Forecast: Highs in the low to mid 70s. 60% chance of rain on Wednesday.
As you know, we've been crazy busy on the farm this week, with CSA harvests beginning and planting season still underway. It's hard to believe it's June and Week 10 already!
On Monday, Chelsea & Shelby will facilitate our exploration of diet and nutrition and Becca will help us figure out how to evaluate and locate good food in wherever you find yourselves. To that end, I'll offer a website: http://www.localharvest.org/. If you search your zipcode, it will show you listed CSAs, farmer's markets, and farms in your area. Of course, you still have to figure out which ones you want to support. Also on Monday, we'll need a little time to do course wrap-up and evaluations.
What we do on the farm this week will depend largely on the weather. It sounds like there is a good chance of rain on Monday night and again on Wednesday, which could make things too soggy to plant. In fact, we do need the rain, but I'm hoping that the showers will time themselves so that we can go ahead and put in some tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers while you are here. I'm also eager to show you how much the crops you planted have grown in the past week--the peas look fantastic and potatoes are starting to poke through the soil. And, we'll do a final check on your vermicomposting operations and inoculate an outdoor vermicompost pile with worms from your bins.
See you soon!
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Week 9 on the Farm!
Forecast: 80 degrees, hot & humid. Bring water & hats!
Sorry for the late post this week. In truth, I haven't been sure what we're going to do on the farm and I'm still deciding. I'd hoped that we might start in planting tomatoes on Tuesday, but I'm not sure that John & I will be able to get the beds prepped by the time you come out. So perhaps we'll have you help us with bed prep. I also need to get the last of my squash seeded, the red beets thinned, the yellow beets planted, and some weeds controlled. So those all many be options. On Wednesday, we will be opening the beehive and adding a new super on top. So, Wednesday people--bring long sleeved shirts and pants with you. Light colors and smooth fabrics are best. Also bring closed-toe shoes.
We got a call yesterday that our second group of bees are on their way. We are getting these bees from Huron City Bee Company (http://www.mibees.com/) and they will come in a nucleus hive rather than a package. These are more expensive than package bees and we will have to drive several hours to pick them up, but we really like Huron City's philosophy and hive management methods so we thought it would be worth it. Like us, Huron City has been having its own struggles with the weather in getting their bees up from Florida this spring. I'll forward you the email updates they've sent us so that you can get an understanding of what they are dealing with. Here is their philosophy page: http://www.mibees.com/Philosophy.htm.
CSA harvests start this week! And so the harvest season begins before the bulk of the planting is finished. It's the most craziest time of the year!
Sorry for the late post this week. In truth, I haven't been sure what we're going to do on the farm and I'm still deciding. I'd hoped that we might start in planting tomatoes on Tuesday, but I'm not sure that John & I will be able to get the beds prepped by the time you come out. So perhaps we'll have you help us with bed prep. I also need to get the last of my squash seeded, the red beets thinned, the yellow beets planted, and some weeds controlled. So those all many be options. On Wednesday, we will be opening the beehive and adding a new super on top. So, Wednesday people--bring long sleeved shirts and pants with you. Light colors and smooth fabrics are best. Also bring closed-toe shoes.
We got a call yesterday that our second group of bees are on their way. We are getting these bees from Huron City Bee Company (http://www.mibees.com/) and they will come in a nucleus hive rather than a package. These are more expensive than package bees and we will have to drive several hours to pick them up, but we really like Huron City's philosophy and hive management methods so we thought it would be worth it. Like us, Huron City has been having its own struggles with the weather in getting their bees up from Florida this spring. I'll forward you the email updates they've sent us so that you can get an understanding of what they are dealing with. Here is their philosophy page: http://www.mibees.com/Philosophy.htm.
CSA harvests start this week! And so the harvest season begins before the bulk of the planting is finished. It's the most craziest time of the year!
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Week 8: In Kalamazoo, On the Farm, In Lansing
Weather Forecast: Tuesday, 50% chance of rain, high of 77 degrees F. Wednesday, cloudy, high of 69 degrees F.
Whew, Week 8 already! This quarter is flying by, as is the spring. Hard to believe that our first CSA harvest is scheduled to take place in just two weeks. I hope we're ready! This past week's cold snap sure hasn't helped things any--as you know, a few of our crops got set back by frost and those that didn't haven't done much growing over the past couple of days.
This weeks sounds like it should be a good growing week, though, with temperature highs in the 60s & 70s and lows in the 50s. We'll take advantage of it as much as possible and get as many plants in the ground as we can. First on our agenda are those potatoes we'd hoped to plant last week, followed by carrots, golden beets, cilantro, scallions, and second plantings of radishes and salad greens. Also on our list for the week is to finish thinning, weeding, and mulching the crops we've already got in the ground and to do a little weed control around our fencelines with the flame weeder. We also need to get all of our vine crops started in soil blocks--those are the cucumbers, melons, and squashes. Among other things!
