Rebuilding A Bed

May 13, 2020 Sarah

Last year I grew much of our food in one bed, that Kirk had carved out for me. Due to it being on virgin land (and island land is “special”, depending on where you live on it, it can be pure sand, a mud bog or hard pack like we have), this land had to be broken open and plowed/tilled. The bed was fun, creative, and grew a lot. See here for how we built it in late 2018.

The original bed was plowed, then covered in layers of cardboard. Then we layed down trees to form beds, and filled it with soil. It had a lot of wasted space I suppose (but I used the center to run sawhorses and wood, to store plants growing for sale.

At the end of the season we took down the fence, and removed all the trees. Kirk plowed it all under (including all the wood chips in the walk areas), and we planted a cover crop. Then left it to be.

In late winter we tilled it under, using our BCS tractor.

Kirk formed rows with the BCS, using the rotary plow attachment.

After forming the rows, we sileage tarped it to ensure seed kill for suppressing weeds.

A couple weeks later we pulled it off. I got in the fencing U posts.

Kirk dropped off the wood chips.

We made pathways thick with chips, to control soil erosion and mud.

We layed down cardboard on the outside of the bed, and covered with wood chips.

Then we put down an inch or two of compost on the top of the rows.

The area was fenced with poly pro deer fencing, then with 3 foot high chicken wire, folded in half (half up the fence, half on the ground), to attempt to keep the rabbits out – who will chew through poly, and or dig under the fence. We then put down a ton of rocks all around the fence.

Not shown, is the added bamboo sticks added to each u post to raise the fence to 7 feet high. It works (knock on wood always!) and is cheaper than buying 9 foot t posts.

First plants in.

With room, I added in 3 u posts to hang up netting for the items needing to be trellised.

It might not be the prettiest, but it works.

The lower field slowly becoming what I want it to be. The new bed is in the left side.

~Sarah

March On The Farm

April 13, 2020 Sarah

Lets just say it up front. March sucked and was a trying month. I kept positive thoughts though, and the spring weather made it a lot easier on my mental health as the month wound down.

One area I had battled was wether or not to do production for the farmers market in spring. I felt so lost at the first of the month, but I slept on it a lot, a lot really, and my answer was that I have to keep working, and to grow plants for other people. Will we have a farmers market? I don’t know.

I found out that with enough hunger deer and rabbits will attack sage plants here. I have lived with heavy deer/rabbits before and not had this happen.

The rhubarb started poking up as March started.

Fresh shelves growing on a downed log in the forest, with an older but dead one, from when the tree was still upright. Pretty cool how they do that. They are decomposers.

We got into a section of the forest where I found we have Bitter Cherry trees growing.

Walker learning how to run a Janga Seeder in the big field.

We worked on removal of more dead trees. This Douglas Fir was fascinating as it had been eaten to the edges by insects.

The garlic bed is humming along.

Hardy peach tree in bloom.

We built a chicken coop. Our future chickens are growing in their eggs currently by our egg lady.

The rhubarb is coming up.

Rockwell Beans, a bean that is native to our island.

First spring blooms on alpine strawberry, in the greenhouse.

One huge bummer from winter? Finding out rodents tunneled under a number of strawberry plants, destroying the root systems. Alpine strawberry plants have big root systems, unlike commercial strawberry plants. We have been locking Pepper, who is a Manchester Terrier into the bed, in an attempt to have them eradicated.

Radishes in the greenhouse, doing a trial mid-month.

And a new project: 12 ducklings came home. A lot more on that in April’s round-up!

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

The Survival Garden

March 26, 2020 Sarah

What is the one thing you should be doing right now? That would help with anxiety, boredom and isolation?

Getting a gardening area ready for spring.

No matter where or how you live. Where there is a will, there is a way. Gardening is in our DNA, no matter where we come from. You may have never grown food, but someone in your past did, and most likely did up until the past few generations, when the move to cities became common. For me, we grew produce because we were poor when I was a child. I remember having a garden till I entered my teens, and my Mom went to work, then it stopped. It came back in my early 20’s, then in my mid 30’s, where it stuck with me.

