spring storm

March 29, 2009 By Lynea Newcomer Leave a Comment

crocuses link the last of winter into spring, glorious springAfternoon sun gave way to clouds of portent within 15 minutes. I heard it before it arrived; the wind gusts quickly elbowed their way through the western forest before breaking free of restraint upon our farm. The yard’s maples held their own, while all of us below scurried for cover from the encounter’s resultant debris fling.

cilantro, here with its first leaves, and rather leggy from light, survives the first spring rainstorm!No branches or lightning struck us, but the chicken fence fell down, and an unsecured portion of our greenhouse swung loose. As the pelting rain came, almost like an aggressive massage – it was so warm out, and the blasts of drops in waves – the dogs and I bolted inside. I, up to the attic to shut windows. They swiftly after me, unsure about the rapid change of emotion.

And when it was over, the chickens scratched across the now muddy yard, I affixed the faltering greenhouse panel, and I discovered the day’s lesson in resilience: cilantro sprouts, grown 2 inches high over the course of 3 days, left outside for the spring salad greens mix sprouts after 8 days in a wooden barrrel outsideday’s warmth . . . withstood the pummulling. Other lessons, from the previous farm: turnips planted in December, inside the greenhouse, have produced. And leaving the cold frame lid on during our moving process was bad news for the arugula – it got hot and bolted immediately.

last of the greens from the cold frame at other farm; arugula bolted, chard coming along nicely, oh well - have to start over now!turnips planted in december bear veggiedom for me this March; too much energy into their leaves, but good to know that planted in the fall, the worked out come spring (inside our greenhouse)

Filed Under Cricket Chirps, Featured Tagged With cilantro, cold frame, greenhouse, spring rain storm, sprouting seeds, turnips

nestling in

March 26, 2009 By Lynea Newcomer Leave a Comment

old barn's corn crib is a stand-in chicken coop, until we wire in the lower stall (with open window and door at left)Unwrapping one’s art work packed eight months ago feels like Christmas; our chickens must have experienced similar such joy upon their first trot around the new digs. I know that in their preliminary unwrapping of new pads of soil, shriveled red potatoes from previous growers’ garden forays have surfaced. And just as we consider the various weed control options for a particularly steeply sloped hill, these scratchers-o-dirt appear to have begun the process for us already.

chickens as weed control?The ladies have found a temporary home in the old barn’s corn crib. Soon we’ll insulate and close in a stall in the barn’s bottom floor, as well as cut out a hinged door for them. We continue to discuss the various attributes of sheep and goats with anyone who has a liking for these hoof stock; one or the other will likely be responsible for grazing one paddock . . . and then feeding us some winter meals.

don't worry, the shirt is okay; Michael's arm took the beating from tree bark and wild roseMichael and I continue to explore the open agricultural and preserved spaces beyond our 7-acre border; multi-flora proves a worthy opponent in woodsy underbrush as well as meadow (see photo). And with two fields beckoning to my shovel and knees (back, eyes, thighs, you name it), I’ve sketched a garden plan that I’ll try in each. Not sure yet where exactly the sun and shady spots will fall, so I figure this first year of food growing is a good one to do trials.

For those interested in backyard gardening, I recommend the New York Times article on the food garden being put into the White House’s south lawn. The first family and area school children are involved already in it’s creation, and I assume tending. Certainly they’ll be eating from it! But for plant ideas mix of greensand, eggshells, rock phosphate, kelp and more - add to seed germination soil for great nutrient bonusand a general schematic, this is a good basic starting point.

Finally, for those who will be starting seeds inside, you’ll need a germinating mix of soil. So far I have mixed several bags of Organic Mechanics potting soil (a soil making product made within 15 miles of me, which is high in coconut fiber, not exactly a regional source of water-retaining substance, but better than peat until I here I am mixing the extras into a potting soil/compost mix. I'm ready to start more seeds April 1!can come up with a soil from this property), a 1/2 bag of leaf compost, 1 cup of crushed eggshells, and 1 or 2 cups of equal parts greensand, and kelp, plus 2 parts rock phosphate.