This Monday, Eric & Lola will be leading our class exploration of food justice, access and security. I'm looking forward to that! I'm going to suggest that we spend the first half hour inspecting and evaluating your garden. You've watched me do this with my gardens--looking to see what's doing well and what's not and then making decisions about how to proceed. Let's take a look at what's growing in your plot and talk about what you'd like to do with it over the next 3 weeks.
I suspect that Wednesday may be DOGL. If that's the case, the Wednesday lab group will obviously not be coming out to the farm. Wednesday folks, if you would like to schedule another day to come hang out with us, we're happy to accommodate that--your choice.
I'm excited about our MSU trip on Thursday! It's been awhile since I've been to the organic farm and I'm looking forward to seeing what changes they've made. Here's their website so that you can get a preview: http://www.msuorganicfarm.com/. See you all soon!
Whew, Week 8 already! This quarter is flying by, as is the spring. Hard to believe that our first CSA harvest is scheduled to take place in just two weeks. I hope we're ready! This past week's cold snap sure hasn't helped things any--as you know, a few of our crops got set back by frost and those that didn't haven't done much growing over the past couple of days.
This weeks sounds like it should be a good growing week, though, with temperature highs in the 60s & 70s and lows in the 50s. We'll take advantage of it as much as possible and get as many plants in the ground as we can. First on our agenda are those potatoes we'd hoped to plant last week, followed by carrots, golden beets, cilantro, scallions, and second plantings of radishes and salad greens. Also on our list for the week is to finish thinning, weeding, and mulching the crops we've already got in the ground and to do a little weed control around our fencelines with the flame weeder. We also need to get all of our vine crops started in soil blocks--those are the cucumbers, melons, and squashes. Among other things!
This Monday, Eric & Lola will be leading our class exploration of food justice, access and security. I'm looking forward to that! I'm going to suggest that we spend the first half hour inspecting and evaluating your garden. You've watched me do this with my gardens--looking to see what's doing well and what's not and then making decisions about how to proceed. Let's take a look at what's growing in your plot and talk about what you'd like to do with it over the next 3 weeks.
I suspect that Wednesday may be DOGL. If that's the case, the Wednesday lab group will obviously not be coming out to the farm. Wednesday folks, if you would like to schedule another day to come hang out with us, we're happy to accommodate that--your choice.
I'm excited about our MSU trip on Thursday! It's been awhile since I've been to the organic farm and I'm looking forward to seeing what changes they've made. Here's their website so that you can get a preview: http://www.msuorganicfarm.com/. See you all soon!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Week 7 on the Farm!
Weather forecast: Tuesday, high of 72 degrees F, 70% chance of rain. Wednesday, high of 60 degrees F, 20% chance of rain.
The next four weeks on the farm are some of the busiest of the entire season. We're due to begin harvesting for the CSA in just three weeks and we've got a lot to do before then! The plants we've already got in the ground (pac choi, cabbage, kale, broccoli, swiss chard, snap peas, arugula, spinach, turnips, beets, radishes, dill, and salad greens) are doing well so far, but we must keep monitoring them to make sure that they have enough water and aren't getting attacked by pests or diseases. In addition, several of the crops we direct seeded (such as the arugula, spinach and turnips) need to be thinned, since we planted them pretty thickly and if we don't pull some of the seedlings out, they will compete with each other. We also need to keep on top of the weeds while they are still small and easy to contend with before they start interfering with the vegetable plants.
And we've got a lot more planting to do! Potatoes, carrots, and golden beets should be in the ground by the end of this week and we'll be starting cucumbers and summer squash indoors this week as well. Obviously, what you all help us with on the farm will depend a good deal on the weather. If the weather is nice when you come out, we'll probably have you work with us on thinning, weed control, and/or potato planting. If it's raining, we can work on getting those cucumbers and summer squash planted in soil blocks.
I was trying to find an excerpt from Michael Pollan's film "Botany of Desire" on potatoes to share with you this week, but haven't been able to locate it. So instead, I'll post his TED talk in which he describes his inspiration for the book that led to that film: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pollan_gives_a_plant_s_eye_view. Enjoy!
The next four weeks on the farm are some of the busiest of the entire season. We're due to begin harvesting for the CSA in just three weeks and we've got a lot to do before then! The plants we've already got in the ground (pac choi, cabbage, kale, broccoli, swiss chard, snap peas, arugula, spinach, turnips, beets, radishes, dill, and salad greens) are doing well so far, but we must keep monitoring them to make sure that they have enough water and aren't getting attacked by pests or diseases. In addition, several of the crops we direct seeded (such as the arugula, spinach and turnips) need to be thinned, since we planted them pretty thickly and if we don't pull some of the seedlings out, they will compete with each other. We also need to keep on top of the weeds while they are still small and easy to contend with before they start interfering with the vegetable plants.
