Author Archives: Quail Run

Kitchen Witching

Jar for our line of medicinal salves sitting on my desk as inspiration.

When the weather turns cool and the garden work isn’t as urgent or time consuming my thoughts and attention turn to my herbs and herbal preparations. My sister-in-law calls this kitchen witching and its a description that is echoed by my husband and children who call me the witch doctor.  I am not against conventional medicine, not even a little, my family benefits from it, my life has been saved by it.  That being said conventional medicine is usually my last resort.  I much prefer gentle at home than a quick, but often harsh, fix.

Essential oils, beeswax and lavender for soaps and salves. This lavender will be infused in Sweet Almond Oil for six weeks then made into a relaxing salve to help with sleep.

I have kitchen witched for many, many years dreaming of a time when I would be able to bring my preparations and education to more than just my family and a few friends. After our success this year at the farmers market I decided that this is the time to go for it.  After years of thinking about things, taking a timid step here or there, but not fully committing I am going to do it. I am working very hard in the little in-between-times on our on-line store, recipes and products. And I’m loving every minute of it.

First batch of Charcoal soap cut and ready to sure for six weeks.

I will be offering several types of tinctures to help with everything from sickness to hormone balance and anxiety. Many different salves that help sooth the bite of an insect, to calm pain and help heal a diaper rash.  I will also be offering all natural, handmade soaps that do not have any harsh dye or fragrance, such as: Castile,Goat Milk, Charcoal, Honey Oatmeal and Dead Sea Clay. There will also be a handful of miscellaneous items like bath teas, key chains, baby skin care packs and more.

I am so excited to bring these products to you and your family in the coming weeks.

Bedding the Pumpkin Patch


We were really excited about our pumpkins this year.  I for one, love pumpkins and all their various shapes and sizes, I can never have to many.  They did fairly well at the farmers market this year, however we are planning a different marketing strategy for next season.

One of the biggest struggles with pumpkins, or any squash for that matter, is the squash bug.  It will take out a whole squash plant in one day and once you see the all too familiar wilting on your vine the plant is gone and so are all the pumpkins on that vine.  Then the buggers march on over to the next plant and before you know it your patch is ruined.  There are a few things you can do, but nothing is one hundred percent effective and the best plan is to be proactive from the very beginning, meaning the fall before you sow your pumpkins.

The year before we lost about half our pumpkins, this season we maybe lost a third and next season will be even better.  This year I was very vigilant, I would get up around 5:00 am and check under every leaf for eggs and bugs, scraping the eggs and destroying the bugs.  Any vines that showed the least bit of wilt were cut off at the base and thrown away, not composted, not fed to the animals, they were removed from the property.  I couldn’t chance a squash bug escaping back to the patch.
Our preparations for next season started this Saturday with a massive clean up. Squash bugs will hibernate in old plant debris, the spent vines, leaves and straw left on the garden.  This is problematic for me as a “compost in place, no-till, leave nature to do its job” kind of girl.  However the squash bugs had gotten so bad, it was time to re-think this philosophy a bit. We needed to pull up as many of the old vines as possible and dispose of them in a way that killed the over wintering bugs. We also needed to clean up the old plastic we used as a mulch for weeds.


Instead of composting or feeding them to animals all the vines were burned. There were too many vines to send out with the trash,  burning and then mixing the ashes in with the soil make me feel a little better about things.
Another thing that helps combat the hibernating bugs is a light till. I don’t loving tilling, in my research the soil does better when left to do what is does best, but I’ve also learned that a very light till can have some benefits and little of the draw backs. So Mike and the boys gave the whole patch a little fluffing, this brings the bugs up and exposes them to the elements and kills them.

