For whatever reason, and there are many, some people are feeling drawn to get land and do what they can to live from it. Good fortune would be the timing of the purchase and the finances to do so in this current economic environment. While large farms are being snapped up.. there are deals to be had on other land holdings.
Many towns are catching up on collecting back taxes by way of auctions. Around here.. that would be silent auctions set by the town, some decent sized lots of a few acres starting at $1000.. and have quite the lovely luxury vacation home to boot. Even though there was parcels of 10 acres, I wouldn't have touched them with a 10 foot pole.. and that would be because of local restrictions. Wile a gorgeous home, and ample land on very fertile soil.. you can't do a darn thing with it beyond mowing grass. There are other offerings in different locales that are not so restrictive. It pays to know if you can do what you want to do ahead of time.
When you are looking for land, and moving on to land.. you need to have some things set in order. First thing is making sure it is the right property for your needs. It is easy to dream, and in that dream the acreage expands ever further.. the list of things to accomplish gets incredibly long. If finances are no option, then there is no issues with accomplishing that dream. If money is tight, a reality check is in order if you truly want to do this.
Building a farm, or living off the land is a work in progress. Before you can even build that imaginary barn.. you need to know what to look for, or look out for in a site.
Location, so important that realtors can't seem to say it once, and your intended uses. Check services in the area and their distance. How far is it from a town with stores, doctors, grain mills, hospitals, lumberyards, emergency services, Department of Human Services, grocery stores, etc. What is next to the property.. undeveloped land, farms, forest preserve? Are there any industries that effect the location? How is it zoned? Is there electric, gas, cell phone reception, internet, propane? If you are considering alternate housing styles.. make sure you check ordinances. Check for animal restrictions, water rights, mineral rights. You get the idea. While getting away from it all seems like a wonderful thing, there is something to be said for not having to drive 40 miles one way to get Immodium.. especially when you are the one needing it!
Then look at the territory.. what grow zone is it in? What is the annual rainfall? What water sources are there? Is flooding an issue? Fires? Land erosion? What kind of grading/ sloping?
Observations of what is growing on the land also gives input. Original homesteaders would use trees as a guide to selecting sites. Out here.. black walnuts were a sign of fertile land. Great it is fertile, but that's another thing to look for is toxicity. If you intend on keeping livestock, make note of the kinds of trees around and the types of vegetation. Example would be my in-laws.. they have 2 pastures for the horses. They can't use the back pasture because of all the red maples. Red maple leaves can be toxic to horses. Keep an eye out for natural resources of the area.
If you intent to keep livestock, you may want to look here at a list of toxic plants.
Size matters. The more arid the location, the more land needed to support you. As well if the area has a short growing season, you need to take that into account. Old homesteads employed cisterns frequently, as well wind powered pumps to bring up water from underground.
If you are gardening an area under an acre, you can do it by hand. It'll be a lot of very hard work. A decent rear tine rototiller will be able to handle the job, you can even do it with hand tools and a lot of sweat. Cultivating bigger plots up to a few acres is then moving on into larger tractors or animal power. Animal power (horses/ oxen) is not for everyone. It was a nearly lost art that is slowly making an unusual comeback of sorts. While you don't feed a tractor, or have to take care of it everyday.. animal teams don't compact the soil like tractors do. That's a whole separate tangent..
The placement of livestock and gardens in regards to the water source is another key component.
Find the local USDA office.. and use it. You can find out about pests and diseases in the area, what strains of plants work well, planting times, harvesting times, general soil information of the surroundings.
Another thing to consider is getting soil and water tested before purchasing. Some geographical areas can have naturally occurring heavy metal deposits. Some water in these rural locations.. are not suitable for consumption and filtration becomes a concern.
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Nutrients
While there are many food preservation techniques, nutritional values change according to method, storage time, storage location, etc. This has not really been an issue since the incorporation of fortified foods, iodized salts, etc. It used to be a big problem in generations past where not enough key nutrients lead to diseases, birth defects, etc.
