sweet local

All future updates

2009-02-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

All future updates will be over at our new official website SweetLocalFarm(dot)com. Please continue to stop by and see what we are up to!

February- at least it's not January...

2009-02-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

Some garden news:

The other half of my seeds came in the mail yesterday! I ordered 1,000 spinach seeds-wow.

We went and looked at the greenhouse in person and decided it wouldn't be right for our farm. It was enormous! Also, it needed to be disassembled within the next few weeks, but we are under 2 feet of snow here and it just didn't seem feasible.

However, we did buy 10 industrial food grade barrels to turn into rain water storage. That's 550 gallons of water!

I hung my springtime forsythia wreath on the door, even though we have a ways to go. I know this is the time of year to force forsythia too, but I can't remember where there is any to pick in this city. If you have it in your yard, go pick some and stick it in water. You'll have cheery yellow blossoms before you know it!

image from learn2grow

Mid Winter Blues

2009-01-24T11:27:00.001-08:00

The only things left in my pantry from last years garden are some dried beans, a pumpkin, and a few jars of green tomato chutney. Luke doesn't like the sweet and savory taste of the chutney and I can only eat so much of it, so we still have plenty. Its times like this when I miss going out to the garden to pick fresh greens and carrots for a crisp salad.

We've been searching on craigslist for used greenhouses for the past few weeks and finally found something we are going to check out in person. With a greenhouse we can start plants earlier and extend the season. I've even read about the possibility of a four season harvest. I must buy this book!

Here is the greenhouse we are going to see. We would have to label the parts, disassemble it and reassemble it on the farm. New kits are ten thousand dollars or more for something this large, so hopefully our hard work will save us money.

Inaugural Luncheon: A New Birth of Freedom

2009-01-20T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today I hosted a small inaugural luncheon at my home. I served the the same meal Obama and Lincoln ate at their inaugural luncheons- cherry chutney with braised duck (don't worry, I used seitan to keep things vegan), and sweet potatoes mashed with molasses and maple syrup. I decorated with patriotic red, white, and blue place settings and a decal from Lincoln's White House china. We made a toast with organic sparkling cider. This was a special day that I won't soon forget.

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T13:13:00.001-08:00

Let's get that Victory Garden growing:

This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

Planning the Orchard

2009-01-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

In planning the orchard, I want to pick fruit trees that will survive and thrive in my climate. I found that many varieties were developed right here in Massachusetts. Hopefully they will all produce fruit and become a living collection of local heirlooms. These are the varieties I want to plant:

BALDWIN Massachusetts 1784: Delicious cider base, and great for pies. Fruit medium to large, sometimes very large. Skin yellow, flushed orange, striped red. Flesh firm to coarse, yellowish; flavor sweet and crisp. Often a biennial bearer, but can be regulated with timely pruning and thinning.

HUNT RUSSET Massachusetts, 1750's: A rare apple, can be likened to Golden Russet. This is a little known heirloom apple with an exceptional taste. Generally yellow fruit, lightly overlaid with russet with bronze red cheek in full sun. The Hunt Russet has an acidulous pear-like flavor typical of most russets. A long lived, vigorous tree whose fruit has been known to keep in root cellars over a year!

MOTHER Massachusetts, 1840: Beautiful apple, good size with thin golden yellow skin covered with deep red marbled and striped with carmine. Fine tender, rich, aromatic flesh. Shows some resistance to scab. Great fresh off the tree!

NONESUCH (Hubbardston Nonesuch) Massachusetts 1830: Among the best early to mid-season eating apples. Fruit usually large with clear red skin in our climate, but color is variable. Flesh is white, moderately firm, sweet and rich.

ROXBURY RUSSET Massachusetts prior to 1649: Excellent old American cider apple, a keeper and good for eating fresh. Large greenish, sometimes bronze tinged skin almost covered with yellowish-brown russet. Remarkable for it's amount of sugar. Firm, slightly coarse, fairly tender, yellowish-white flesh. Tree medium to large, a good cropper on rich soils. Displays resistance to scab and cedar apple rust.

