→ 2010-08-10 05:57:27 (43 Comments)
March 28, 2010
“Air Jordanne”
I know, I know enough of the supposedly dwarf pea pictures. But we just couldn’t resist just one last one because now I think they are done growing! Pretty soon these peas will succumb to mildew and become goat food.
Peas on Steroids?
Remember the 9 foot eggplant that we grew one summer! (here’s a [...]
March 5, 2010
Well, these towers ain’t leaning that’s for sure, but can you believe these peas are the Dwarf Gray Sugar Snow Peas that grow to the height of 3 feet! No kidding!
Yeah, what’s with that? Farmer Justin’s magic, green thumb, improved soil conditions, the rains, stars? Whatever it is these peas sure aren’t dwarf.
The Towers of [...]
March 3, 2010
Remember those cabbage patch dolls? Well, I do! All the girls my age had to have them and my grandma got me one waaaay back when. But here on the urban homestead, thanks to our farmers here, we have (er modeled) our very own “homegrown” version.
As you can tell, we don’t have cable…. so have [...]
November 13, 2009
First it was corn then soy, rice, cotton, wheat but now GM is entering the world of backyard veggies crops. The first to be introduce is BT Brinjal (otherwise know as Eggplant)
On the front lines of this GM veggie invasion is India
There’s a fierce battle brewing as they fight to not be the “lab rats” [...]
August 3, 2009
How can we survive perhaps the greatest danger we now face – climate change? Global Warming may be a contentious issue for many but there’s no argument – some areas of our planet that were once ‘food bowls’, abundant, fertile and productive land, are now dust bowls where people scratch a living from the dry [...]
June 11, 2009
We’ve been getting back positive feedback from our first foray’s into offering safe, secure (and free) seeds (thanks!)
When we visited Freedom Farmer S’s plot on Sunday we were thrilled to see his Freedom Seeds growing so well. The veggies were so beautiful that I had to snap photos of the patch of Ashworth Yellow Corn, [...]
June 10, 2009
Thanks for one of the Freedom Gardeners for bringing this frightening article to our attention.
Pretty soon vegetables could be at risk now that big M has stopped their meddling with rice, corn and soy — looks like swiss chard is threatened with contamination and cabbages are next!
BATTLE OVER BEETS
Organic seed producer Frank Morton has been [...]
April 8, 2009
“There is a myth that there are agricultural societies, and then there are industrial societies and service societies, as if when you become an industrial or service society you don’t need food,” she says. “As we hit climate chaos, as we hit peak oil, assuming that you can get your food from far away and [...]
March 1, 2009
There’s a fight on our hands. Our food and seed supply have been taken hostage and our only chance is a fertile resistance. A fight that will determine who owns the very essence of plant life on this planet. Our mission promote seed varieties that free of any corporate controls, seeds that are grown [...]
February 25, 2009
With nearly 400 request for the 2009 Freedom Seed list and just a couple handfuls of orders, we figured this dilemma called for a seed survey. Yes I am on the seed bend again and will till all the seeds are sold – that’s my mission and I am sticking to it.
Thanks to those of [...]
February 5, 2009
I know, I know another seed post. But we have seeds on the brain and we came up with this plan over lunch to try and move all these seeds out of our dining room. Just to give you an idea how much seeds we invested in – we have 4 1/2 five gallon buckets [...]
February 5, 2009
All packed in used shoe boxes
Labels made
First seed order shipped out
Multiple ways Monsanto is putting normal seed out of reach
People say if farmers don’t want problems from Monsanto, just don’t buy their GMO seeds.
Not so simple. Where are farmers supposed to get normal seed these days? How are they supposed to avoid contamination of their [...]
January 28, 2009
Counting. One two three four five….
Then weighing
Justin the seed addict loves seeds, Jordanne pleads “I can’t possible count any more of those itty bitty seeds” and me, well, don’t disturb I am counting 150, 151, 152…… drats, where was I…. 1, 2, 3, 4
Our entire dining room has turned into a seed storage and [...]
