For your Friday… a sampling of Fall photos from around the farm!
Ok, I’m definitely growing this gorgeous heirloom Indian corn every year now. It grew ten feet tall, produced beautifully, and the colours were stunning — turquoise, lavender, mauve, periwinkle, neon yellow, brick red… I can’t wait to grind it into cornmeal for “homegrown” corn bread!
The heirloom apples practically pose for pictures. As do these little pears…
Everything is picked by hand… we’d have it no other way!
Auntie Maryann takes the farmer’s market seriously! (Not too seriously.)
The ladies on the veranda:
Cosmic Cosmos!
The Black Arkansas apples are almost ripe… yep, must be Autumn at last.
This year’s harvest party was such a delight — beautiful weather, a delicious potluck, and of course so many wonderful friends old and new. I never take enough pictures, but here are a few from the afternoon — just look at that golden sunlight! Perfectly Autumn.Touring the orchard…Yep, that’s a tipi! Farm potlucks are the best!The party doesn’t stop when it gets dark…
…everyone migrates to the cozy campfire.
Magical, no?
And at dusk, a luminous Harvest Moonrise over the orchard!
The view from the tipi after a wonderful afternoon and evening!
With the weather cooling and rain threatening, we’ve been in a frenzy of preserving lately! The peppers did especially well this year, thanks at least in part to the sun-shades we made by attaching empty chicken-feed sacks to the wire cages with clothespins. We usually lose half the fruits to sun scald, so it’s especially satisfying to have found a solution. Of course, the flip side is that we have twice as many peppers and chilies to deal with!
Last year I made some scrumptious pickled roasted peppers, and we put up pints and pints of pickled jalapeños, but with so much to do before the weather turns, we’re turning to speedy, simple methods this year to preserve everything in sight. I thought I should crawl out from under my heap of peppers for a few minutes to share some of my favourites!
Roasted Peppers for the Freezer
So simple, so good. You can do this with any amount of peppers, from just a few to a bushel full, and with just about any variety as well. Heat a gas grill to high, toss on your peppers, and grill, turning occasionally, until all sides are blackened and blistered. They’ll look dreadfully burnt; this is what you want! (If you don’t have a gas grill, you can do this in the oven as well — spread the peppers on a foil-lined sheet pan and pop them under the broiler.)
When the peppers are blackened on all sides, transfer them to a bowl and cover with a plate or some foil. Allow to sit for at least half an hour — the peppers will “sweat” in their own steam, loosening their skins. You can use them fresh, or freeze them to enjoy all winter long…
To freeze, spread peppers on foil-lined baking pans and place in the freezer. When they are completely frozen, transfer to zip-top freezer bags or containers. (This keeps the peppers from freezing into a solid block, as the tend to if you just toss them straight into the freezer bags without individually-freezing first.) Label everything right away — pepper varieties may look totally different fresh, but its often near-impossible to tell the anchos from the pimientos when they’re all black frozen blobs! To use, thaw the peppers, peel off the skin (running them under warm water makes this a snap), and remove the seeds.
Pimientos are divine when roasted — their firm flesh is ideal — but poblanos and even jalapeños are also excellent. We made smoked roasted jalapeños by wrapping apple twigs loosely in foil and placing on the grill directly over the flame — when the twigs start to smoke, add your jalapeños and close the lid. Check and turn them often, though, as small peppers can burn quickly. This method gives them just a hint of extra smokiness, and they make fantastic salsa, especially when combined with tomatoes roasted the same way! Just peel the chilies and tomatoes, add a bit of chopped onion and a pinch of salt, and whiz in a food processor until blended.
Thai Chili Paste
Thai chilies are one of my favourites to grow — they’re scorchingly hot, but once you get past that, they have a wonderfully fruity character. And one little plant will grow more chilies than you know what to do with! Fortunately, they lend themselves to preserving in several simple ways…
For chili paste, you’ll want either all red or all green chilies. Remove the stems and put them in a food processor. Add some sea salt: for every cup of chilies (packed), we use about a tablespoon of salt. That sounds like a lot, but trust me, you’re not going to eat this stuff by the spoonful! Process until you have a smooth paste, adding a few drops of water at a time if necessary. (Confession: I actually have one of those little “As Seen On TV” Magic Bullet machines — long story — but it is dynamite for making chili paste!)