This year was an odd one. I was burnt out in early winter. I had no desire to think about our farm. Too many years of running a homestead and farm. I was about to take a year off. Then in December I started tracking reports about China. That concerned me, and if for anything it revitalized my gardening DNA. I started laying out plans. Seeds were acquired. As the months crept on, I started my earliest items (because I normally sell plants at the local farmers market in early May, I start early). A couple weeks ago I came to the conclusion that there won’t be a farmers market at all (I could be wrong….but I doubt it), and watched our state finally get put under ‘shelter in place’. With the boys at home now into their 3rd week, we make it most days to work in the garden beds. I am still doing my large plans because well….why not. At this point the goal is a full scale survival garden. Or as Grandma or Great Granny might have called it during WWII, a victory garden.

If you can grow produce for yourself, and others, you take pressure off the system. It means you don’t have to go to a store (as often). You don’t have to spend money you don’t have. And in coming weeks and month that part is going to get harder for many in the US. The other fear consumers should have is a distinct lack of produce in coming year for a couple reasons: By shutting borders we may well not have enough pickers and crops may potentially rot in the fields. If other countries become sick, we won’t get their produce shipped to us.

What is the first thing you need to do? GO BUY SEEDS. NOW. Seeds are being bought up quickly, and you don’t want to not get any. Seeds are cheap, and you can buy vegetable seeds and starts with SNAP benefits as well. Remember that, and use it if you have to take help in the coming months.

Oddly, people forget about hardware and grocery stores for seed racks. Just check the back for them being produced for the 2020 year. Most seeds have a long shelf life, if stored in a dry/cool environment. Store leftover seeds in mason jars in the dark, and while germination rates do drop yearly, you can easily keep growing from the same packet for a couple of years if need be.

When you go to buy seeds, buy things you like to eat, but also read the packet backs – know how long an item takes. If it takes 95 days to mature, you face a real issue in cooler areas. Look for shorter grow times. For example, here where we live I look for tomatoes that are 75 days and under. While the lovely huge heirlooms look and taste amazing, we just cannot get enough ripe before cool fall night to make it worth our time as we don’t grow them in greenhouses or tunnels.

Often, faster growing seeds are F1 hybrids. Hybrids have been grown to be a better version. This isn’t a bad thing. However it means you cannot collect seeds to grow the next year as they won’t grow true to type. Heirloom seeds however you can. I grow about half heirloom, half hybrid, so that I can collect seed from some. Also, consider where and how you will be growing. If you are on a patio or deck, grow dwarf or bush varieties. If you have fast garden space, then grow pole beans and peas. Squash isn’t easy to grow on a patio, but tomatoes you can. But as I said….the dreams that you buy are cheap thankfully, when you buy seeds.

Figure out how and where you can grow food. Do you have a backyard you can turn over? Do you have flower beds that already exist around a house? Can you fit pots on a small patio? If you don’t have supplies or tools, and you live in a town or city, ask in online groups if people will loan the items – they can leave them on your doorstep to make the trade. Always ask yourself what you have to repurpose into containers. Old swimming pools for children and worn out 5 gallon buckets can be converted into containers. Just drill or punch drain holes.

Getting soil can be harder, but hardware and feed stores are considered essential, so most are open. You can in many cases pay by phone and load up outside with no physical contact.

If you are opening up lawn, the land under may not be good (because the top soil was scraped and sold, then shaped and packed before the house was built). See if a neighbor has a tiller you can borrow to open the soil up. You can always buy compost bags at the hardware store if need be. But even the deadest land will grow something if you can till it open. so that it is light and fluffy once again.

The key here isn’t perfection. It is getting an area ready as soon as possible, before it is time to start growing. Over the winter you can make it better, and enrich the soil. You can (should!) start a compost pile today (if you have a backyard that is), so that by summer you have rich amendment to work into your soil.

