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
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.
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.
There are always plenty of projects going on at the farm. One of our initiatives for this year is to build a garden for medicinal herbs. We have elderberry and comfrey in several places on the farm, but there are so many medicinal herbs available. It would be nice to add some of those to the farm. We just planted witch hazel bushes. Witch hazel has medicinal properties and provides pollen in the very early spring to the bees. The very early spring is a time when bees may have difficulty finding enough pollen. Witch hazel also has a unique flower. Combining these three advantages is an example of function stacking. Function stacking is where one item, in this case witch hazel bushes, does multiple jobs on the farm. Function stacking is a term commonly used in permaculture circles. We planted witch hazel in the driveway loop and in the back field between the pecan trees.
We’ve also been slowly adding yaupon holly. The picture shows a test planting in the back field. The back field tends to be warmer and drier. There is also a soil type that isn’t available anywhere else on the property. Yaupon holly is also used to make tea. As far as I know, it is the only caffeine bearing plant that grows in our climate.
Yaupon holley in the back field
Camp and Forage Experience in the Making
Another project we’ve been wanting to work on is building a fire circle for the camping spot in the back field. We call this site “The Middle of the Field, Literally”. The site is in the field with wide open views and skies. The site is round and encircled by a cultivated ring what currently has a cover crop in it. Right now the cover crop is a mixture of sudan / sorghum hybrid and buckwheat. Right now there are several places with buckwheat growing on the farm. The cover crop helps build better soil. Inside the cultivated ring is another ring. This ring consists of plants found on the farm. Right now those plants are fig, elderberry, pawpaw, elephant ear and blackberries. The goal is to have a variety of fruit that is available inside the campsite. That allows you to get up and pick a blackberry, fig, pawpaw or elderberry right in the campsite. This should be a unique experience – camp and forage for a snack without leaving the campsite. The campsite is a walk in campsite (about a 1/4 mile way) for a nice and remote experience. As the plan moves forward, we plan to add signage and trails directs visitors to other areas in the farm that have other perennials. Maybe one day we can offer a foraging experience for visitors. It would be nice to add pick your own apothecary tour from our medicinal garden.
We just added blackberries, fire circle and a bench. We also mulched around the plants. The back field gets constant sun and wind in the summer and can get dry. We applied a heavy mulch around the plants. The thick mulch helps to suppress weeds and regulate the moisture at the plants roots. This helps the plant’s roots from drying out in the summer and going through dry and wet spells between summer rains.
The camp and forage concept for the campsite will take a while to come together. It will probably take 2-3 years before the plants grow enough to have a nice crop of fruit and berries. The pawpaw will be 5-10 years. We are taking a long view of how to develop the property. We have done a good bit of customer research using design thinking principles as a guide. Part of my day job is doing industrial design. At work I use a computer and sketches to develop concepts. The farm is this wonderful confluence of developing voice of the customer, vision development and sketching. The important difference is that on the farm we use a tractor and trees and plants to create a sketch and then a prototype. Thanks for following along with our journey.
Bench and fire circle ready to enjoy
New firecircle ready for use
Pawpaw growing at the campsite
Elephant ears suviving in the middle of a field, defintely falls under go figure
Fig tree coming up at the campsite
Gifted Roses Blooming
Our neighbor gave us 2 roses that she had dug up. We planted them at the farm a few weeks ago and boom, we have flowers.
Roses blooming
Roses with a nice bloom
Bees and Stumps and Flowers for Moms
The bees are super active and a little grumpy. I definitely could hear their buzzing as I was filling up the UTV with mulch from the wood chip pile near the hives.
Bees are so very active
We thought this stump had a cool look so Connie took a picture. Such a unique patter in the base of the stump
Cool picture of a stump
We stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant on the way home. It is good that restaurants in the country are used to smelly and dirty people who have been working outside. They were giving out a flower to every mom that ate a meal. That was a nice pre mothers day treat.
Restaurant on the way home giving away a flower to every mom
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
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.