And we've got a lot more planting to do! Potatoes, carrots, and golden beets should be in the ground by the end of this week and we'll be starting cucumbers and summer squash indoors this week as well. Obviously, what you all help us with on the farm will depend a good deal on the weather. If the weather is nice when you come out, we'll probably have you work with us on thinning, weed control, and/or potato planting. If it's raining, we can work on getting those cucumbers and summer squash planted in soil blocks.
I was trying to find an excerpt from Michael Pollan's film "Botany of Desire" on potatoes to share with you this week, but haven't been able to locate it. So instead, I'll post his TED talk in which he describes his inspiration for the book that led to that film: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pollan_gives_a_plant_s_eye_view. Enjoy!
Video links for tomorrow's presentation
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all having a great Sunday night! I just wanted to post links to two videos which I will be showing clips from as part of my presentation tomorrow. Since we will watch portions in class, there is no need to watch them beforehand, unless you wanted to watch the whole things. They are both great resources so I encourage you to do so!
The first video is just a great overview of the different issues that migrant farm workers in the United States, specifically children, face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ucD1AyhcA
The other is a video produced by a non-profit based here in Kalamazoo, called Welcoming Michigan. The aim of the video as a whole is to educate native-born Michiganders about the struggles of migrant workers, the marginalization they face, and their contribution to the local economy. The video is long, but there is a portion which does a good job of explaining the conditions they endure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSR69DPYCHg
Thanks everyone and see you in class tomorrow!
Matt
I hope you are all having a great Sunday night! I just wanted to post links to two videos which I will be showing clips from as part of my presentation tomorrow. Since we will watch portions in class, there is no need to watch them beforehand, unless you wanted to watch the whole things. They are both great resources so I encourage you to do so!
The first video is just a great overview of the different issues that migrant farm workers in the United States, specifically children, face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ucD1AyhcA
The other is a video produced by a non-profit based here in Kalamazoo, called Welcoming Michigan. The aim of the video as a whole is to educate native-born Michiganders about the struggles of migrant workers, the marginalization they face, and their contribution to the local economy. The video is long, but there is a portion which does a good job of explaining the conditions they endure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSR69DPYCHg
Thanks everyone and see you in class tomorrow!
Matt
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Week 6 on the Farm: Transplanting
Weather Forecast: Mid-60s to low 70s. Slight chance of rain on Wednesday.
It's transplanting week!!! I have twenty flats of vegetables that need to be in the ground by the end of the week. This includes all of our cool-weather transplants such as broccoli, pac choi, red & green cabbage, scallions, red marble onions and kale. So we'll have you help us with that when you come out. You'll get to practice garden bed preparation and we'll show you the proper depth to plant each transplant.
You'll also want to take a look at the crops that you direct-seeded a couple of weeks ago. Peas are coming up, though spottily, and the spinach is coming along quite nicely. We've also got radishes, turnips, salad mix and arugula sprouting in the garden beds.
Your worms are doing well too, so remember to bring them some more food this week!
It's transplanting week!!! I have twenty flats of vegetables that need to be in the ground by the end of the week. This includes all of our cool-weather transplants such as broccoli, pac choi, red & green cabbage, scallions, red marble onions and kale. So we'll have you help us with that when you come out. You'll get to practice garden bed preparation and we'll show you the proper depth to plant each transplant.
You'll also want to take a look at the crops that you direct-seeded a couple of weeks ago. Peas are coming up, though spottily, and the spinach is coming along quite nicely. We've also got radishes, turnips, salad mix and arugula sprouting in the garden beds.
Your worms are doing well too, so remember to bring them some more food this week!
Movie Night: "King Corn"
Hi Everyone!
On Monday night we'll meet in Bissell Theater to watch "King Corn," a documentary by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who set out to answer the question of why so much of their bodies are made up of corn by planting an acre of it themselves and then attempting to follow it through the marketplace.
Subsidy programs have changed somewhat since this film was made. The recently passed 2014 Farm Bill favors "crop insurance" programs over the direct payments of the past. However, that certainly doesn't mean that subsidies have gone away. Here's an editorial piece that discusses this change, as well as the reasons that government funds have historically been directed toward commodity crops grown as monocultures (such as corn and soy) rather than diversified farms that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/farm-bill-why-dont-taxpayers-subsidize-the-foods-that-are-better-for-us/2014/02/14/d7642a3c-9434-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html
I'll see you tomorrow night! Bring movie snacks if you want them.
On Monday night we'll meet in Bissell Theater to watch "King Corn," a documentary by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who set out to answer the question of why so much of their bodies are made up of corn by planting an acre of it themselves and then attempting to follow it through the marketplace.
