Sunday Morning Musings

I slept in this morning. That’s easy to do now that it’s dark in the morning. At 5:45 am it was just starting to get light out. Sunrise isn’t until almost 6:30 am. It’s 35°. I cheated and turned on the furnace for a few minutes instead of building [...]

The Comics Get It!

If you don’t see Hi and Lois today (Saturday) you’ll want to go to the September 29 strip.

Cold Cellar Soup

A recent search looked for soup that can be cooked on a woodstove.  This fits the bill.  When you want to reduce the heat you move the kettle to a corner.  I called this Cold Cellar Soup because most ingredients are found in my cold cellar.
Cold Cellar Soup
4-5 carrots, washed of sand they were [...]

Recent Searches

frost and carrots
Carrots are hardy.  The tops will tolerate a lot of frost.  The root should be dug before the ground freezes.  I leave mine in the ground until the ground is cold.  The carrots are sweeter.
chicken litter “hormones”
It’s illegal to raise chickens on hormones.  Chicken factories can use antibiotics to increase the rate [...]

Aroostook County Potato Harvest

The potato harvest is a long held tradition in Aroostook county.  Students go back to school in early August so they can take a time off to pick potatoes.  You can read the story of three foreign exchange students and their experience picking potatoes in the Bangor Daily News.

Apples

88°.  I’ve picked enough apples for one day.  I under estimated the amount of apples.  I picked three bushels.  There are easily three more above my reach.  I’ll get the ladder and Steve and finish them soon.

Harvest Moon & The Work to be Done

Tonight is the Harvest Moon. This is the moon that allows farmers to harvest into the night thanks to the bright light. I’m harvesting today. I’m taking a break from apple picking while a work crew grades the road by my favorite tree. I’d be fine but I don’t want them [...]

Over at Organic Schmorganic ~

~Mike has a great blog today that should be read by folks who eat.

Pumpkin Recipes

When I’m going to store pumpkins I make sure they have no soft spots, no signs of spoil, and are clean. They go into the cold cellar for the winter. I choose a variety that stores well and tastes good. Taste is abstract. What I like you might not. What [...]

What did you feed your compost pile today?

Today’s menu for my compost pile:
Dead mice
pumpkin, squash and gourd vines
sunflower stalks
junk mail
paper towels
one cereal box
a chicken food bag
chick newspapers
hydrangea stems
coffee grounds and other kitchen waste
shavings from the bunny cage
weeds…and more weeds
See what other women are serving up today!

Today’s Harvest

Amity came back this morning to help me with more pumpkins. These are Cinderella and Cheese. I need a farm truck like Amity’s.

Tomorrow, corn stalks.
 

Tunnel Farming Cucumbers

A search this morning:  tunnel farming cucumbers
I grow European cucumbers in my hoop houses.  I can plant them a month early.  To save ground space I grow them vertically using twine tied to the ribs of the hoop.  Tie them as necessary.  You’ll want a self pollinating variety if you won’t have bees inside to [...]

Friends!

Thank God for friends! Sandy called this morning to offer to help with the pumpkins. While I was out for a while Amity called and offered to help. What blessings! Not only did Amity come to help carry, load and unload pumpkins, she brought her truck. We filled it twice. [...]

Searches

how to build floating row covers
You don’t.  A floating row cover is a light weight material like Agribon that sits/floats on the tops of the plants.
 how to keep plants warm during a frost
Floating row cover.  Sheets work well.  You can fill milk jugs with hot water, put them under the cover and keep the [...]

Women Who Farm

If you’re a woman who farms you might be interested in chatting with other women like you.  Women Who Farm is a fairly new forum for women who work in agriculture.  You’re farm can be small, just enough to feed your family, or thousands of acres.  Check out the main page, there’s something for everyone.

Can Carrots Take Frost

This search brought someone to the blog today.  Yes, they can.  You should pull them before the ground freezes.

Cold Winter Mornings

Cold Winter Mornings
Robin on February 6, 2007 – 8:33am.
7:30 a.m. -11°. -28° windchill. Leaving the warm house to start my vehicle was harsh this morning. I want the chill out of the Blazer before I take kids to school. We watch the temperature on the way to school. “Heat wave! It’s up to nine below!” [...]

Frosted Food

Another reprint, November, 2006.
It’s late November and I live in Maine. Presumably, the garden was put to bed for the winter a month or so ago. That’s true for most of the garden. With cold frames and greenhouses we can add lots of time to both ends of the growing season. But outside, without protection, [...]

Day Tripping: Scythe Supply

I met Carol Bryan a few years ago when we were vendors at the same farmers market. Carol grows a variety of vegetables at her home on Shore Road Farm in Perry, Maine. She also owns Scythe Supply. When she brought a scythe to market one day I had a lot of questions. “Isn’t that [...]

Day Tripping: Four Season Farm

Another reprint. May, 2006
Early this spring I attended a Winter Vegetable Production Workshop given by Eliot Coleman and Marada Cook. Eliot Coleman has been my garden idol for well over a decade so getting to meet him in person was this gardening girl’s dream come true. Marada Cook is a young lady who’s very involved [...]