De La Tierra Gardens

Fresh Start

2012-03-15T18:04:00.002-07:00


Freshly tilled garden with sections of winter rye cover crop.

It's mid March and it's feeling like mid May. The gardens are dry and it has been perfect weather to till. It would be perfect for planting, too, if the next 2 months didn't still hold the threat of nasty weather.

With all the changes around here, it's been hard for me to know exactly what I would be capable of doing this season. Namely, little Liza, who is now 3 months old, is the determining factor. Luckily, things have been going smoothly, I am feeling good, and I have a great husband and family who are willing to help me. And my plans are not grand, we'll be keeping things simple with goals of improvement and light production for our family and one farmers market.

Cover crops are a big part of my plan for soil improvement this season. Since we won't be planting the whole garden this year, it's a perfect time to plant cover crops. Cover crops, sometimes called 'green manures', are crops that you plant without the intent to harvest them for consumption. They can be turned directly into the soil, cut down and used as a mulch, or cut and composted. Either way, their purpose is to improve the soil by adding nutrients, organic matter, and preserving the soil structure by reduced tilling. This season we'll be experimenting with different covers. Right now I'm psyched that the fall planted winter rye seems to be doing reasonably well. Cover crops are a great way to grow soil fertility on your property without having to import anything in from the outside.

With the start of a new season, I'm feeling optimistic and looking forward to a new way of managing the gardens. Happy Spring!

Garden goods

2012-01-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

We've amazingly been getting vegetables up until this point out of the gardens and greenhouse. Not enough to supply us exclusively (we buy a lot of carrots, broccoli and frozen green beans to get us through), but very nice supplements. Salad lettuce up until Christmas, some small brussel sprouts which were nice in this kale salad, and now from the greenhouse decent amounts of kale, bok choy, 'spring' onions, kohlrahbi, and parsley.

As we enjoy these treats, thoughts are turning to this season's spring gardens and the seed catalogs are coming out. And this time of year it's easy to dream about what's to come in the spring (a cow! new chickens! well, maybe not this year...at least for the cow :)). We are certainly looking forward to reworking how things are set up in the gardens and focusing on improving the soil with better crop rotations, integration of animals to provide greater fertility, and aggressive use of cover crops. We've decided to take another year off of the CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture - where customers buy a share of produce in the winter, ahead of time, and that produce is distributed throughout the growing season). The focus will be on planning, restructuring, enjoying with our family and friends, and going to the farmers market. Also look for us at plant sales in the spring and possibly a few open houses or farm stands at the farm.

Here's to a healthy 2012!

2011-11-18T06:01:00.001-08:00

So many changes to the farm and our family this season! With the expected arrival of our second daughter any week now, it has certainly been a different kind of growing season.

'Simplify' has been my mantra this year, and in doing this for the 2011 season, I found myself taking a break from having a flock of chickens. I do miss the eggs and just having them around, but I am grateful to not have to worry about feed cost and pick up, another daily chore, and the fact that I need to get them into a more moveable housing set up. These are things to figure out for next year, when we get another flock.

We also did not do a CSA this season, what a huge break for me! CSAs are a wonderful way for customers to support a farm and for the farmer and customers to build a relationship. They do require a lot of work and commitment from the farmer (and let's be honest here, and often times stress). Scratched that off my list for '11. I am thinking about doing a very small number of shares in 2012, and will keep you posted.

These are just two of the concrete ways the farm has changed and adapted this season. We'll continue to make subtle shifts around here to accommodate our growing family's needs and continue on with the job of creating a working, sustainable small farm system. We hope to post more frequently in order to share this journey.

Summer

2011-08-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Early season goodness

Plant Sales were great

Strawberries and Jam!

Lots of cut flowers

A little beach time

A new puppy

A good 'old' dog

Farmers Markets

New, out the back door, garden beds (and dog beds?)

Homemade Ice Cream

Fun with long distance friends

Found the perfect berry pie.