Subsidy programs have changed somewhat since this film was made. The recently passed 2014 Farm Bill favors "crop insurance" programs over the direct payments of the past. However, that certainly doesn't mean that subsidies have gone away. Here's an editorial piece that discusses this change, as well as the reasons that government funds have historically been directed toward commodity crops grown as monocultures (such as corn and soy) rather than diversified farms that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/farm-bill-why-dont-taxpayers-subsidize-the-foods-that-are-better-for-us/2014/02/14/d7642a3c-9434-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html
I'll see you tomorrow night! Bring movie snacks if you want them.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Week 5
Hi Everyone!
I'm looking forward to Devin & Dylan's presentation on economics, agriculture, and climate change tomorrow evening. Since farming is so utterly dependent on climate and weather, climate change is definitely something farmers are worried about. Unfortunately, our current economic system doesn't do a great job of promoting practices that will help agriculture adjust to climate shifts (and as you learned last week, agriculture is in fact a big contributor to climate instability). There are certainly some good initiatives aimed at increasing the resiliency of our food system, though, so I hope we'll get a chance to talk about those. Here's a video that profiles one dairy farm that is utilizing practices to make it more resilient to uncertain and severe weather patterns. It addition, it contains a diagram of the sort of drain tiles that I described that run through my farm and that Chelsea was asking for a better explanation of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1FdF2RD2Ik&list=PLcWFNNhgxVSxwms1ovyKnFkn2fVZm2GWJ&index=3.
The weather this week calls for 50% chance of rain on both Tuesday and Wednesday, so that will influence what we're able to do on the farm. What I'd like to do this week is to have you help us prep some additional beds and transplant seedlings into the ground, but the weather may not cooperate with that plan. If it is raining, I may have our Tuesday group work inside the hoophouse and take the Wednesday group up to Family Farm and Home for a field trip.
It is really important that you harden off transplants before planting them outside, otherwise you may kill the little seedlings that you've nurtured so diligently. We do that inside our hoophouse, but here's a two-minute video that describes the process you would go through if you didn't have a hoophouse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhDnVK25pGY.
The rain this coming week should help the seeds that you planted last week to germinate, however, it is important that you monitor your gardens to make sure that they are staying moist in the event that we don't get regular rains. Flowering plants are generally classified into two types: monocots and dicots. Their seeds are structured differently and so their germination looks a little different too, as shown in the diagram below. For an entertaining (and really quite informative) tutorial on the differences between monocots and dicots, check out fourth grader Julia Sherwin's claymation video on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBz1unaMr6I.
And for a little inspiration while you wait for your seeds to germinate, here's a quotation from Henry David Thoreau: "I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Monday Topic: Agro-ecology
Nino will be facilitating our learning about the effects of different agricultural practices on ecological systems this week, so he'll be responsible for leading half of Monday's class on that subject. I'll suggest that we use the other half to deal with any course logistics that we need to take care of, talk about Novella Carpenter's visit, review your progress on your gardens, and discuss your goals for the coming week.
Even though Nino will be providing the primary material for Monday's class, I'll offer links to a few articles/videos that I think might be useful to consider.
Dr. Wollenberg mentioned the difference in the diversity and abundance of microbial life in agricultural soils vs soils in other ecosystems such as prairies or rainforests. Here's an NPR blog that takes a larger comparative view of biodiversity in these environments: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/29/166156242/cornstalks-everywhere-but-nothing-else-not-even-a-beehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/29/166156242/cornstalks-everywhere-but-nothing-else-not-even-a-bee.
This TED talk by Jonathan Foley details the destructive effects of agricultural world-wide: http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_foley_the_other_inconvenient_truth.
And this article by Joel Salatin asks the question "What can we do about it?": http://wanderlust.com/journal/guest-scribe-joel-salatin-can/.
Looking forward to talking with you about agro-ecology on Monday.
Even though Nino will be providing the primary material for Monday's class, I'll offer links to a few articles/videos that I think might be useful to consider.
Dr. Wollenberg mentioned the difference in the diversity and abundance of microbial life in agricultural soils vs soils in other ecosystems such as prairies or rainforests. Here's an NPR blog that takes a larger comparative view of biodiversity in these environments: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/29/166156242/cornstalks-everywhere-but-nothing-else-not-even-a-beehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/29/166156242/cornstalks-everywhere-but-nothing-else-not-even-a-bee.
This TED talk by Jonathan Foley details the destructive effects of agricultural world-wide: http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_foley_the_other_inconvenient_truth.
And this article by Joel Salatin asks the question "What can we do about it?": http://wanderlust.com/journal/guest-scribe-joel-salatin-can/.
Looking forward to talking with you about agro-ecology on Monday.
Weekly Topics
Hi Everyone,
You asked me to post a list of the topics you wanted to explore each week and the names of who had signed up to facilitate our learning about each topic. Here's the list:
Week 4: The effects of agriculture on ecological systems. Nino.
