Here are some cool bugs I saw on the farm. Amazing the small scenes around us when we take the time to notice. A life well lived often includes noticing the small things
Update in Pictures
Sometiems words just don’t do it justice. The changes are slow but overtime the trees and bushes are getting bigger and more robust
Sharing the story behind an adventure is a great way to share the experience and learnings. Starting the farm has definitely been an adventure. Let us take a hour or two and talk about what we’ve learned and experienced along the way. Much of what we’ve done on the farm can be applied applied in your garden or front yard. Maybe you want to have a few fruit trees. We’ll share how to get started in a practical way.
Every year we do a farm tour day. This is a great chance to meet the farmers and see the farm. in progress. We do tours once per year.
Tickets
Tickets for tours are available at 10AM and 1:00PM. The version of the tour for people wanting to start a homestead is at 3PM.
– detailed tour (family friendly) – 1/2 lb of honey from our remote mountain location of Troublesome Gap, NC
What to Bring
Just bring yourself and your family and comfortable shoes. We plan to walk on grassy fields and uneven ground.
We are Dirt Farmers and Pesticide / Insecticide Free
If we grow good dirt, then plants will grow and produce abundantly. We use a minimum of organic fertlizers. We avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers. We also don’t use any pesticides or insecticides. We do use natural amendments like woodchips, hay (pesticide / herbicide free) and feather meal.
Diversity of Plants and Trees on the Farm
Let us introduce you to some of the variety of plants, bushes and trees on the farm including
As the springs days progress, the trees and bushes are growing like crazy. I keep thinking I shouldn’t show similar pictures, but I realized those pictures show the progression of the fruit and berries growing and ripening
Activities included weedeating around the honey locust saplings and the trees in the back field. Also adding mulch to trees on the farm. We added a trickle charger to the golf cart. That wil make keeping it charged so much easier.
It is nice seeing our first Medlar tree blooms. It would be nice to have a few medlar fruit to try this fall.
The mulberry trees have sooooo many fruit on them. It will be nice to enjoy the mulberries.
This year we plan to harvest a few of the elderberries and freeze dry them. I’ve ordered an infuser from Levo so we can make elderflower infused honey. Using an infuser will also be a great way to make comfrey salve.
Getting young fig tree ready for summer with mulch and a protective barrier against rabbits
Medlar tree flower
Quice tree with comfrey
Quince tree
Maybe we’ll have a few medlar fruit this year
Just a nice view
Adding mulch to fig tress in the back field
Clearing the grass away from a honey locust seedling in the back field
Black walnut tree in the back field
Happy little peach tree
Peaches growing
Lots of peaches
Even more peaches
Peaches
Orchard growing
Pawpaw are finally growing quickly, they take so long to get going
What beautiful weather this weekend. We’ve had several Saturdays in a row where the weather was just gorgeous. This weather definitely makes for a relaxing day.
Successful Elderberry Pruning Class
Thanks to everyone that came to our elderberry pruning and planting class. We had a wonderful time. We sent many of the elderberry cuttings to WNC to help with stream bank retention for areas damaged by the hurricane.
Expanded Apiary
New home for the bees
Moving the bees to the back field gives us room to expand the number of hives. We hope to have 10 hives in place for this year. I’ve been surprised by the number for people that want local honey. The bees are a great example of function stacking. The bees pollinate the trees and bushes while producing honey
Blueberries Needed Pruning
These blueberry plants are two years old. We have 22 blueberry plants on the farm. 20 on the HugelKultur mound and 2 in the back field (as a test planting). They were not pruned when they were originally planted 2 years ago. This was their very first pruning, we did leave a few cross branches but they weren’t rubbing on other branches so we chose to leave them for this year. Next year they will be pruned away. We did have a small bowl of blueberries last year but this year we are expecting bigger and better harvest. Here are the before and after photos
It is that time. Join us as we prune our elderberries. We’ll have a great morning learning to prune elderberries and also learning to plant the cuttings. The cost of the class includes a 1/2 lb of honey from the farm and cuttings so you can plant your own elderberries. Please sign up below so we know how many people to expect.
