Farm Report : July/August
Farm Report : July/August Coweeta Heritage Center/Talking Rock Farm
Hello Franklin Tailgate and Mountain Valley Health Food Folks:Thanks for buying local and supporting your local growers! We thank you for making it possible for us to serve you! And to provide you with some of the best food available from locally produced, sustainably grown, and good for you food.
Garden News and other meanderings- Don’t you wonder where the time goes? Maybe it is stored up somewhere. The summer solstice passed by me without much notice; no celebration except my daily appreciation of the world around me and getting to work in the garden which is always glad to see me. Change is all that we really have and it makes life worth living. What if nothing changed and everyday was the same.
The rhododendron are blooming all around and by the garden the phlox and black-eyed Susan are dressed in their bright colors. The weather has turned warm enough that shorts and a t-shirt are all I need and a dip in the creek or pond brings refreshing relief from the heat. So what could be better?
SUMMERTIME BLUES: But this time of year I just seem to run out of steam or the will to control the garden. I’ve let a few too many volunteer butternut squash plants sprout up and now they are running all over. I swore I wouldn’t let another volunteer tomato survive, but I see I have missed quite a few and will regret this when they take over my garden. Yes, I’m afraid I am just tired. And the rain hasn’t helped as it has just encouraged everything. Gardening year-round, I tend to wear thin this time of year and long for time just to enjoy life; but that is what I do on a daily basis, so why complain? I am most happy being in my garden and getting up and going is mostly the challenge: these old bones ache a little in the morning. But my garden is also a welcome friend when I arrive. Showing up is 90% as the say; maybe closer to 100%. Usually, the rest comes easy.
SALAD MIX AND MORE: I have managed to start some late lettuces and I am putting those out so I will have salad mix at the market, but perhaps not near enough to supply everyone’s desires. My apologies. The heat will take its toll and these lettuces will have a short life and bolt quickly not producing much to speak of. Much of the kale is taking a blow except for one variety: Winterbore Kale. I always thought this was a kale for growing in cold weather. Nothing could be farther from the truth: it is the one kale that will hold up to the heat. It is very curled and can get tough if allow to grow too long. Young leaves find their way into the salad mix. Moral: If you want salad mix in the summer: arrive early at the market.
MULCHING: I haven’t done much mulching this time of year and that is both good and bad. Good because it allows me to direct seed by scattering seed heads and some beans I put in the ground, and bad because the weeds can germinate as well. I will put this off until later in the summer when perhaps I will have more time and energy (wishful thinking I am sure). I still need to gather up those leaves from the fall which are laying along the sides of the road. Yes, of course mulching is important in keeping the soil cool, conserving moisture, etc. but right now I will wait until I have my seeding done.
I am still trying to get my tomatoes planted. I planted peas in the tomato cages and now I am pulling them out to make room for the tomatoes that tell me every day, they are ready to get out of their pots into the ground; Yes, yes, I know it is time to give you more room to grow. I will get to it as soon as I get these lettuces in the ground.
METHOD OR MADNESS: I’ve come to an unusual conclusion. (What else does one have to do while spending hours in the garden?) And it has to do with the way I organize my time and energy. And I think it fits in very well with my idea of a more natural garden and diverges from my more industrial-organized-system of working. It started with weeding, where I would very systematically weed one row and then go on to the next. Well, I discovered I became quite bored with this and then just started to wander around and weed here and there with no real plan of action in mind. Again, haphazard gardening at its best! Well, the results were that I felt more relaxed and didn’t feel like I had to stick with doing a whole row or keep weeding until I finished a row. I guess this is about setting goals or in this case: not setting goals for myself. My question is: how does this apply to my life in general? Are we happier planning our lives out or just living them day to day and being more spontaneous? I’ll leave this up to you to decide, but at least in my garden, I am inclined to do what feels right at the moment. And leave a little fun for later. Someone said: To kill something you love, do it for a business. I hope that my love of gardening comes first and business second.
This brings me to the topic of tending the garden. This activity involves weeding, watering, scouting for insects, and just enjoying being in the garden. It fits in well with the idea of just wandering about in the garden. A pair of scissors is handy to trim off dead leaves, or to cut stocks of seed heads that will be spread out. One runs ones hand along the seed heads and the seeds break loose from the pods and scatter all around. I suppose I could save the seeds and plant them later, but this is much easier and more fun. And isn’t that what gardening should (and I use that word lightly) be about?
YOU AND THE MARKET: The market is perhaps the highlight of the week. It is the culmination of all the work and care that goes into gardening. It starts about 4 am and getting up and going. Packing up by about 6 am or so and arriving at the market before 7 am if I am on schedule. Unless you get here that early you would miss the mixing of the salad mix. I put two tables together and a sheet on the top and dump out all the bags of salad mix. With the help of Kris who makes great pastries, we toss perhaps the biggest salad in the world. Then the mix goes back in bags and back into a cooler to be doled out to customers or clients as I like to call them.
But the market would be nothing if you weren’t there! Thanks for coming. It is always great to see you (even if I forget your name and who you are).
Just give Peas a Chance! Lettuce have freedom! Health is our Primary Health Care! Get Grounded: Put your hands in the soil!Mustard will help us muster on.
Your Food is your Primary Health Care: Healthy soil (teaming with micro and macro organisms), means a healthy you! The health of the soil is directly related to the quality of produce that you will consume, so doesn’t it make sense to buy the very best quality? Local also means fresher, and fresher means there are more nutrients in your food and it has traveled fewer miles and consumed less energy in transport. Am I preaching to the choir here. Small scale growers can take better care of their soil and provide healthier food for you!
