting and a worksheet on my own values. I also got a healthy idea of what it means to work this out as a couple, and managed to have conversations with my boyfriend that I just haven't learned to frame in the right light. It's a big thing, figuring out a farm.
The last workshop I went to was about landscaping with wild edibles, run Ethan Roland by AppleSeed Permaculture. One of the first pictures Ethan displayed was a woman standing with banana trees in Holyoke, MA. Wow! It turns out that you can grow the banana leaves up here, though the plants will not fruit. You can use these lives in cooking or as serving dishes. He went on to talk about kiwis and American persimmons and the pawpaw, a fruit that is native to North America and tastes like mango. There's a hardy pawpaw that can grow in Zone 6, which is about where I am. I also learned where pine nuts came from (and why they're so expensive...it's a 20-year start-up period to get the tree growing). He talked about an edible landscaping wiki sponsored by the Apios Institute. It includes information about growing the plants, their uses, what to plant them with, and plans of existing gardens that include these plants.
I left this conference wishing I had a couple acres to play with, but instead I must appease myself with dozens of seed packets that need starting. I learned last year that you can't start leeks too early, so I put 50 seeds in the seed trays from Johnny's Seeds. I added water, and now I wait for spring in my landless, balcony-less condo.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Codman Community Farms
Last year I grew a garden at Codman Community Farms, and I plan to go back this year. The farm is very generous with their plots, so I got only a half plot, and arrived to find it was three times the space I expected! It was a wonderful outlet for stress...no one loves to pitchfork dirt more than me. I grew stuff I loved, sweet potatoes that surprised me with their size and perfectness, tomatoes that took a long time to grow, but were delicious in the end, wild sesame stolen from my boyfriend's sister-in-law, hot peppers, scallions, melons from H-mart, shiso and daikon from Ebisuya and way way way way too much zucchini. I actually had about fifty varieties growing in my garden, because a small garden is great for single plants that you pick up here and there at garden shops or the library book and plant sale.
I'm heading into next year and will try to keep track of spending better, as well as the harvest, hopefully on this blog. I have a gigantic wish list I've generated from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Hopefully I can trim. Last year I spent a lot on transplants and hope to do more from seed this spring. So, on to that project.
I'm heading into next year and will try to keep track of spending better, as well as the harvest, hopefully on this blog. I have a gigantic wish list I've generated from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Hopefully I can trim. Last year I spent a lot on transplants and hope to do more from seed this spring. So, on to that project.
Buy No Food month
This month is Buy No Food month. I really love eating, and though I in particular love supporting direct-to-market, local products, I'll eat almost anything. (I even crave Big Macs about twice per year, but really those are travel food and should be treated accordingly. My parents didn't just take us to MacDonalds; it was a treat that you got on the 600-mile trip to Grandma and Grandpa's farm. And we didn't have dessert every day either. Anyway...)
I keep track of all my spending at mint.com. And the fact of the matter is that between groceries and going out, I spend $500-600 on food. Just for me. I mean, I share it with people in my life, but those people usually share back about equally. But still, even though I grew a garden last summer, my food costs did not go down.
I buy a lot of food, because I love food shopping and discovery. But I don't always eat it all, as I might get busy or sick of leftovers or whatever. So the idea this month is to only eat the food at my house, and to not go out for drinks or dinner. It's partly to eat what I have, and partly to get into cooking mode.
It also means saying no a lot. In some parts of the country, like when I lived in a more rural area, it was trivial to stay home each night. But in the Boston area, my boyfriend and I get invited out multiple times per week. We have favorites and rituals. Or I might stop by for a pre-made chicken on the way home, because I'm hungry and tired and worked 50 hours and went to two classes that week and there's just no way I'm going to cook anything. In fact, I'm guessing that this problem extended the garden. If I spent 10 hours per week at the garden, that's 10 hours less time to cook. And digging and wedding takes energy.
It's much easier to buy less food when two people are cooking in the same apartment. I did this with my sister a couple years ago, and she and I had a merry time of it. At the time we had a glut of CSA veggies, and she could process winter squash like no one else. I am not in a veggie CSA right now, but I am allowing myself $5-10 in veggies each week. So far this has been enough.
