Freshman Farmer Applications For 2010!
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Now up on our Freshman Farmer website, applications for next year’s first year farms.
Check it out here, and spread the word if someone you know is interested!
Archive for the ‘Asides’ Category
Still thinking about getting your garlic?
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Consider these customer reviews:
“Unpacking last September’s shipment, I was somewhat concerned to note only 4 cloves to a bulb. Very large cloves, but still, since I grow garlic to sell at Farmer’s Market, I have to be concerned about yield. A pound of German White produced only 32 plants, as opposed to 50 or more for California White or Spanish Roja.
Well, those 32 plants were the largest, stoutest and healthiest garlic that has ever grown here, in North Central Kentucky, (Zone 6, well-tilled, well-drained clay soil). Some bulbs were as large as my fist, and each had 6 or 7 enormous cloves. I will be saving the best for seed, which will quadruple the yield from my original investment. Customers are impressed with the smooth, perfect bulbs, large cloves and great roasted flavor.“
“This is a MUST garlic for anyone who grows their own garlic. Every year I harvest nice big heads with 5-6 big cloves each. Yum, yum!”
It’s not too late! Hurry and get your garlic growin’!!
The sweet smell of Fall one last hold out!
Friday, October 9th, 2009If you haven’t been to Peaceful Valley Farm Supply nursery you really must come and check it out. There is a plant here that is my new “favorite” plant! They are carrying a Silverberry Fruitlandii (Elaeagnus pungens) that has the most surprising fragrance. In fact it’s hard to tell where that smell is coming from! It actually reminds me of Hawaii! The flowers are small and somewhat hidden at the base of the shrub.. probably the last place you’d look for flowers, but that SMELL will keep you looking! The leaves have the two tone leaf color, gray/silver undersides and olive green top. It’s in it’s prime now so you have one last summer hold out that makes you lift your head and breathe deep… ummmmm! It can be pruned to various bush type shapes or allowed to go wild and shoot up toward the sky, well anywhere from 6 - 12 feet high that is. This is a hardy shrub that stands up to very dry conditions. So plant it in places your hose can’t reach. Plant it now and the fall and winter rains will help get it established in it’s new home.
Of course, there’s lots more to see and choose from. Native plants, vegetable starts, trees, bulbs, annual and perennial flowers even cacti. Come see what’s growing here at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply just waiting for a happy home to live out it’s life.
The Season’s Are A-Changin’
Friday, October 9th, 2009It’s feeling a bit like Fall here in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Time to start thinking about Fall and Winter proofing your gardens, cleaning and putting up your tools and harvesting those last but not least vine ripe tomatoes. It’s also a great time to get those cover crops and wildflower seeds in the ground while the soil is still warm enough to get the seeds to germinate and put some roots down to hold them in place for the winter. Then they are ready to “take off” when the warmth of Spring wakes them up again. Then you’ve got a great start on your garden soil building, and wildflowers will be mature enough to put on some flowers for beautiful spring and summer color! Don’t forget to plant your greens, brassicas, garlic, onions and potatoes too!
Sacramento Parks To Go Organic
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009From the Sacramento Bee:
“In the pilot project, the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers will be eliminated and weed-pulling and mulching will be used instead. In addition, grass will be allowed to grow higher before mowing so that weeds are choked out.”
Read the story on their website here.
Another satisfied customer
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009A kind PV customer sent us a message recently:
“Cranberry Red and All Blue varieties (1 lb.) purchased from Peaceful Valley and planted in March. Resulted in close to 100 lbs. of potatoes from a 4X8 bed.”
Harvested just in time for 4th of July! Thanks Bill, and enjoy!
Freshman Farmer In The News
Friday, May 8th, 2009A video reporter from STLTODAY.COM (online version of the St. Louis Post Dispatch) came out for an afternoon and interviewed Molly Rockamann on her new farm. View the video by clicking on the image. Enjoy!
Last call for Potatoes
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009If you haven’t gotten your potatoes in the ground you’re late. I always have the last of them in by Passover. Here’s the quick fix. Lightly till a patch of ground, spread out some bone meal or soft rock phosphate in spots about 1.5 ft. apart, sprinkle some Biozome to decompose things quickly, set potatoes on those spots, cover with compost and soil and sprinkle with Nutri-Rich.
I bury mine 8-10 inches but this time of year you may want to do that in stages so the soil warms more quickly at the seed point, then run a line of soaker hose. As plants emerge begin covering them with straw until you have a good six inches of straw mulch. The little spuds will grow in the straw with just the right amount of moisture (not too soggy) at the seed potato. Never let the new spuds see the sun. They turn green and un-eatable.
