market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Market Farming
List archive
- From: "Elizabeth Pike" <pike AT always-online.com>
- To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Subject: smorgasbord
- Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 19:54:50 -0500
Sorry about previous Earthway email-dog hit
send before I was finished! I will compile several responses in this one-I
know, I've been quite chatty today-sorry, cabin fever!
The Earthway seeder is best for small to
medium sized seed. Large seeds get stuck or cracked & tiny seeds are
spaced too close. It also depends on your soil, so you have to play
around with it.
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- I use almost all raised beds. I have
to or I'd never get my concrete clay to grow anything. Sunflowers
have been the exception, which I sow in rows on land tilled by our conventional
farmer-lessee.
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- Deer problems-our farm lays in between a
1500 acre private historical crop/tree farm-forest & several thousand acres
of other farms & a national forest. Our garden sits in the middle of
the property, no fence & we've never had anything ('cept wild dogs)
come within 25'. The only thing I've done has been to put out bird
tape. I come home & count 10-15 head in the field next door,
but never in my garden. I know they're hunted to extremes (& don't
even get me started on hunting with dogs-lazy man's way to do it) & I wonder
if they're just plain scared! (No, I'm not against hunting-just fixed
venison chili for the Super Bowl-but when you let dogs run them to death to wear
them out at your feet so you can lean off your truck to shoot, that just ain't
fighting fair!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For Penny: "...Pea Sugar Lace. THis is
what Park's says
"No stakes, no strings, almost no leaves-just peas! Masses of stingless, tender 3 1/2" pods are perfect to eat straight from the garden." Cut their hype in 1/2 , and you'll get a
more accurate picture! (As is true with most gardening catalogs.)
I've ordered some to try. If you do, let me know & we'll compare
notes.
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-
I printed out the first farm market study
from Beth-47 pages-now I'm outta ink to print the study referred by Don!
If only I could move computer closer to the fire.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Dogs-we just bought a border collie.
We've had advice, for when we restock our chickens, to get a border collie
pup & raise it in the pen, right along with the chicks. (For
those who don't know, we had wild dogs destroy a flock of 80 chickens & 5
meat rabbits last year, not once, but twice , 40 chicks the last time).
Before doing this though, I wanted to get to know the breed. He is a great
herder, as witnessed by all our holey socks (around the ankles) & chewed
shoe strings. As for protection, he's still a bit young. He really
likes the UPS man & barks at rain-don't know if this is a good sign!
He is great for staying right where the "herd" is, rarely moves far from us or
the house.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Sue-"I have a few of these type studies from
other states..."
Are any of these available for reading
online??
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- From Beth: " But with winter we
will never be able to supply our CSA
or farm stand year round with only products from our garden (disregarding any fabulous season extenders). So our customers/members go back to the grocery store. " Has anyone seen/read the latest Mother Earth
News? I've read Eliot Coleman, & I'm no Eliot Coleman. But
his writings have had me anxious to experiment with season extension. If
he can do it in Maine, surely I can do it in zone8 NC. What I liked best
about this article (nothing new actually than what he's said in his books),
are the pics . I'm the kind of "show me, don't tell me" person,
& now I wished I'd built a bigger greenhouse. He's gone
back to market gardening/farming. My ultimate goal is to keep my customers
coming to me 12 months of the year (it's cheaper to retain customers than to win
new ones), at least for a few items, or as many as I can reasonably produce
without alot of artificial intervention-I won't try to grow tomatos in
January. This may of interest to you, Beth.
Liz
Morningstar Gardens Pollocksville, NC |
-
smorgasbord,
Elizabeth Pike, 01/30/2000
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: smorgasbord, Robert Farr, 01/31/2000
- RE: smorgasbord, Wiediger, Alison, 01/31/2000
- Re: smorgasbord, Elizabeth Pike, 01/31/2000
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