Well amended gardens just steps away from the kitchen offer some of the best nutritional additions to your diet right from your vegetables. Even that knobby green bean which would never make any food prep picture.. it holds within it superior nutritional content than the canned counterparts in your cupboards, or the frozen ones behind the ice cream.
Why does this matter? Well.. everyday we are bombarded by an assortment of influences that attack our health. One of the things that helps us ward off this onslaught.. vitamins. I'm not talking about the store bought supplements, although they can be helpful. Vitamins C and E in particular are quite the avid free radical fighters.
If you have any awareness on conventional agriculture, you realize that nitrate-nitrogen are a big problem. It is the basic fertilizer, made from natural gas, that they dump across the fields. The green factor as they push the boundaries of farming. It is volatile and leaching is constant. It is moving into groundwater, created a huge dead zone in many water bodies.. from there it seems to not be though of much more.
Nitrates, when eaten get converted into nitrites in the body, which are carcinogens. Hence the self restraint while munching cured meats from the deli or the ever blessed bacon. It is check in some areas as levels above 10mg/L are known to lead to issues like.. blue baby syndrome. The body is unable to carry enough oxygen to body cells, infants in particular are sensitive.
Odd then that I would suggest well amended soils? Not really. Compost has a way of slowly breaking down and releasing it's elements in a plant useable form. Compost is essentially rotted matter.. primarily plant and manure origins, that have gone through a microbial alteration. The microbes have converted these materials back into simple components.. building blocks for the plants in the garden to utilize.
The quality of the soil directly impacts the nutritional content of the crop. You can taste the difference... literally. Compost is more than just N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium).. it brings trace minerals that were as well contained in the materials. The more varied the matter going into the compost pile, the better.
While I have almost always had a garden, my drive for many years was the glee I would have at picking what I grew. Never quite as big as I wished it could be, often an uphill battle.. I'd try to sneak in as much as I could into our meals. The health aspect got rather slammed into our faces repeatedly. Yet another sibling of mine will not live to the age of 50. It makes you stop and take a serious look.
It takes time to build up the soil. The reward is food that honestly feeds you. The growing seasons vary depending on where on the planet you dwell and often wanting to savor those bits of summer means looking towards food preservation.
Oh hell... here I go being fluffy again. Frankly.. things are getting wacky. The food industry keeps suffering from lapses of safety, the chemical companies seem to be able to tell the government what is safe and what is not.. they even pad the "scientific studies" in their favor with multimillion dollar "donations" (which get yanked should the study results not be favorable.) The agriculture system is failing us as they slather genetically f-d up crops with a battery of chemicals. The system is based on oil. I flat out don't know how much longer they can keep up the "status quo" which already seems to be faltering. The rants are on about how large everyone has become, the next generation not expected to live as long as us.
Know what you can compost, start a garden now. Know what bugs, pests, diseases you have to contend with.. and really the way you do that is by some good old hard work.. and DIG IN! You can try to buy an instant garden, but without knowing how to maintain it.. the expenses can get insane.
Learn how to save your food.
Gardens are popping up everywhere for a reason.. the need to eat has taken more interest in our free time and finances than vacationing or luxury toys.
I see the alterations in environment.. and I don't mean global warming. Human movements have created a situation where ever new invasives are introduced.. this alters regional ecology, even to the point where how an area can handle weather gets screwed. Water is already contaminated. We still have another few decades of the slow runoff yet to deal with even if they clean up now.
I am a big supporter of gardens, orchards, growing your own. The reduction in waste just by composting is huge. I find it odd to throw kitchen scraps out as they are a raw material in my eyes.
Maybe some perceive me as some sort of hippy. That makes me laugh, and in no way offended. I like to forage, I appreciate reusing materials, I like learning old skills... a lot. I spent several weeks in the Amazon staying in a village of indigenous people. There was no plumbing, no grocery store, no roads!! You gathered, hunted, fished your next meals.