Transfer the paste to glass jars and store in the refrigerator or freezer. And here’s the cool thing: refrigeration actually tames the heat of the paste, allowing the flavours to “bloom” and to stand out over the searing heat of the fresh chilies. The paste keeps up to a year refrigerated, longer frozen; try a spoonful in curries, chili, you name it!
You can go all-out and turn this into Thai-style curry paste, too: add ginger, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, cilantro, a dash of oil, and cut the salt back a bit as well. Scoop balls of paste onto waxed paper, freeze, and transfer to freezer bags or containers. (Don’t forget to label, or you’ll be racking your brain trying to figure out what these weird blobs are — cookies? — when you find them in the back of the freezer a year later….)
Oh, and of course there are always
Dried Chilies!
The easiest of all, especially if you have a dehydrator or a sunny day outside! Thai chilies and other small, thin-walled peppers are best for this. (Avoid whole thick-walled peppers like Bell, Pimiento, or Jalapeño peppers; they can spoil before they dry completely.) Anchos are another great drying pepper — pick ripe, glossy-red fruits, and make a slit down one side if you want them to dry a little faster. You can also string chilies with a needle and thread (through the stems) and hang them by the fire or in another warm spot.
Well, that’s enough to keep me busy for a few days — and enough chilies in their many forms to keep us warm all winter long!
I can’t believe that we’re picking the last of this year’s Bartlett pears, and that today is our last regular Farmer’s Market day. This season went by so fast — I didn’t even get around to posting a single pear recipe on the blog (Or anything, really, for that matter… will have to do something about that soon….)
But, speaking of the end of the season — this weekend is our annual Harvest Party, a get-together that started out small, years ago, and has grown bit by bit into a beloved Ranch tradition. We gather up friends old and new, good food, home brews, the last of the season’s produce, some friendly chickens….. everything you need for a good old-fashioned hoedown!
It’ll be this Sunday afternoon; just send me an email (bhranch@gmail.com) if you’d like directions and details! I’m sending this out to you, our blog followers, because you’ve become a part of our community here — I’m still amazed that we can do what we’re doing, and that people from near and far are so supportive and appreciative. Organic farming isn’t easy, small-scale farming isn’t easy, as many of you know firsthand — but our friends, customers, and community make it all possible. Our sincere thanks to each and every one of you, near and far.
Just look at these beauties! We’ve been eagerly watching the eggplant and zucchini all week, measuring their progress day by day, and trying to be ever so patient — but tonight, finally, it was time for the First Official Garden Dinner of Summer. Slice, olive oil and salt, grill, fresh basil, delicious.
The garden is a glorious jungle — the tomatoes are as tall as I am! My evening ritual is to wander the rows barefoot, still-warm soil under my toes, pulling weeds and doing a giddy jig every few yards as I find a giant green tomato, or a tiny cucumber. (My regular performances of the Gleeful Zucchini Dance sure did the trick, as you’ve already seen! I’m telling you, those plants just love the attention.)
I’m especially excited about this heirloom German Cherry tomato I grew from seed. I never seem to start my seedlings early enough, but this year, with the help of a borrowed heating mat, success!
Brenda knows every inch of the garden, and we make our evening rounds together. Then it’s time to have a set and enjoy the perfectly cool evening…
Today we bring you two episodes of The Homestead Radio Hour, our monthly radio program on KVMR FM Nevada City. Over the past few years we’ve been honoured to talk with and interview a wide variety of guests, from farmers and beekeepers to local-food advocates and educators; but no matter what the topic, we always seem to come back to the importance of knowing where your food comes from, knowing the people who grew or raised it, knowing how it was made, and knowing how to do a little more in your own backyard.
The two episodes below are especially appropriate, I think, for Independence Day. How do we define “independence” when it comes to consumption? Are we really free if we have to rely on a mysterious, all-powerful system of corporations to decide what goes on our dinner tables? And what happens if, one day, that machinery breaks?
