Shooting for the Moon

Our moon is a familiar sight to us all, but do you really know how important this celestial body is to our environment, and even our bodies? I have decided that starting with the next full moon (October 29th), I am going to strive to be more aware of how the moon effects myself and my surroundings.

First off, let's talk about how the moon effects the earth. The moon controls our tides, and we have especially high tides during the new and full moons. This of course also has some impact on the earth's water tables. Now, you may be wondering why I am bothering to blog about this, since I don't have a blog about boating or fishing. In permaculture and biodiverse/biodynamic farming the earth's cycles become very important, and being aware of the phases of the moon are incredibly important. The different phases of the moon have an impact on how the plant's grow and there are optimal times to plant each type of plant. It's all very fascinating and I am going to direct you to another site, because really there is so much information to be related, and they do a very good job of it already over at Gardening by the Moon.

The Phases of the Moon Explained

By tracking the phases of the moon and planting at optimal times, you can really improve the output of a plant. It's an old concept and people used to plant according to moon cycles, and in fact that's part of what the farmer's almanac is based on! I have always loved the farmer's almanac. So, why not take the time to consider the moon phase, and astrological sign of the moon before planting? If it's more in tune with nature, then it's all good in my opinion.

How does the moon effect us? Well, that may not be as obvious. The moon follows a nearly 28 day cycle, which is also the same as a woman's cycle, so if you're female, try tracking your menstrual cycle by the phase of the moon instead of days of the month, it will probably be WAY more accurate. But even if you're not female knowing the phase of the moon can be incredibly important for you as well. Did you know that the phase of the moon can have an effect on the success of your diet? In fact it's always best to start a diet on the day of a full moon, and have the period of the waning moon helping you out as you begin. It's all very neatly summarized at the Moon Connection, and I think I am going to use that as a guideline for how I plan on eating from now on. If I am going to start gardening according to the phase of the moon then this seems like a natural next step.

Moon Diet Plan

In fact the Moon Connection website has great information on hunting and fishing by the moon as well.

So my goal is to start living more by the moon. For anyone else that's interested in any of this, a helpful resource would be a lunar calendar. I use this one for free: 2012 Lunar Calendar

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I love that the computer I do my writing on is sitting next to a window that overlooks mountains, with only a few houses to break up the landscape. There are advantages to living out in the middle of nowhere, mostly that I am not crowded by people, that I don't know. However, there are drawbacks, I am sitting here, on a bright sunny day and it's barely 60 degrees outside, and we had our first frost already. This presents me with a pretty large problem, we have a very short growing season, and I don't have a greenhouse...

So I am sitting here, sipping tea, and researching seeds. My goal is to grow predominantly organic heirloom seeds, because I have read enough about GMOs to know that I am not interested in letting those near me. Looking at the calendar, I am going to have to start seeds indoors, and even still, we had our last frost at the end of May, so realistically I have two months that I can rely on to stay in a decent temperature range to not kill my plants. One of my absolute favorite sites for seed on the internet is Heirloom Seeds. Not only do they have a ton of seeds to choose from, but they also offer premade packages that are pretty awesome. While I will admit that some of the complete garden packages may seem pricey, what you're getting out of it justifies the price.

So I have a list of seeds that I will be ordering from this site, and I figured I would share. I specifically selected items with a short growing season, and tried to get as many varieties of vegetables as possible. The only thing I am going to have to find from somewhere else are sweet potatoes.

The items with an asterix are available as certified organic seeds as well, and the number in parenthesis is the average days to maturity.