Nature is balance. They taught us this at a young age.. the food chain. Too many predators and the prey population dwindles to where the predators starve out. The numbers balance.. they constantly fluctuate. Check and balance. Except with people.
I see gardens as a need. A need because one should know what they are eating. The quality needs to improve and diets need to alter. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. How beneficial is that food you are buying when you don't know how it was grown, you don't know how long it has been sitting, you don't even know where it came from. You most likely don't know how quickly it gets restocked either.
In that chart above.. if you look, you'll notice something that seems to be the first vitamin to go.. Vitamin C. Scurvy hasn't been a problem for quite a few years.. but vitamin C is a major antioxidant.
If you are storing food, then you are watching calories and some are forward sighted enough to zero in on nutritional value as well. A garden can extend your stores dramatically. A garden can improve your health. By nature.. good food helps you have the ability to fight disease, recover from injury, fend of allergens, anti-inflammatory.. you get the idea.
The future is going to be challenging.
Sorry if this isn't cohesive.. limited time and a lot to ponder. Your input is always welcome and I appreciate your point of view.
Well amended gardens just steps away from the kitchen offer some of the best nutritional additions to your diet right from your vegetables. Even that knobby green bean which would never make any food prep picture.. it holds within it superior nutritional content than the canned counterparts in your cupboards, or the frozen ones behind the ice cream.
Why does this matter? Well.. everyday we are bombarded by an assortment of influences that attack our health. One of the things that helps us ward off this onslaught.. vitamins. I'm not talking about the store bought supplements, although they can be helpful. Vitamins C and E in particular are quite the avid free radical fighters.
If you have any awareness on conventional agriculture, you realize that nitrate-nitrogen are a big problem. It is the basic fertilizer, made from natural gas, that they dump across the fields. The green factor as they push the boundaries of farming. It is volatile and leaching is constant. It is moving into groundwater, created a huge dead zone in many water bodies.. from there it seems to not be though of much more.
Nitrates, when eaten get converted into nitrites in the body, which are carcinogens. Hence the self restraint while munching cured meats from the deli or the ever blessed bacon. It is check in some areas as levels above 10mg/L are known to lead to issues like.. blue baby syndrome. The body is unable to carry enough oxygen to body cells, infants in particular are sensitive.
Odd then that I would suggest well amended soils? Not really. Compost has a way of slowly breaking down and releasing it's elements in a plant useable form. Compost is essentially rotted matter.. primarily plant and manure origins, that have gone through a microbial alteration. The microbes have converted these materials back into simple components.. building blocks for the plants in the garden to utilize.
The quality of the soil directly impacts the nutritional content of the crop. You can taste the difference... literally. Compost is more than just N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium).. it brings trace minerals that were as well contained in the materials. The more varied the matter going into the compost pile, the better.
While I have almost always had a garden, my drive for many years was the glee I would have at picking what I grew. Never quite as big as I wished it could be, often an uphill battle.. I'd try to sneak in as much as I could into our meals. The health aspect got rather slammed into our faces repeatedly. Yet another sibling of mine will not live to the age of 50. It makes you stop and take a serious look.
It takes time to build up the soil. The reward is food that honestly feeds you. The growing seasons vary depending on where on the planet you dwell and often wanting to savor those bits of summer means looking towards food preservation.
Oh hell... here I go being fluffy again. Frankly.. things are getting wacky. The food industry keeps suffering from lapses of safety, the chemical companies seem to be able to tell the government what is safe and what is not.. they even pad the "scientific studies" in their favor with multimillion dollar "donations" (which get yanked should the study results not be favorable.) The agriculture system is failing us as they slather genetically f-d up crops with a battery of chemicals. The system is based on oil. I flat out don't know how much longer they can keep up the "status quo" which already seems to be faltering. The rants are on about how large everyone has become, the next generation not expected to live as long as us.