Week 5: Economics, agriculture, and climate change. Devin & Dylan.
Week 6: The effects of the industrial food system on human lives and communities. Matt.
Week 7: Food access, equity, and availability. Lola & Eric.
Week 8: Food identity, sovereignty, and culture. Sara & Chelsea.
Week 9: Diet & nutrition, including explorations of different types of diets such as the "American" diet, "healthy" diets, and/or the "CSA" diet. Shelby & Chelsea.
Week 10: How to find good food wherever you end up living. Becca.
You asked me to post a list of the topics you wanted to explore each week and the names of who had signed up to facilitate our learning about each topic. Here's the list:
Week 4: The effects of agriculture on ecological systems. Nino.
Week 5: Economics, agriculture, and climate change. Devin & Dylan.
Week 6: The effects of the industrial food system on human lives and communities. Matt.
Week 7: Food access, equity, and availability. Lola & Eric.
Week 8: Food identity, sovereignty, and culture. Sara & Chelsea.
Week 9: Diet & nutrition, including explorations of different types of diets such as the "American" diet, "healthy" diets, and/or the "CSA" diet. Shelby & Chelsea.
Week 10: How to find good food wherever you end up living. Becca.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Urban Farming Incentives
Hi everyone,
Since we are going to continue talking about urban farming this week, I thought I would post some of my findings from last week here to the blog.
I am really interested in the policy that affects urban farming. For example, one of the videos that we watched about bees mentioned that until very recently, bee keeping was illegal in NYC. Imagine such a misguided prohibition in light of all the good that they could have been doing for local ecosystems.
Of course on the human level, having systems in place that facilitate farms in urban areas is great for community and meeting people's nutritional needs.
When diving into my research, I thought I would begin with my own hometown of Los Angeles to see what regulations were in place. I was thrilled to find out that the State of California is currently taking a lot of initiative on this issue. Last year, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill No. 551 into law, which provides a pathway for farming on empty lots in urban areas of 250,000 people or more. Land owners who do not have immediate plans to develop the property can turn it over to the community for growing crops for a minimum of 5 years. As an incentive, they get to pay a lower tax rate on property taxes.
I think this idea is ingenious and I am so proud-Californian right now. I am anxious to see the impact of this legislation in my neighborhood and many others throughout the city.
Guess what? I talked to my mom today and, without mentioning this topic, she told me they are developing a community garden near my house and she is looking into getting a plot. Exciting stuff!
So, the link to the text of the bill is here if you want to take a gander:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB551
And an LA Times article explaining it, here:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/02/local/la-me-urban-agriculture-law-20131003
And also this cool website I found called cultivatelosangeles.org which has a nice interactive map of all of the urban farming projects currently going on in LA County:
http://cultivatelosangeles.org/
I can't believe I was so unaware in the past! But I guess that it was this class is all about.
Enjoy the links, everyone!
I'll leave you with a screenshot of the cool interactive map.
Since we are going to continue talking about urban farming this week, I thought I would post some of my findings from last week here to the blog.
I am really interested in the policy that affects urban farming. For example, one of the videos that we watched about bees mentioned that until very recently, bee keeping was illegal in NYC. Imagine such a misguided prohibition in light of all the good that they could have been doing for local ecosystems.
Of course on the human level, having systems in place that facilitate farms in urban areas is great for community and meeting people's nutritional needs.
When diving into my research, I thought I would begin with my own hometown of Los Angeles to see what regulations were in place. I was thrilled to find out that the State of California is currently taking a lot of initiative on this issue. Last year, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill No. 551 into law, which provides a pathway for farming on empty lots in urban areas of 250,000 people or more. Land owners who do not have immediate plans to develop the property can turn it over to the community for growing crops for a minimum of 5 years. As an incentive, they get to pay a lower tax rate on property taxes.
I think this idea is ingenious and I am so proud-Californian right now. I am anxious to see the impact of this legislation in my neighborhood and many others throughout the city.
Guess what? I talked to my mom today and, without mentioning this topic, she told me they are developing a community garden near my house and she is looking into getting a plot. Exciting stuff!
So, the link to the text of the bill is here if you want to take a gander:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB551
And an LA Times article explaining it, here:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/02/local/la-me-urban-agriculture-law-20131003
And also this cool website I found called cultivatelosangeles.org which has a nice interactive map of all of the urban farming projects currently going on in LA County:
http://cultivatelosangeles.org/
I can't believe I was so unaware in the past! But I guess that it was this class is all about.
Enjoy the links, everyone!
I'll leave you with a screenshot of the cool interactive map.
Have a good night and see you in class tomorrow!!
-Matt
In the Spirit of Bees...
