Showing posts with label urban homestead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban homestead. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
New homestead projects & first Grain Share
There are so many new ideas brimming forth for our homestead as this new year unfolds - it is quite exciting to explore these new possibilities and start setting things in motion - but also a bit overwhelming. This is of course the time for seed orders and garden planning, and we'll post our annual Seed Planting Guide here shortly. We are also renovating and setting up that barn into production once again...we are reorganizing our eco bed and breakfast...we will be starting to offer organic non-GMO seeds through our Little City Farm store (more on that soon)...we have homesteading classes on the go...we hope to start keeping bees this summer...
We've also been trying to streamline our food purchases as part of our homestead focus - so that everything we can't grow/sprout/preserve/make/bake ourselves is bought either through our food co-op buying club, or from local farmers. We'd like to avoid purchases at the grocery store wherever we can so we can instead support co-ops and nearby farms, and help reduce our food budget by buying in bulk. And today, we received our first Grain Share - one of a five-part delivery of a variety of locally grown organic and freshly milled grains we are getting as part of a share program through Cedar Down Farm. We are hosting the local in-city pick up for people interested in this grain share idea, and today is the first day. Our farmer arrived with a van full of brown paper bags neatly stacked, sorted and labelled. Our daughter helped to carry all the bags in eagerly, and then peeked into what our family had received. Today's delivery included hard wheat, rolled oats, rye (5 lbs each, all freshly milled), and 2 lbs of black beans - all grown at the farm. Cedar Down Farm is just over an hour away from here, and we are so happy to be supporting these local farmers and their new initiative. We promptly made a huge batch of granola, and have bread dough rising (can't wait to see how the freshly milled flour works), and are anticipating next month's delivery surprises!
We've also been trying to streamline our food purchases as part of our homestead focus - so that everything we can't grow/sprout/preserve/make/bake ourselves is bought either through our food co-op buying club, or from local farmers. We'd like to avoid purchases at the grocery store wherever we can so we can instead support co-ops and nearby farms, and help reduce our food budget by buying in bulk. And today, we received our first Grain Share - one of a five-part delivery of a variety of locally grown organic and freshly milled grains we are getting as part of a share program through Cedar Down Farm. We are hosting the local in-city pick up for people interested in this grain share idea, and today is the first day. Our farmer arrived with a van full of brown paper bags neatly stacked, sorted and labelled. Our daughter helped to carry all the bags in eagerly, and then peeked into what our family had received. Today's delivery included hard wheat, rolled oats, rye (5 lbs each, all freshly milled), and 2 lbs of black beans - all grown at the farm. Cedar Down Farm is just over an hour away from here, and we are so happy to be supporting these local farmers and their new initiative. We promptly made a huge batch of granola, and have bread dough rising (can't wait to see how the freshly milled flour works), and are anticipating next month's delivery surprises!
Monday, January 05, 2015
Winter ice garden
Oh, what lovely ice encapsulating every twig, stem and branch in our garden after the freezing rain...
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Greenhouse & Barn Reno
Fall is always busy, but this fall we are especially caught up in the project of completing the renovations to our barn/greenhouse. This old "barn" as we love to call it was really a drive shed for the earliest owners of this property (lots of interesting old newspapers were found stuffed in the walls as insulation). They would have kept a cart, possibly even a horse (!) and definitely chickens in here at one point.
We had already attached a passive solar greenhouse to the barn about 12 years ago when we were first getting settled on this property. However, it was time to reorganize the space, expand the growing area, and fix up the building so it was weather and rodent proof. It's been a huge, and exciting venture, much bigger than we thought when we started since trying to work with salvaging/reusing existing materials and keeping intact the structure of an old building can be tricky. We hope to have this building set up by mid winter, for growing winter greens (lettuces, Asian greens, braising greens, chard, kale, spinach) through the cold months - inspired by ideas from Eliot Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook, among other books. There will be space for spring seedlings, herbs, sprouting (peashoots, buckwheat, wheatgrass), and using it as a teaching space. Let's hope the cold weather holds off just a little bit longer. Note this is a work in progress, and window, doors, roof, wood siding and a porch are still coming ...
We had already attached a passive solar greenhouse to the barn about 12 years ago when we were first getting settled on this property. However, it was time to reorganize the space, expand the growing area, and fix up the building so it was weather and rodent proof. It's been a huge, and exciting venture, much bigger than we thought when we started since trying to work with salvaging/reusing existing materials and keeping intact the structure of an old building can be tricky. We hope to have this building set up by mid winter, for growing winter greens (lettuces, Asian greens, braising greens, chard, kale, spinach) through the cold months - inspired by ideas from Eliot Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook, among other books. There will be space for spring seedlings, herbs, sprouting (peashoots, buckwheat, wheatgrass), and using it as a teaching space. Let's hope the cold weather holds off just a little bit longer. Note this is a work in progress, and window, doors, roof, wood siding and a porch are still coming ...
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Spring in the garden
There are signs of spring everywhere! Today: garlic shoots poking up from the soil, kale ready to harvest in the grow tunnel, new seedlings sprouting in the cold frame, bare feet running through the yard, splashing in the back pond, supper on the patio outside, and a night time campfire. Lovely!
For those who wish to learn more about spring edibles, especially wild spring greens that are going to be ready to harvest shortly - consider taking our Wild Spring Edibles Workshop on Sat, May 10.
For those who wish to learn more about spring edibles, especially wild spring greens that are going to be ready to harvest shortly - consider taking our Wild Spring Edibles Workshop on Sat, May 10.
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