One Poor Correspondent

I've been one poor correspondent

I've been too, too hard to find

But that doesn't mean

You ain't been on my mind 

America

Sister Golden Hair

It's been a while once again. And I know I promised a whole new blog in my last post, we simply have not had the time to get it all together.  We are currently working four days per week at the great Mammoth Cave, and in the remaining three we are doing all we can to keep the crops growing on the farm.  It is hard (sometimes REALLY hard) but it is not without its rewards.

Decisions, Decisions

Springtime on the farm . . . and it never stops.  The decision making that is. For example, last week we almost planted out our lovely tomato plants.  They certainly looked like they could handle it,

big beautiful babies that they are.  But at the last minute we chose to put them in six inch plastic pots instead,

Walking Back Forward

A great friend and I have been talking a bit lately about taking steps forward, taking steps backward, and some of the subtle differences between the two.  The case in point, of course is our decision to return to the ‘working world’ for a bit to get a few projects completed. 

It feels for all the world like stepping backward, out of the realms of sustainable living and into the clutches of the dreaded ‘MAN’ (whoever he is).

We're Jammin'

Bob Marley - Jammin' by Dan_of_the_Land

Yeah, I know, I said I wouldn't be posting here anymore, but two things have me back here.

First, a combination of going through the learning curve with the Groundwell Farm website and the sudden repair of my Blogspot.  And second, the desire to share with you all the latest bounties here at the farm.

Stop the Presses!

Or at least the strainers.  I made (with the assistance of my wonderful hubby) a major discovery this week. I'll let you in on it but first I need to do a bit of backgrounding.  You already know that I put up lots of tomatoes when I can and that I have a particular passion for sauce and ketchup.  This passion requires extensive use of a tomato strainer.  For years and years I have used my trusty old Victorio strainer. It removes all the skins and seeds and leaves you with just pulp and juice. I bought it new over twenty years ago, and other than loosing some of its enamel, it's still in great shape.

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

There are reasons why I am posting less frequently this summer than I sometimes do, the largest of which is my lovely tomato patch.  Each harvest is measured in bushels, and then the process begins.  After picking for an hour or so the tomatoes need to be washed and sorted.  Which ones are so green they won't be usable for several days, which can be used in two to three days, which should be cut up right away?  Separate out the good slicers and the cherries as well. (The cherries sit on our coffee table like a big bowl of candy!) Once the sort cycle is complete there are a few hours of cutting, then there is the cooking.

Deciphering Hieroglyphics

Tomato season is bearing down with full force.  Two days ago I made ketchup (from a new recipe out of Preserving Food without Canning or Freezing) and it was the best I've ever made.  Indeed it's the first I've made in about 15-20 years!  This morning I canned up 21 quarts of stewed tomatoes from one bushel of tomatoes.

Tonight there are two more bushels

waiting for morning when they'll be converted into pasta sauce.  That's not even a large picking.  In the next couple of weeks I expect to be picking at least four bushels every two to three days.  I don't mind though. I expect to be tomato independent this winter!

You'd never think with all these tomatoes to deal with that I'd be in the process of picking up a hobby, but that's exactly what I've gone and done.

Hidden Treasures

Last week a visitor to Groundwell Farm looked at my garden greenhouse and said something like, "Clearly not much is happening in there."  I mumbled something about growing seeds and we moved on.  I really couldn't blame my visitor for not noticing the hidden treasures within that structure,

It certainly looks a mess.  But much more is happening in there that a quick glance can reveal.

Morning in the Gardens of Groundwell

"We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,

 and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

Joni Mitchell

Woodstock

7:30

I'm out in the rows of my garden, taking it all in.  The water drop call of the brown headed cowbird brings my attention to the drops of dew sprinkled over the leaves.  I notice that while some rows are impeccably tended

Drought Gardening

It feels like England right now.  Outside, it's cool and breezy, not to get above 75 degrees for the day.  It rained a bit yesterday and the day before, and the weatherman tells me that it will rain in the upcoming days as well.  Rain, rain, rain.  I love it.  The more soft gentle rains we get the more the groundwater will be replenished.  We are managing to get the garden planted in spite of all this rain.  The one thing the rain makes difficult is the continuation of our drought gardening practices.

"Why" you might ask "are you bothering with drought gardening when you are getting all this rain?"  Well, I'll tell you.

Vigilance

What is the one word a farmer/gardener doesn't want to hear the week after getting all of their tomatoes put out?

Frost.

It's About Time

Spring is officially here and if you haven't started planting yet you might want to get started pretty quick.  You can do a nice job with tomatoes and such by seeding them indoors and once they come up putting them in a sunny window.  If you have something reflective to put behind them it's even better because then they won't photo-trope (lean out toward the sun) too much.

Mindful Monday

I bid you to a one man revolution

The only revolution that is coming.

 Robert Frost

from

"Building Soil "