......*PROGRESS*......

The last few days have been very productive....

The starts and seeds are reaching toward the sun and driving their roots deep into the rich soil. 

The construction projects have sped up and are looking wonderful.

and Our bodies and minds are growing stronger.

Rhubarb flower... we don't remember ever seeing this plant put off a flower before.. Really beautiful..  any insight?

And so begins another raised bed... 3 in total today! We lined the bottoms with gopher wire and weed cloth and are filling them up manure and soil..

OUR FIRST POPPY!



















The Greens Bed...

This is one of the beds in the main garden. The main garden was here when I moved in and had 6 large raised beds originally. This year we added the long 7th one up against the fence... Our greens bed was one of the first things to show signs of life this spring and the first to be planted. We were lucky to have some mustard, lettuce and chard seeds voluntarily sprout up this year..

Volunteer mustard greens from last year... SUPER spicy!

Baby Spinach

Yellow Swiss Chard that came up voluntarily from last year...

Sweet little Radicchio rosettes

Fern like, robust yet dainty Russian Kale...

*(We also have Chinese Cabbage, Mizuna, Sparkler Radish, and various flower seeds planted in this bed.. )*






Looks like we are destined for yumminess!  

MORE FUN AT THE RE-STORE...

 

 If you remember from my previous post that featured many of my inspirations and ideas there was a photo of a wall covered in hanging planters made from re-cycled gutters and filled with lettuce.. Great idea right? So last time I went to the Re-store I found these beauties... They are sturdy, straight metal gutters that actually have a cute scalloped edge on the outward facing side... one is about 10 feet long and the other about 6 feet long... I am planning on painting them white and mounting them on the sunniest wall outside my cabin.. I am still deciding if I want to cut them into shorter pieces, put screen on the ends, drill drainage holes and stack them or if i want to leave them long and just tilt them slightly so they drain out the ends... I will letcha know.. Apparently this is the hot new trend in around these parts because when I went to the Re-store and was carrying these out I had two of the attendants ask me if I was using them as planters! Ha,,, up-cyclers UNITE!
 

This is such a GREAT score! This is a huge, heavy bottomed stock pot perfect for canning, stewing and feeding the troops! Only 6$!!

 Cool wooden framed metal vent that slides back and forth...  Not sure what for yet... Any Ideas? (probably will just be decoration of some sort) 

 This is a super score! I'm not so into the colors but the green matches the free dark green tile that we salvaged and is going into my newly painted bathroom, so the fact that it goes perfectly with my colors and was only 2$ means I can be happy with it~

TOTALLY EXCITED! I have been wanting and looking for a bed frame for about a year now.. Most of the ones I found on Craig's List were really expensive or to far away to go pick up. So when I saw this mission style, solid wood fixer upper for only 25$ I jumped at the opportunity. My plan is to sand it down and either stain or paint it. I am looking forward to the storage provided by having my bed off the ground and the finished look it will create in the studio.

We found about 3x this amount in the garden section of the store.. some of them are dirty or broken but in this case it is worth the extra effort to save some real money, these were only 15 cents each. Always check with your local garden store, nursery, or Re-Store for used pony packs, flats and pots, often times they will give you a bulk deal.. Never hurts to ask.

 This looks to me like a old piece of office storage equipment. Well once its lined with coco mat or peat moss it will be a great shallow planter for lettuce... This will look good with the other metal baskets I bought.

 I grabbed a few handfuls of these nuts and washers from the tools and home repair section. I'm cooking up some creative decorative ideas with these already...

I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate these into some sturdy semi-permanent name tags for the vegetables.

                                  

This adorable folding, metal step stool was only 6$... I have had my eye on this for a little while, I cant believe it was still there!

The mission to create treasure from trash continues!

Vertical Potatoes.. testing 1..2..3

While browsing Pinterest one day I came across someones photo of a vertical potato project they were trying out... It looked interesting so I investigated how to do it then suggested it to my estate mate. We had another bag of potato seed left that wouldn't fit into our other potato bed so we figured this would be a interesting method to try out "The Leaning Tower of Potato".. here is the LINK*

Here is our step by step process of the attempted vertical potato bed...

1. Take a length of fencing, roll it up and put a bit of gopher fencing/chicken wire underneath. Use pieces of wire to "sew" up the vertical fencing, leaving half of it un -sewed so you can reach inside to do the fallowing steps..