Event Schedule on Saturday, March 8th
Take Aways from the Event
You’ll learn how to
prune elderberries and make cuttings to plant
plant elderberries
Experience
pruning elderberry plants
planting elderberry cuttings
Bring home (included in the ticket cost)
enough elderberry cuttings to start your own elderberry patch
1 lb of honey from the farm
Agenda on Saturday
9:00 AM – Welcome
9:15-Noon Demonstration – how to prune elderberry bushesPractical – prune elderberries and take home elderberry cuttings so you can grown your own elderberry plants.
Demonstration – how to plant elderberries Practical – plant elderberries and comfrey
Elderberry plants are robust and easy to grow in most of NC. The umbrals are easy to harvest. The flowers and the berries have many healthy uses. We have found that many people don’t realize the healthy benefits from elderberries growing in the ditch that they drive by every day on the commute to and from work. However, a surprising number of people take a teaspoon of elderberry syrup every day during the fall and winter to help fight off colds.
Elderberry is a plant of contrasts. Join us and walk through some of these contrasts. Let us share what we have learned by growing this amazing plant.
Elderberry flowers
Elderberries almost ready to harvest
Elderberries grow wild in NC, usually on a ditch bank or in wet soil. They are everywhere, but many of the wild plants are in locations that are hard to reach at the time of harvest. If you enjoy foraging, then consider adding elderberries to your summer foraging retinue. The berries you harvest will be worth it.
Elderberry plants spread along the ground and a row of elderberry plants tends to be come a hedge. If you plan ahead, it is easy enough to manage the hedge by mowing and just have to prune once a year when the plants are dormant. If you were to plant your elderberries in the middle of an area where you can’t mow around them to control spread then you might have a difficult time managing them. They can be invasive, but if you plan ahead before you plant them it really isn’t a problem.
Elderberry plants growing in a row
Harvesting elderberry umbrals is straight forward. Removing the berries from the stems can be a challenge. Some of the ways to remove berries from the umbral are easier than others. At some point in the future, it would be great to add a destemmer to the equipment we use on the farm.
This year we have making different elderberry products including:
elderberry syrup
infused elderberry honey
elderberry oxymel
liquid of elderberry
dehydrated elderberries
freeze dried liquid of elderberry
freeze dried elderberries
It is really cool seeing the dark, dark and luxurious purple liquid that comes from the elderberries. Especially knowing all the health benefits in the liquid.
Growing and processing elderberries has been a wonderful learning experience. We’ve enjoyed teaching how to grow elderberries in hands on classes. Thanks for letting us share with you.
My wife and I love spending time outdoors. Having a farm and garden is a great way to do that. It also means we have more nutritious foods. Many of the people we have met on this journey like similar things and that makes it even better. I’m a mechanical engineer turned weekend farmer, so I’m just smart enough to know that there is a lot that I don’t know especially when it comes to farming, permaculture and food forests. Come on the learning journey with us!
We would love to share what we are learning so that you can grow at least part of your own food. It is within your grasp to grow part of the food that you eat. You can improve your food security and enjoy higher quality food in the process.
We also have limited opportunities for you to camp out on our farm, enjoying the serious peace and quiet. Sometimes we hold classes, usually on Food Preservation. Join us for those too.
Meet the Farmers
I’m a mechanical engineer turned weekend farmer, so I’m just smart enough to know that there is a lot that I don’t know especially when it comes to farming, permaculture and food forests. I’ve been heavily influenced in my love of farming and permaculture by my Mom and Dad and also by people like Jack Spirko (TSP) and Dan (Plant Abundance)
Connie has her certificate in Sustainable Agriculture from CCCC. She really enjoyed the classes at the community college and learned a lot. The program was a mixture of classes and work on the school farm. What she learned has really added to our technical proficiency on the farm.