Tomatoes: Stupice* (55), Sub-Artic Plenty (40-60)
Pole Beans: Ideal Market (68), Sunset Runner (60)
Cucumber: Double Yield* (55-60)
Spinach: Giant Winter* (50)
Pumpkins: New England Pie* (105) [I love cooking with pumpkins, so I will make a sacrifice to ensure I have some for consumption.]
Squash: Spaghetti* (100), Black Zucchini (45)
Sweet Peppers: Rainbow Bell (68-80)
Hot Peppers: Jalapeno (70)
Beets: Ruby Queen* (52)
Carrots: Nantes Scarlet* (70)
Onions: Crimson Forest (60)
Turnips: Purple Top White Globe (55)
Sunflowers: Large Grey

I also think that I am going to opt to get some of their wildflower mixes, because it is always a good idea to have a ton of flowers around to keep those pollinators close by! They have a beneficial insect mix, hummingbird/butterfly mix and a honeybee mix that I will most likely be using on the sloped part of my lawn that isn't suitable for really much else other than flowers.

Violas

When I first looked at my backyard and started trying to determine what to plant and where I was absolutely ecstatic to see two flowerbeds right next to the garage. They are raised and one is a perfect size for kitchen herbs, while the other, was long and narrow. However, when I really put thought into it I realized the long narrow bed does not get much sun at all, and to top it all off, the dirt filling it is rather poor, it's sandy and it's rocky. We don't have normal sand here either, we have sand from the mines, so it's black, due to the ore content. It's pretty difficult to deal with in a gardening setting, and really, it makes me nervous as hell to begin converting the backyard into a productive food garden because I can't help but to think about the amount of money good dirt is going to cost me and I get dizzy. But that's beside the point at the moment, the point of this post is, what do I put in a flowerbed, that is pretty much rocks and sand?

So looking at the dirt in the flower beds left me sort of pessimistic, but when I did a little research and really thought about it, I realized violas were the answer. First of all, these guys are perennials, so I am not going to have to replant this bed every year (which, is a HUGE bonus cause I would like to be able to focus on my vegetable garden next spring). They also come in a huge variety of colors, which is appealing visually to me and to pollinating insects which are always handy to have around. Finally, and most importantly, they can grow practically anywhere, and I mean anywhere. You don't have to look to hard to find pictures of them growing in sidewalk cracks, and even on walls!

Just look at that little plant! It's barely got any soil in that hole in the wall, and it is THRIVING! Amazing! Of course, these guys would be totally fine in my little flower bed, which really, has little more to offer than a crack in a sidewalk. (The image to the left was on The Pothole Gardener specifically in a post concerning living walls). So I went to one of the local green houses and selected a few different colors that I liked and started planting, the picture at the top right of this post shows what I started with back in May.

So now it is the beginning of September, leaves are changing around here, nights are getting chilly, and I am breaking out my favorite sweaters. I love sweater weather. My violas are just thriving, and I will have to admit that there has been so much going on here the past few months that I have barely paid these guys any attention. I did scatter some egg shells amidst them to deter the slugs (crushed egg shells are not only good for the soil but they are like walking on broken glass for a slug).

But really these guys have been on their own this summer, and they are doing fantastic, they have bloomed continually, and have dropped a ton of seeds, which the birds have enjoyed eating. I couldn't be more pleased, they really earn their reputation for being eager growers. I think that I will make some candied flowers before their growing season ends. It's just a matter of dipping them in egg whites and then dipping them in sugar. Super simple, and an elegant to top off a cupcake.

Book Review: Grow It!

Grow It!:The beginner's complete in-harmony-with-nature small farm guide by Richard W. Langer

I stumbled across this book at The Cornerstone Bookshop, and for $6, I really couldn't pass this up. Not only do I love old books with cheesy covers, but it was also on a topic, that as you may have already guessed, I am highly interested in. First of all, I would like to point out that I find this book highly amusing for 2 reasons: 1, the cover makes me giggle and I came really close to tagging my Dad in the photo cause the picture reminded me of photos of him from when my parent's first met, and 2, the book is so obviously written with for the audience of city mice looking to become country mice. Sometimes the book is a little dated, but it was published in 1972, and besides the information that this book is really useful for is completely timeless.