So experiment experiment. It would be good to drop the food budget significantly, because I love to cook and have other priorities. It's the sort of thing worth feeling guilty about...what happened to special occasions? Why is there one twice per week? It's embarrassing the amount I let the budget go out of whack against what I want in life, so a month of extreme should help me adjust back to moderate.
I keep track of all my spending at mint.com. And the fact of the matter is that between groceries and going out, I spend $500-600 on food. Just for me. I mean, I share it with people in my life, but those people usually share back about equally. But still, even though I grew a garden last summer, my food costs did not go down.
I buy a lot of food, because I love food shopping and discovery. But I don't always eat it all, as I might get busy or sick of leftovers or whatever. So the idea this month is to only eat the food at my house, and to not go out for drinks or dinner. It's partly to eat what I have, and partly to get into cooking mode.
It also means saying no a lot. In some parts of the country, like when I lived in a more rural area, it was trivial to stay home each night. But in the Boston area, my boyfriend and I get invited out multiple times per week. We have favorites and rituals. Or I might stop by for a pre-made chicken on the way home, because I'm hungry and tired and worked 50 hours and went to two classes that week and there's just no way I'm going to cook anything. In fact, I'm guessing that this problem extended the garden. If I spent 10 hours per week at the garden, that's 10 hours less time to cook. And digging and wedding takes energy.
It's much easier to buy less food when two people are cooking in the same apartment. I did this with my sister a couple years ago, and she and I had a merry time of it. At the time we had a glut of CSA veggies, and she could process winter squash like no one else. I am not in a veggie CSA right now, but I am allowing myself $5-10 in veggies each week. So far this has been enough.
So experiment experiment. It would be good to drop the food budget significantly, because I love to cook and have other priorities. It's the sort of thing worth feeling guilty about...what happened to special occasions? Why is there one twice per week? It's embarrassing the amount I let the budget go out of whack against what I want in life, so a month of extreme should help me adjust back to moderate.
Somerville Winter Farmer's Market
After a year off, I think I'll dust off the old blog and start posting again. If I post enough, the fact that I took off a year will fade into the past, forgotten, right?
I just finished my courses for my grad degree, but I have my thesis to complete. I'll write a couple posts about my past year and my plans for this year.
In the meantime, you should check out the Somerville Winter Farmer's Market. One interesting thing to note is that changes to MA legislation, you can now buy local wines at farmers markets. My spy tells me that the Turtle Creek wines were very good today. I'm excited that you can go to the market and get fish and meat and wine and chocolate, along with the veggies.
I just finished my courses for my grad degree, but I have my thesis to complete. I'll write a couple posts about my past year and my plans for this year.
In the meantime, you should check out the Somerville Winter Farmer's Market. One interesting thing to note is that changes to MA legislation, you can now buy local wines at farmers markets. My spy tells me that the Turtle Creek wines were very good today. I'm excited that you can go to the market and get fish and meat and wine and chocolate, along with the veggies.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Winter Farmer's Market
October is usually the last month for farmer's markets in this area, as frost takes over and a few farms just go into winter shares. It looks like there's a new winter farmer's market in Natick. It's located at the Johnson Elementary School gymnasium along Route 27, and runs on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through March.
It looks like Wayland also has a market, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Russell’s Garden Center.
Thank heavens for January thaw yesterday. I love January's little reminder that spring will be here in a couple months.
It looks like Wayland also has a market, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Russell’s Garden Center.
Thank heavens for January thaw yesterday. I love January's little reminder that spring will be here in a couple months.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Farm Share Fair
According to a post in the Davis Square LiveJournal community, there is a Farm Share Fair and Film on Monday January 11 at the Somerville Public Library. It should be a chance to learn about local farms and the structure of the different farm shares. If you're looking for a share this spring, it's good to ask all your questions at the beginning, about how to pay, when you pick up, and if you need to contribute through volunteering on farm.
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