Tag: north carolina

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Farm and Forest – Digital Detox at Its Finest

Starting a farm has been quite an experience.

Jack Spirko often contends on his podcast that answers can be found in the forest. I’m thinking that most answers can be found in the forest and farm because we already know the answer most of the time. We just need to face to up the answer we already know and looking at the beauty around us help us to face those answers. Or sometimes we just need to something to help us focus so we can put the pieces together and arrive at an answer. Other times there is inspiration that we can find in the beauty and grand design of nature around us.

Crinum lily in bloom

Many times I find that while I’m working on something on the farm, I’m learning about how to be a better farmer but also gaining a deeper understanding of life and myself. Hard work is good way to push out the some of the mental clutter. Getting that mental clutter out of the way helps me to think through any challenges or questions. Often I find that I get to the end of the day and the work is done and I’ve figured out answers to challenges that have nothing to do with the farm.

During the day at work and home, there are a lot of things competing for our attention. Getting outside and working filters out that digital noise and info, giving a very important digital detox. The act of labor and the concentration on the task at hand helps deepen the effects of the digital detox. These moments of digital detox peel away the layers of mental clutter and leaves me prepared to enjoy life and remember what is truly important.

I hope you have a great week!

Our camping site in the back field is coming along nicely
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Pumpkins Are Coming, Maybe

We tried something new this year. We planted pumpkins in withour sorghum / sudan grass and buckwheat cover crop. The plan:

  • plant the pumpkins and cover crop in the area where we had just dug potatoes. The row was already covered with straw that we used around the potato plants
  • let the cover crop and pumpkins grow – the buckwheat grew first and was succeeded by the pumpkins and sorghum / sudan grass
  • weed around the pumpkins
  • let the pumpkins grown out into the grassy rows beyond the cover crop area
  • [future] hopefully harvest pumpkins

Doing this allows us to add organic matter to the soil when we terminate the sorghum / sudan grass and it composts over the winter. The sorghum / sudan grass also acts a a mulch for the winter cover crop. Hopefully we get a good harvest of pumpkins. Innovating in small ways means trying new things.

I’m looking foward to pumpkins!

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Expanding Our Orchard

“The plan” is to install the next phase of orchard just after Thanksgiving. We’ll offer a class in planting fruit trees for anyone that wants to learn and join in as we plant the next phase of our orchard. I’ll post the class invite on the website once it is scheduled. It would be great if you could join us for a day of planting trees and wonderful fellowship.

2 of the walnut trees with room to put pawpaws in between
Test planting of figs and persimmon in the back field

Back Field Plans

This fall we plan to add the next wave of fruit trees to the back field. These include

  • Peaches – Contender, Redhaven, and Belle of Georgia varieties
  • Asian Pear – Korean Giant and Chojuro varieities
  • Plum – Byron Gold, Methley, Ozark Premier and Blue Damson varieties
  • Plumcot – Spring Satin variety
  • Nectarines – Carla Rose variety
  • Black Walnut – native
  • Asian Chestnut – Dunstan variety
  • Mulberry – Dwarf Everbearing

We also have a pecan tree that didn’t survive. So we’ll replace that pecan tree. The variety is Occonee. Pecans have very specific pollination periods so it is important to choose the correct varieties so they can cross pollinate and produce pecans.

Our camping site in the back field is coming along nicely

Campsite Plans

We want to keep plenty of room for tents in the back field campsite as we add more fruiting plants to the mini-food forest there. We hopee to add blueberries this fall. The selected rabbit eye blueberry varieties are Premier, Columbus, and Tifblue.

Food Forest Plans

One of the plants that has struggled in the food forest is the blackberries. We plan to take out part of the blackberries and their trellis. Then we can come black and plant fruit trees. We’ve already replaced part of the blackberries with black chokeberrie (you may recognize them as aronia berries). I’m hoping to add additional chokeberries to the food food forest along with plum trees (Methley and Ozark Premier varieties).

Goji berries climbing the trellis

Field #2 Plan

We have an area of field #2 that stays fairly dry, which is ironic compared to how wet the rest of field #2 generally is. This is most likely caused by the depth of the water in that one area. We plan to add goji berries to the dry area. The goji berries have in the food forest in the hugelkultur mound and we hope to continue the success in field #2.