This book is just bursting with information, and I was really pleasantly surprised at just how much information I found in these pages. I have to admit I completely skipped the chapters on tillage, and grain because they in no way apply to anything I ever plan on doing, but I devoured the other chapters anxiously! I am going to supply you with a listing of the chapters after just so you can see the amazing array of information that can be obtained from this book. Really, I can't say anything bad about this book, it definitely earned it's endorsement from Mother Earth News, and I was really pleased with the sections especially on livestock. It gave information on everything from their care to their butchering. I could go on forever, but really, a listing of the contents of the book will tell you whether or not this is something you want to try and track down for your homestead's library.

Contents
The Land: Your soil-watershed-pond-woodlands
Tillage:Farm Equipment-what it is-how it works-how to use it right-plowing-harrowing-sowing your fields
Fertilizer: Barnyard manure-green manure and how it grows-composting-liming
Fruit: The orchard site-planting-pruning-harvesting-apples-cherries-peaches-pears-plums
Nuts: Almonds-beechnuts-chestnuts-filberts-hazelnuts-hickory nuts-pecans-walnuts
Berries:The berry patch and what's in it-blackberries-blueberries-currants-gooseberries-grapes-raspberries-strawberries
Vegetables: Bountiful varieties from asparagus to watermelon-getting a head start on spring-mulching-how to raise your own seed for future harvest
Pest Control: Preventing pests-feathered and crawling friends-safe nontoxic sprays-how to kill the bugs without killing yourself
Grain: How to raise, harvest, and make flour and feed from your grain-buckwheat-corn-oats-rye-sunflowers-wheat
Forage: Your pastures and meadows-what to grow and how-grazing livestock- making hay-winter fodder
Goats: Breeds-housing-basic equipment-feeding-breeding-kidding-weaning-milking
Chickens: Starting a flock-the henhouse-the brooder-feeding-gathering eggs-how to dress a chicken for your broiler
Other Fowl: Ducks-geese-swans-turkeys
Pigs: Breeds-housing-equipment-feeding-breeding-parasites and other problems
Honeybees: Who's who in the colony-starting a colony-the beehive and where to put it-equipment-handling your bees-swarming-honey and how to get it
The Larder: How to keep what you harvest for the winter-root cellars-krauting-drying fruit-making cheese, butter and yogurt-setting clabbered milk-smoke curing your meat-sausage making-lard and cracklings
Catalog: The government will give you a hand-ordering by mail your farm equipment, organic fertilizers, livestock, fruit and vegetable seeds, and tree stock-publications galore-farm books for winter evening reading

See, what a wonderful amount of knowledge to be had from this book! Really all useful, the catalog is the only chapter that is pretty much completely out-dated. This book has definitely earned a place on my bookshelf.

Hips Don't Lie (a little more about rose hips)

So, I felt the need to add on to the previous post concerning rose hips. I wanted to sort of fill in some blanks that I may have left without intending to do so.

First of all, I just want to say every rose produces hips, and all rose hips are safe to eat (just make sure that the plant you are getting them off of is a rose! Also be cautious of the use of pesticides!). The hip is the fruit of the plant, and while all roses produce hips some roses will have tastier hips than others. Yes, not all hips are super tasty, they are all a great source of vitamin C, but some species of rose have better tasting hips than others. Further research into this matter shows that the dog rose (rosa canina) has the tastiest hips of all of the rose species. This wild rose is a climber, and can be trained into a shrub. It produces bright red hips that are typically oblong in shape. Unless it has something to climb on this plant will typically only grow to be about 3 feet tall (1 meter), but if it has something to climb on it can reach heights of 15 feet (5m)!

When harvesting rose hips it's said to wait four months after they have formed (oops!) before gathering them. At this point you can either solely collect the seeds or you can also prep the fruit for making jelly, wine, or whatever else your little heart desires to make with the hips. Just a word of caution, the little hairs on the inside of the fruit need to be removed before cooking the fruit, and the little hairs are sometimes used to make itching powder, so be a little careful when cleaning the fruit. If you want to harvest the seeds out of them soak the seeds overnight, discard the ones that float to the top because these seeds are not ready and will most likely not germinate if you plant them. Now you're ready to plant those little guys and see what comes up!