Hey everyone! Last week on the farm, I asked Amy if she had read Sylvia Plath's bee poems from Ariel. She suggested that I post them on the blog for everyone to look at in their own leisure. So if you are a poetry geek like me or are just feeling curious, check these out :) I found "The Arrival of the Bee Box" and "Stings" to be particularly relevant. Enjoy!
http://strongverse.blogspot.com/2013/01/sylvia-plaths-bee-poems.html
Friday, April 11, 2014
Week 2 on the Farm: Soil!
Weather forecast: Monday, high of 40 degrees F; Friday, high in the mid-50s. Partly cloudy both days.
This week on the farm we'll be teaching you about organic methods of soil and nutrient management. Healthy, living, soil is absolutely key to organic growing systems! But what exactly is soil and how can we tell if it's healthy?
Take just a minute to write down your definition of what soil is. Then, read through this succinct article on the components of soil by soil scientist Dr. Patricia Fraser: http://www.compostingvermont.org/articles/what_is_soil.htm.
Did your definition include all of the components of soil? Each component of your soil is going to have an effect on the plants that grow in that soil. The nutrients available to your plants through the soil will also have an enormous influence on their health (and their ability to produce healthy food for YOU). Here's a website that details the essential nutrients for plant growth: http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm.
But just because nutrients are present doesn't mean that plants are able to absorb them. Conventional and organic farmers use different methods to make nutrients available to their plants. In this video, Dr. Elaine Ingham talks about the destructive effects of conventional agriculture on soil microbiology and how organic practices such as composting can help restore the biological health of the soil and release nutrients for plant use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU.
Dress warmly this week! Hats, gloves, and boots are probably all good ideas.
This week on the farm we'll be teaching you about organic methods of soil and nutrient management. Healthy, living, soil is absolutely key to organic growing systems! But what exactly is soil and how can we tell if it's healthy?
Take just a minute to write down your definition of what soil is. Then, read through this succinct article on the components of soil by soil scientist Dr. Patricia Fraser: http://www.compostingvermont.org/articles/what_is_soil.htm.
Did your definition include all of the components of soil? Each component of your soil is going to have an effect on the plants that grow in that soil. The nutrients available to your plants through the soil will also have an enormous influence on their health (and their ability to produce healthy food for YOU). Here's a website that details the essential nutrients for plant growth: http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm.
But just because nutrients are present doesn't mean that plants are able to absorb them. Conventional and organic farmers use different methods to make nutrients available to their plants. In this video, Dr. Elaine Ingham talks about the destructive effects of conventional agriculture on soil microbiology and how organic practices such as composting can help restore the biological health of the soil and release nutrients for plant use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU.
Dress warmly this week! Hats, gloves, and boots are probably all good ideas.
Vermiculite and Perlite
Some of you were asking about two of the ingredients frequently found in potting soils: vermiculite and perlite. Here's a nice article in the Washington Post about the two substances, where they come from, and why you might use them in a seed-starting or potting mix: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/get-to-know-your-potting-mix-vermiculite-and-perlite/2014/03/25/c0385bf2-add0-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html
Saving Tomato Seeds
This past week we talked a lot about seeds and seed-saving. If you want to try to save some of your own seeds, tomatoes are a great crop to start with, since they are mostly self-pollinated and you don't have to worry too much about genetic crossing between varieties.
Here's a link to a Seed Saver's Exchange post that gives step-by-step instructions for saving tomato seeds: http://blog.seedsavers.org/heirloom-tomato-seedsaving/.
Here's a link to a Seed Saver's Exchange post that gives step-by-step instructions for saving tomato seeds: http://blog.seedsavers.org/heirloom-tomato-seedsaving/.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Material for Monday, April 14 (Urban Agriculture)
Even though we covered a lot of ground (so to speak) during our Week 2 Monday meeting, we didn't have a chance for each of you to share your research into urban agriculture. So let's devote next Monday's class to that and to working out whatever details we need to address to move forward with your on-campus garden. If you have websites on urban agriculture to share with us, post them to the blog. If you have handouts, bring them next Monday. And let's all read "Farm City" before then too, so that we can include Novella Carpenter's book in our discussion (and possibly come up with some more questions to ask her).
Here's a link to a urban-farming video that I just happened upon. It includes apiculture, aquaponics, livestock, hydroponics, and growing vegetables in vacant lots. Check it out: http://video.pbs.org/video/2276862085/!
Praying Mantis
Last week we found some praying mantis egg cases in the field behind my house. If you'd like to see what it's going to look like when several hundred baby praying mantises emerge from those little egg cases, check out this video: Praying Mantis Life Cycle.
And if you'd like to see the mantis in action, check out this Animal Planet clip: Nature's Perfect Predators - Praying Mantis.
Here's one patrolling my Swiss Chard patch a few years ago:
And if you'd like to see the mantis in action, check out this Animal Planet clip: Nature's Perfect Predators - Praying Mantis.
