I was doing a bit of a jig and Doug had a big smile on his face as we watched a beautiful sight. A tree company dumping a huge load of woodchips in our driveway! It’s the little things, you know, and this was truly a happy day! We are on a mission to transform…
Tag: organic gardening
Hori Hori (such a fun word to say)
Permaculture originated in Japan, along with some amazing farm implements. I have a Japanese sickle that I can never remember the name of and began calling it a Hibachi because I couldn’t remember any other Japanese word! (Not proud of this.) Well, fast forward, and all my farm interns call it that too. At least…
Winnowing Amaranth (growing one’s own grains)
Every year we try to do a little better; buy a little bit less, throw out a bit less trash, use less petroleum, grow a little bit more, become a little more self sufficient. This rocky, dry desert wouldn’t allow me more space to do a swath of turned soil for wheat or oats, but…
Surrendering and Saving Seeds
My friend, Lisa, is studying homeopathy and had an interesting solution to get rid of grasshoppers. You tincture them, dilute them, then apply it to the garden. I also heard of chopping up grasshoppers in a blender, diluting them, then spraying them in the garden. I am an herbalist so Doug and I had a…
How to Create a Meandering Garden
This is the driest terrain I have ever gardened upon. It is straight high desert, cactus loving, rattlesnake calling, no-rain-in-sight, sand and limestone. Luckily, I like a good challenge and I believe that if I work with the land instead of against it I will have great results. Putting grass everywhere is not a sustainable…
Let’s Get Back to Farming
There is no doubt that this has been a very stressful time for most of us for many different reasons. Now, we can only handle so much stress and attempts to control things out of our hands. It’s time we leave the craziness and get back to farming. I have lots of things to show…
Trench Planting; Easy Gardening Anywhere
“But how will you plant with all the rock?” the sweet librarian asked me. Her colleague looked on curiously. I began rambling on excitedly about how to grow in this particular environment. The soil of our new farm is really more sandstone and red sand (with a little cactus thrown in) then it is soil….
The Intricacies of Placing a Seed Order
Oh it is one of the best days of the year for me! Not my birthday, not my anniversary (that’s next week), not Christmas, it is the day I placed my seed order! Do you know this joy? Oh happy day. My seed and orchard orders are in. I know quite a lot of folks…
How I “Make” Money and a New Chefs Knife
Welcome 2020! You bring with it such promise and excitement for a new year! What are your dreams this year? What are your goals? One of my main goals this year is to up our food production. Not just gardening, though that is a big part of it. We also have a lofty goal of…
The First Things to do to Start a Homestead and Winter Reading
When you first move onto your property (or to your house in the suburbs), or when you first decide to homestead (or just live more sustainably), it can feel overwhelming. What to do first? I suppose my moving in the fall was a very good time to relocate. Yes, I lost all of my harvest…
Farmgirl School 