In the garden, I am digging up bits of perennials to transplant to another garden 2 hours away. In this bi-home life we will have for a couple of months, I continue to revisit and revise garden plans. In our current home I think only beans, zucchini and cukes will go in the ground. We are building a raised bed at the new home to grow winter squash, more beans, carrots. In our new home I am collecting seed from parsnip, sorrel and rhubarb. We are transporting garbage cans of sheep poo ...we are a thrifty lot and want to start our new garden with the graces of our lovely ewes instead of buying manure. When we plan our larger garden then we will invest in some good cow compost. I hope to have a winter garden started at the new home in August. I was able to take a pitch fork to the ground and found dark sandy loam; compared to the heavy clay we have here, it is divine.
Mark has two and half weeks left of school. Tristan has a couple of weeks left of his blacksmithing class. Tristan and I begin our summer farm job in a week or so. We are beginning to make lists now. We are still looking for a renter for our house. But few folks want to rent a house that is for sale. It is understandable but frustrating. These are the rules we are supposed to follow because of the mortgage we have but it is a catch -22. But there is time and we are investigating our options.
The work of home continues...
Plant: transplanted mullein, oregano, garlic chives, yarrow. My garden has bits of wild in it. Wild Yarrow and Mullein are abundant on our property. I make tinctures from these and wanted to make sure that I had some in the ground at the new place. My dream for the new place is to plant a medicine wheel garden.
Harvest: spinach, scallions, lettuce, eggs
Preserve: 4 quarts of spinach frozen
Local Foods: We are so fortunate to live in a state where local foods are part of the culture of Maine. I am looking for the source of a blurb I heard on Maine public radio this morning which stated that the number of small direct market farms has been growing in Maine and New Hampshire. However, in Maine the number of people that can be supported by the food grown locally is 40% compared to 6% in New Hampshire. We bought local sausage to cook at our new home yesterday. I also had a great conversation with my very handsome and smart husband this past weekend. We eat a lot of local food, but we live in a region of the state where we have to drive an hour to a farmer's market. There is resistance among some of the more established farms to starting a local farmer's market. Many other farms are hay and corn farms.We grow a lot of our own food but we are still pretty dependent of the grocery store. I have always wanted to look into getting as local as possible. If not a 100 mile diet, a state of Maine diet. Once we move we feel that we will have an easier time of plugging in those holes we have a hard time filling now.
Waste not: We are cleaning out more stuff. I thought I did this last year. Oh well, took several bags of stuff to the thrift store.
Want not: cleaned out freezer, cleaned and organized pantry.
1 comment:
I live in a part of the State where there is a glut of Farmer's Markets, CSA's and PYO's, but, as you know, we're still fairly dependent on the grocery store (of course, our grocery store has a pretty good selection of locally produced foods :).
A good portion of the food we eat is Maine-grown, but we don't worry about the 100-miles, because if we did, half the State would be out of our diet ;).
But even buckwheat from Fort Kent is better than mangoes from California :). It's a balance and we prefer to err on the side of supporting our State's agriculture.
Post a Comment