Here's one patrolling my Swiss Chard patch a few years ago:
Friday, April 4, 2014
Week 2 at Harvest of Joy Farm LLC: Seed-starting & Bees!
Forecast: Highs in the low to mid-50s. Cloudy Tuesday; sunny Wednesday.
This week on the farm we'll disassemble my parents' beehive and try to see if we can find some clues for why their bees might have died over the winter. Here are a couple of videos that will give you a little background on Colony Collapse Disorder, including one on beekeeping in cities:
This week on the farm we'll disassemble my parents' beehive and try to see if we can find some clues for why their bees might have died over the winter. Here are a couple of videos that will give you a little background on Colony Collapse Disorder, including one on beekeeping in cities:
Marla Spivak on Colony Collapse Disorder: http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing
Noah Wilson-Rich on Urban Beekeeping: http://www.ted.com/talks/noah_wilson_rich_every_city_needs_healthy_honey_bees
And from PBS's Nature, a clip on the "dance-language" of bees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE-8QuBDkkw
If you are interested in learning more about bees, beekeeping, and other pollinators, there are many local opportunities to do so. The Kalamazoo Bee Club meets monthly at the Kalamazoo Nature Center and hosts monthly field days at their club apiary beginning in May. John & I will be attending these events and you'd be welcome to ride with us if you are interested. Also, on April 12, Dr. Ann Fraser will be leading a native pollinators workshop at The Barn at Riverview Launch. You can find out more information about that here: http://kalamazoobeeclub.org/images/NPW_eFlyer.pdf.
Also this week, we will talk about a variety of methods for starting your own transplants from seed. And of course, you'll be checking on your worms to see how they like their new homes and the apple mash you gave them last week. Remember to bring them some fresh food!
We'll see you soon. Amy & John
Background Material for Monday's Class (April 7)
On Monday, John & I want to share with you our philosophy and process for choosing what seeds to grow on our farm. Perhaps this will help you in your decision-making about what seeds you'd like to grow in your on-campus gardening project.
Some of the subjects we'll be covering include crop biodiversity, hybridization, genetically modified organisms, and seed ownership. I've selected a few videos which I hope will give you some context for understanding what we'll be talking about. Please watch them before class and bring us your questions about the issues they raise.
Dr. Carey Fowler, biodiversity archivist: http://www.ted.com/talks/cary_fowler_one_seed_at_a_time_protecting_the_future_of_food#t-23494
Gary Hirschberg, chairman of Stonyfield Farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGyOwnqpCKk
Winona LaDuke, author and activist: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxTC-Winona-LaDuke-Seeds-of-O
Vandana Shiva, physicist, author, activist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsK3V04LAvw
Please bring the seed catalogs that we gave you last week to class with you. When we handed them out, we asked you to read them through with a couple of objectives. First, think about what plant varieties offered in your catalog you might like to plant for your gardening project. Second, see if you can answer the following questions about your catalog:
What is the company's seed philosophy?
What is the ratio of heirloom and/or open-pollinated varieties versus F1 hybrids that are offered?
Does the company offer plant protected varieties?
Are organic
seeds offered?
Are seeds treated or untreated (with pesticides)?
Does the catalog provide growing information about each crop?
What percent of the seeds are grown by the company? If the company is purchasing seed from outside suppliers, does it list or feature any of its suppliers?
What kind of ecological footprint does this catalog represent?
Looking forward to talking with you on Monday!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Week 1 at Harvest of Joy Farm, LLC
Weather forecast: Highs around 50 degrees F. Partly cloudy, chance of wind.
I'm looking forward to introducing you all to the farm this week! We'll give you a quick farm tour when you arrive and then we're going to jump right into some of the basic elements of farming and gardening: seeds and soil. We are beginning to start transplants indoors for the farm and we'll show you a few different methods for starting your own transplants at home and talk about why you might want to do this rather than purchase your plants from a greenhouse.
Healthy soil is the key to healthy plants (and healthy food!) and so we spend a lot of time and energy working to improve the vitality of our soil. One way that we do this is by adding compost to our growing beds. This week on the farm we'll show you one of my favorite methods of composting: vermi-composting with red worms. Each lab group will set up a worm bin on the farm that they will then care for throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Here's a video that explains why vermicompost is so great for plants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFGQR5ERaPQ. Take a look!
I'm looking forward to introducing you all to the farm this week! We'll give you a quick farm tour when you arrive and then we're going to jump right into some of the basic elements of farming and gardening: seeds and soil. We are beginning to start transplants indoors for the farm and we'll show you a few different methods for starting your own transplants at home and talk about why you might want to do this rather than purchase your plants from a greenhouse.
Healthy soil is the key to healthy plants (and healthy food!) and so we spend a lot of time and energy working to improve the vitality of our soil. One way that we do this is by adding compost to our growing beds. This week on the farm we'll show you one of my favorite methods of composting: vermi-composting with red worms. Each lab group will set up a worm bin on the farm that they will then care for throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Here's a video that explains why vermicompost is so great for plants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFGQR5ERaPQ. Take a look!