The first episode here — “Independence From The Food Machine” — features local author and real-food advocate Joanne Neft. She started the first Foothill Farmer’s Market in Auburn twenty-two years ago, she has written two beautiful books on how to cook with seasonal, local meats and produce, she has been a tireless advocate for our local farmers and food economy, and that’s just the beginning! Joanne is one of the most inspiring people I know in the world of food and farming, and it was such a treat to sit down with her at the historic Newcastle fruit-packing sheds and talk about the importance, and the joys, of real food. In this episode, we also visit the farmer’s market to talk to shoppers, chefs, and farmers about why they love fresh, local, and seasonal food.
The second episode here is one that I still can’t quite believe happened. We were totally knocked out to get to interview Joel Salatin and Michael Ableman, world-renowned farmer-author-activists, on the Homestead Radio Hour back in January. The whole thing came as a complete surprise — we were planning to talk about the Nevada County Farm Conference, where they were going to be featured speakers, but the last thing we expected when we arrived at the studio was to find Messrs. Salatin and Ableman waiting for us! We frantically scribbled down some notes and questions in the few minutes before the show started, but our semi-panicked frenzy was completely unnecessary; they were so down-to-earth and easy to talk with, and it was a delight just hearing the two of them take the conversation in ways we hadn’t even planned.
I hope you enjoy these two episodes at your leisure on a lovely summer afternoon, preferably with a tall glass of lemonade or a bowl of icy watermelon — the old-fashioned kind, with seeds. They’re so much sweeter that way!
The Homestead Radio Hour, Thursday July, 8th, 2010: Independence from the Food Machine
With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper
Learn how you can achieve Independence From The Food Machine! This episode features local farmers, consumers, and chefs, as well as local food advocate and Placer County Real Food Cookbook author Joanne Neft. We talk about the benefits of eating fresh, local, in-season foods and give tips on how to do it without breaking the bank. Celebrate the national treasure of small farmers and CSAs, as well your own backyard, and claim your rights to freedom of the fork!
The Homestead Radio Hour, January 2012: Joel Salatin and Michael Ableman
With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper
Joel Salatin and Michael Ableman visit the Homestead Radio Hour to talk about sustainable agriculture, “integrity food,” and the future of farming.
Joel Salatin is a full-time farmer in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. A third generation alternative farmer, he returned to the farm full-time in 1982 and continued refining and adding to his parents’ ideas. His speaking and writing reflect dirt-under-the-fingernails experience punctuated with mischievous humor. He passionately defends small farms, local food systems, and the right to opt out of the conventional food paradigm. He is the author of nine books, including The Sheer Ecstasy of Being A Lunatic Farmer and Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World.
Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, and photographer and a recognized practitioner of sustainable agriculture and proponent of regional food systems. He has written several books and numerous essays and articles, and lectures extensively on food, culture, and sustainability worldwide. Michael is currently farming at the Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, home of The Center for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture.
Have you noticed lately how many “new” gardening trends lately are really reflecting ideas that have been around for generations? Local food, home gardening, keeping chickens, foraging — our ancestors found these things to be second nature, but so many of these age-old skills were laid aside somewhere along the way in the steady march toward Progress and Modernization. If dinner can arrive neatly packaged in a box and be ready in minutes, who needs to cook? When the grocery store shelves are stocked with anything and everything we could possibly want to eat, why go to all the time and bother of growing our food from a handful of seeds?
I’ve been seeing more and more wonderful vintage posters and ephemera resurfacing from the heyday of “Victory Gardens” — the home plots that cropped up across Europe and America during the two World Wars to sustain families as food and resources were diverted toward the war efforts. Both supplies and the land to produce them were limited and precious, and so — in a remarkable effort toward encouraging what we would now call “sustainability” — governments began encouraging people to grow their own, and educating them in how to do it.
But it’s not just backyard plots that are an old idea turned new. Chicken-keeping, school gardens, canning — all these became patriotic pursuits in wartime. And now, once again, we’re rediscovering the value of producing and preserving our own food. The reasons may have changed, but the satisfaction and joy of harvesting your bounty never go out of date. And as we see our economic and food systems become increasingly unstable, it starts looking live a very good, and necessary, idea indeed.
Some of the posters issued to encourage home production are extraordinarily lovely — a tremendous variety of artists, from Harper’s Magazine illustrator Edward Penfield to French schoolchildren, contributed designs to the cause. I think they are just as inspiring today as ever — perhaps even more so because of the history and heritage they represent. Here is a sampling of those that I’ve collected… enjoy!