Know what you can compost, start a garden now. Know what bugs, pests, diseases you have to contend with.. and really the way you do that is by some good old hard work.. and DIG IN! You can try to buy an instant garden, but without knowing how to maintain it.. the expenses can get insane.
Learn how to save your food.
Above is from healthyeatingclub.org
Food preservation methods
Method Advantages Disadvantages Drying (e.g. freeze-drying, spray-drying, sun-drying) Produces concentrated form of food. Inhibits microbial growth & autolytic enzymes.
Retains most nutrients.Can cause loss of some nutrients, particularly thiamin & vitamin C. Sulphur dioxide is sometimes added to dried fruits to retain vitamin C, but some individuals are sensitive to this substance. Smoking Preserve partly by drying, partly by incorporation of substances from smoke. Eating a lot of smoked foods has been linked with some cancers in some parts of the world. Refrigeration Slows microbial multiplication. Slows autolysis by enzymes Slow loss of some nutrients with time Freezing Prevents microbial growth by low temperature & unavailability of water. Generally good retention of nutrients. Blanching of vegetables prior to freezing causes loss of some B-Group vitamins and vitamin C. Unintended thawing can reduce product quality. Adding salt or sugar Makes water unavailable for microbial growth. Process does not destroy nutrients. Increases salt and sugar content of food. High heat processing (e.g. pasteurisation) Inactivates autolytic enzymes Destroys microorganisms. Loss of heat-sensitive nutrients. Canning (involves high heat processing) Destroys microorganisms & autolytic enzymes. Water-soluble nutrients can be lost into liquid in can. Chemical preservatives Prevent microbial growth No loss of nutrient. Some people are sensitive to some chemical preservatives. Ionizing radiation Sterilizes foods (such as spices) whose flavour would change with heating. Inhibits sprouting potatoes
Extends shelf life of strawberries and mushroomsLonger shelf life of fresh foods can lead to greater nutrient losses than if eaten sooner after harvesting.
Stability of nutrients in food.
Nutrient Stability Characteristics Vitamin A Quite stable during processing and cooking Vitamin D Very stable to heat but sensitive to exposure to air and light. Vitamin E Relatively stable except at deep frying temperatures Vitamin K Stable in cooking but sensitive to light. Thiamin Quite unstable to heat and alkaline conditions. Lost during refining of cereals. Dissolves in cooking water. Riboflavin Very sensitive to light: 50% lost from milk left in sun for 2 hours.
Relatively stable to most home cooking methods (unless bicarbonate of soda added).Niacin Stable to most processing but leaches into cooking water. Vitamin B-6 Moderate retention during most processing. Vitamin B-12 Moderate retention, but losses occur when heated under acid and alkaline conditions. Folic acid Large losses can occur during cooking. Presence of copper aids
destruction.Pantothenic acid Relatively stable during most home processing. Biotin Good retention during most home processing. Vitamin C Unstable. Losses occur from exposure to air, light, heat and copper.
Also dissolves in cooking water.
Saving the nutrients in food.
Do not store fresh foods for long periods - purchase just enough to last a week or less, and
eat soon after buying.
Gardens are popping up everywhere for a reason.. the need to eat has taken more interest in our free time and finances than vacationing or luxury toys.
I see the alterations in environment.. and I don't mean global warming. Human movements have created a situation where ever new invasives are introduced.. this alters regional ecology, even to the point where how an area can handle weather gets screwed. Water is already contaminated. We still have another few decades of the slow runoff yet to deal with even if they clean up now.
I am a big supporter of gardens, orchards, growing your own. The reduction in waste just by composting is huge. I find it odd to throw kitchen scraps out as they are a raw material in my eyes.
Maybe some perceive me as some sort of hippy. That makes me laugh, and in no way offended. I like to forage, I appreciate reusing materials, I like learning old skills... a lot. I spent several weeks in the Amazon staying in a village of indigenous people. There was no plumbing, no grocery store, no roads!! You gathered, hunted, fished your next meals.