What’s Coming to your market basket? While the weather cooperates, I will continue to have salad mix and greens. The sugar snap and snow peas are history. Weren’t they good? Carrots will continue to come in and I will have late beans. And of course trout! I like to cut it down the middle to butterfly it, salt and pepper it and fry it in a pan. Yum!
Summer garden tour: Maybe it is time to think about a spring/summer garden tour to one of the local farms. Just let me know and we will schedule a time. I don’t mind individuals or small groups coming out, so maybe you have a few friends who would like to join you on a trip out to Coweeta. We can all learn from each other; there are no experts; you are your own expert when it comes to gardening as every garden and gardener is different. There are myriad ways of growing and enjoying getting out into the Great Out Doors (G.O.D.) for short. Lets start a signup list if you are interested. You can contact me at the market or email me at coweeta@gmail.com or the old fashioned way, give me a call at 828-369-0231. I’m probably in the garden, so leave me a message and I will get back to you. Paul
—-New bags: I’m trending toward using ziplock bags again. I think they offer the convenience and utility that the regular produce bags don’t. They cost more, but if the produce is better utilized, they may be cheaper in the long run. But you can make them go farther by washing, turning them inside out, drying them and bringing them back to the market to be refilled. They are clearer than the regular bags and it is easier to get produce in and out of them. Some things won’t fit in them so I will continue to use regular produce bags as well. I have a new bag size as well (8” by 10 inches). They hold about 5-6 ounces and take up less room in your fridge. So now you have more choices: small bags, gallon bags, or produce by the bunch. Hopefully this will help you use your produce efficiently with less waste.
Organic Gardening Classes
—–You are welcome to come visit my garden or even lend a hand! I work most mornings and evenings. Just send me an email or call to arrange a visit. Get some friends together and schedule a tour!
——My email is coweeta@gmail.com and my phone number is 828-369-0231. Leave a message if you can’t reach me. Thanks! Also email me for CONVERSATIONS WITH MY CAT (if you have nothing better to do).
Gardening with Paul: Would you like to learn more about Organic Gardening??? GWP provides hands-on opportunities on an organic farm. Expect to spend an hour or two with Paul or our volunteers in our garden doing whatever happens to be going on at that moment. I tend to be a spontaneous gardener without too much planning. I’ll share with you whatever happens to come up during your garden session. I believe gardening is an ever-changing evolving experience and if one is open to change and learning new things it can be wonder-filled experience. Isn’t life a bit like that? My one advice is not to learn from the experts and there are no experts (except yourself!), Early morning or late evening is the best time. You can take home some produce you helped grow!
Intentional Community Sprouts
I am attempting to commence to begin to start an Intentional Community at Coweeta which will focus on both the health of its members as well as the larger community. It will be a community which is grown up from its foundation by its members. Please let anyone you know (including yourself) who might be interested. They can visit Coweeta Heritage Center on IC.org (Fellowship of Intentional Communities). Here is a short description: Coweeta is looking for others who would like to join together to form an Intentional Community embracing the principles of Voluntary Simplicity. Simply put (no pun intended): We wish “to live simply so that others may simply live.” It is a recognition that nature provides us with valuable services and resources that we can use to enrich our lives. Utilizing local resources, appropriate technology, and working cooperatively, we can discover creative ways to meet our needs as “directly and simply as possible.” Voluntary Simplicity is based on the recognition that “very little is needed to live well” and that “abundance is a state of mind”. All human beings have the potential to live meaningful lives while consuming no more than an equitable share of the world’s resources and that these resources need to be shared worldwide. Voluntary Simplicity is a quiet revolution that can change the world. As one person said, “We must be poets of our own lives and of a new generation.”
Good grief! More cat conversations! Maybe you missed some of the latest cat conversations that have kept me sane throughout the winter. Gypsy, the cat, is always happy to offer her advice on most any subject (cats have been advisers to humans for millennia!). Perhaps you know that it was cats, not aliens that helped the Egyptians build the pyramids. Well, to learn much more, just email me and ask Gypsy for some of her conversations! She is happy to take a break from meditating to send them to you. I think I feel a new conversation coming on any day now. Cats are great instructors in teaching us how to enjoy life, take one day at a time, and appreciate the beauty all around us. Coming soon is our new book together with all her conversations: Talking to God: Conversations with Gypsy the Philosophical Cat.
Breaking News: The other morning she unexpectedly announced that she is going to run for President! I was a little dumbfounded to say the least and didn’t know what to say. So I asked her about her platform. This is a brief synopsis of what she had to say: Naps should be mandatory or at least everyone has opportunity to take a nap every day. Everyone can learn to meditate which will reduce if not eliminate health problems. Work will be abolished and you can do all the things you love to do: just don’t call it work and there won’t be any schedules when to get up or go to bed. Everyone will walk, ride a bike or use a scooter: no more cars to run over critters. War will be abolished as there won’t be any reason to fight. There will be plenty of food for everyone to share so there won’t be any hunger. I asked if she was going to run on the democratic or republican ticket and she said she is an independent and always will be. She says Americans need a real choice in their leaders. She has decided not to accept any donations (cats don’t need money) and her campaign will be run by word of mouth. She only asks you tell at least three friends to vote for her. If they tell three of their friends and ….. Well, you get the idea. So that is why I’ve included this in my newsletter. So, please tell three of your friends. Oh, by the way, her name is Gypsy! She will be the write-in candidate that will sweep the nation. Oh, and everyone will have fish to eat three times a day!
Happy Summer to everyone! Paul and Gypsy and all the critters out in the woods!