French WWI poster, 1916: “Let us look after the farmyard: I am a honest hen of war. I eat little and produce much.”
USDA ad, circa 1917: “Don’t sell the laying hen — all spring she will be turning insects, weeds, garbage, and waste into eggs for the Nation… it’s both patriotic and profitable”! Thankfully backyard birds across the country aren’t producing eggs to “win the war” today, but it may be just as important now to learn to produce our own food and be a little more self-sufficient. And as “urban farmers” discover the delights of fresh eggs and free fertilizer, the humble chicken reinstates herself as a part of the homestead, one backyard at a time!
A WWI-era poster by Edward Penfield for the United States School Garden Army. Its motto — “A garden for every child, every child in a garden” — sounds just as relevant today, as school and community gardens pop up across the nation. When the First Lady enlists a troupe of elementary school students to install a kitchen garden — the first since Eleanore Roosevelt’s Victory Garden — in the White House lawn, you know we’re headed in the right direction!
From this page about the United States School Garden Army: “At the advent of World War I, the Bureau of Education within the Department of the Interior, with funding from the War Department, created the United States School Garden Army (USSGA) to boost the concept as well as morale. This was the one of the first attempts by the BOE to establish a curriculum nationally. It was also an attempt to help in the war effort by having the schools help grow food. To support this program a series of documents were written and distributed. Among these were at least 15 USSGA Manuals and Guides, and 17 School Home-Garden Circulars. The target audience was urban and suburban boys and girls, ages 9 through 15, and their teachers. The subjects covered growing vegetables from seed, growing flowers, building hotbeds and coldframes, organic matter and soil health, regional guides and others.”
“ALONG THE EAST RIVER FRONT: Supervised by competent instructors the school children of New York City produced some excellent results in the gardens which they planted in various sections of the city. The very orderly one here shown, with a large number of children industriously engaged, is in Thomas Jefferson Park, 114th Street and East River.” I can’t decide which part of this image is the most extraordinary — children planting an eye-popping school garden in 1918? On a vacant lot in New York City? On the East River??? Wow.
This photograph is from the book The War Garden Victorious: Its War Time Need and Its Economic Value In Peace, published in 1919, documenting the US food gardening program during WWI. You can read it online here — be sure to check out the School Garden Army section. A quote from Woodrow Wilson really sums up the importance given to that program: “Every boy and girl who really sees what the home garden may mean will, I am sure, enter into the purpose with high spirits…. The movement to establish gardens, therefore, and to have the children work in them is just as real and patriotic an effort as the building of ships or the firing of cannon.”
And if the comparisons to ships and cannon fire weren’t enough motivation for the kids, here’s this 1943 edition of World’s Finest Comics, showing everyone’s favourite superheroes getting down to business! Though I worry that Robin is courting a nasty sunburn… it does look like he’s already in the early phases of heatstroke. Maybe gardening without pants wasn’t such a super idea after all?
War Gardens appeared across both Europe and America as supplies were redirected toward the war effort. The British Ministry of Agriculture issued these monthly “Allotment and Garden Guides” in 1945 to give the populace practical advice on growing their own food. (According to this one, before the Romans started meddling in things, August was known in England as “Weodmonath” — Weed Month. Sounds good to me!)
“Every month we shall try to do three things : first, we shall remind you of the things that ought to have been done, but may not have been possible because of the weather or for some other reason; secondly, we shall deal with gardening operations for the month; thirdly, we shall look ahead a month or two and remind you of what you need to do in readiness.” The guides are all available online here; click on over to enjoy their charmingly down-to-earth advice!
Canning? Yep, we’ve been doing that for a while too! I think I’ll skip the peas, myself… but those frilly rickrack-trimmed aprons? Oh, yes please.
“Let us cultivate our kitchen garden”: A French poster from 1917, by Louisette Jaeger, part of a series designed by school children in support of the war effort.