Nature is balance. They taught us this at a young age.. the food chain. Too many predators and the prey population dwindles to where the predators starve out. The numbers balance.. they constantly fluctuate. Check and balance. Except with people.
I see gardens as a need. A need because one should know what they are eating. The quality needs to improve and diets need to alter. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. How beneficial is that food you are buying when you don't know how it was grown, you don't know how long it has been sitting, you don't even know where it came from. You most likely don't know how quickly it gets restocked either.
In that chart above.. if you look, you'll notice something that seems to be the first vitamin to go.. Vitamin C. Scurvy hasn't been a problem for quite a few years.. but vitamin C is a major antioxidant.
If you are storing food, then you are watching calories and some are forward sighted enough to zero in on nutritional value as well. A garden can extend your stores dramatically. A garden can improve your health. By nature.. good food helps you have the ability to fight disease, recover from injury, fend of allergens, anti-inflammatory.. you get the idea.
The future is going to be challenging.
Sorry if this isn't cohesive.. limited time and a lot to ponder. Your input is always welcome and I appreciate your point of view.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Of Beaks and Beans
We had to seek refuge from the heat. In the high 90's, pushing 100 with air so humid it was smothering even before the sun rose. The dog was in utter misery and I was worried like crazy about the young chickens, so we went to the farm and turned on the AC. My husband packed some things from our house and spent the night there. He got heat stroke... in the house. I'll be surprised if any of my seeds in this house are viable.
We've been pulling bowl after bowl of beans and a few tomatoes every day. A lot of tomatoes are still very green, and I am awaiting to see what some of my mystery tomato crosses will be. So far.. quite a mix. Seems the yellow pear has crossed with ??? The plants are covered in light bulb shaped tomatoes, but much bigger than the standard yellow pear parent, and they are still very green. I have to say... I am excited about the Goldman's Italian American tomatoes. Massive rippled tomatoes.. RIPEN ALREADY!!! Seriously not getting any younger here.
Now.. July and August are when the tomato horn worms come out. To be quite frank, I totally wasn't even thinking about them. I wasn't even thinking to look for them until about a half dozen tomato plants totally disappeared to nothing but a stem. I'm still training the chickens.. (yes.. training them).. and so far behind on weeding, laundry and basic functions that checking on the tomatoes was pretty far down the list.
The Japanese beetles are fabulous for chicken training treats. "Izzy" knows her name, so does "Karen" and "Kate" and "Roy". The beetles appeal to the chicken's 5 senses.. crunchy and shiny. After shiny, not much else matters.
I... armed to the teeth with my trusty never-to-be-used-again-for-people salad fork.. went to wage war in the pathetic tomato patch. You can sorta pop horn worms off if you *use the fooooork Luke... use the fooooork!* place the tines to get the last 2 sets of legs off the plant. These wriggling juice bags went right into a container to be fed to the chickens.
These are the 3 amigos..
Horrible picture of them, I know... but my husband had the camera. The crocs are worn strictly to torment the fashionista poultry. These 3 follow me everywhere. The brave, the daring.. they are the few that will go into the garden. So I didn't think much about these boogers when I was picking beans.. until I heard the squeals of excitement by the 3 little dorks as they went tearing back to the house. You could just hear what they were thinking.. "Omgomgomgomgomgomg lookit what I have!!!"
When one of my chickens has something new.. it must show whatever it is off to the other birds. Their reaction determines if what they have is any good.. desirable... so the initial "run" plays out like the OJ car chase. Really slow, with everyone watching.. still processing what is going on. If they know they have the goods.. break-neck speed right to the cop.. through the masses..
They thought they had horn worms, until they got to the coop and paid attention to what they snapped up. Several minutes later they are back in the garden.. then sqeals as they zoom back to the house. It takes a chicken quite a few times to figure something out. About 1/2 a bowl full of beans before mine figured it out.