SEEK-NO-FURTHER (Westfield) Massachusetts 1796: An old favorite dessert apple. Creamy yellow, firm, medium-grained, crisp flesh rich, complex and distinct flavor. Fruit medium size, uniform. Skin is a beautiful, smooth deep yellow or greenish base, shaded red. Flourishes in well-drained, gravelly or loamy soil.

All photos and descriptions from Trees of Antiquity.

Time to lead a farmer's life.

2009-01-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

Go over to sweetlocalfarm.com to listen to the song!

We added the song "Life on the Farm" to the sidebar (right below the weather). It was written by Luke's old band, Piebald. It has special meaning for us now and has become our anthem! Please listen and read along:

Time to lead a farmer's life. You may not know why.
Hell yeah you have heard it right, still, you don't know why.
Well I am unimpressed by the secrets of the mess we've made here.
Peace and trees and peace of mind, now I've told you why.
Just want to live on the Earth, so I ain't a judge of man's worth.
Roam with the animals who live on this farm of mine.
Family and peaceful home on this land of mine.
I wouldn't say I own, its just the place that we call our home.
But I think I'm going back, now I told you why.
Cows, horses, pigs, cats, and dogs, geese, hens, and even the frogs.
Just want to roam with my friends, pet them until the day ends.
In a while I will escape this prosthetic life,
find myself a small farm, and live our own living.
Raise some carefree animals.
Work on a tractor - but mostly just ride my bike.
No one disturbs me. I do just what I like.
The world wants to attack but I ain't got no time for that - I'm planting seeds.
Don't want to see pollution or kill for a good solution. (oh, so lucian?)
Singing songs out on the sunset porch,
everyone's welcome so come and enjoy the peace.
There's never an alarm,
Life on the Farm!

Cold, Cold, Cold

2009-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

photo by Betsey L. Josselyn

It is cold out there! Tomorrow the predicted low is -6 degrees. Next winter I'll be worrying about my chickens and whoever else joins us on the farm, but for now I'm taking it easy in the city.

Updated Calendar

2009-01-11T12:58:00.001-08:00

The seeds from Botanical Interest arrived this week. I opened the box and set out all the packets. Each envelope is filled with starting information so I created a spreadsheet to keep track of things. I'll add the other seeds when they come.

Repurposing Trash

2009-01-08T18:55:00.001-08:00

Last spring we bought biodegradable pots to start our seedlings in. We decided not to buy them again this season. It seemed like they didn't decompose and actually stunted the growth of the plants. Instead of buying plastic pots we have been saving our empty toilet paper rolls. Today I transformed the cardboard into mini pots for seedlings. We rarely buy paper towel, but those tubes work well too. All you have to do is cut the tube in half and cut 4 equal slits on one side. Then fold them closed as you would fold a box. Here are some pictures:

2009-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

This is the tentative plan as to when seeds will start, be hardened off, and eventually planted in the fresh beds. Since I haven’t experienced a Western MA spring, I’ll have to play it by ear and be ready to pull seedlings back inside if the temperature drops. There are several small rooms in the barn with counters or work stations. Hopefully I can set up shop in there and have a seedling nursery.

January 3: Ordered seeds.
January/February to do: find/buy grow lights, seed trays, and potting soil.
March 5-10: Sow kale, broccoli and lettuce, onion, celery seeds indoors.
March 15: Sow pepper seed indoors.
March 28: Sow half of tomato seed indoors.
April 4: Sow seed for peas.
April 10-15: Sow spinach, arugula, and radish seeds. Set out Jerusalem artichoke tubers. Harden off kale, broccoli and lettuce transplants.
April 15: Sow cucumber seed indoors.
April 20-30: Transplant pepper, eggplant and tomato seedlings to larger pots indoors. Sow beets, pumpkins/winter squash and summer squash seeds indoors. Plant potatoes, sow seed for carrots. Plant kale and broccoli
April 27: Last frost date for Worcester / Springfield
April 28: Sow second half of tomato seed indoors.
May 15-20: Sow beans and sunflowers. Set out tomatoes and cucumbers. Sow more lettuce seeds.
May 30: Set out peppers, pumpkin, and summer squash.
June 9: Sow summer lettuce seed.
June 30: Sow more summer lettuce.
July 21: Sow more summer lettuce.

