New beginnings

May 1, 2017 Weekly Updates

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and as the garden continues to grow, we’ve actually got our own big change in the works. A week ago, we had our offer accepted on a property outside of Shepherdstown, West Virginia where we plan to relocate our family and start our farm! Staying true to my love of small scale, we’ve been targeting properties with about 2- 2.5 open acres, with the goal of having an acre and a half in production. While we love Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, our research showed us that the D.C. metro area offers much more in the way of market outlets for local produce. That, added to the...

Growing like crazy

April 21, 2017 Weekly Updates

My weather prediction has come true sooner than I expected. Although we’re continuing to get some very hot, sunny days, we’ve actually had a decent string of cool, rainy days- just what spring plants love the best. With this combo of sunshine and rain, it seems like everything in the garden has grown about a foot in the last week. The garlic, which already got a head start over the warm winter, is looking at least a month ahead of schedule and the kale and cabbage have grown big enough that I’m no longer concerned about slugs and cutworms making much of a dent in them. The carrots, spring mix, and...

The insect mystery

April 13, 2017 Pests, Tips & Tools, Weekly Updates

It’s only mid-April, but the weather is definitely feeling like summer. On Tuesday, our home thermometer registered 90 degrees outside! I won’t deny that weather like this is a welcome relief after winter, but it’s always kind of a bummer at this point of the season when the plants love cooler, wetter conditions. It’s tempting to think that this is it and summer is here to stay, but I’m betting we’ve still got some cool, rainy weather in store for us before April and May are done. Despite the dry weather, I’m suspecting that there may be slugs going to work in the garden. Last week I mentioned how the kale was getting chomped...

At last!

April 3, 2017 Weekly Updates

We’re just back from a trip to California that really put us in the spring spirit. After seeing gardens filled with full-sized lettuce and chard, all I wanted to do was start planting! I had thought our trip was perfectly planned. We’d be able to get early spring crops like onions, spring mix, and kale into the ground before leaving and come back to an already growing garden. But winter storm “Stella” really threw a wrench in the plan and instead of leaving an already-planted garden, we left a snow-covered one and had to wait for our return to get the season going. Still, we’ve been making the most of the lovely...

No spring yet…

March 19, 2017 Weekly Updates

Well, I proclaimed March 15 the start of planting season, but March 15 has come and gone and there is nothing new in the garden. Instead, we’re still melting out from an unusually heavy late winter dumping of snow. With most of the garden beds still under several inches of icy snow, putting in spring seeds and seedlings just isn’t an option. Even after everything melts, it will still take a while for the ground to dry up enough to prepare it for planting without causing clumping and other damage to soil structure. It seems like this is always the way with mild winters- I watch the moderate temperatures all winter...

Waiting… & eating

February 18, 2017 In the Kitchen, Other recipes, Weekly Updates

Despite the recent wintery weather, it’s in the 60s today and we’re actually just a month out from the start of spring planting! By mid-March, it’s possible to get crops like onions, potatoes, and even peas, kale, and carrots into the ground. Still, early spring planting is always a complete gamble depending on the weather. I’ve had weather in March fluctuate between the 80s and heavy snow, so it’s always a guess when planning an early start to the season as to whether that will actually take place! Regardless of what the weather throws our way next month, Valentine’s Day always marks a mental turning point for me. It means that we’re through the...

Winter’s work

January 26, 2017 Weekly Updates

While we have had a few series of bone-chilling days, for the most part this winter has been milder than mild. As I mentioned, I left both carrots and spinach in the ground. Normally, it’s to be expected that the greens of both these plants will die off over the winter. With the spinach, the goal is for it to remain dormant through the cold winter days and then re-grow its tasty leaves as temperatures begin to warm in the spring. However, with temperatures regularly hitting the 50s over the last month, instead of waiting for spring I was able to get a sizable harvest of fresh spinach just yesterday. This is...

Season’s end

December 17, 2016 Weekly Updates

As we sit inside looking at the garden wintering under its bed of leaves and icy snow, now is a perfect time to reflect on and sum up the season behind us. This past year, we grew 27 different types of crops and even more different varieties within our 900 square-foot plot. We harvested over 650 pounds of produce and donated 10% of what we grew. Along with eating everything fresh, we were also able to preserve an entire pantry full of food for the winter, which we are thoroughly enjoying now! With winter upon us, we’re already looking forward to the season ahead. We are excited for the garlic, onions, potatoes, and spring roots and...

Winter’s knocking

December 9, 2016 Garden techniques, Tips & Tools, Weekly Updates

As the weather continues to cool off, things are slow in the garden, which made it easy for us to take a week away to visit family after Thanksgiving. Overall, we’ve had an pretty mild fall, but this week winter is getting real! The day after we got back from our trip, lows were forecast to drop into the 20s for the first time and that looks to be the trend for the coming week. As a result, it was officially time to do the full fall clean up in the garden. Yesterday, I harvested off everything that was left with the exception of the carrots. After doing some research, I decided...

Shelling beans

November 23, 2016 In the Kitchen, Other recipes

In the true homesteading spirit, I made sure to harvest every last bean off of the plants when I pulled the string beans a few weeks ago. I had mainly left the plants in the garden that long in order to allow the beans to grow big enough to produce seed for next year’s garden. However, not all of the beans on the plant had become viable seed by the time frost hit and the plants had to be pulled, so I was able to set aside a giant bag to use as soup beans instead. Whereas string beans are harvested when the pods are nearly flat and the beans inside have...

Two Feet in the Dirt

Looking forward

Extending the harvest

Spring has sprung

Heat wave!

Working around cucumber beetles

Shelling beans

Shelling beans