If you like silence.. listen to Pioneer Preppy and do not get a guinea fowl. When they are content, it is like a bunch of 6 year olds with kazoos saying "Doot-dah-doo" over and over. When they are not making that sound.. they are screaming repeatedly. When you go inside to hide from their commotion, they seek you out and express their dislike of your relocation.. right after they crap on the patio.
At first, a loud sound of any sort would surprise them into silence. Then they caught on and it would force me to reach for desperate measures... old songs.
RAMA-LAMA-DING-DONG!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOhhh EEEEEE OOOOhhh-AAAHHH AHHHH
TING TANG!! WALLA WALLA !!! BING BANG!!!!
Then came disco... oooowwp ooowwp! and imitations porn... bow-chica-wow No pride left.. I just wanted a few minutes of blessed silence. Nothing was safe, nothing was sacred.. songs learned in CCD to pop songs.. a nursery school song in German, advertising for dog food, theme songs to TV shows.. all fair game.
No pride left I tell you. A fact I completely realize when I have to get them back into the temporary coop at night. When I hear myself mutter things like "please get in.. sleepytime.. please don't make me use the jazz hands..."
The chickens meanwhile.. just hop right in.
We've been pulling bowl after bowl of beans and a few tomatoes every day. A lot of tomatoes are still very green, and I am awaiting to see what some of my mystery tomato crosses will be. So far.. quite a mix. Seems the yellow pear has crossed with ??? The plants are covered in light bulb shaped tomatoes, but much bigger than the standard yellow pear parent, and they are still very green. I have to say... I am excited about the Goldman's Italian American tomatoes. Massive rippled tomatoes.. RIPEN ALREADY!!! Seriously not getting any younger here.
The Japanese beetles are fabulous for chicken training treats. "Izzy" knows her name, so does "Karen" and "Kate" and "Roy". The beetles appeal to the chicken's 5 senses.. crunchy and shiny. After shiny, not much else matters.
I... armed to the teeth with my trusty never-to-be-used-again-for-people salad fork.. went to wage war in the pathetic tomato patch. You can sorta pop horn worms off if you *use the fooooork Luke... use the fooooork!* place the tines to get the last 2 sets of legs off the plant. These wriggling juice bags went right into a container to be fed to the chickens.
These are the 3 amigos..
When one of my chickens has something new.. it must show whatever it is off to the other birds. Their reaction determines if what they have is any good.. desirable... so the initial "run" plays out like the OJ car chase. Really slow, with everyone watching.. still processing what is going on. If they know they have the goods.. break-neck speed right to the cop.. through the masses..
They thought they had horn worms, until they got to the coop and paid attention to what they snapped up. Several minutes later they are back in the garden.. then sqeals as they zoom back to the house. It takes a chicken quite a few times to figure something out. About 1/2 a bowl full of beans before mine figured it out.
If you like silence.. listen to Pioneer Preppy and do not get a guinea fowl. When they are content, it is like a bunch of 6 year olds with kazoos saying "Doot-dah-doo" over and over. When they are not making that sound.. they are screaming repeatedly. When you go inside to hide from their commotion, they seek you out and express their dislike of your relocation.. right after they crap on the patio.
RAMA-LAMA-DING-DONG!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOhhh EEEEEE OOOOhhh-AAAHHH AHHHH
TING TANG!! WALLA WALLA !!! BING BANG!!!!
Then came disco... oooowwp ooowwp! and imitations porn... bow-chica-wow No pride left.. I just wanted a few minutes of blessed silence. Nothing was safe, nothing was sacred.. songs learned in CCD to pop songs.. a nursery school song in German, advertising for dog food, theme songs to TV shows.. all fair game.
No pride left I tell you. A fact I completely realize when I have to get them back into the temporary coop at night. When I hear myself mutter things like "please get in.. sleepytime.. please don't make me use the jazz hands..."
The chickens meanwhile.. just hop right in.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wild Bergamot ..Bee Balm.. easy natives
The north side of the fields we have a meadow of bee balm (Monarda fistulosa).