A Wonderful Surprise

2011-07-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

I visited the community garden plot that Sustainable Living Maryland is working after market on Saturday. We have a small core group of volunteers sharing a plot and also working on improvements to the garden as a whole. One of our main projects has been finding a way to get water to the garden, as this has been one of the main problems - gardeners have to haul water in to water their plants as there is no nearby water source. We decided the solution was to bring in a large water tank, build a stand for it, and have the City of Westminster fill the tank, as there are no buildings around to collect rainwater from. It was my job to orchestrate the building of the stand and delivering the donated tank to the site. The former was accomplished quickly by a willing and able volunteer (thanks Joe!) and the later was my job - which wasn't getting done due a variety of issues; those being lack of transportation and lack of energy on my part. I was starting to feel guilty about my procrastination. So when I arrived at the site and saw a fully functional water stand and water tank, FILLED and in use, I was floored. It was like I was dreaming, what a gift! And I'm still not even sure where the tank came from. What a relief!

On top of that, the garden is thriving. I was amazed to see three melons growing, a small ripe tomato, large green tomatoes, full bean bushes in flower, great looking pepper plants, and a beautiful herb and flower patch. All with little to no weeds. Thanks to our volunteers who are maintaining the plot and also to the mystery deliverer of the water tank! All this certainly made my day!

2011 Plant List

2011-04-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

De La Tierra Gardens

2011 Plant List

Plant	Variety	Size	Price
Tomatoes	Sungold Cherry	4” Pot	$3.00
	‘Candy’ Grape Tomato	4” Pot	$3.00
	Supersweet 100 Red Cherry	4” Pot	$3.00
	Black Cherry	4” Pot	$3.00
	Rose (Heirloom Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Pineapple (Heirloom Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Prudens Purple (Heirloom Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Aunt Ruby’s German Green	4” Pot	$3.00
	Principe Borghese (Large Grape Type)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Cherokee Purple (Heirloom Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
	San Marzano (Paste Type)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Brandywine (Heirloom Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
	Black Prince	4” Pot	$3.00
	Cosmonaut Volkov	4” Pot	$3.00
	Rutgers (Medium Red Slicer)	4” Pot	$3.00
Peppers	Revolution Red Bell	4” Pot	$3.00
	Flavorburst Yellow Bell	4” Pot	$3.00
	Thai Hot	4” Pot	$3.00
	Ancho Poblano	4” Pot	$3.00
	Fish Hot Pepper	4” Pot	$3.00
	Jalepeno Hot Pepper	4” Pot	$3.00
	Chocolate Sweet Pepper	4” Pot	$3.00
Eggplant	Pingtung Long	4” Pot	$3.00
	Rosita	4” Pot	$3.00
	Snowy	4” Pot	$3.00
Tomatillo	Verde	4” Pot	$3.00
Squash	Yellow Straightnect	3” Pot	$2.00
	Raven Zucchini	3” Pot	$2.00
Cucumber	Pickling Cucumber	3” Pot	$2.00
	Marketmore Slicing	3” Pot	$2.00
Herbs	Fennel	4” Pot	$2.50
	Rosemary	4” Pot	$2.50
	German Thyme	4” Pot	$2.50
	Summer Savory	4” Pot	$2.50
	Winter Savory	4” Pot	$2.50
	Topas St. Johnswort	4” Pot	$2.50
	Lemon Basil	4” Pot	$2.50
	Sweet Basil (Genovese)	4” Pot	$2.50
	Red Rubin Opal Basil	4” Pot	$2.50
	Dill	4” Pot	$2.50
	Italian Flat Leaf Parsley	4” Pot	$2.50
	Curly Parsley	4” Pot	$2.50
	Sage	4” Pot	$2.50
Annual Flowers	Verbena ‘Tuscany Blue’	6 packs	$3.00
	Verbena ‘Tuscany White’	4” Pot	$2.50
	Lavender Wave Petunia	4” Pot	$2.50
	Purple Wave Petunia	4” Pot	$2.50
	Nasturtium	4” Pot	$2.50
	‘Imagination’ Purple Verbena	4” Pot	$2.50
	Calendula	4” Pot	$2.50
	Marigold ‘Queen Sophia’	4” Pot	$2.50
Perennial Flowers	Penstemon	4” Pot	$3.50
	‘Cherry Brandy’ Rudbekia	4” Pot	$3.50
	‘Indian Summer’ Rudbeckia	4” Pot	$3.50
	‘Prairie Sun’ Rudbeckia (r. hirta)	4” Pot	$3.50