And lastly, the pumpkin patch will be moved.  Rotation is very key and I am embarrassed to admit, I have never rotated pumpkins off this patch. This has always been a family garden so I didn’t manage it as carefully as I ought to have, but now that its a market garden rotation must be done with much thought and exactness. It is critical I get pumpkins off this bit of ground. The Pumpkin patch will be relocated and doubled in size to a new area that was cleared and prepared this summer.  The old pumpkin patch will have new market beds with some classics like peas, beans and carrots with a colorful twist, which I love.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Late this season, about the end of August I decided to experiment with a late planting of lettuce.  In the past I have kept my lettuce growing to the spring then quit when it got hot and the lettuce went bitter and bolted. If you live in a place where the summers get hot and you want lettuce throughout the summer you must do close succession planting. I just never bothered.  I was only planting a garden for my family, but my first summer as a market garden had me thinking a little differently about lettuce.

I wondered if I could plant a very late crop and be successful into October. At the end of August I planted seeds into soil blocks and tended and waited. after about two and a half weeks they were set out in the garden.  They did beautifully.  I was so excited watching them, anticipating sweet little heads of lettuce those last few weeks at market. We even successfully held them over through a hard freeze that took out the rest of the garden, by erecting temporarily tunnels covered with floating row cover and a thick blanket during the nights.

I had peeked at them a few times after they had been covered and everything looked so good. I felt my experiment had been successful and we would be able to do this again next season…fresh lettuce into October without a greenhouse.

Then I uncovered them and took a real close look. I first noticed it on the dark leaves and my heart sunk.  Little white exoskeletons, little aphids. Not only had my lettuce lived through the cold nights and hard freezes, but so had the aphids, and they thrived.
My beautiful crop of specialty romaine lettuce was a complete loss. While they will feed the rabbits and chickens, which in turn will feed the soil, I wanted them for market, and they are not fit to sell at market.

As always, everything is a learning experience.  I did learn that with a little effort we can grow lettuce into October and maybe even November in the garden without a greenhouse or hoop houses.  I also learned that pests will also extended their season in the nice warm shelters I create.  Next year we will experiment with organic pest control inside our mini hoop houses.

Elderberry, Queen of the Herb Closet

Elderberry!  How I love the elderberry.  From the first leaves in the spring to the delicate, fragrant flowers of summer and finally the dark berry clusters in early fall.  Elder is one of those specimens in my garden that I watch closely with much delight. Elderberries are a powerful medicinal that have been sited in historical texts for more than a thousand years.

“Long referred to as ‘the people’s medicine chest’, elderberries have a strong history of use against upper respiratory infections. In fact, one study found that elderberry had specific immunomodulating constituents that aid in treating respiratory illness.

An herbal preparation of elderberry syrup was shown to be effective against a number of influenza viruses in both human clinical trials and in vitro studies.  In one placebo-controlled, double-blind study, 93.3 percent of those taking the elderberry preparations saw a significant improvement in symptoms within two days; by comparison, it took six days for 91.7 percent of those taking placebo to see improvement. These results were so outstanding that it propelled elderberry syrup into one of the most popular herbal treatment for the flu.” Rosalee De La Foret “Alchemy of Herbs” p.203

I have found this to be true with my family.  For many years now I have made a large batch of elderberry syrup in the fall and at the first sign of illness everyone in the house starts taking it. If symptoms get worse I up the dose, but rarely do I need to do this, my family of eleven typically only suffer minor colds or flu like symptoms and not very often. I attribute this to Elderberry syrup, especially with my little ones, as I can hardly get them to take other tinctures.

“Elder flowers are a nice remedy for those with a feverish cold, but for those with the flu, I prefer elder berries. The most common way to take them is in the form of a syrup. The immune enhancing properties of elder berries are renowned in Europe and slowly gaining popularity in the United States. Elder berry syrup also eases coughs and lung congestion.” Susun Weed

I am also playing with different preparations of elderberries this year.  In the past I have purchased dried berries for syrup making, and I will continue to do this as my bushes are still young and don’t produce enough berries for my needs. This season there were enough for me to play around with a little more and I’m trying my hand at elderberry infused honey and elderberry tincture.  I’m excited at what I am seeing and I hope to be able to offer these preparations next year.