These happily are also dwelling in the forest understory and highlight the way to my wild black raspberry patch. It is hard to explain the scent these give off when we walk through them, kind of lemony with spice notes.
This plant is a native and is also found pretty much across the US. It is also considered a "honey plant" as it puts out decent amounts of pollen and nectar. The humming birds and bees are constantly all over them making the forest hum.
Monarda fistulosa is the species we have and it is in peak bloom right now. It is a perennial and although it spreads more often by way of rhizome, it does also offer viable seeds. The seeds from this species needs cold stratification. I'll be collecting seeds from these to start patches closer to the farmhouses.
The flowers and the leaves can be used fresh or dried to make tea. The best time to pick any herb is very early in the morning when it has the highest levels of essential oils. Essential oils are very volatile and exposure to heat and light will cause them to dissipate. This also would be why you want to dry herbs in an area that has good air flow, is cool, and out of light.. so you retain the flavor.
While some opt to use this plant as just a decorative addition to landscape, it can offer more than just eye candy. The tea made from this is rather refreshing and it can help if you have issues with heartburn or gas. There are other "issues" it is said to help.. but I have yet to try using it to relieve headaches , stomach aches or acne. Frankly.. I just find the tea lovely.
This plant is in the mint family... and like it's cousin.. it can sometimes spread. Once established, it requires almost no care. Along the edge of a forested area, or where there is an opening in the canopy these plants take off. They can handle partial shade and seem to thrive when getting a break from the scorching summer sun.
I guess if you were to do a native planting.. they get along with sumac, black caps, gooseberry and black walnut.
This plant is a native and is also found pretty much across the US. It is also considered a "honey plant" as it puts out decent amounts of pollen and nectar. The humming birds and bees are constantly all over them making the forest hum.
Monarda fistulosa is the species we have and it is in peak bloom right now. It is a perennial and although it spreads more often by way of rhizome, it does also offer viable seeds. The seeds from this species needs cold stratification. I'll be collecting seeds from these to start patches closer to the farmhouses.
The flowers and the leaves can be used fresh or dried to make tea. The best time to pick any herb is very early in the morning when it has the highest levels of essential oils. Essential oils are very volatile and exposure to heat and light will cause them to dissipate. This also would be why you want to dry herbs in an area that has good air flow, is cool, and out of light.. so you retain the flavor.
While some opt to use this plant as just a decorative addition to landscape, it can offer more than just eye candy. The tea made from this is rather refreshing and it can help if you have issues with heartburn or gas. There are other "issues" it is said to help.. but I have yet to try using it to relieve headaches , stomach aches or acne. Frankly.. I just find the tea lovely.
This plant is in the mint family... and like it's cousin.. it can sometimes spread. Once established, it requires almost no care. Along the edge of a forested area, or where there is an opening in the canopy these plants take off. They can handle partial shade and seem to thrive when getting a break from the scorching summer sun.
I guess if you were to do a native planting.. they get along with sumac, black caps, gooseberry and black walnut.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
View from the porch
Thought I'd share the view from the small farm's backyard.
The field was baled a little over a week ago. Wild grapes are going crazy along the fence of my Mom's former garden. It is the ultimate weeding nightmare with grasses that instantly fill back in tilled areas and henbit galore.
Can you spot the onions? lolol I will get more pictures so you can laugh, and suddenly feel better about what you have to weed.
As the soil is heavily clay, smothering the garden areas without having the compost (mountains of compost) to amend it is not a good idea. In this case the weeds help retain the moisture and keep the surface from drying out into a concrete like swath. I weed around the tomatoes, beans, squash, etc. but let the rest go. It gets hand trimmed back (I need geese!!!) and tossed into the compost pile. The weeds right now are also retaining the soil.
Tiny garden compared to what I wanted to do.. but a huge project nonetheless, especially when you consider that most of the ground breaking and hacking back of waist high grasses was done by hand. Insane I know.. but we didn't have much choice! So the squash patch is on hold until next year.. by then hopefully the tiller will be fixed and good to go!
