A Good Spring For Peas
We’ve had an unseasonably cool spring and thus the peas are producing like mad.
We have two varieties of snow peas, Oregon Sugar pod and Mammoth Melting. The Oregon Sugar Pod germinated better and initially produced more peas, but the Mammoth Melting is starting to catch up. They are delicious and crunchy. They also have grown quite tall, as you can see in one of the photos.
One of the peas was bigger than my thumb. We have been harvesting almost every day, it’s pretty fun.
I also like the sound the peas make, you can watch the video below.
Cucumber Arbor
Yesterday we built a cucumber arbor, inspired by River Hill Farm‘s arbor. It was a multi-step process… we first had to buy rebar and bend it, something that supposedly “couldn’t be done” according to the ill-informed man at the counter of the lumber yard. Then pound in the rebar, get some zipties to connect the mesh to it, and build it all up. Hopefully it will be strong enough to hold all the plants!
An Introduction & Farm Field Notes
Hey everyone!
This is Shawna, Willow from Honey in The Heart’s little sister. I’m apprenticing on the farm, and I’ll be posting on here from time to time. Also, I’m keeping running field notes from the farm from my cell phone with audio and text updates, so check it out my Farm Field Notes if you’re wondering what’s going on up-to-the-minute at Honey in the Heart Read the rest of this article »
Parsnips and Peppers
Today my sister came up to start an apprenticeship at my farm. She takes lots of photos so it will make my life easier and I won’t have to lug a camera around all the time. We got a lot done! In the morning we had to turn in the bolting radishes and spinach and planted dill and more salad mix. Then after lunch we weeded all the parsnips and planted the last of the peppers. It went really well except that my siblings accidentally planted a few random peppers in with the Red Marconis,… Read the rest of this article »
Our First CSA!
We had our first CSA pick up yesterday which was very exciting and a bit anxiety producing…. But all in all it went really well. We only have ten members, which feels like the perfect amount at the moment. Our first box contained little gem romaine lettuce, pac choi, lacinato and red russian kale, easter egg radishes, salad mix, a bundle of bergamont mint, a garden bouquet of daisies and geraniums, and a pair of beeswax candles that we make through the winter. It was wonderful to have… Read the rest of this article »
Labor
I’ve been feeling tired lately, and sore. Farming is very physical and there’s always more to be done than can be possibly be done. We’ve been calling everyone who’s expressed interest in volounteering and trying to get as much help as possible during this crunch time of getting stuff in the ground. It’s a very messed up issue, the whole practice of farm labor in this country. Farmers just can’t get enough for their product to support paying employees a… Read the rest of this article »
Planting, watering, weeding, digging
We’ve had a week of hot weather, and everything has grown double in size, including the weeds. Farming in these Sierra foothills can definitely be a lesson in going with the flow, as the weather is so volatile. Just a few weeks ago our ground was saturated, and now it’s already turning to dust. I’m worried about the salad mix bolting and watering like crazy already…. But it’s supposed to get cooler the rest of the week, so once again I’ll have to adjust to… Read the rest of this article »
Soil and Rocks
We are back to our frantic tilling and rock pulling schedule now that the ground has dried out a bit. We are continuing to prepare ground and plant, and hopefully we’ll have all our ground ready in the next few weeks…. month more likely. We planted basil and green beans, more carrots and reseeded the arugula and cilantro that didn’t germinate well. We are going down to Berkeley tommorow to see my sister’s presentation of her master’s thesis, which is a really amazing… Read the rest of this article »
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Odds and Ends
We had a real spring storm over the weekend. The sky opened and dropped over three inches of rain. It really slowed down our frantic tilling schedule as the ground was compleletly saturated once again. Kind of like the eye of the storm, we just couldn’t keep going at the same pace. The compost we were having delivered couldn’t make it up into the farm area because of the mud…. It seemed like a natural time to tie up other odds and ends. We finally got our electric fence… Read the rest of this article »
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Farming as a spiritual practice
One of the things I love about farming is the sensuous nature of the work. And by that word I mean, of the senses, not some sexy romantic thing. I’ve been struck lately with the complex smell of the wild roses that surround the one acre we are farming. Every morning as I walk through them, this heady scent of fermenting hips and new buds surrounds me. It’s such an unusual smell, and gets stronger as the sun warms the land. I think I’ll always associate this time of the… Read the rest of this article »
The Farm Blogs
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About the Farms
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
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Susan Morrison Co-Author of Garden UP May 17, 2012
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Plant Support Options May 17, 2012
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The best room and board for your backyard chickens May 10, 2012
Charlotte from Peaceful Valley
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Raising Chickens May 9, 2012
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How to solve common problems with water pressure for drip irrigation May 4, 2012
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How to Measure Water Pressure & Flow May 4, 2012
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Water pressure and water flow issues for gardeners May 3, 2012
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Irrigation Maintenance April 26, 2012
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How to maintain your drip irrigation system April 26, 2012
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Double Digging April 19, 2012
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