January 6, 2009
The gardening game
Do you know where your seeds come from?
You may be surprised…
Somehow I always thought the seeds, bulbs, and roots I purchased from mail order companies came from a quaint American farm, somewhere in the heartland, with burgeoning rows of high quality vegetables and flowers. I was as wrong as a two-headed frog
….
With [...]
December 16, 2008
RAID on seeds (Life, itself) … by Monsanto
MONSANTO’S DESTRUCTION OF SEED CLEANERS AND THE IMMENSE THREAT TO HUMAN ACCESS TO SEEDS
Read full article
Fight back! GYO (Grow Your Own) or SOS (Save our Seeds)
Join the modern food security movement and hook up with fellow freedom food fighters at Freedom Gardens.org
This is serious stuff folks — take [...]
November 12, 2008
The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops
When Prince Charles claimed thousands of Indian farmers were killing themselves after using GM crops, he was branded a scaremonger. In fact, as this chilling dispatch reveals, it’s even WORSE than he feared.
Read complete article
Seeds represent faith, hope, life how utterly [...]
September 25, 2008
Monsanto Takeover Targets Fruits & Vegetables
Fact: 40% of seed varieties sold in the United States are owned by Monsanto.
Noted for its aggressive advocacy of genetically modified crops and its dominance in biotechnology, Monsanto will now have a major presence in the vegetable seed business for the first time.
We aren’t talking genetically modified seeds here were [...]
July 9, 2008
A “volunteer” sunflower blooms in the garden
The cult of uniformity that has enveloped agriculture and our culture as a whole, is sweeping the globe, laying earth bare and denying diversity. – primal seeds
This year we’ve launched a few homegrown campaigns here at PTF headquarters. From encouraging our readers to grow closer to home, then preserving [...]
February 27, 2008
Every year we make up thousands of soil blocks . If there’s one tool a urban gardener/ farmers needs is this handy instrument. Not only does it help us with our successive planting efforts, soil blocks save time, space, money – seedlings germinate and grow with no container, [...]
December 27, 2007
Recycled concrete curbing from old driveway
Recycled Urbanite
We’re reusing nice chunks of concrete curbing from the old driveway to make a bed alongside the north side of the house. Yesterday the guys spaced out the blueberries where they wanted them planted. The blueberries did exceptionally well back in 2005 but had to be removed in [...]
February 8, 2007
Olla
Q & A – Ollas & Seeds
Q. Hello, a few “olla” questions. Can they be used in colder NE climates without having to dig them up in the fall? How close can you plant to them, or more to the point how far can you expect the water to migrate so that you can figure [...]
September 21, 2006
by Anais in Barnyard, Chickens, Garden, Goats, Greywater Reclamation, Homestead, Kitchen, News, Posts by Anais, Seeds, Water
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herdsProverbs 27:23-27
Dances With Goats
Fairlight’s (our dwarf Nigerian) picture is featured on aNigerian Dwarf Group which is maintained by these helpful folks (take a look at thehelpful baby goats – sooo cute )
Speaking of baby goats, one day in the future [...]
February 26, 2006
by Anais in Barnyard, Compost, Earthen (Cob) Oven, Garden, Greywater Reclamation, Homestead, Kitchen, News, Pets, Posts by Anais, Seeds, Skills & Crafts, Updates, Water, Weather
Part of front and back yard
Good news, more rain is on the way Monday, into Tuesday and more chance on Thursday! Around 6 am this morning we spotted geese flying North. A sure sign that winter is coming to a close.
This morning a noxious smell of gas hung heavy in the air. We checked [...]
February 12, 2006
Anticipation
More signs that spring is just around the corner! Our warm weather collection of seeds have emerged from their hideout and are ready for action. With the warm, summer-like weather, there’s no need to cover the seedlings with mini greenhouses, the weather is certainly warming the soil well enough. We received our seed order from [...]