Some of the birds braving the bugs to run out and say hello to us.
To the far right the red and black hen is Izzy, the barred rock to the left of her is Timmy, Kate the white keet, then Terry the black & white hen. Those 3 chicken up front are incredibly mellow and friendly. They love people, especially people with treats. The one in back flapping is Karen.. coming in for a landing and using her buddies to soften the impact. She's considerate that way.
Terry.. I'm trying not to have favorites.. but she's beyond sweet.
And another picture of the stinkers.. many won't deal with the bugs and hang out by the fan. The keets sound the alarm when something scary is around.. like those man eating hummingbirds.
This is what the fly strips look like after an hour. 1 hour. We have 4 up that we swap out almost every hour. Black Flag fly strips.. 4 for $1.. longer than the other brands we have encountered. The fan is on the opposite side of the run so it blows air quickly across the area where their food and water is.. and the entrance of the coop. This keeps the buffalo gnats out of the coop, lets the birds eat in peace.. and this side we have the shade cloth up. The gnats seem to be attracted to the scent of the birds.. which wafts out from this side.. so the fly strips collect up the cloud of gnats that gather here.
The birds have discovered stink bugs are nasty.. regardless of who is brave enough to run around with one in their beak. Lightening bugs are also not tasty.. june bugs are scary.. worms and grubs are divine.. flies are delish and ants are also yummy.
Off to the farm I go. Trying to make tomato cages still and attempt to contain the plants. We have post holes to dig, and as well dig out the area where the coop will be as it is a sloped area. Should we have a moment.. we still want to round up mulberries from the bigger farm and check on the blackberry patches and gooseberries. That takes several hours as it is a pretty good hike to zigzag over 80 acres of overgrown hilly terrain. Hopefully we remember to avoid the poison ivy! lol
Can you spot the onions? lolol I will get more pictures so you can laugh, and suddenly feel better about what you have to weed.
As the soil is heavily clay, smothering the garden areas without having the compost (mountains of compost) to amend it is not a good idea. In this case the weeds help retain the moisture and keep the surface from drying out into a concrete like swath. I weed around the tomatoes, beans, squash, etc. but let the rest go. It gets hand trimmed back (I need geese!!!) and tossed into the compost pile. The weeds right now are also retaining the soil.
Tiny garden compared to what I wanted to do.. but a huge project nonetheless, especially when you consider that most of the ground breaking and hacking back of waist high grasses was done by hand. Insane I know.. but we didn't have much choice! So the squash patch is on hold until next year.. by then hopefully the tiller will be fixed and good to go!
Some of the birds braving the bugs to run out and say hello to us.
Terry.. I'm trying not to have favorites.. but she's beyond sweet.
And another picture of the stinkers.. many won't deal with the bugs and hang out by the fan. The keets sound the alarm when something scary is around.. like those man eating hummingbirds.
This is what the fly strips look like after an hour. 1 hour. We have 4 up that we swap out almost every hour. Black Flag fly strips.. 4 for $1.. longer than the other brands we have encountered. The fan is on the opposite side of the run so it blows air quickly across the area where their food and water is.. and the entrance of the coop. This keeps the buffalo gnats out of the coop, lets the birds eat in peace.. and this side we have the shade cloth up. The gnats seem to be attracted to the scent of the birds.. which wafts out from this side.. so the fly strips collect up the cloud of gnats that gather here.
Off to the farm I go. Trying to make tomato cages still and attempt to contain the plants. We have post holes to dig, and as well dig out the area where the coop will be as it is a sloped area. Should we have a moment.. we still want to round up mulberries from the bigger farm and check on the blackberry patches and gooseberries. That takes several hours as it is a pretty good hike to zigzag over 80 acres of overgrown hilly terrain. Hopefully we remember to avoid the poison ivy! lol
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