Roses have hips? (a.k.a. catch-up post)

So yeah, just a catch up post, sharing some things I learned about plants that are growing in my part of New York State, and all the fun things I learned while researching them. I really have my son to thank for this, as his constant questions keep me interested in the natural world while we hang out outside.

So the first plant we came across was this vine with this spiky looking fruit on it. Which, I immediately poked to see if the spines were sharp. Yes, I learned absolutely nothing from the various cacti I have stuck myself with. Well, the spines on it aren't sharp they are soft, and so is the fruit, I wouldn't let the kiddo touch it until I knew what it was so I went inside and did some research. Turns out this highly prolific plant (because it is EVERYWHERE in the back yard) is a wild cucumber, but also goes by manroot, and old man in the earth. It's not harmful to touch, but can be poisonous to ingest, and the plant derives it's name from the large tuber that spawns the vines. Evidently the tuber can be several feet long and weigh up to 100lbs in larger plants. The tuber also has soap-like properties and the fruits can act as loofahs when they are dried and the spikes removed.. So this plant is like the ultimate bathroom buddy. Well I am glad to finally know what this plant is, but I am concerned about trying to find this tuber and unearthing it, if the amount of vines in the yard are any indication, this thing is going to be like digging up a body.

I talked to my son about how various plants release seeds, and we looked at the way various plants spread, since we also have burdock in the yard we talked about how some plants rely on animals to get from place to place. Then, came the fun part of the evening, I showed him the "spotted touch-me-not" that is thriving in the perimeter of the yard. These plants are actually a lot of fun because when their

seed pods are ready to disperse their seeds if you touch them they spring open and fling seeds in every direction. I myself spent the better part of half an hour poking seed pods when I read this online after identifying the plants about two weeks ago. So we had more fun last night as I hunted down the seed pods that were ready to pop and the kiddo touched them and then laughed as the seeds flew everywhere. Part of me cringes to think of the crazy amount of seeds we threw everywhere, and hence this nice border plant is going to be everywhere very shortly. It is a weed, but it's kind of pretty, and the flowers are very unique. It's not poisonous, but really has no use, although supposedly it does help to neutralize poison ivy oil when you get it on your skin. This isn't something I am willing to test out, nor can I really test out since I don't react to poison ivy. But if you do run into some poison ivy and use some of these crushed up leaves and it works, let me know.

Well, the whole reason that I wanted to take this tour of the yard was to harvest some of the rose hips that we have on the multitude of rose bushes that are thriving in the yard. I always thought these things were finicky and hard to grow, but I may have to change that opinion since they are taking over the parts of the yard they have been planted in. I wanted to be sure to harvest the hips off of the bushes that are sporting the most colorful fruit and also happen to be turning this lovely purple color. Another thing about living in the mountains, it feels like fall, and some of the leaves are already changing. So the current plan is to sheet mulch the strip of lawn on the south side of the house, which is really nothing more than a pain in the butt to mow, and replace the grass with rose bushes. I want something there that I don't need to mow. This is part of the process of getting rid of as much lawn as possible and start using that space to produce food. I want enough roses in my yard to produce some rose hip jelly next year, this is the ultimate goal, and I am going to start these seeds indoors next spring and transplant them outside. So why put so much effort into growing roses if all I really want from them are the rose hips? Good question!

Rose hips are not only tasty and used to make jelly, tea, and marmalade, but they also have some great medicinal properties. They are really high in vitamin C (higher than citrus fruits), which for those of us around here looking to eat local is incredibly important because we can't even grow citrus fruits. Without vitamin C you get scurvy, which while talking like a pirate is fun, scurvy is not. Since my ultimate goal is to eat solely local foods, this was a revelation, living in an area with a limited growing season and trying to ensure you don't get certain diet deficiencies is pretty challenging. Aside from their vitamin content, they also have lycopene which is great for prostate health. Rosehips have anti-inflammatory properties, which can be great for those of you who have arthritic joints. I read online that they are sometimes combined with hibiscus leaves to make a tea (hibiscus leaf tea is a wonderful way to lower blood pressure naturally).