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Mowing Grass and Enjoying the Crinum Lillies

Motherwort is Growing

Motherwort is a medicinal plant with studies that show it has benefits for the ciculatory system. There are also anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Extracts from this plant may also help stimulate the uterus and fight bacteria. This is our first time growing motherwort and it is doing well.

The black walnut trees are doing better as we remove brush from around them and cut back grapevines that are growing in the trees

Where to Find Me? Find Me Under this Old Hat!

Somtimes it is good to take a few minutes and just sit at the picnic table and enjoy being outside, especially after working hard on the farm.

As Sawyer Brown says, “you never need to wonder where I’m at, you can find me hanging out under this old hat”

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Elderberries Incoming!

We have started picking elderberries from our food forest. Please contact me if you are interested in placing an order. We don’t use any insecticides or pesticides. The fertilizer we use on them is organic.

You can order your elderberries here (select “porch pickup” under shipping options for local pickup in Tramway)

Raspberries

We have been trying a variety of raspberries that was developed for the climate in this area. Many raspberries just won’t tolerate the warmer tempertures here (zone 8a). That is why you see raspberries mainly in the mountains. The plants came from Rabbit Ridge Berry Farm in Coats, NC. We have bought friut bearing trees and bushes from them. They have great products and are wonderful to work with. They also have a u-pick farm.

Blueberries

This is our first year of having a blueberry harvest, even a small one. Previously our plants were too young, so we pulled the berries when they first formed to encourage the plant to put its energy into the plant instead of the fruit. The first of the blueberries are almost ready to harvest. I can’t wait to have blueberry pancakes.

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Garlic Incoming

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

Garlic and onions
Elephant garlic
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Getting Young Trees Ready for Summer

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.

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Upcoming Availability and Harvest

Its been a busy year on the farm. Many of our plantings will take years before we will have a crop.

Here are some upcoming crops that we hope to have available for sale soon:

  • elderberries
  • honey (local, from the farm)
  • garlic – one crop per year so make sure to order all you need for the year (should be available in 2-3 weeks)
  • onions – one crop per year so make sure to order all you need for the year
  • figs – very limited quanties
  • blackberries – limited quantities

We don’t use pesticides or insecticides on our crops and practice low-till regenerative farming.

We’ll send out an email when we know exact dates of availability. Thanks for following along with our journey.

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Designing a Campsite to Inspire Wonder

Click to play

Connie and I both enjoy camping. Getting away from all the trappings of modern life. Constantly being connected via a cell phone. The ease of watching any of 1000s of movies and tv shows with a click.

There is only limited cell phone service on the farm so you are lucky to get a text message or call through. There is a certain ability to relax when you are disconnected. We put the campsite in the back field in the most important part of the field from a visual perspective and an agricultural perspective. We want this campsite to be a focal point of a wonderful story. The campsite has fruit bearing trees in it that replicate the blackberry, figs, pawpaw and elderberry plants that are bountiful on the farm. There is a fire circle and a bench in the camping circle. There is room for a big tent or several small tents. We want this to be a special place that leads to special memories.

Details are important. You have to walk to the spot, short walk, but still a walk. Even the bench is designed to make the trip special. The seat is just a little too far off the ground. So even if you are tall your feet hang down just a little. The seat is just a little too deep so you feel a little small in the bench. Just enough to where you feel just a little small in the middle of the big field, under the big sky. Just so we remember what is important.

Lee Ann Womack sang

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed …

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance …

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’
Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’ …

In a lot of ways this song was the inspiration for the campsite. Even as adults we need to play. We need to find adventure. Seek it out. Even if it is a small adventure. We need to wonder.

Simply Us Farm is an adventure. It is us wondering what could be. Trying new things and innovating. Definitely not going the path of least resistance. Check out the song below, maybe it inspires you too. If all our farm ever accomplishes is to help you develop a sense of wonder, a desire to play, and wanting a adventure in front of you, then we have succeeded. Today’s world is just crazy, but the farm is about the simple. Simple is what we need sometimes.