Fall planting schedule to be determined. I created this list based on Kathy's list over at Skippy's Vegetable Garden. She always has interesting garden information and I hope you check out her blog!

Bat Guano - Our First Cash Crap

2009-01-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

***warning-don't read before dinner***

Today we spent 5 hours on the farm doing a very thorough home inspection. We asked our inspector to give a once over to the barn. We know its old and wanted to be sure it wasn't about to tip over. Turns out the barn was very well constructed.

Our inspector pointed out one interesting characteristic of the barn. Looks like quite a few bats have made their home on the center wooden beam. You can see their remnants in the picture below:

But this picture doesn't do the pile justice. There is bat poo (guano) everywhere! At first I was disgusted and scared of the thought of so many bats. I'm not scared of bees or spiders, but I am scared of bats. Then we joked that this would make great fertilizer. When I got home and looked it up this is what I found:

"Bat guano is recognized worldwide as a superior fertilizer with fungicidal and nematocidal properties. Guano's basic composition is 10 percent nitrogen, 3 percent phosphorus, and 1 percent potassium. The high nitrogen content makes it an ideal fertilizer for house plants, vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, ornamentals, and lawns. In addition, bat guano contains large amounts of microbes that are highly beneficial to soil.

The preferred method for applying guano is to combine two or three tablespoonfuls with each gallon of water. This solution can be sprayed directly on plants for absorption or as a natural fungicide. The second most common method is to apply the guano directly to the soil at a rate of five pounds (three quarts) per 100 square feet of vegetable or flower pots." From Mother Earth News.

Guano is also sold for $35 dollars a bag. So looks like we have our first cash crap!

2009 Seeds Ordered!

2009-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well now I've done it. This is the list for the 2009 growing season, the very first growing season, at Sweetlocal Farm. Just reading the list below is making my heart flutter with a combination of thrill and anxiety. I hope I do the seeds justice and give them everything they need to grow productively. I'll get mint, chives, and rhubarb from my mom's garden. Who knows what is already growing on the farm. I bet there will be some perennial herbs so I didn't order any herb seeds yet. Without further ado:

High Mowing Seeds

Chioggia Beet
Lacinato Dinosaur Kale
King of the North Bell Pepper
New England Pie Pumpkin
Samish F1 Hybrid Spinach
Table Queen Acorn Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Tango Celery
Cortland F1 Hybrid Onion
Sugar Ann Snap Pea
Red Wing F1 Hybrid Onion
All Blue Potato
Little Leaf Cucumber
Honey Nut Butternut Squash
Musque de Provence Pumpkin
Black Hungarian Pepper
Red Gold Potato

Botanical Interests

Corn Sweet Luscious Bicolor Organic Seed
Carrot Scarlet Nantes Organic Seed
Carrot Carnival Blend Organic Seed
Broccoli Di Cicco Organic Seed
Bean Bush Pencil Pod Yellow Organic Seed
Bean Pole Blue Lake Organic Seed
Arugula Mediterranean Organic Seed
Tomato Pole Black Krim Organic Seed
Tomato Cherry Sugar Sweetie Organic Seed
Tomato Bush Italian Roma Organic Seed
Squash Summer Straightneck Organic Seed
Squash Summer Blk Organic Zucchini Seed
Radish French Breakfast Organic Seed
Pumpkin Howden Organic Seed
Pepper Chile Jalapeno Organic Seed
Muskmelon Hale's Best Jumbo Organic Seed
Lettuce Romaine Parris Island Organic Seed
Lettuce Mesclun Gourmet Baby Greens Organic Seed
Eggplant Rosa Bianca Organic Seed
Eggplant Black Beauty Organic Seed
Cucumber Marketmore Organic Seed
Corn Sweet Painted Mountain Organic Seed

keeping warm

2009-01-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

People may make fun of me and call me the girl in the sleeping bag, but this jacket from Nau.com is making my life toasty on wintry mornings. It also saved me when our band's bus broke down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of an arctic blast.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

I'm snug as a bug in a rug in my apartment in Brighton, MA. Outside the ground is blanketed in snow and we are expecting more tomorrow. It seems funny to be writing in my gardening blog on January first, but I can't stop daydreaming about the spring to come. I am also so inspired by the many gardening blogs I've come across in 2008. Some of these are on my sidebar. The more I explore them and their links, the more I learn and want to keep learning.

