Our Garden - Pictures!

Photos from 6/20:

South-east corner, above. Left to right: Chard, butternut squash on trellis, green beans, snacking tomatoes, onions.

Northeast corner, above. Left to right: Tomatoes, onions, carrots behind the onions, cucumbers, cabbage behind them; fresh tilled spot with beets behind.

North-west corner, above. Left to right: Various peppers , a zucchini in between bare spots, a bare 1/3 row in front of the carrots, then the canning tomatoes.

Snacking tomatoes - we have one each of Sungold, Tangerine, Sugar Baby, German Striped, and another red slicing tomato. These are just for eating fresh; the canning tomatoes are Big Bog to be pressure-canned this year. Everything is organic! The mulches are straw and wood chip; pine mulch is next. This is a learning year =)

A New Garden

Our town finally has a community garden. Newly tilled and fenced, but no water on site. We have a plot, 18x40 feet, facing south. I called my farmer friend for help and we planned what would go where. Since we keep the plot till Nov. 30, we'll have a second round going in when the first round comes out. I'm told that the fall garden will be even better than the summer garden!

Right now, I have about 20 feet of space for herbs. We're growing a double row of green beans, 2 hills of zucchini, 3 of yellow squash, a row of mixed tomatoes, a row of white potatoes, plus carrots, cukes, cantaloupe, butternut squash, onions, and several other things. A fair bit will end up in the pantry - tomatoes, winter squash, onions, potatoes, the herbs and so on. Some of the herbs were chosen for eating fresh - savory doesn't store well, same with chervil, and I'd like to try those. And of course, there are tomatoes, cukes and Ambrosia cantaloupe for eating fresh!

I'm growing both hybrid and heirloom varieties this year. Since I cannot save seed this year and need the best production for putting food up, it's a good compromise.

Hybrids are "plants produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen of another" (source: About.com) - you can create hybrids in your back yard. GMO is what I try to avoid; those are the ones that are "modified using genetic engineering techniques" (source: Wikipedia) - not something you can do in the backyard! I wanted to clarify that as there is sometimes confusion between to two terms.

Farmers Mini-Market

This week's market was very nearly rained out. Overnight rain, market canceled, market un-canceled at the request of a vendor (yay!). So what you see, is all one organic vendor this week:

Clockwise from top left corner: Turnip greens, broccoli, radish greens attached to the radishes on the other side; green beans, turnips, 3 bags of tomatoes.

Yum.

Self-Care

I'm one that rarely goes to the doctor. I have one that knows me- I've been going to her for many years and refuse to switch doctors to keep the insurance happy. I go for my yearly visit, and only rarely otherwise.

My first defense is my kitchen- the things that we eat, that keep us healthy enough to stave off most of the little illnesses. This is part of why I'm building a from-scratch pantry (more on that in another post), and eating as local and seasonal as we can. It's also part of why I prefer organic as often as I can get it - I realize USDA organic certification has some problems, but I do know it means no GMOs and a more natural way of farming. I believe those things result in a more nutritious plant, thus more nutritious food.

Second defense is cleanliness. We wash dishes by hand, as the dishwasher has shown it can't clean properly - and we noticed less colds after that change. I have sanitizer by all the sinks (to be used IN ADDITION to hand-washing, not instead of!) If someone has a cold, I start changing all hand-towels daily, and disinfecting handles and the like just before bed. I don't want to let cold germs breed all night! I make sure to get sections of wall that are often touched, as well. (ex: light switches, and the place you always put your hand to push open the door).

The third defense is treating symptoms as soon as possible. Rest is one of my treatments - as soon as I realize I'm starting to catch something, I spend the day at home in bed. I eat well, and maybe eat some homemade soup. *poof* the cold is gone! (alright, not quite *poof* but definitely gone.)

With these simple steps, we went from several small colds and a couple of larger ones, to one small cold, in two winters. And yes, we have a child in public school.

Related posts elsewhere:

Bulls-eye Medicine: about re-localizing medicine, among other things.

Improve Your Diet Now: from the Preparedness Pro.

A Brief History of Health and Medicine - makes for an interesting read.

How to Avoid GM Foods - a Wiki article

Market Day 9/16

Fall is here, and the vendors are changing. Still I found fresh basil, pumpkin-chocolate-chip muffins, more blackberry butter, whole wheat bread, a small Hubbard squash, goats milk soap & mouisterizer, and potoates. I do notice that the potatoes are getting larger as the season gets later - these are from the same organic farm I've been getting potatoes from.

small acreage

85% of the world’s farms are small farms, smaller than 5 hectares

from Casaubon's Book (blog)

5 hectares is 12.35 acres. I've heard that called micro-farming before, like it's a rare thing. But at the same time, it's amazing how much potential there is in a small acreage. Please read the article the quote is from. Good information, and great for getting one thinking.

September Market

The vendors are changing. One is leaving, his fields ready for winter. At least one, possibly two more (that I know of!) are coming. I'm very much looking forward to the second - she has a spinner's flock, with colored wools, breed for wool & meat. Today's finds - several acorn squash, in a rainbow; two pie pumpkins, butternut squash, bitty tomatoes and fresh basil, a loaf of bread.

Also, I can try the pickles I made. Yay!

Fall Market

Fall is here, it's official. At least, I say it is! Trees are blushing, the weather is cooler (which means 70's, here) and they had Pumpkins at the farmer's market!

Yes, Fall is my favorite season :)

Pie Pumpkins, green peppers, free-range farm chicken, hand-milled whole wheat bread, red & blue potatoes, grape tomatoes, red organic onion, fresh basils.