Category Archives: Aimee’s Journal

Summer 2020

Summer has come and gone without a single post on this blog. That’s not too surprising, as summer is one of our busiest seasons and this summer seemed especially packed. We rearranged our business model, added in milk, took care of an elderly parent who had a fall and hosted our niece for two and a half months. All the while the garden grew, presented new challenges and fed our family. I decided to do a photo dump of our summer, since I don’t have the time to recapture it all. Summer 2020 will go down in the record books as strange and wonderful.

Pep

Meal Worms

It is always a big experiment around here.
Wanting to add some healthy protein to our chicken’s diet we decided to play around with meal worms. Yes, we are growing meal worms,  in plastic totes, in our house.
From what Dadzoo (or farmer Mike) has researched they are really easy to grow.  They need some type of medium to craw around in, a food source, a water source and warmth.
We prepared a big plastic tote with wood chips, dog food and some lettuce.  We originally wanted to use wheat germ for food and bedding but it is taking awhile to get here so this is what we have for now.
The new wiggly babies seems to like their home and hopefully we will soon see beetles, that will lay eggs, that will turn into meal worms, that will be fed to chickens or left grown into beetles.

It’s the circle of life, y’all.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Preparing Spring Beds

Despite being February and technically still winter, it is spring here on the farm.
I love spring.
All summer long I am busy making compost, in “cold” piles and with the chickens but as much as I work to make as much compost as I can there is never enough.  Because of this and because we are adding 450 feet of market beds we purchased and had compost trucked in.
Last Fall we staked out the new garden.  Previous it had been a big pumpkin patch, but we needed to move it because of squash bug issue and I wanted my new market beds closer to the established garden area.  The pumpkins will go in the new, raw area, they are a good plant to break in a new place. We made each bed 30″ wide and 50′ long.
Not wanting to disturb the soil already there and not wanting to churn up weed seeds we are laying six inches of compost right on top of the soil and not mixing it in.  Well made compost can be planted directly in, it won’t be too hot. The isles will be planted with mini clover, that will help keep the weeds and dust down and when it is mowed we will rake the clippings right into the garden beds, and as the plants grow we will add mulch and cover crops.
I love this picture, it shows the steaming compost both in the pile and in the wheelbarrow.  This shows how well the microbe activity is, good healthy microbes mean good healthy soil. It is also nice on a cool morning to be able to warm up at the pile!

Our beds are all ready to go.  In about two weeks I will be starting seeds indoors to be planed out the first part of April.  The Peas will be direct seeded mid-march, carrots and beets will also be direct sown in April.

I am so excited for the season to begin!

Markers of Spring

For a lot of people crocuses, daffodils, blossoms, tulips are the first signs of spring.

Not me.
As soon as I can I am sticking my fingers in the dirt looking for two things:
Rhubarb and Comfrey.

Yes, Rhubarb and Comfrey are the very first plants that start showing themselves in my garden.  As soon as those red balls of crinkly rhubarb leaves start pushing up through the old, dead leaves of last summer I know that we have turned the corner. Sure we will have cold days and nights ahead, but the endless frozen days of winter are over.
And look what I found.
Rhubarb and Comfrey.
Welcome Spring.

Chickens!

Spring is such a busy, exciting time on the farm, there are so many different things going on.  Preparing for planting, planting and all the baby animals. This year we will have two sets of goats born, 36 new chicks and we are planning on adding piggies. We will be doubling our flock this year, to better serve our customers as our eggs are always in high demand. When ordering chickens I like to do things a little differently than most, my highest priority isn’t production.  I pick my birds for the color of eggs they lay, how they look (I love variety in the barnyard), how common they are and their willingness to free range and brood.  One breed that I have been ordering for years now is the Delaware, they are on conservation lists as breeds that are in danger of being lost.  They are a pretty, plump, duel purpose (meaning they lay eggs and are good for meat) breed out of Delaware (hence the name) that were once common on family farms that are now disappearing in favor of commercial breeds. I like my flock to be diverse, my eggs colorful and fun, and my birds hearty and willing to free range.

All of our chicks come from Murry McMurray Hatchery.  I have been ordering from them for over 10 years when I first started out with a little flock in my suburban back yard.  I’ve always been happy with the quality of chicks and if there has been a problem they were pleasant, friendly to work with and quick to make things right. The pictures on this post come from their site and are the chickens we will be adding.  If you are wanting to start a flock I highly recommend them and you can find them here: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

Nursing a Cold

About a week ago I felt a cold come on.  It hit pretty fast, I woke up feeling fine but by the afternoon my throat was sore, I was coughing and all stuffed up.  That night and into the next day I kept our Wellness tincture close by and took a dose about every hour and 24 hours after I stared taking it my symptoms were almost gone.  I felt so well that I stopped/forgot to keep taking my tincture, which was a mistake, I should have kept going until I felt completely better. Fast forward a few days and  the lingering congestion flared back up into a nice solid cough, the kind that keeps you up all night. This week has been very busy, along with the normal day to day chores of running a household it was our first week back homeschooling from the Christmas break (which is always a bit dicey) and our business decided to take-off this week (thank you!), so I just ignored the cough. Then last night happened, I was up all night, literally, I watched many episodes of “Friends” propped up on pillows, popping cough drops as the minutes and hours ticked by. I’m a night person naturally, my best work happens in the wee hours of the morning, but not like this! This is just torture!

This morning I declared today a day of healing. I know how to help my body get over this and its just stupid to not do it. I brewed a cup of tea with Colts foots to sooth the cough, Mullen to support the lungs and Lobelia to help break up congestion and I’ve been drinking cup after cup along with many doses of Wellness tincture to help with any lingering infection or virus. I’m planning on a full night of very restful sleep, hoping the kids cooperate!

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.