 2. Mix up a rich sandy soil with manure, sand, compost etc.. to insure good drainage.

3. Use re-bar or a stake to secure the cage

4. Line the bottom of the cage with hay and start building up the sides to hold in the soil as you go.

5. Get your potato seed ready. What we did was take our whole potatoes (from the garden store) and cut them into small pieces with at least 2 "eyes"/sprouts on each piece. I rolled them in fire place ash to "callous" the edges. You can also do the same process minus the ash and leave them in a paper bag for a few days to dry out the edges.. This prevents rot.

6. Put in your first layer of soil mixture, about 3 feet deep at least, Put a layer of potato seed down and cover with soil.

7. Build up more hay along the sides. You want this to be fairly thick so it holds in the dirt and water over time...

 ... add more layers, more potatoes and more hay.. We did 3 layers then one layer on the top.

 .. The potatoes will grow out of the top and sides.. and this is where the experiment comes in... usually potatoes are grown in rows and as they sprout and grow you add layers of dirt onto the plants creating a mound. With this method we will be able to continuously add dirt to the top plants but not the ones that sprout out the sides... so we will see how they do...

7. Once you add your last layer of dirt and water the potatoes in you want to sew up a little more of the seam of the cage just to make sure everything stays in place.

 

So there you have it... a vertical potato bed... This is our first attempt at this so we are unsure of the final product..  I'm excited to see what happens.. If you have any suggestions or tips to share please do! I will give a update once they start to grow..

Meet Food Freedom Farms...

 *FOOD FREEDOM FARMS*

So we here in our sweet little town in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains like to grow food...
Weather or not this qualifies us as a full fledged farm yet is still to be seen... But I do know that last years garden (and the amount of motivation and inspiration) pales in comparison to this year...
THINGS ARE HAPPENING...!

Raised beds are being built with free palates and salvaged wood laying around the property...
Seeds have been started
Starts are being transplanted
The greenhouse is built and filled to the brim
Free soil and manure are being sourced locally and brought in by he truck load
The meat rabbits are breeding like.. well.. rabbits...
the Re-Store is consistently being raided
and the wheels of ideas NEVER stop turning...

Quickly this piece of property is evolving, expanding, and establishing itself as more than just a homestead and garden for two... and so is born "FOOD FREEDOM FARMS"...  The idea behind the name is simple.. what are we striving for? Food FREEDOM! Freedom from GMO's, chemicals, regulation and un-sustainable practices.. we want to take matters into our own hands and provide for ourselves, friends, family as well as our community... 

I moved into my little studio on this property about a year ago when I was still floating in on my India cloud.. Coming home from traveling and needing a place to ground out, my friends were moving out of this place and suggested I take over. At first I was reluctant and wanted to move back to the Oakland and be in the fast paced life of the city.. After thinking it over and having lots of doors be shut in my face I decided that moving back to the country was the best thing to do.. Already knowing the property and the landlord, the shoe fit perfectly. I slipped in and contributed as much as I could with my busy lifestyle and the fruits of our labor were GREAT... As the year progressed I sank deeper into domestic life and realized I just might have to stay here for a while longer! So I began fine tuning my cabin to suit my tastes and also began plans for the BIG NEW FARM PROJECTS with my estate mate,,, so when February came around we were ready to go! We (mostly him at first) started flats and flats of seeds in his sunroom/greenhouse attached to his house... this started the wild fire of projects that continues to burn today...

So meet the members of the farm...

I would love to take credit for all the majik happening here but alas that just isn't true... The founder and the main source of motivation around here is my "Estate Mate"... He keeps me going daily with hard work and  our long rambling talks that provide so many of our plans and ideas..

This is me on one of our first sunny days. I was in the newly built greenhouse transplanting tomatoes and was just so thrilled to be out in the sun with all my little buddies!

This is Nala aka Ms. Boo.. She is the queen of all the land... here she is taking refuge in the cool just dug up soil, looks like she wants to help fill up the wheel barrow but just figure out how....

 

This is Clovis... aka Mr. Dog, the newest and sweetest addition to the family...  He is comic relief, play mate and cuddle buddy to more than just Nala... 

