We harvested most of our garlic today. Once we have it processed, we should have a limited amount available for sale. We didn’t use any insecticides or pesticides and we practice regenerative farming where we try to continuously improve our soil. Once we have an idea of what we have available, I’ll post it here. Please keep in mind that we only harvest garlic once per year, so when we sell out we won’t have more until this time next year. In the meantime, here are some pictures of part of the garlic and onions that we harvested today
The project this week was getting the young trees ready for summer. This involves pulling off the anti-deer cages, weeding around the trees and then putting mulch around the base of the trees. The mulch helps to keep the soil around the tree moist. It also helps trap water when we water the trees during the summer months. As the mulch breaks down, it will also provide nutrients to the trees.
The elderberries are coming right along. We are looking forward to having a great elderberry harvest.
Test planting of figs and persimmon in the back field
Thanks to everyone who came. We had 16 attendees from 8 families. What a great day. We shared about permaculture, design thinking, innovation and regenerative farming. Attendes learned about how we go about building good soil so the plants, trees and bushes thrive. We also talked about how we farm without insecticides or pesticides. Attendees also learned how we do function stacking so many plants on the farm have multiple jobs.
We also had a meal for people who have attended our classes. It was nice sharing a meal with familiar faces. Thanks to everyone who attended. Also, thanks to everyone that helps make the farm a success.
One of the new items we showed off on the farm tour is our growing cadre our medicinal plants. We now have
comfrey
witch hazel
white yarrow
motherwort
Motherwort is planted and ready to grow
Here are some views from the farm this weekend
My opportunity to share about our farm
Our walnut trees in the backfield are growing nicely
2 of the walnut trees with room to put pawpaws in between
Black walnuts in a deer resistant cage and with fresh mulch
Pecan tree reaching for the sky
Steam coming off the mulch pile at sunrise
Sunrise on the farm
Bees walking up
Mulberries will be ripe soon
Amazing number of pears on a young tree
Lots of peaches are growing
There are so many on some of the limbs that we had to remove them before they damaged the limb
Elderflowers
So many elderflowers
We love elderberries
Keep growing
Pawpaws
Our camping site in the back field is coming along nicely
We’ve been getting ready for the farm tours so this will be a shorter post. We are seeing lots of green growth all over the farm. The elderberries, blueberries and blackberries are starting to bloom so it won’t be long before we have berries. The potatoes are starting to bloom so its time to hill around them to encourage potato growth.
The warm rains have helped kick off so much green on the farm. It is nice to watch everything grow. The fall and winter test plantings of fig, elderberry and pawpaw in the back field are growing well. We’ve had a few figs that might not make it, but overall it is looking good.
I hope you enjoy the pictures from this week.
PawPaw in back field is growing
Fig in back field is coming up, one of our test plants
Buckwheat cover crop
Buchwheat cover crop
Peaches, yummy
Peaches are coming
Peaches are coming
Elderyberry blossoms
Elderyberry blossoming
Elderflowers
Elderberry that we planted in the fall
Elderberry planted in the fall
Pawpaw growing nicely
Fig trees are recovering from the warm spell in February in 2023
What beautiful days to work on the farm! We enjoyed spectacular weather.
Day 3 of our Growing Potatoes class was today. Just in case you are wondering this is a day where we just weed potatoes and adjust any hay covering. The potatoes are growing nicely. Although we did discover that if you put too much hay down after you plant the potato slip, the plants won’t make it through the hay. So we had to uncover quite a few potato plants.
Potatoes growing nicely
There are so many flowers blooming on the farm and in the field right now. We must have some happy bees.
Comfrey is growing
Comfrey flowers up close
Comfrey flowers
Comfrey flowers
Wild lily
Wild lily in a shady spot
Wild lily up close
Clover
More flowers
Nice to have all the flowers
Cool flower that Connie planted
These get tall
Cool flower in the flower bed
A flower Connie planted
Petals hanging down
Comfrey is doing great
Lots of flowers in the back field
That is one very purple Iris
My fav flower
That is purple
Beautiful flower
Mayapple
Mayapple
Those aren’t strawberries
Cool flower Connie planted
We also weeded garlic and onions. The garlic grows so well on our farm. However, I’m not sure that I’m much of an onion farmer.
It won’t be long before the garlic is ready to harvest, Connie did a great job weeding it
We also saw a lot of bugs from a very large spider with egg sac (maybe a wolf spider) to a very large unknow spider.
What beautiful weather and a nice day to plant potatoes. We took time to plant potatoes (and a few onions) then cover with hay.
We also installed drip tape. Because potatoes are a early crop and generally finish before the summer temperature gets hot, we may not need to irrigation the potatoes. The need to irrigate is driven by how much rain we get in May and early June.
Why work hard on the farm when we can just to go the grocery store? What does that have to do with doing big things as a man?
Growing your own food has many benefits for the farmer and people who work on a farm.
Getting out on the farm and working with our hands leads to good conversation and a sense of accomplishment. Men do better in life when we can take on and accomplish big things. What are we responsible for in life? We have responsibilities at work. We have responsibilities at home. What big things are we doing?