**We also have our handmade potting soil mix for sale for $12.50/10 gallon bag. Our soil will keep your container plants healthy and is also great for starting seeds.**

De La Tierra Gardens – Certified Naturally Grown

www.delatierragardens.com - 443.536.3581

Seed Starting

2011-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season to start seeds and Stella has been a great helper. She's happy to trade her dresses for work pants and trudge around in the dark dank basement for an hour or two. We've been starting ornamentals, veggies and herbs for spring plant sales and also veggies for our home garden. It'll soon be time to fire up the greenhouse, but for now the light racks in the basement are doing nicely.

The Other Part of 2011

2011-01-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

So, we'll be focusing on plants and cut flowers as our marketable items in 2011. Many of my customers are disappointed, asking, where are the vegetables? Well, the second part of my gardening plan for this year is vegetables, only it's vegetables for us. For our family and for barter. You see, in the past years of market farming, family dinners sometimes go to the wayside during the months of May through October. Just too busy farming to utilize all the fantastic food that is all around us. And then when it comes to October, I find myself too overworked and exhausted to muster the energy to dig, can, freeze, and dry the bounty that could carry us through winter. Yes, we always do some, but in 2011, my goal is to put up enough to last all winter. This will entail building a proper root cellar in our basement and planning a family vegetable garden just for us. I'm excited to start this venture for it is a vital part of living sustainably and also for my goal in 2011: to enjoy.

If you too are interested in sustainable farming and squirrelling away food for the winter, I highly recommend the book pictured above, The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar by Jennifer Megyesi. Filled with gorgeous pictures of their Vermont farm and neighboring farms, the author weaves quotes, history and personal experiences into a book that is one of the most informative I have read in a long while. She highlights root cellar construction and then moves on to how to's on canning, freezing, drying, smoking and preserving the harvest. And it's not just veggies, either.

One other book I'd like to mention is 'The Dirty Life' by Kristin Kimball. This is a real life story of city slicker turned farmer and farmer's wife. She and her husband move to Northern New York (Adirondacks!) and start a 100 member CSA that runs year round and provides a full diet for it's members. Just writing that sentence makes me tired. A FULL diet. Milk, meat, veggies, eggs, maple syrup, grains, beans. On one farm. Something to aspire to! For now, I'll aim to do it for one family.

Check out these great books, y'all!

And Happy New Year!

Tierra Blooms

2010-11-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

My mom gave me this bouquet of beautiful roses for my birthday last week. They are gorgeous. If only more people knew what went into that dozen roses. So many cut flowers are grown in Latin America with toxic agricultural chemicals and pitiful labor conditions. I accepted them graciously and will enjoy them and admire them, but after reading Amy Stewart's article, I won't let my 3 year old touch them.

After a difficult year, I've been thinking a good deal about what my plans for next year are. It's been ultra challenging trying to balance parenting a 3 year old with the demands of a CSA farm, so I'll be putting the CSA on hold for a few years in order to enjoy these early years with Stella. In the meantime, I'm going to be focusing on simplifying the work load and slimming it down to the things that I enjoy the most on the farm. So, for 2011, I'll be selling plants and cut flowers.

Plants are a no-brainer option for me; we have the greenhouse and they are a great source of revenue early in the season. I also love getting my hands in the soil early on, in late winter, sowing seeds and watching the life pop out of the soil. Look for us at local plant sales in April and May.

