As you can see the portable pen built to help combat winter weeds was a huge success! The beds have never been in this good of shape so early in the season.  I am loving this new system, low labor and low maintenance.

  Today as the sun shines, in what has been the driest, sunniest most beautiful wind free winter in our 9 years on the northern coast of California, I feel myself wanting to get a jump start on the planting season. I am reminded however of an incident that took place this past summer, whose beginnings were rooted early in the season last year. In mid August several farms in our area were lamenting the fact that a large portion of their onion crops were bolting (going to seed) instead of bulbing.… Read the rest of this article »

The New Year has arrived, yes January 1, 2012, and I was outside in the SUNSHINE picking fresh PEAS for dinner. The northern coast of California has had an unusually mild winter and I am reaping the bounty of it. So very thankful! Read the rest of this article »

“Value-added” is a common buzz word these days. It typically means getting every last bit of profit available out of your product.  Having added sheep to our farm this year I was a bit curious to explore all the possibilities. I was presented with an exciting opportunity to attend Fiber Mania last weekend. Fiber Mania is a gathering of folks who represent the entire scope of fiber production, starting with the breeding and raising of animals (yes, live animals—  llamas,… Read the rest of this article »

Hello to all, I finally finished the portable chicken pen and it is working!!! (UPDATED with additional information on Nov. 13, 2011.) My goal here was to use the chickens to keep the growing beds weed-free through the winter rainy season here on California’s north coast. This is a “before” photo of the weeds that had overtaken the bed. This is the “after” photo, having left the pen on the bed for 5 days. After a quick rake to remove larger debris, and a second pass… Read the rest of this article »

Mother Earth News magazine just listed their top 15 Vegetable Seed Companies and PEACEFUL VALLEY Farm and Garden supply is on it!  Well done! Read the rest of this article »

Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is now shipping leeks, garlic, onions and shallots!  Leeks are a wonderful winter crop. Here on the north coast of California they will grow now until mid spring. They add a lot of character to the otherwise dull landscape of the rainy winter season. Swiss chard and kale are two additional crops that add delightful color contrast to the beds. Chard now comes in a rainbow of colors and textures as does the kale. These crops also mingle very well together… Read the rest of this article »

Hello Folks, This week I wanted to share a bit about the importance of livestock on the farm. In an earlier post I mentioned that our farm took an unexpected turn this spring with the addition of two Jacob sheep that were purchased as locker lambs (purposed for meat). Through these two fellows I have come to love sheep! I have used them extensively for weed control all over the property and their waste is happily decomposing and making the green grass grow. The grazing nature of sheep is the one… Read the rest of this article »

I had the pleasure of attending our local farmers market as a “customer” recently.  I picked up some amazing cherry tomatoes from fellow Freshman Farmer Dustin of Home Plate Organic Farm.  His tomatoes are a hit in our area! Amazing flavor and very colorful! Also picked up some of his lovely okra and prepared it by frying the pod, whole, in butter with some shallots (also form Dustin), cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and fresh grated ginger. A very tasty addition to our dinner… Read the rest of this article »