And if you want your long season heirloom tomatoes to come in early get them in the ground now with Walls O’ Water. You’ll be amazed.
Stay tuned for the 2009 Chicken Watch updates.
Read our “How to grow potatoes” page here.
Food Safety & Modernizations Act: friend or foe of organic farmers and gardeners?
Thursday, April 9th, 2009There has been some concern surrounding the “Food Safety Modernization Act” (HR875) several blogs, and YouTube videos have been criticizing the Act as “The Death of Organic Farming” and “…making it illegal to have a backyard garden”. The criticisms site the support of large agribusiness (like Monsanto) and reason to be skeptical of the Act.
We here at Peaceful Valley received several questions and emails with links to various takes on the Act and it’s implications in the organic agriculture industry. While we are not directly involved with any legislation or political movements, the sustainability of the industry and the organic movement at large is obviously of great concern to us… and has been since 1976.
I did my own research and asked for the opinions of industry groups. All of my investigation leads me to the conclusion that The Food Safety Modernization Act contains no language that would put organic farming or gardening at risk.
Many of those who were originally very concerned about this Act have been relieved by the “Myths and Facts about The Food Modernization Act” memo released by Congresswoman DeLauro’s office (see Below).
Some have apologized for causing a “False Alarm”. I would like to say that there is no apology necessary, the uprising of concern and interest is an important element of our democracy. The flurry of questions, emails, calls and concern that we saw from our staff, vendors, customers and peers shows that we are an aware and active community that is not afraid to stand up for what we believe in. For that I would like to applaud the community at large and encourage you all to stay alert and to continue to defend what you believe in!
Links to more information on this:
Myths and Facts about The Food Safety Modernization Act
HR 875 on GovTrack.com
Summary of HR875
Restructuring the FDA
Full text of HR 875
Congresswoman Rosa Deluro (HR 875’s Sponsor) web site
Thanks and best wishes on your organic growing season!
How to make a hoophouse on a raised bed
Monday, April 6th, 2009Contributed by Lauren from Dropstone Farms on Bainbridge Island, WA.
[With additions from Peaceful Valley.]
We have been meaning to write about this for a while, and today friend and blog-reader Melinda provided the impetus when she emailed to ask how our hoophouses are constructed. I know they are working with a raised bed, so I took some photos to illustrate how we have ours set up!
It was warm and sunny today, and when I looked under the hoophouses to see what was up, I was hit with a blast of glasses-fog. So I opened them all up to get some fresh air inside and reduce the moisture levels, since too much moisture leads to mold.
Opened up the hoophouses today to let them air out a bit, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.
As you can see/guess, our raised beds are constructed of 1×12s. Due to paths and other constraints, many of the angles aren’t right angles, so we did our best to support the corners by screwing into sections of 2×4.
The hoops of the hoophouses are 1/2- inch PVC pipe (in varying external widths) in 10-foot lengths. Any size of pipe works fine, as long as you are using clips and pipe sized to suit each other. The hoops are held on with some brackety things that are very simple — just one screw on either side.
Anecdote time! As we were building the first hoops on these raised beds, last fall, Garth said, “I am envisioning a small bracket that holds the hoops and costs 25¢.” Then he went to the hardware store, and seemed a bit sad when he returned (though his pockets were full). I asked, “Did they not have the brackets you were envisioning?” He said “No, they had them. They were 29¢ each.”
This is how the hoops are attached, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.
The brackets are easier to apply if you put one on each side, insert the PVC pipe, then have a helper hold it steady while you add the second bracket on each side according to where the PVC hoop wants to rest.
The plastic is just a clear-ish plastic dropcloth or tarp from your local hardware store. Ours come from Ace or whichever store we are standing in when we remember we need another one. [Peaceful Valley carries a variety of greenhouse poly as well.]
The plastic is held on the hoops by some very handy hoophouse clips that can be obtained from various sources. [Other companies have them, but only in 20 or 50 packs]; Peaceful Valley has 1/2 inch and other sizes that are cheaper in large amounts.
Plastic is secured to each hoophouse rib with clips, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.
Pro tip! If you put the two hoop-holding brackets far enough apart, you can put one of the plastic clips in between the two, as above. This clip, snugged up against the side of the raised bed, provides extra security, especially when it’s windy.
On our non-raised beds, we buy a larger diameter (1 inch?) of PVC and cut it into 12-16 inch sections. We drive these into the ground until about 3-6 inches are sticking out, and place one approximately parallel on the other side of the planting bed. Then we put the 1/2 inch pipe into each of those and bend it over into the other side. The hoops and plastic and clips are the same as above.
If it’s windy, you may need rocks on either end of the tarp to secure it. It will let you know by making a lot of commotion and flapping around in the wind.