Who doesn’t love vegetables with faces? And isn’t that an enviable sun hat? Really, though — part of what makes the history of wartime gardening so fascinating to me is the massive accompanying efforts to educate the non-farming public on how to “grow their own.” From England to France to the USA, pamphlets flew forth on planting crops, raising chickens, even replacing sugar with fruit. And, once again, we are seeing people in cities and the countryside alike pick up their hoes, roll up their sleeves, and get back to the dirt! We don’t need a war to sow the “Fruits of Peace”…
WWI poster by James Montgomery Flagg, 1918, for the National War Garden Commission.
Let’s sow the seeds of tradition and independence in our own backyards!
Happy Fourth!
When I took the UC Master Gardener training last year, we spent quite a lot of time on compost for the “Master Composter” element of certification. (After the first day, I couldn’t wait to get home and start turning my rather neglected compost heap — it was seriously that inspiring.)
As Master Composters, we’re honour-bound to talk up the joys of decomposition and organic nutrients at every available opportunity… and so, of course, it was only a matter of time for me to do so here! (Oh, and don’t miss our Homestead Radio Hour interview with Kevin “The Worm Whisperer” Marini, UC Extension expert, at the end of this post… talk about inspiring! His contagious enthusiasm will have you marching out to the yard, pitchfork in hand.)
If you don’t already have a compost pile, by all means, let’s do something about that right away! It really is very simple: all you need is a bit of outdoor space. If that isn’t an option, you can even compost indoors with a worm bin (see below). No excuses, right? Compost piles and bins take many forms, from the very basic heap to elaborately-engineered multiple bins and rotating tumblers; don’t be intimidated by all the fancy and expensive equipment proffered by garden catalogues and home-improvement stores. Start with something simple — if you outgrow it, or you find that composting is really your “thing,” you can always upgrade later.
Glamour shot of my beloved compost pile:
So, let’s begin at the beginning…
What do you need to make compost?
There are four key ingredients:
• Organic matter – we need a balance of Carbon and Nitrogen to make really great nutrient-rich compost
• Air / Oxygen – necessary for decomposition. If the pile goes anaerobic — without air — you’ll end up with a slimy, stinky mess. Good aeration makes for a happy, odor-free compost pile.
• Water / Moisture – for much of the year, adding kitchen scraps and yard waste regularly will contribute enough moisture to your pile. In summer, however, you may need to water it occasionally. If you dig around and the pile looks dry or dusty, add water slowly so that it can soak in.
• Micro- and macro-organisms – you can buy all kinds of magical compost-starting elixirs, but there is no need — these friendly critters will move in on their own! Earthworms, fungi, bacteria, and other decomposers are key to a healthy compost pile.
If all these factors are present then compost will “happen” all by itself, but for the best (and neatest) results, you will need a compost bin or designated “pile” area with adequate ventilation and, ideally, a size of 27 to 125 cubic feet (3x3x3 feet to 5x5x5 feet). You will need to gather green (nitrogenous) and brown (carbonaceous) organic material, mix them in your bin or pile, and moisten the mixture if necessary. Mix and turn the pile each week, checking for moisture and adding water if it is too dry.
A couple of tried-and-true designs for backyard composting:
Movable compost pen
Advantages: simple and inexpensive to make; requires few tools and materials; can be moved easily to a different location or disassembled when the compost is finished to allow for easy spreading in the garden; you can build it to whatever size you like. Disadvantages: Not as sturdy as permanent bins; in order to turn the compost you will need to “dump” the bin and then refill it; if you are cutting wire fencing to height, it’s a good idea to cover or file down the pointy ends of the wires, especially if children or pets will be playing around the bin.
We use these moveable “pens” out in the orchard to compost leaves and larger volumes of garden/yard waste. They’re perfect if you have a large quantity of material at once (think raking the lawn in autumn) and aren’t in a hurry to make compost. Turning your pile speeds up the decomposition process, but this is a good lazy, low-maintenance way to get the job done, and the fence ring keeps everything nice and neat (no windstorms/dogs/chickens spreading your leaf pile all over the yard!) If you set up the pen where you want the compost to eventually end up — i.e. in your vegetable garden — you can simply remove the ring and spread the finished compost when it’s done.
