Subsidies VS Nutritional Recommendations

Source: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

This seems a little unbalanced now doesn't it?

Sixties and Shiitakes!

What a wonderful weekend! With songbirds waking me, sunshine, and sixty degree weather it truly felt like spring had arrived! Chelsea and I took advantage of the warm weather on Sunday and went to Sharon Oaks Stables, where I board my horse Sunny (pictured left). They have a wonderful set up with large pastures, two barns, and 3 riding rings! So, why am I talking horses on a gardening blog? Well, because Chelsea and I love horses and we plan to integrate them into our farm! Not only do horses provide free fertilizer with their manure, but having a boarding facility would provide a year-long income base to help support our farm. We won't stop at horses, though. Goats are great at managing pastures and eating the tougher plants horses wont. Chickens will eat plenty of bug pests, provide fertilizer through their waste, and also lightly till the soil during the off season through their digging habits. The connections between farming and livestock is undeniable, and we plan to take full advantage of the benefits of raising both flora and fauna!

Ok, maybe not just flora and fauna, since we'd like to include fungi too! I'm excited to start Spring off at Pickard's Mountain Eco Institute's Shiitake Mushroom Workshop March 20th! Chelsea and I will both attend, learn how to grow shiitake mushrooms from spores, and each get to take home a log! We may purchase some additional logs so our mushroom harvest is more bountiful, but are still undecided. Most of us think of shiitake mushrooms and conjure an image of them at the grocery store shrink wrapped or dried, but believe it or not they prefer to hang out on dead logs. Most mushrooms begin their life as a spore; which is ejected from a mushroom, floats through the air, and (hopefully) lands on a friendly substrate which fosters growth and development. The spores of mushrooms which are commonly used for culinary purposes can be purchased online or through catalogs like the Gardener's Supply Company. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a workshop and learn from experienced mushroom growers! Stay tuned for details on our experience at the Shiitake Mushroom Workshop, and updates on our 2010 mushroom harvest!

Planning the 2010 Harvest

This year I'm determined to have a better garden than last year. Not to say last year wasn't productive; I managed to harvest a lot of yellow squash and zucchini, as well as a few cantaloupes, all from a 5'x20' raised bed (pictured right).

I like to dream big, so as we roll into March I'm still narrowing down my Grow List which is substantially larger than last year. One of the changes I'm making this year is to focus on heirloom varieties. Heirloom varieties are gaining popularity as a reaction to large scale monoculture farming. In industrialized agriculture only a few varieties of each crop are grown, and the varieties are often chosen for their tolerance to pesticides, machine farming, and shipping... not for flavor. Just think about the selection on the shelves of a grocery store near your home compared to what you can get at your local farmer's market!

So far, my 2010 Grow List Includes:
Tomatoes (Large: Crnkovic Yugoslavian & Small: Crnt Gold Rush)
Potatoes (Desiree)
Peppers (Sweet: Quadrato Asti Giallo & Hot: Aurora)
Carrots (Danvers)
Onions (Yellow of Parma)
Squash (Summer Crookneck, Black Beauty zuchinni)
Melons (Chris Cross watermelon, Schoon's Hard Shell canteloupe)
Eggplant (Listada de Gandia)
Kale (Red Russian)
Arugula (Apollo)

It looks ambitious, I know. I plan to purchase most of my seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsaversexchange.org) and start my seedlings indoors. Last year my seedlings were long and stringy, so I might get some grow lights to help them out this year. I doubt they'll be beautiful, but at least this farming is still just for fun and not my financial support too!