This year as the Farmers Market started to wind down I decided to try my hand at making elderberry syrup to sell at my booth.  I have wanted to prepare and sell herbals for many, many years so this was especially exciting and scary. I have been pleasantly surprised by the response, I can hardly keep it in stock!  If you are interested in purchasing elderberry syrup from us you can contact us on facebook and soon you will be able to buy it directly from our website.  Exciting things are happening here on the farm and I am so excited to see the direction we are going.

Cover Crops-Rye Grass

Using cover crops isn’t something I have done aggressively over the years.  I would use beans and peas in rotation and we’ve planted rye and clover in some areas. This will be the first season that we are going to be using cover crops extensively. I have had many hesitations, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to plant vigorous weed-like plants in the areas I am wanting to grow vegetables. Wouldn’t I just be creating a bigger mess? Why would I plant my own weeds?  The more I read and researched organic market gardening and regenerative agriculture it became clear to me that not only are cover crops beneficial, but in my situation they are essential.

“Green-manure crops help protect against erosion, retain nutrients that might other wise be leached from the soil, suppress the germination  and growth of weeds, cycle nutrients from the lower to the upper layers of the soil, and–in the case of legumes–leave to the following crop a considerable quantity of nitrogen.  Other contributions of a green manure are improved soil structure, additional organic matter, enhanced drought tolerance, and increased nutrient availability of plants” Eliot Coleman “New Organic Grower” p.63

So I tentatively took the plunge into cover cropping at the end of this season.  I began with planting clover in the rows between the beds.  Pretty simple and safe.  Then as I’ve posted about before I planed annual rye grass in the empty beds after they had been harvested.  Yes, I planted grass.  In my garden beds. Grass.  On purpose. I even under planted my winter kale with rye grass. I would be lying if I didn’t’ admit that every time I walk out into the garden my heart leaps a little as I see the grass  coming up and then have to remind myself I did that on purpose and this is a good thing.
So what do I do in the spring when it comes to planting time with beds full of rye?  It’s actually pretty simple. The rye gets mowed before it goes to seed.  I used an annual rye grass, meaning it only lives one season.  This next spring when we are ready to prepare the beds for planting the rye will be mowed down low and lightly turned in to the soil. This will add a lot of organic matter and create humus in the soil.

“Humus, the end product of organic-matter decay in the soil, is the key to good soil structure, nutrient availability, moisture supply, and the biological vitality of the soil.” Eliot Coleman “New Organic Gardner” p.64

I am excited to learn how to work cover crops into the market garden, this next season I will be adding more varieties and playing around with under sowing, something I will talk about more later.

Producing healthy food for my neighbors, food that nourishes them at the same time protecting, building and nourishing the land is very important to me and Mike. We hope and pray we will be able to do this well and for many years to come.

Growing Medicine

Along with Elderberry, and Yarrow, Echinacea is one of my ultimate go-to for winter illness.

“Echinacea (echinacea angustifolia) is the prime remedy to help the body rid itself of microbial infections.  It is effective against both bacterial and viral attacks…It is especially useful for infections of the upper respiratory tract…In general it may be used widely and safely.”  David Hoffman “Holistic Herbal” p.197

The part of the plant used medicinally is the root. When using medicinal roots ideally the root needs to be a least two years old, three or four years is even better. I use a lot of echinacea during the winter, I don’t like to be without the tincture. I have planned and eagerly anticipated the time when I would be harvesting my own roots.  This year was the year!

These sweet little babies are two years old and had a great summer, they were big, thick and full of flowers.  When harvesting medicinal roots the best time is in the fall after a few frosty weeks, the energy of the plant is diverted down into the roots, making the medicinal properties richer. We have had a succession of cold nights and sparkly mornings and the forecast was calling for a hard freeze.  It would have been fine to harvest after the hard freeze, but I didn’t want to be digging in the cold and I wanted to make sure I could see the plants and only take the strongest and healthiest.
In my patch I picked about half of the biggest most healthy plants.  Healthy plants make good strong medicine. With a fork I gently lifted each plant with its root system intact.  They looked so beautiful.