Im going to post another picture of the dogs because I just can't resist this one of Nala and Clovis with their very cute and very brown buddy Banjo... Its the Brownest Family...

MEET THE BUNNIES!!!!!

Meet the Rabbit family portion of the Food Freedom Farms... Josh has taken food sustainability to the next level and started growing his own source of organic meat protein. As hard as it is to see them killed, because they are SO cute... I commend him on being responsible for his own food. ps: I even tried some and It was actually really good. 

This strapping young lad is "Buck Johnson" he is the mack daddy male and the papa of the new babies~! (the only one we named)

This is the new mama with one of her 7 new babies! WOW! Talk about CUTE!! There is nothing cuter than baby bunnies,,, we have one more mother that is due to give birth in a week or so.. He weens them from there mother and they get their own cage, separating the males and females at 5 weeks and there doomsday comes at around 8 weeks or 5 pounds... Sad to think about but it truly is amazing process that is very rewarding and satisfying..

Here you can see one of the little black ones

 

Simply adorable!

Let me show you around the place...

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This is the new raised bed that was built out of salvaged wood of the property.. use what you have laying around right?,,, We filled it with a mixture of sand, rich loamy soil found on the property, manure from the horse property down the street, last years potting soil and compost...
We planted the snap peas and provider beans along the fence then planted two long rows of 2 different types of potatoes (red crescent fingerling and binje) then I added two small rows of radishes along the peas, and sprinkled in a row of marigolds and nasturtiums to help with insect protection, some sunflowers for color and half a row of early wonder beets... We will see what happens!

 This is a up close shot of the baby red beets and a psychedelic picture of the dainty, vibrant pink roots.

Here we have another new salvaged wood raised bed simply brimming with local, aged manure mixed with other amendments. We filled this bed up with our huge broccoli starts and about 10 kohlrabi starts then filled in some of the spaces with beautiful red raddichio. Today I finished mulching this bed with hay in order to hold moisture in the soil on these hot days we have been having...

This beauty is the new bed built next to the one in the previous photo.  It took quite a few wheelbarrows full of soil to fill up, it is much longer than its neighboring  bed. We simply stuffed this one with mostly red cabbage, a few more broccoli in the far end with early wonder and golden beets sprinkled in between... If these cabbages get as big as they are supposed to we are going to have one CROWDED bed! I think we may have to harvest some of the young, sweet cabbage heads when they are small as to leave room for the others to fully develop..We are trying to maximize as much space as we can around here. yummm

Up close of the little cabbages...

HAPPY EASTER! We have GREENHOUSE! This was a fun day! On Easter afternoon some dear friends of the farm came over with a couple of beers and stuff to dye and decorate Easter eggs. So after a couple of brews we roped them into helping us put the finishing touches on the structure my estate mate just finished building... with the power of 4 we pulled the large plastic cover over the frame and clamped it down. It is designed so the top of the greenhouse can roll down a little when it gets to hot out, and there is a swinging door on the far side.. FAR OUT!

Now the greenhouse is simply stuffed with luscious green goodness!

Accross the street and down the hill from our houses and gardens we have this verdant field with a creek running along it on the back side.. We have BIG plans for this space.. Its only a matter of time!

These are two great metal planters I found covered in ivy and vinca on our property. I pulled them out of the bushes, dragged it up to my cabin, cleaned them up and planted them. I put a outer row of marigolds and alyssum to start with. The marigolds are good for insect prevention so as you can tell I plant them everywhere...

A little bit ago I planted some nasturtium (edible and insect repellent, again I plant it everywhere), radish and chard seeds so I could have some food growing closer to my house.. Just a few days ago some of the radish seeds sprouted...

This great strawberry pot was left from a previous tenant so again I pulled it out of the bushes and lugged it up to my cabin. Last year I had the pot filled with succulents but they did not survive the winter so this year I went down to the mature strawberry bed in the main garden and dug up a few of the non flowering clusters and transplanted them into their new home..  Finally the pot is serving its intended purpose.. 

Another example of how psychedelic plants cant be... This is our rhubarb that is emerging in the corner of one our established beds with the new crinkly leaf and little bud that is ready to burst! The patterns are so neat...

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So there you folks! This should give you a good idea of what we have going on here at Food Freedom Farms! We are definitely busy and definitely happy~ 

More to come soon!