Our jobs are tenuous. You could be severed from your employer in one conversation because someone 1000 miles away made a decision while looking at a spreadsheet. We trade hours of our lives for time spent at the office. I’m not anti-company, I just recognize the system that surrounds us. Most of us work for someone else to earn a living and that is the system that we currently live in. Working for someone else is how we pay the bills and there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that. The tenuous nature of the relationship with our employers means that we should not seek meaning in life because of our position at some company but instead in what we do that has lasting value.
Growing part of your own food means that you have taken on responsbilities for the following:
for the land and the soil
for the crops that you have to nurture and harvest
for yourself so that you are there to prepare, plant, nurture and harvest
for the time you spend
for getting to know the people you work with as you grow your own food
the neighbors that you give some of your excess food
leaving the land better off than when you found it
leaving behind a lasting legacy of abundance – abundance that you developed and nurtured
How are you serving others around you?
These are all questions and opportunities for us as men to answer as we seek to live meaninful lives.
The abundance of a single fig tree and doing big things
Even a single fig tree can provide a bountiful harvest for generations. If you plant and nurture that tree, you are providing figures for generations. Having a purpose in life and accepting responsibility for a man is one way to develop joy. Don’t “search” for joy in things or titles, instead develop joy and purpose by accepting responsibility. Men were made to do big things. What is your big thing? Accepting the responsibility to do those big things can bring joy to your life.
Pictures from this week on the farm
Putting down hay to suppress weeds in the potatoes that we just planted
New bee hives!
Picnic table is a great spot for taking a break
Potatoes planted and covered with hay and drip lines in place
Potatoes ready to grow
Buckwheat cover crop planted in tilled areas
Garlic is growing
The Paw Paw seedlings we planted last fall are coming to life
There was a break in the weather and it gave us time to plant onions. We have almost 1,000 onions sets started this year. We planted the onions and then covered with hay. The hay helps suppress weeds and makes weeding so much easier. The hay also serves as a soil amendment as it composts.
Word of warning with using hay, or any compost, in your garden: it is important to make sure that you aren’t introducing herbicides into your garden through the hay or compost. The vast majority of hay is sprayed with a herbicide. Compost from your local municipality usually contains grass that was treated herbicides. That free compost from the city or county can kill the plants in your garden. Here is a good resource on the topic – click here
How to buy produce and cuttings from Simply Us Farm
When we have produce available, we’ll announce it here and through our email list. Many of the the items from our farm are only available for a short season and often just once per year.
Onions planted, next is covering with hay
Hay covering the onions and garlic
Garlic is weeded and covered with hay
This toad was hiding in a patch of weeds in the garlic
The daffodils are blooming. Nice to see the beautiful colors
We had a great day on the farm teaching how to plant potatoes.
Yesterday (Friday, the day before class) I was out on the farm getting the rows ready to plant. It was all going well until it started raining. One of the challenge with planting potatoes is rain and wet ground, which also seems to happen when we go to plant potatoes. I’m not sure if I would know how to plant potatoes without standing in mud between the rows.
Today we accomplished the following:
– demonstrated and did hands-on cutting of seed potatoes in pieces to plant – planted approximately 200 linear feet of three different varieties of potatoes – installed and tested drip tap for the potatoes – planted approximately 320 onions
This is the first day in a multipart class where we plan to prepare, plant, maintain and hopefully harvest some awesome potatoes grown without synthetic fertilizer, no herbicides and no pesticides using a low till approach. We work hard to practice regenertive farming.
I realize that if there aren’t pictures of video then did it really happen? So, lets take a look at the pics. Check out the purple potatoes! Scroll to the end for some bonus pictures.
More normal looking potatoes
Purple potatoes ready to plant!
Getting ready to dig in
Planting potatoes, albeit muddy
Drip line installed and potatoes planted
Surveying the work – agricultural therapy at its finest
P.S. Planting one more tree
About this time of year, I declare I’m done planting new trees or perennials until fall. But there is also the temptation to plant just one more fruit bearing tree or bush. Friday, it was just me on the farm and I had brought with me a fig that somehow didn’t get planted this fall or winter. So, I decided to plant one more tree. Thanks to Connie for getting the fig cutting and turning it into a figlet that was ready to plant. One day, if all goes well, we’ll be trying to figure out what to do with a lot of figs.
My dad always says “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the next best time to plant a tree is this afternoon”.
Jean montie roland, quoting someone else, but still great advice
Getting ready to plant the “last” fig until fall
Figlet planted
Wire cage to keep the deer away from the figlet so it can grow
P.P.S. Parting Throught
I haven’t run this meme by my wife yet, but I’m confident she will agree. I’ll ask her after I water the chickens.
Walking through the farm reveals a plethora of bushes and trees that are budding out. A few weeks ago, many of these bushes and plants were dormant. Now buds are forming and you can see the first signs of growth of the year.
Last year we sold out of honey from the farm. This year we are adding more bees. The first new hives arrived this week.
The first of the new bee hives have arrived!
Peach tree budding out
More peach buds
Fig tree buds
Terminal bud on a fig tree
Buds on one of the blackberry plants
Blueberries are putting out buds
Mulberry trees are growing quickly
The mighty goji berries seem upstoppable already
Elderberries are off and running, they do so well here
Hazel bush buds arriving. Looking forward to having hazel nuts in 2-3 years
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.
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 
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.