Now focusing on flowers is a bit more of a risk, and maybe a bit unexpected of me after so many years of growing vegetables for market and for a CSA program. I've always grown flowers alongside the vegetables and sold them at the market. I've even had flower shares available through the CSA. But, the flowers always fall to the wayside, bouquets were the last thing picked on harvest days, an afterthought. I enjoy every aspect of growing and harvesting flowers and I think it will be a breath of fresh air to focus on providing sustainably grown blooms in 2011.

Signs of Life

2010-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Bok Choy in 6" pipe, growing fast!

Yesterday we finally got rain. Not a mere 1/4 inch this time, but two storms each dropping 2 inches each, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. And last night, more rain. I feel like we might be on the road to recovery with this dousing of moisture. Over the past two months, members of the plant world seemed to sink into a dormancy, and this rain has awakened them. Here are some photos of the garden coming back to life!

Newly planted squash under row cover.

Swiss Chard that I thought was dead is regrowing.

Zinnias, Peppers, Basil and San Marzano Tomatoes are happy.

Bush Yellow Wax Beans germinated!

Kale is ready to be transplanted and the wet ground will help them along.

Onions and Purple Kohlrabi almost ready to go in.

Even the greenhouse plants seem to have gotten a boost from the rain and break from the intense sun.

Big Heirlooms and Snowy Eggplant in the greenhouse.

Farm (?) Animals

2010-07-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

We got 5 new pullets (young hens who are not yet laying eggs) from Linda on Monday. After a little escape episode, they seem to be acclimating to their new home fairly well. I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce them, as well as our other 'farm' animals. Their is Lola, the Australian Shepherd, who technically could be a farm dog, however she has no real job other than keeping me company while I do chores and running around the fields. There is also a new addition, the 'hermies' - four hermit crabs on loan from Regina and one ('Bluie', above) that we won from the Harney Carnival. We are loving our pets!

Beauty, despite the drought

2010-07-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Things are looking pretty bad around here lately with the next to no rain we've been getting. Here in Taneytown, many of the scattered thunderstorms often miss us while hitting nearby towns more predictably. As a farmer, the spirit of a drought really sinks into your soul and there is a sort of constant burden on you. But here are a few photos of beauty, despite the drought. I sure am hoping for cooler temps, steady rains, and good fall crops.

Strawberry Time

2010-06-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Strawberry time is coming to an end. We should still have a week or two of picking though. They have done well and it has been a treat to have such an abundance of these delicious fruits!

CSA Time

2010-05-25T04:57:00.001-07:00

Monday was the first harvest for the 2010 CSA! It seems to have snuck up on me fast this year. It is always a full day of picking vegetables and I was glad to have one of the CSA work shareholders, Sara, helping out. We picked 18 shares worth of salad greens, strawberries, spinach and chard; 2 more shares will be harvested for Thursday pick up totaling 20 shares for this season. The bags are a little bit light this week, they normally will contain 6 items. We're still waiting for the peas and the spring onions to size up, which should be by next week. Don't worry, CSA members, this void will be filled in midsummer when we are swimming in warm season goodies like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. But for now, enjoy the greens!

Soil

2010-05-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Soil is one of the most important things to consider when you are going to grow plants. This is a picture of the potting soil that I make in order to start my plants and grow them on in pots. It is an excellent mixture which meets Organic Standards that I have used for years because it always performs well.

This spring, I have seen multiple instances of friends who have gotten excited about starting a garden, bought their seeds, and sowed them. Their results were less than stellar. One came to me - 'Help! Nothing is growing'. When she came to the farm, I asked her the circumstances and immediately asked to see the bag of potting mix she had in the back of her car. Ingredients: Peat moss, vermiculite, and lime. Seed starting mix, yes, but growing mix, no. Another friend had nice little seedlings, which ultimately just sat there, yellowing as the weeks went by. No nutrients in the soil and poor aeration.

How can companies get away with selling this junk? And it's not cheap. It's the age old problem of big businesses selling inferior garden products, the customers buying them and failing with their plants, and then having to go back and buy more in order to start the cycle over again. I don't have advice as to what commercial brands of soil will give you good results but I can let you know that I am now selling my potting mix and it works. So let me know if you need any. And mine comes with free troubleshooting and garden advice, too.