January 20, 2006
Candle making
Our candle supplies finally arrived! Jordanne & I immediately got to work and made a couple of soy candles and rolled up a few beeswax candles. The smell of beeswax brought back memories of early childhood and our father’s honey house that was stocked with all sorts sweet smells.
Busy
With the last two weeks [...]
October 14, 2005
Fall harvest
We are shocked and saddened to hear that Carla Emery suddenly passed away.
Her extensive book The Encyclopedia of Country Living has been a valuable asset to our small homestead library and regularly referred to.
I was just on her website on a few days ago, wanting to find information how how to book a speaking [...]
February 6, 2005
by Anais in Beneficials & Pests, Community, Fruits, Garden, Highlights, Homestead, Journey Reflections, Kitchen, News, Posts by Anais, Seeds
ULTIMATUM
Winter months here allow us to take stock of the previous year and modify the yard accordingly. A few plants are being moved to other spots in the yard with the hopes that their new spot will encourage them to fruit.
Goumi, Chilean guava, aronia and high bush cranberry have been disappointments. They’ve grown beautifully, but [...]
December 10, 2003
JC and I finished sifting, sorting and packing the last of the seeds… it was quite a sniff, achoo, er job. The fine particles and dust make your nose a bit, sniff, uncomfortable.
JR harvested over 5 pounds of tomatoes the other day and they were surpassingly sweet and very juicy and were a welcomed addition [...]
December 3, 2003
Seed catalogs have already started pouring in. So tempting to overspend… resist the urge to splurge! Rule: If you don’t have a place to plant it – then don’t buy it (still learning).
JC has 500 seed blocks waiting to go (needed to be planted). JC and I went through our seed collection and picked [...]
November 6, 2003
With all the work that’s going on here, the Sept-Oct issues of the PTF newsletter have become an unfortunate casualty due to lack of time. Not wanting to pronounce this November issue DOA, we’ve found a little time to work on collecting some great articles and hope to publish the issue at the beginning of [...]
August 15, 2003
They make everything groovy! Over the years we have seen an increase in wildlife that come and visit. Well, we finally got around to applying for the Backyard Wildlife Habitat and hope to receive an “accreditation” plaque in a couple of weeks.
This year we’ve seen a dramatic rise in monarch butterflies due to our effort [...]
June 16, 2003
Back to theSLF: It is going to be much different from other festivals because there will be no money exchanged or excessive paper information distributed — which we think is great concept! They {LBO} want this festival to be a place where people come to participate in hands-on workshops or activities. LBO asked that our [...]
April 10, 2003
We are fortunate to live with a nursery just around the corner from us, especially since they put out plants which they cannot sell on the side of the street so people in the neighborhood can pick them up – instead of dumpster diving! Some days we are lucky and we pass by right at [...]
February 17, 2003
The guys just finished making three beautiful cedar boxes for the front porch. Ah, the front porch, a wasted growing space! All we have growing there now is basically houseplants like ferns, ivy, orchids — you get the picture. The challenge for us this year will be to get some edible/useful plants that’ll tolerate deep, [...]
December 30, 2002
by Anais in Garden, Homestead, Journey Reflections, Posts by Anais, Production: Harvest Tally, Seeds
Time, this year, sure flew by…
As we reflect on this past year, we see how we’ve grown through our experiences down new paths in our journey toward a simpler life. Of course, we also realize we have many more miles to go! At the beginning of this project we were unsure and even a bit [...]
December 16, 2002
Spent all day today and yesterday planting and transplanting, getting ready for a pretty large storm which arrived this afternoon. This rain is a blessing and it should help out the garden tremendously! To make up for the minimal precipitation last year, this year we are going to need a lot of rain to make [...]
October 2, 2002
Purchased bulk seeds from a few seed companies. It’s sooo much cheaper than buying individual packets… Right now we’re planting peas, broccoli, lettuces, salad greens, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, turnips and tomatoes. Yep, tomatoes! We read in a gardening magazine that gardeners in So Cal can plant tomatoes in Sept/Oct.
In that case, e are [...]