Filed Under Cricket Chirps, Featured, Resources Tagged With chickens, garden plan, seed germination, soil nutrients, white house garden

Iron Wood Farm

March 19, 2009 By Lynea Newcomer Leave a Comment

view of north field; barrels act as preliminary veggie planters until larger garden is designed and createdan old barn, resided in metal; one of those stalls to the left will hold our chickens (once wired in, of course), and they'll access grass pickings off the lower barn edgeview of south field, from back deck of house. great firewood left behind, and I'm thinking perennial grasses meadow out there? - dog yard in foregroundAlready past mid-March, it takes a lot of self-control to refrain from getting into the garden. The crocuses twinkle secretively, their early purple and golden smiles beckoning you outside. Where you do stroll and immediately enter the trance of garden dreams . . . I’ll pull out that awful section of thorny nastiness this year . . . and plant my tomatoes here, after getting a load of horse poop from next door . . . and I’ll dog-proof the perennial area . . . yeah. (Scroll over the pictures throughout this post for comments on our garden beginnings thus far.)

pallets pulled together to form compost pile beginnings at right, space for soil blocker mix at left. Visit groworganic.com for info on veggie seed starter soil block several barrels planted 3/19 with arugula, chard, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, then covered in some hay (and slate to keep the hay down during wind). I'll uncover these guys in a couple weeks. Great random wood pile in backgroundAfter 7+ days of laborious moving, Michael and I have landed at Iron Wood Farm, and the garden dreams have already grown so large, we’ve requested the services of a landscape planner. The Brandywine Conservancy, a land and water conservation organization, was happy to point us in the direction of such a person living in our area. Tomorrow we’ll meet for a second time to outline our goals. At the moment, we know we’ll need to address long-term planting in the two large fields at our new place. A look across the road reflects a Jekyll face in the mirror of what awaits without week control (the previous owners’ horses took care of errant growth with their hooves).

inferno furnace in the basement, heats the house mightily; looks to have been a cooking fireplace from past days, wide enough for fire on one side, and coal placement to the other

While our initial plan for building a home upon moving to Pennsylvania has changed, the Iron Wood Farm (whose history I’ll research for future commentary) gets us a good way down the road. Also up for immediate consideration is a prioritization of house projects, such as pouring a floor in the basement to mitigate radon, which would then allow for placing our clothes washer down there as well (such machines want a very stable ground situation). Will we install a water softener to preserve the lifespan of the pipes, as the home inspector recommended? Will we install a UV water filtration system? And what about a couple of solar panels out in the field to offset, say, 30 percent of our electrical usage? probably non-native sedums are greening up after winter

a small grow light works its magic, across the room from inferno furnace, coaxing some cilantro seeds. Peppers and tomatoes will see this light in a couple of weeks. At which point I'll have our plastic greenhouse moved from Cricket Thicket farm over here.It’ll all get hashed out here in the months to come. Please excuse any arugula breath that may traverse the webwaves.

Filed Under Cricket Chirps, Events, Featured Tagged With brandywine conservancy, compost bin, soil blocker

recycling cleaning

March 9, 2009 By Lynea Newcomer Leave a Comment

Lynea's legs get their first spring sunA long-weekend full of 60-degree days here in southeastern PA had me poor winter pegs exposed to their first spring sun. Ready to get outside and get active, but not quite ready to plant a garden, Michael and I instead opted for ripping into the farm’s scrap lumber pile. Saturday saw us sifting through refuse wood from some barn stalls pulled apart during winter. We pounded and then yanked out the nails, creating re-usable boards for future coldframes, fencing, and who knows what. That’s what I call recycling. It occurred to me that while we will re-use the wood, characters from Slumdog Millionaire, and folks elsewhere around the world would probably have had a market for the old nails as well.

My seeds are hanging tight for the moment. We’ll most likely be moving from this farm to another at the end of this week, at which point I’ll start some indoors. According to a home veggie grower extraordinaire, whose class I attended at the 2009 PASA conference, I could old nails pulled from 'junk' wood, now usable wood!have started my first flats of lettuce, shallots, carrots and parsely inside, as early at January 31st . . . but as I don’t have a light situated to give them their required 10 hour minimum of sunlight (natural plus electrified), I’ve waited until our moving situation is finalized. Then I’ll write here how I’m keeping my indoor-seeded items well-heated and lit for you all . . .

For those who live near Newark, DE, here is a class to get you started on home veggie gardening:(STARTS TOMORROW!!)

Tuesdays, March 10, 17 and 24, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Grow Your Own Food: Basic Vegetable Gardening
UD Cooperative Extension Office, 461 Wyoming Road, Room 131, Newark, DE 19716
(3 Sessions). Grow your own food – learn how to start your first vegetable garden. In this series, we’ll cover the basics of vegetable gardening from soil preparation to vegetable selection to putting your garden to bed at the end of the season. Other topics of interest include raised bed gardening, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), three-season gardening, and more. Why spend extra money at the grocery store when you can grow healthy and delicious vegetables right in your backyard? Lead Instructor: John Kennel. Cost: $35. For more information, call 302-831-2667 (General Information) or 302-831-8862 (The Garden Line),

Filed Under Cricket Chirps, Featured Tagged With grow your own food, Newark Delaware, recycling, seed starts, UD cooperative extension office, wood