Multi-bin system
Advantages: Allows for fast composting, easy turning, and you can keep adding new, fresh material to the first bin without contaminating the “cooking” or finished compost in the other bin(s). Sturdy and high-capacity. Easy to add a lid to if pests or nosy neighbours are a problem. Disadvantages: more complicated and expensive to build than simpler bins; more tools and materials needed for construction; takes up more yard space.
We have a two-bin composting system that we adapted from a salvaged bin of uncertain provenance. (It used to have an astro-turf “roof” on top — go figure.) Multi-bin systems can be built out of pallets, scrap lumber, shipping crates, etc, or purchased ready-made. Our two-bin setup works nicely; fresh material goes in the left-side bin. When that fills up, I transfer it to the right-side bin to finish composting, and we start filling up the left bin again. Both sides get turned regularly. Really serious composters often use three-bin systems, in which the “rough” compost goes into a middle bin before moving on to the final “finished” bin. The triple-bin would be more necessary if you’re processing a large volume of material, or if you want to store your finished compost for a while.
Some Common Composting Questions
“I tried composting, but my pile always smelled bad and attracted flies.”
Flies can actually be beneficial to the composting process, but you can help keep them from becoming a nuisance by turning your compost pile more frequently to make sure that all parts of the pile “cook” evenly. This will reduce the larvae population, as well as keep odor problems at bay. Food scraps are attractive to flies, especially fatty foods or meat scraps, which should not be put in the pile. Plant-based food scraps, eggshells, etc, should be buried or covered with straw or leaves to deter flies; this will also reduce odors. To keep pests and odors to a minimum, make sure your compost pile is in the recommended size range (from 3x3x3 for a bin to 5x5x5 feet for a heap) so that it generates enough heat to compost quickly and efficiently.
“Why should I compost when I can send my green waste away to be composted elsewhere?”
Why pay to have your green waste taken away, and then spend more money on fertilizer, soil, and amendments for your garden, when you can make your own for free? Composting lets you recycle your kitchen scraps and yard waste into a valuable soil amendment and conditioner that you can then use in your own garden, yard, or potted plants. And unlike purchased soil additives and fertilizers, you know exactly what went into your compost — no toxic gunk or weird chemicals to worry about. From an ecological point of view, composting your own green waste instead of having it hauled away conserves fossil fuels, energy, and money; instead of huge trucks and tractors, all you need is a simple backyard bin, a shovel or pitchfork, and a bit of your time. It’s easy, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly, and nothing beats the satisfaction of turning your scraps and yard waste into something you can use in your own backyard!
“What’s the difference between mulch and compost?”
Mulch is applied as a top dressing around plants to conserve soil moisture, suppress weeds, keep the soil temperature cooler in hot weather, and reduce soil erosion and compaction. Mulch usually consists of non-composted, undecayed material — wood chips, bark, grass clippings and leaves can be used, although compost may be used as a top dressing as well.
Compost is organic matter that has been decayed and decomposed with the help of bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms, as well as macro-organisms such as worms, nematodes, and insects. It generally contains a variety of basic nutrients and is used as a soil conditioner to improve soil quality. When mixed into soil, compost improves soil structure, holds nutrients in the soil and makes them more readily available to plants, improves drainage and aeration, and encourages beneficial organism populations.
“What about worm composting? Aren’t worms kind of gross?”
Worm composting is ideal for when a small-scale indoor (yes, indoor!) composting system is needed, i.e. for apartment dwellers or those with small yards or limited mobility. It can also be a fun way to observe the composting process up close! You don’t need a high volume of organic material to stock a worm bin, it is tidy and odorless, and worm castings are a fantastic high-quality soil amendment.
For the worm-squeamish folks… first of all, to allay a common fear, worms don’t have teeth. They’re totally harmless, and not slimy at all. Really, though — you don’t need to handle the worms; they are generally content to stay hidden in their shredded-paper bedding. They are easy to take care of, too: the worms are not at all “stinky” or “yucky,” and you can feed them on your schedule — once a day to once a week.
Eisenia foetida, the worm-composting worm, is different from your backyard-variety earthworm: they’re leaf-litter-dwellers, so they need a layer of shredded newspaper or the like to live in. They also need a dark bin with good aeration and just enough moisture. Store-bought worm bins can be pricey, but you can easily make your own from a plastic storage bin; check out instructions here. Just make sure that the bin is large enough, not too deep, and — most importantly — that it is opaque plastic, not clear. Worms will be much happier in a dark environment.