The big roots were sliced in half and about half of the smaller roots broken off, the green foliage and flower heads were trimmed back. The smaller roots and about a third of the big root stalks were set aside in my foraging basket.
The remaining roots were tucked back into their original spots, a few were planted in a new patch. My goal is to have a continual supply of 2-3 and 4 year roots.  To do this I have to be very deliberate and thoughtful about how much I take, how much I re-plant and where.
And true to my nature and philosophy, all the greens and spent flower heads were laid right back from where they came.  They will compost in place, feeding the soil that fed them.
This is my harvest, they will dry out for a few days, the dirt brushed off and then they will be tinctured for six weeks. These beauties will help keep my family healthy throughout the winter. They are also going to go into a formula I am working on that will be an even more powerful ally against the cold and flu.

Keep watching, we will be launching a web store very soon where you can get my herbals, syrups, tinctures and soaps. We are so excited to be able to share the goodness with everyone.

Putting the Garden to Bed

About a week ago we got one of our first really cold nights.  Technically we didn’t get below freezing, but I’ve come to learn over the years that our farm is in a little micro climate that is a few degrees cooler than homes that are only six hundred or so feet west of us or a couple miles north and south. That means when the night time temperatures are predicted to be in the low 40’s we can easily flirt with freezing temperatures. We didn’t have a hard freeze that night, other wise the whole garden would be black and dead, but we did get low enough to zap some of the pumpkin vines, the cucumbers and the green beans. I am sad about the cucumbers, we could have had a few more weeks with them, but I didn’t pay close enough attention and get them covered.  The green beans were on their way out already, the generally cooler temperatures had slowed production to almost nothing.  With that being the case it was time to put that bed to sleep for the winter.  I don’t like my beds to sit empty for long, I like quick turn around to give all the time I can to preparing for the next crop. (Sorry the pictures aren’t that great, the lighting was terrible and we were working quickly to get done before dark)

You can see the tops of the bushes are yellow and dead, those leaves got cold enough it killed them, the plant underneath are still alive, but all the blossoms dropped, indicating we are done with green beans for the season.
A close up of the frost zapped plants.
The first step to preparing the bed for the winter is to mow down the plants. Unless I find evidence of disease or insect infestation I never pull plants up, they are mowed down and left to compost in place. The roots will compost under the ground, nourishing it and feeding beneficial soil bacteria.
On the farm we use a “low” till method. We don’t regularly  till the soil and if we do its very light and shallow. Tilling disrupts the soils ecosystem, which is fragile and necessary, especially with organic gardening. Instead of tiling I will lightly aerate with a broad fork, pushing it in the soil and lifting slightly, I don’t dig anything up or turn it over. This allows oxygen, water and compost to filter a little more easily down into the soil and helps combat compaction. Ideally a healthy soil ecosystem accounts for those things, but we are still working on that!
After working the bed with a broad fork we add a nice layer of organic matter. I happened to use old leaves from last year. I have used old hay and straw, it doesn’t matter so much what it is, what matters is that organic matter is getting put down. Very soon the earthworms, rolly-pollies and other insects and microorganisms will get to work on those leaves, breaking them down and leaving a nice humus layer. This will help the soil retain water, stay fluffy for oxygenation and feed next years crop.
Over all the leaves we spread between 2-3 inches of compost. This black gold is home grown Quail Run compost made from old hay and bedding from the goats and rabbits, horse manure, leaves, grass clippings, comfrey, kitchen scraps and chickens. These were all piled in the chicken yard and the chicken spend about three weeks working it over, turning it and adding their contribution. This is the best compost, so rich and healthy. I’m always amazed that a few weeks ago this looked like a pile of dirty hay and now it looks and smells like rich soil. The compost will add to the richness of the soil and also aid in breaking down the leaf layer.
Finally after mowing, going over with the broad fork, adding organic matter and compost I was ready to seed for the cover crop. Leaving a bed bare could potentially make all my hard work go to waste. Wind, freezing tempratures, heavy rain can all wash away and break down the soil layers. A cover crop keeps that all in place. A cover crop will also add to the organic matter in the bed come spring time when it is mowed and lightly tilled in, cover crops will also add certain nutrients to the soil. I am planting rye grass and winter rye, both will germinate and grow until everything freezes soil for several days, it will then stay dormant until the early spring and then pick right back up, it will be ready for mowing just before planting time. I finished raking the compost and sowing the cover crop by head lamp.
Here is the bed a day or two later. Now the fun part: watching for little rye sprouts!