My future farm update: We are getting a home inspection early next week. Has anyone ever had a barn inspected? I saw a squirrel making a home for himself in the barn rafters when we first looked at the place. I hope he moves out too before we move in! Here is a picture of the barn:

To till or not to till

2008-12-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

or

When I first started planning my garden early last spring, I focused on learning how to start seeds indoors. From then I worried about planting them on time in the raised beds we made and just watered and harvested from then on out.

I didn't think of the garden as a perpetual system, probably because I knew I'd be moving sometime soon and because the lawn care people at our apartment tend to destroy my plants and "clean up" my compost pile by throwing it away- not to mention leaf blowing the entire yard so no leaves are left behind. What could I do, I rent.

Now that we have this farm in the works I've researched how to make healthy garden beds from scratch. Food Not Lawns was really the starting point for me in terms of sustainable gardening and soil health. I revisited that book last night after learning all about the lasagna gardening method on Mother Earth News.

So now I'm left with one question, to till or not to till? Knowing that we move in in early April leaves me no time to make the lasagna style bed. I won't have the materials- newspaper, leaves, compost. On the other hand, I know tilling will be back breaking labor that may destroy my virgin soil! Guess I won't know what to do till I'm actually there. Maybe my spring yard cleanup will yield leftover autumnal leaves. Maybe a neighbor has some manure or compost. Within a years time I will have a system in place to collect all this "black gold" (as my mother calls it).

The Birth of Sweetlocal Farm

2008-12-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, I got a farm! I can hardly believe it. It isn't 100% official yet, but should be soon. Sweetlocal farm will be my biggest challenge and hopefully greatest achievement. I have bold plans and big dreams for the little 3 acre farm in Western Massachusetts.

My new home boasts a quaint farmhouse with classic farmers porch, a large red barn, and an over sized garage. There is also a koi pond surrounded by a perennial bed. Scattered across the property are wild blueberry and raspberry bushes.

I may not be able to move in until April, which will determine which crops we plan to grow this year. The fields have not been farmed in many years, so I need compost, manure, etc. I hope I get those things for free. I'll have to build fences and water collection barrels.

My long term goals include a bantam and rare breed flock of laying hens, honey bees, goats for milking and soap making, a farm stand, and perhaps a small scale CSA.

I don't want to jinx myself, so I'll post more when this is all official. Here is a picture of the barn:

I'm back!

2008-07-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

After a long and peaceful break on this blog, it is time to update. So much has grown in the past few weeks. We are eating carrots, beets, herbs, cucumbers, and scallions. The tomatoes are doing well, still green but they should be filling in soon. We even have a baby pumpkin. My sunflowers and nasturtiums give the garden a punch of bright sunny color. Here are some pictures:

is it good? is it green?

2008-06-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

These are the questions many of us ask about the products we buy or the services we use. Now there is a new website in the Boston area that can help us all figure out the important answers. Izzitgreen just launched and needs everyone's help filling its listings with good and green knowledge.

update from the urban farm

2008-05-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

The end of May is here and my garden is thriving. I have countless variates of edible plants growing, many of which I acquired for free! My vegetable garden is producing enough salad greens for salad every night. The beets should be ready to harvest soon and the sugar snap peas are very tall. I bought Luke a blueberry bush the other day and planted it in a large pot. For the first year, those blueberries will be the most expensive blueberries we ever ate- but it is an investment in fruit. Here are some pictures of life on the farm:

my farm in brighton

2008-04-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was sunny and not too cold, so I went for a stroll through the hood when my clothes were at the LMAT. I live on the outskirts of Boston, but still definitely the city. To my surprise I stumbled across this picturesque Greek Revival style farmhouse and barn. I'm obsessed with having my own farm in the city so this place has now become my dream property. I'm using all my brainwaves to lure it into my future....someday this will be my home:

sprouts

2008-03-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

A miniature field of herbs and veggies has sprouted under the lights in my kitchen. We had a scare when I forgot to water the babies one day. They all shriveled up and looked so sad, but they revived. The arugula and lettuce also sprouted out on the porch, which really brought a smile to my face because I had my doubts. The spinach in the raised garden bed I planted a few weeks ago now has not sprouted. I guess I was too anxious to get some food growing. The peas planted around St. Patty's day have not pushed through the dirt, but I still have hope for them.

that's fresh!