Come see us at the Plant Sale this Sunday from 9 am to 2 pm at De La Tierra Gardens for plants, soil, and fresh vegetables.

Crazy Wind

2010-05-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wind is by far and away my least favorite element. It just disturbs me. Saturday was my window of time to get garden work done, and of course, we had 30-40 mile per hour winds, which are still gusting today (Sunday). I did spend a good amount of time in the greenhouse, but finally sucked it up and faced the out of doors. My mantra was 'embrace it'. It was the only way to get those onions planted, those beds composted, that thistle pulled. So I went out and embraced it. I can't say that I like the wind any better, but I did get a lot done and I am glad of that. I certainly can't wait until the next calm day (or moreover, the next rainy day), when the plants are not wind whipped and the soil stripped of moisture. When the sides of the greenhouse are not ripping away from the security of their metal posts and the row covers are not flapping like sails on the ocean. Ahhhhh.... wind....

Rescuing the Garlic

2010-05-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

This is the garlic that I planted last fall. It's not an optical illusion that the plants in the middle of the bed are smaller. This is the 'after' shot. Before the weeding that was accomplished on Wednesday, you would see a sea of Canadian Thistle exactly where the plants are smaller. With the help of a CSA member, we took advantage of the moisture in the soil and weeded out all that thistle. Now the garlic will hopefully thrive like it's neighbors who did not get invaded by weeds. It is amazing how weeds affect the health and growth of crops by sucking out soil nutrients and generally crowding them. Thank you Cece for your help rescuing the garlic!

First Crops

2010-04-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

We have been cutting asparagus like mad lately, thanks to Travis for keeping up with it! Ah... fresh veggies from the garden. Simply broiled with olive oil and sea salt, asparagus is the cherished first veggie of the spring for us here. Soon to follow will be lettuce, radishes and other salad crops. The peas are starting to take off as well, and plantings of carrots, broccoli, cabbage, turnips, onions, beets, spinach, and more are underway. I am welcoming the forecasted rain for the next few days to get the seeds a'sprouting and the plants in the garden growing happily.

Planting

2010-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

We're now working on the mad rush to get the gardens planted. These pictures are from a beautiful Saturday, with Stella and Lola helping out. Stella planted a few onions and broke up clumps of rich, black compost. She also enjoys spreading the lime, which has a soft, fluffy texture and is bright white.

Here, you can see the beautiful beds that were worked up easily with the help of our tractor along with the tiller and bed shaper implements. All the beds and paths were made in one day (actually, a fraction of a day) as opposed to an entire spring of digging and raking. Oh the joys of technology! Now on to the work of planting; so far we have onions, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, peas, beets, chard and spinach growing, along with some of the different flowers (larkspur, peonies, rudbekia). Thank heavens for the thunderstorms yesterday and the more seasonable weather of the weekend. The cool crops should thrive!

Spring is here

2010-04-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and it came quickly. The freakish 90 degree days of this past week have seemed to set the natural world in fast motion. I looked out the window yesterday to see lilacs blooming! Lilacs, asparagus, fruit trees, tulips, daffodils, it all seems like it is in fast forward. Which means that I feel like planting should be in fast forward too. Watching everything burst forth in this weather and my struggle to keep up in the garden is a perfect reflection of the struggles and joys of farming. In farming, the farmer strives to simulate nature; choosing the proper planting times for different crops that will make them flourish in the given conditions of the particular season. If a garden is left in the spring untended, you can walk through and still see signs of crops (and their weed relatives) in survival mode. Lettuce seeds sprouting, potato shoots coming up, old chard and beet leaves poking through, kale starting to produce again, tomato seeds germinating and eventually producing more fruit. They start to grow when the conditions are right. The farmer has to pay attention in order to get it right, and then give his or her time and energy to make the garden productive. This attentive care, knowledge, and ability to make crops flourish is what I love about farming. The challenge to get all the work done can be stressful and difficult, but I have also always enjoyed hard work and challenging situations, so I guess this profession suits me!