You have time in most areas. While I have plenty of seeds germinating in my greenhouses now, the first crops won’t be transplanted for awhile still here. Our tomato plants won’t see the ground till May. Overnight freezes still happen here. So breathe a bit, but start planning now.

I’ll talk more about this in the coming weeks. But for now? Get seeds. I cannot say this enough.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homeschooling

The Kinder Garden: Building A Garden For Your Child

March 15, 2020 Sarah

At our boys’ school they have garden time every week, which is a small farm run on the back of the school. The high school & junior high also have their own farm just down the road. More schools are doing this, but most children in the US will never have a chance to dig into soil and learn how, and why plants grow – and to eat those healthy vegetables, fruits and berries! Our boys love garden time, and it spills into our life at home on the farm. March is the month when they are in the beds helping get ready for the season.

With so many children out of school currently due to C-19, and the Western Hemisphere turning towards Spring, building a garden is something all of us should try if we can. Even in a city small pots in a window can grow dwarf peas and tomatoes. Gardening calms the mind, it gets people outside in the clean air (good for lungs). encourages exercise of both body and mind, but also…it gives hope and something to look forward to daily as they wait for seeds to sprout and climb. Growing an edible landscape for children was an early post about what we did for our younger boys, and what got us going.

Gardening doesn’t have to be an overwhelming project, where one rips out their entire yard (but that is actually a good idea, and we did it at two homes in the suburbs). Below are some projects and ideas we have done over the years in our gardens (and now our farm).

The basics of growing in Zones 7 to 8. Many who read our website live in similar grow zones, so I hope this can help you!

A favorite project for seedlings is to use paper egg carton trays. Children will love doing this.

Maybe you are considering picking up a cheap pop up greenhouse? To keep plants warm in till spring? I have used many of them over the years and here are some great tips on getting a long life out of them – and not becoming a kite in the wind. Children love working in them, and helping you build it.

If you live where you cannot dig into the ground, or the ground plain sucks (much suburb land is this way, as they take off the top soil, sell it, then pack the land and flatten it), here are a couple methods that are tried and true. Ask on neighborhood Facebook pages if anyone has used supplies and will let you pick them up, off their porch or driveway. There is always someone with an old worn out kiddy pool for example…

The kiddy swimming pool raised bed is great for small yards and even on concrete patios.

Let’s talk raised garden beds.

Raised beds out of concrete blocks is a very, very cheap option (often a $1 a brick at Home Depot). Some will argue about concrete dust, however these bricks won’t rot and last near on forever.

You can build simple hoop houses to keep raised beds warmer to start growing now.

As for the soil? Most areas have delivery if you buy a truckload delivered, which yes, is a lot of soil – but if you want to grow a garden, you will use it. Many of these places will take payment over the phone and deliver on your lawn or driveway, and is great for social distancing. Otherwise, for bags of soil, hit up the local hardware or nursery very early or late in the day to avoid crowds.

Once you figure out where and how the kids can garden, it is time to think about seeds, which you may or may not have on hand. Old seeds are still often quite viable, even 3 to 5 years old. Just sow more in case you have a lower germination. Better to try than to toss. If you don’t have seeds, order them now online. Shipping is fast (and with Baker Creek Seeds, which are all heirloom, the shipping is free).

What are our favorite seed companies? We wrote a post on it awhile back. I tend to buy most of our seeds from regional companies – heck we even buy from a local seed grower about 2 miles away on our island. Regional seeds will often grow better. Having said that, while I prefer heirloom seeds because I can save seeds, F1 hybrid seeds are great for areas needing shorter grow seasons. For those I buy from Ed Hume seeds online.

I’d suggest keeping the seed choices simple for children: 1 or so from each main category of each kind of veggie. It’s easy to go crazy as seeds are very affordable. The worst is? Take your excess seed packets and seal them in a mason jar to keep fresh. Choose dwarf varieties as they grow faster, and keeps their attention. Waiting 8 weeks for a seed to germinate will bore anyone – I know, my strawberry seeds take 8 to 12 weeks! Where as a dwarf pea might take a week or less to pop up. The newer dwarf tomato plants are great to grow, we grew two types last year – minimal space needed, pot friendly and no staking needed!