2008-03-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'm marrying an Italian boy. I made fresh homemade vegan tagliatelle for the first time tonight. He ate 2 helpings. Big success!

garden astrology

2008-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Gardening by the moon is a method of starting seeds based on the phases of the moon. As the moon grows full, plant seeds that grow up and out of the soil. Today the lunar calender reveals we are about a week away from the full moon, so I planted a few rows of cold hardy sugar snap peas. If all goes according to plan, I'll be eating fresh peas by mid May. In another moon related story, I saw this billboard....is it real? Has the advertising world really sold its soul?

Root vegetables that grow down into the earth follow the opposite schedule. I was looking forward to planting some early carrots, but it seems I should wait till the beginning of April for the dark of the moon.

On my porch I started arugula and mixed lettuce. The greens need to be harvested before our other herbs are ready to move outside because I pretty much stole Luke's real estate. He is in charge of the herbs.

Some of the seeds we started last week are peeking through the soil! I've read that seedlings actually need to be "pet" so they grow strong stems. I hope someone stops by to find me petting my seedlings!

porch makeover

2008-03-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased with the way our shelves came out! I covered the storage area with an extra sheet I had laying around. A few squeezes of the staple gun later and I've got a totally functional, clean, organized space! I can't wait to get the herb garden going.

Here are the pictures:

BEFORE: really messy and disorganized

DURING: room for all of our gardening supplies and grease storage for the car.

AFTER: now I just need to spruce up the space with chairs, pillows, plants, and maybe a lantern.

brunch fit for a vegan

2008-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Every weekend we roll out of bed to get to work on our favorite part of the week- brunch. Sometimes it's vegan cinnamon french toast, or banana pancakes. Today we made a spicy and savory version of a vegan brunch staple, tofu scrambler. The best part about scrambler is you can throw in whatever veggies or spices you have on hand. This week I used onion, portobello mushroom, and banana peppers.

Luke took control of the potatoes and made them crispy and spicy as usual. Cayenne pepper is the new heat source of choice.

After brunch we tackled another big project. A three season glassed-in front porch provides the perfect spot to grow herbs. It's also a comfortable sunny place to play guitar or have breakfast. This year we will grow more herbs than in years past so we had to come up with a solution for all the gardening supplies that collect in the porch. We designed a custom greenhouse style shelf that is the same height as the window sill and added storage underneath. Soon, I will add some curtains to conceal the odds and ends. "Before and after" pictures to follow.

official start of growing season 2008

2008-03-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my box of heirloom seeds arrived in the mail. We ordered more than our little urban side yard can probably handle, but I couldn't help myself. The varieties we chose from Botanical Interests, INC have been cultivated for over 50 years, making them "heirlooms".

We started the seeds in biodegradable trays under a set of fluorescent light bulbs in our kitchen. I pray my kitty won't find them! Fluorescent bulbs seem to be the common source of light for starting seeds. Does anyone know if CFL bulbs will work?

The big project of the day was the construction of a raised garden bed. We put it together rather quickly, just screwing the wood together with "L" brackets. The raised bed totals just over twenty square feet. Even though my city's historic last frost date is still 6 weeks away, I planted some cold hardy spinach right in the new garden.

I've always loved to grow plants, but this is my first intense year of food production. It's a mix of ancient planting methods based on almanacs and phases of the moon but also syncing my iphone/ical to remind me to move my seeds outdoors, or to start my zucchini. I was outside, in the sun, for a few hours today which hasn't happened in about 5 months I would estimate....and it felt good, really good.