Learning Philosophy
Several of you expressed an interest in learning about apiculture (beekeeping) this quarter. Well, me too! John & I will be installing two new hives on the farm this spring and we've been doing a lot of research these past couple of months to try to figure out how we can best help the bees thrive once they get here. Most recently, I've been reading Michael Bush's "The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally." In the third chapter of this book, Bush details his philosophy of how to learn to be a good beekeeper. When I read it, I immediately thought of this class and the type of learning environment we will be creating through our various course activities, one within which I hope we will be making lots of mistakes, searching for connections within a chaotic mess of experiences and information, and practicing becoming resilient life-long learners.
Here's a link to Bush's philosophy on his website: http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslearning.htm. Check it out!
Here's a link to Bush's philosophy on his website: http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslearning.htm. Check it out!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Follow the Farm
If you want to follow Harvest of Joy Farm's activities on our wordpress site or on Facebook, here are the links to do that:
You can also find these links on the right sidebar of this blog.
Kalamazoo College CSA Course 2014!
The sun is shining on Harvest of Joy Farm, LLC today and we are excited to welcome our new group of CSA students out to the farm in just a couple of days. When we met with you, our new students, several weeks ago to determine what you most wanted to learn from the course, your learning goals fell into two categories: general knowledge of food systems and practical skills for navigating those food systems in order to find and/or produce good, healthy food. Here are some of the food-systems topics we'll be exploring during the next ten weeks:
Food Systems Knowledge
Food access, equity, sovereignty, and culture
Food access/farming in urban environments
Nutrition, health, and food
Economics of food systems
The implications of global agribusiness
Local communities & food
Climate change & agriculture
Agro-ecology
Obviously, these are big topics and we won't be able to cover every single one of them in depth over the next ten weeks. Instead, we'll try to get a big-picture view of our food system(s) as we view it through the lens of each of these issues and explore the connections between them. Each of you will take responsibility for facilitating our learning about one or more of these topics during our Monday evening on-campus class meetings. I am working to create a calendar sign-up with these weekly topics and hope to have it posted soon.
At the same time as we're constructing a big-picture view of how food is produced and consumed in this country and around the globe, we'll be exploring the ways that my farm in particular interfaces with the larger food system and culture. My business partner John Edgerton and I will teach you how and why we do what we do and in the process strive to include lessons in the following practical skills that you have included in your learning goals:
Practical Skills
Business planning
CSA & garden planning
Apiculture
Vermiculture
Fruit tree grafting
Basic gardening skills
How to find and afford good local food
Food Systems Knowledge
Food access, equity, sovereignty, and culture
Food access/farming in urban environments
Nutrition, health, and food
Economics of food systems
The implications of global agribusiness
Local communities & food
Climate change & agriculture
Agro-ecology
Obviously, these are big topics and we won't be able to cover every single one of them in depth over the next ten weeks. Instead, we'll try to get a big-picture view of our food system(s) as we view it through the lens of each of these issues and explore the connections between them. Each of you will take responsibility for facilitating our learning about one or more of these topics during our Monday evening on-campus class meetings. I am working to create a calendar sign-up with these weekly topics and hope to have it posted soon.
At the same time as we're constructing a big-picture view of how food is produced and consumed in this country and around the globe, we'll be exploring the ways that my farm in particular interfaces with the larger food system and culture. My business partner John Edgerton and I will teach you how and why we do what we do and in the process strive to include lessons in the following practical skills that you have included in your learning goals:
Practical Skills
Business planning
CSA & garden planning
Apiculture
Vermiculture
Fruit tree grafting
Basic gardening skills
How to find and afford good local food
You'll get to practice these skills during your weekly farm visits and then apply them to your on-campus gardening projects. We'll spend some time during this coming Monday's class making plans for these on-campus projects. We'll also decide on a grading rubric for the course and make plans for any field trips you'd like to take to other farms, events, or organizations.
Also on Monday, John & I will talk a bit about business and farm planning. In preparation for this, I'm going to email you our farm planning documents, including our business plan, production plan, and field maps. Please read our business plan thoroughly and glance through the production plan and field maps. You won't understand the production plan and field maps at first glance, but it will help on Monday when we go over them if you've seen them before.
I think it might be useful for you to look at this bulletin from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension as well: http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-csaguide/. It contains a bullet-point list of many of the logistical considerations of starting up a CSA business. Some of these items may not have occurred to you as issues to consider when starting up a business--I know that I didn't think about some of them before undertaking this endeavor myself! On Monday we can talk about what decisions I made when starting the business and how they've played out over the past three years. Looking forward to our conversation! Dewing 114, 6:30pm. See you then!
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