Looking for a cheap way to build trellis for big beans? This easy to do project makes a great living for come summer:

One of the more fun, but long projects the boys and I did was to grow wheat. It teaches a lot, including a side of patience.

If you have old plant saucers or even unwanted dishes, consider having the children make bee baths, which bees, butterflies and even hummingbirds will enjoy. No need to go shop, use rocks they find (wash off dirt first) and if they have marbles, ask them to donate them to the bath. Gnome gardens are also fun to build!

Good luck and to good growing!

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

A Year of Silage Tarping

February 24, 2020 Sarah

A year ago we started our work on the left lower field, to turn it into an area to grow in. Our growing zone here in Freeland, Washington, on the south end of Whidbey Island is Zone 8a. With a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, we sit firmly in the Olympic Rainshadow. Being on an island in the PNW means you often to earn your soil, as it is rocky and thin with top soil.

When we bought our land in March of 2018 this field had not seen love in a long time. The first thing we had to do was pull out random trees that grew, and worked back the encroaching forest of invasive thorns. Then we flail mowed the field with our BCS tractor, which took a long time, due to there being so many rodent holes to avoid sticking your feet into. (Years of easy living for them out in that field….)

Getting to this project took time, as we had so much to do on the property. We were getting ready to build a shop, and to shape the upper land, as well as the thinning of all the forest, our poor field kept getting ignored. Just not enough days in the months!

Taken on a cold morning in early 2019. The grass was cut low, and the only thing in the field was a pile of compost/soil waiting to be moved to the other field. (That is the full moon at sunrise over the Olympic Mountains)

A year ago on February 24th, 2019 we unfolded one of our silage tarps on the land. The work was starting. We wanted to get it down so we could use the summer’s heat to do the work.

Laid out, and weighted down with sand bags full of gravel. We get strong winds as the water isn’t far away from our property. We found we needed a bag every 6 feet or so on the long sides.

We got it down in time to get March snows coming down.

In mid summer of 2019 we pulled back the tarp to find most everything dead. Well except for thistles and thorns. Sigh. But that was expected.

Our oldest son went out and hand removed all the snakes and put them in sunny areas on the edge of the woods. Our snakes are beneficial and are not venomous, so we try to ensure they do not get killed during turning.

I got out in the field with our flame burner set up, and burnt all the weeds. I had a hose nearby charged, as yes, some do catch on fire. If you choose to go this route wear ear protection and be mindful of fire.

After I burnt it all, Kirk came through and scraped it over, then turned the ground over with our Kubota.

This was raw land and yes, it had to be turned. Multiple times.

We put the tarp back on and let it sit in the hot sun once again to ensure the weeds didn’t get a second chance.

Then life got busy. We should have taken the tarp off as fall showed up, but we were just too busy. So it sat over the winter. Oh well. Our plan had to have turned it and planted a cover crop start of September.

Instead we got to it in the second week of February, 2020. With the projected forecast of a mild winter, we took the tarp off, and moved it to start the next section of the field.

We had nearly no weeds this time. We took care of any remaining ones by hand (just a couple thorns, right on the edge).

Kirk put on the plow and broke the land open.

The soil is in great shape. Dark, light and easily moved. We were shocked how few rocks we had to pick this time.

He worked on it with our BCS tractor using the till attachment, to shape it more.

We layed a cover crop down this past weekend, to help with fixing nitrogen. When it is time we will turn it under, then shape rows (hilling) with the BCS.

This summer, 2 years in, we hope to have our first crops in this field. And I cannot wait. We have done this with hard work and time, versus dousing the land with weed killer chemicals.

I cannot wait for the caterpillar tunnels to be erected over this fertile soil.

~Sarah