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!