I know that it's going to be a challenge growing roses from seeds and I am going to cut open the hips now and soak the seeds overnight to see if some of the ones I picked yesterday will germinate. Wish me luck, I am doing some experimental stuff here.

Sheet Mulching

This is one technique that I recently learned about and just absolutely fell in love with! Mostly because (in my opinion) the biggest deterrent to starting a garden is the idea of ripping up the sod, and tilling. The process is so labor intensive and then you have to figure out a place to put all of that plant matter you have removed from the ground. If you feel the same, then you're probably going to just love this idea. Next time you plan on starting a garden, don't rip up grass, and don't worry about raking up and removing the plant matter from the plot you've cleared, simply layer over it! Yes, that's right, plan on just going right over it!

I know it seems pretty crazy, everything we learn about planting a garden seems to tell us to rip out those weeds and get them as far away from the plants you want as possible. However, one of the biggest points of permaculture farming/gardening is that you want to do everything you can to encourage proper soil health. Healthy soil is living soil, it is full of decaying plant matter that encourages worms to be present, and it should smell like the dirt on a forest floor. Personally, I love the smell of dirt on a mountain trail, just something about it makes you feel so grounded (ha! I crack myself up).

So how do you do it? It's not completely labor free, but honestly compared to the alternative it's like the difference between running through a waist deep field of grass, or through waist deep water. Here's a basic how-to:

1. Look at the area you want to plant, and decide what kind of soil you want out of it (basically if you need acidic soil, add some acidic plant matter, like pine needles etc). Determine what you need to add to the base layer, and mark out the area you will be turning into your garden.

2. Mow/Cut/Knock over the plants. You want everything laying flat, but you also want to remove the large pieces of plant matter (branches, thick stems). Basically if you can't step on it and have it lay flat for a bit after then get rid of it.

3. Put your initial layer of compost/mulch down, and soak it with water.

4. If you have any trees or shrubs to plant, do so now, but be careful to not pile up compost/plant matter too closely to them as you prepare the rest of the layers.

5. Place your layer that will act as a weed barrier. You can use anything biodegradable here, but the most common choices are newspaper/cardboard. You will need about 3-6 layers of newspaper, and you need it to be a nice even cover, with the edges overlapping quite a bit, the point here is to prevent weeds from popping through. After you have that placed, do yourself a favor and wet it down a little to keep it from flying away as you complete the next couple of phases.

6. Layer mulch/compost on top of the weed barrier. Basically this layer mimics the way a forest floor works, you have plant matter and dirt layered to help break down everything below it by encouraging beneficial insects to be present. So aside from compost you can layer in wood chips, dead leaves, straw. Basically put the compost down first and then the plant matter on top of it, your goal is at least a 2 inch top layer.

You can plant seedlings in the mulch/compost layer, or more well established plants can get planted right below the weed barrier by poking a hole right through it for the plant. This is also something you can pretty much do for free if you plan it just right. Personally, this fall as I rake leaves I am going to get some cardboard/newspaper from the bins at the dump and harvest some local dirt to get my garden plot mulching before the snow falls. Doing it this way means that come spring my garden will be all ready for planting and the soil should be enriched by the plant matter that had all fall to decay and turn into compost.

Road Side Veggies

While I will be the first to admit I can be a horrible curmudgeon, there are times when I cannot say enough good things about people. I will admit I love living in this area this time of year, harvest season, the season to scope out all of those roadside stands for fresh vegetables and fruits plucked from gardens and hand carried to where they sit on display. This is just wonderful to me, since when I go to the grocery store (and while I admire Hannaford for labeling where the produce comes from) being told the tomato I am about to buy comes from chili, makes me a little queasy. Not only because it probably means that the produce was picked before it was even ripe, but also that it spent weeks in transit, moved from shipping containers to tractor trailers. But also because I know that very little of the food imported into the United States is tested and/or sampled by food quality assurance workers to be sure the food these big companies are bringing into the country is safe for consumption. So knowing that road stand veggies are not only greener in the sense that they don't travel as far before I buy them, but also are just more lustrous in general.