For more information on composting, be sure to visit the excellent Placer County Master Gardeners Composting Information page. You’ll find plenty of links to various bin plans, methods, and some fascinating info on all the critters living in your compost!
The Homestead Radio Hour
Composting with Kevin Marini, September 2011 With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper
Have more leaves in your backyard than you know what to do with? Maybe you’ve tried making a compost pile, but found it too stinky or too slow? Then you’ve come to the right place! On this episode of the HRH: UC Extension expert Kevin Marini, “The Worm Whisperer,” discusses the hows and whys of traditional composting, vermicomposting, and more. Get the dirt on putting your kitchen scraps and yard waste to work, making your own homegrown, nutrient-rich soil amendments. From choosing a composting method to building a bin and maintaining your pile, Kevin explains how to make composting an integral part of your homestead (and maybe even your life!)
Click the “play” arrow below to listen, or visit the KVMR Podcasts page here.
I think we’re just gonna go ahead and declare April as Chicken Appreciation Month, or maybe Time To Get Yourself Some Darn Chickens Month! We — Phyllis and Julia, the Homestead Radio gals — are excited to be presenting the talk “Country Chicks, City Chicks – Raising Chickens in Your Backyard” at The Union’s annual Spring Home & Garden Show. The home show and talk are free. Come on by this Saturday, April 28, 3:30 to 4:30, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, Northern Mines Building, and bring your poultry-related questions!
And, if you missed this month’s episode of The Homestead Radio Hour, you can listen to our feature on Backyard Chicken-Keeping right here — we had so many listeners call in with some great chicken questions and tales. Too much fun! Just click on the player below, or follow this link to the KVMR podcast page.
We’ll also be out at the Auburn Old Town Foothill Farmer’s Market this Saturday morning, 10am to noon, at the KVMR radio table — come on by and say hi!
(and if you need one more reason to think about getting chickens…..
all together now: awwwww!)
Sometimes it feels like our little farm here is at the middle of everything — as though all the different aspects of our lives, all the different things we do, meet somewhere in the heart of the orchard.
I teach Greek language classes for kids at the Annunciation Greek School in Sacramento. The other day, a girl in my class asked me how to say “rainbow” in Greek. I’d never run across the word “rainbow,” so we looked it up: ουράνιο τόξο, ouránio tóxo — “sky arrow.” Isn’t that the loveliest picture?
Then, as I was out in the orchard yesterday, that word popped into my head — ouránio tóxo. And, looking closer at the grass around me, I saw that it was as though one had fallen to earth.
Red in the peach blossoms, and in this sow-thistle stalk, where a tiny village of ants and aphids have made their home…
Orange in the calendula flowers that spring up around the little house and the garden…
Yellow in dandelion and mustard blossoms…
Green everywhere! — but especially in the grass that the chickens are so fond of…
…and in the cover crop of fava beans and vetch, scrambling across the dormant garden…
…and have I mentioned how blue the sky is!
Sky-blue here, too, reflected in the tiny blossoms of wild speedwell. My grandfather calls this flower by its Greek name, μάτια της Παναγίας: mátia tis Panagías, “eyes of the Virgin Mary.”
And purple, of course. This is another of my favourite tiny flowers, the kind you have to look closely to see: henbit, a relative of both nettle and mint. The long-necked purple flowers have fantastically speckled tongues, and if you pluck one very carefully and blow air gently through it from the the end that was attached to the plant, it will emit a teeny, high-pitched whistle!
Isn’t it marvelous how a question can lead to a word that can lead to a whole new way of looking at everything around you?
Our family has been growing pears and plums in Auburn since 1918. Now, four generations later, we are still a small family owned and operated business, and we are passionate about keeping it that way!
Every person's guide to do-it-yourself sustainability, backyard farming and urban homesteading, hosted by Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis Harper. Learn how you can create a fresh, local, and rewarding lifestyle right in your own backyard — listen live on KVMR 89.5 FM, third Fridays of each month at 12 noon, or visit the podcast archives here!
Today we bring you two episodes of 
Boorinakis Harper Ranch 
