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.

For all of you who have been eagerly awaiting the application for the 2012-2013 Freshman Farmer class, here it is! You can download the PDF here. Read the rest of this article »

Its been a while since our last post, but we have been keep’n busy on the farm. We have stored some of our harvest this year like freezing strawberries, sun drying tomatoes, many seeds saved from herbs to beans. Still in production are the greens; Mustard greens, Kale, Chard, and the baby lettuce in the greenhouse.  Last year there were many additions to the property, mainly permaculture like strawberries and trees. These were investments that will only produce more as the years go on. … Read the rest of this article »

  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 »

The heat of Summer has passed and the chill of Fall has arrived. The last red ripe strawberries and tomatoes were picked several weeks ago. We enjoyed a great harvest of apples, grapes, blackberries, strawberries, onions, potatoes, sunchokes, tomatoes, chard, kale, cabbage, and much more. Our fig tree we ordered this year from Peacefull Valley gave us a dozen delicious figs. All the animals on the farm are doing great. All four Bee Colonies are healthy and thriving. We harvested a few jars of honeycomb… 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 »