Well anyway, I have driven past this one particular road side stand a few times while driving between Plattsburgh and Lyon Mountain, and I couldn't help but to notice the squash and cucumbers piled on this little fold-up table. I have a weakness for summer squash, I love it with all my little bitty heart. Well, anyway, I stopped today and was just browsing marveling at the size of the squash, and the zucchini he had was huge as well, but it was also this lovely deep dark green that was almost black.

While I was standing there the farmer came out and greeted me, and informed me that he was just about to pick some tomatoes, which, I thanked him for but was really only interested in getting a couple of cucumbers, so he went and picked some directly from the plants for me! Was just a really nice guy, threw in a couple extra because he was worried that the one larger cucumber he gave me wouldn't have as much flavor as the smaller ones. Just a genuinely nice guy, practically giving away produce because his plants are just producing a ton of them. But it's the little things like that that make me really appreciate living in a rural area.

So if you live in the area, the guy is located nearly directly across the street from the Hyundai dealership. Probably the closest road side vegetable stand there is to town. I am so anxious for apple season to be upon us.. Late summer and early Autumn are by far my most cherished times of year!

The Three Sisters, Forest Gardens, and Hands Off Gardening

Companion gardening is nothing new, and in fact the Native Americans utilized it as a way to plant crops that involved little to no work once they began to grow. I am doing a lot of research on this topic, and on permaculture gardening and pretty soon I plan on starting to design a homestead so that it is mostly hands-off, and will share what I learn along the way.

One of the first articles I encountered while starting to research this subject explained "the three sisters." Which for those of you who are not familiar, is a specific way of planting corn, pole beans and squash where the three plants grow together in such a way that they are beneficial to one another. The corn provides a "pole" for the pole beans to grow on, and the squash is a low spreading ground cover that prevents weeds from getting enough sunlight to grow while also helping the soil retain moisture. This system is just so intuitive and so natural that it just intrigued me. So I began to research further which is what lead me to permaculture and forest gardens.

Forest Gardens with Robert Hart

Now, this video on YouTube gives a very brief introduction to the idea of forest garden, and the documentary I linked to the other day mentioned this as well, but it's an entirely low maintenance system of planting. It involves Hart's "7 Layer" technique to gardening, which shows how interplanting and proper planning can maximize the yield of an acre, while nearly eliminating the work involved in such a garden.

Now the diagram to the left (drawn by Graham Burnett) wonderfully illustrates the 7 layer technique introduced by Robert Hart, and the seven layers are as follows:

1. Canopy layer consisting of the original mature fruit trees.
2. Low-tree layer of smaller nut and fruit trees on dwarfing root stocks.
3. Shrub layer of fruit bushes such as currants and berries.
4. Herbaceous layer of perennial vegetables and herbs.
5. Ground cover layer of edible plants that spread horizontally.
6. Rhizosphere or ‘underground’ layer of plants grown for their roots and tubers.
7. Vertical layer of vines and climbers.

So not only does your garden not look like a traditional garden, it really resembles a forest, a forest of edible human friendly foods that you can harvest and eat, but also takes super low maintenance because through resembling a forest you're helping to not overwork the land, and the diversity of plant life helps to enrich the soil and keep the beneficial bugs present. Often we forget in gardening and farming that there are beneficial bugs, much like we forget in modern medicine that there are beneficial bacteria. So this sets up an eco-system in your garden, and the people feed per acre is definitely comparable to modern farming, but this system is sustainable in that, you don't need to let the fields lie fallow to recover for a year, this maintains year, after year. I am beginning to plan out which plant to obtain, and I want to just say for anyone reading this, that my garden is being planned in zone 4b, so keep in mind that I also need to select plants that are cold hearty, as we have long cold winters around here.