 

Medicinals

My heart beats green.  Really. The place in my heart reserved for all that is green and growing is so big its basically green.  The earth and all her offerings heal me, from good food, to the beauty, to physically healing me with its medicines. Through the years I have read extensively, taken many classes and enrolled in schools for herbal medicine and traditional healing. As I have journeyed and researched I’ve grown a small collection of my favorite medicinal plants and have integrated them into our lives here on the farm.

Calendula flowers, wonderful for supporting skin, digestion and immune system. These will be infused in olive oil for about six weeks then made into salve that is perfect for soothing irritated skin.

While there is no set season for harvesting medicinal plants, it really depends on the plant and what you are harvesting, it seems that fall is when I do most of my gathering and brewing. I’ve been busy picking all the leaves, flowers, berries and roots and getting them soaking in tinctures, oils, honey, vinegar and syrups so they can either be consumed or made into other products.

Plantain, this beautiful weed that is a powerful skin healer for cuts and scrapes. My favorite use is to sooth insect bite, especially mosquitoes. This batch will be infused in olive oil and made into my famous bug balm.
From right to left we have Motherswort, Croneswort and California Poppy. They are being infused in vodka for tinctures specific to supporting women’s health. The Motherswort and California Poppy also go into my Serenity tincture.
Honey infused with fresh Elderberry. I use this to help sooth coughs and sore throats. Its made with raw honey we harvested on the farm a few years ago and save for medicinal purposes.

I plan on expending my booth at the farmers market next season to include herbal remedies and soaps, winter is the perfect time to prepare for that, as the garden rests and I have a break to focus on other passions. My mind has been a flurry of ideas and formulas that I can make  to help others support their health and happiness.

Pumpkins

Autumn is one of my most favorite times of the year.  I most likely say that at the beginning of every new season, I am glad to live in an area of the world where I get to have four seasons, I like the variety and anticipation that each season brings. That being said, Autumn is one of my favorites, I don’t tire of it quickly and I love the cool nights, the harvest, the fall colors, snuggling in front of the first fire of the season.  Its such a lovely time of year. I must confess another reason I love autumn is my love affair with pumpkins. Seriously they are the mostly beautiful and interesting of all vegetables.  I love the typical jack-o-lantern style and I love the old heirloom varieties, the kind that people have been growing in France for five hundred years.  I love them all.  I have to restrain myself every spring as I plan and plant my garden so I don’t plant too    many.  I so enjoy pumpkins.

 

This year I didn’t feel  as bad about  all the pumpkins I planted, we were able to share them with people at market, and let them enjoy the variety and take them home to love too. How can you not love a pumpkin that is green and pinky/orange mottled? Or one whose ridges are so deep and defined it looks like it came right out of mid evil Europe?

Having a nice harvest of good pumpkins speaks to an old part of my soul, the lingering part from my ancestors that would have looked upon those pumpkins and known they would be eating well over the cold winter. That the bright oranges and greens would have been refreshing for the eyes during the dark winter months. As these beautiful pumpkins adore my table, my front porch and eventually feed my family and farm animals I can’t help but feel as if I’m tapping into days long past.