Search Results for: Rain, corn and beans, garden reading

Book Review: The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution: High Production Methods for Small-Scale Farmers, Andrew Mefferd,

The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution: High Production Methods for Small-Scale Farmers,  Andrew Mefferd, New Society Publishers, January 2019, $29.99 Organic No-Till has been an unachievable goal for many of us, but there’s no need to feel guilty or ashamed! We may understand the biology, and even the physics and chemistry of it, and why it’s … Continue reading “Book Review: The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution: High Production Methods for Small-Scale Farmers, Andrew Mefferd,”

Twin Oaks Garden blog, rainy day reading, more on hydroponics.

Wren, one of the Twin Oaks Garden Managers, has started a blog about the Twin Oaks Garden. This is a great place to check what’s happening in our garden, especially if you also garden in Virginia or some other winter-hardiness zone 7 area. The new post this week is about What’s New in Spring 2018. There are … Continue reading “Twin Oaks Garden blog, rainy day reading, more on hydroponics.”

SSAWG Conference, Mother Earth News and Eat-All Greens, Growing for Market

I’m home from a very successful Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference in Lexington Kentucky. It was the biggest so far, with 1400-1500 participants. My workshop Intensive Vegetable Production on a Small Scale ran out even of standing room, so I was asked to repeat it … Continue reading “SSAWG Conference, Mother Earth News and Eat-All Greens, Growing for Market”

Book Review: The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe

Book Review The Tao of Vegetable Gardening: Cultivating Tomatoes, Greens, Peas, Beans, Squash, Joy and Serenity Carol Deppe, Chelsea Green, 2015 I enjoyed Carol Deppe’s other gardening books, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties and The Resilient Gardener. I haven’t read her renditions of Taoist Stories or the Tao Te Ching, but this new book offers … Continue reading “Book Review: The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe”

Book Review: The New Farmer’s Almanac, Vol V

  The New Farmer’s Almanac, Vol V 2021, Grand Land Plan, by the Greenhorns, Feb 2021, 400 pages, softcover, $25, illustrated with B&W photos and drawings. Distributed by Chelsea Green. This is a great winter treasure trove to dip into by the woodstove after darkness brings you in from the fields. Or to absorb you … Continue reading “Book Review: The New Farmer’s Almanac, Vol V”

Workhorse Crops for September

Here we are with my monthly series of 14 Workhorse Crops (including two pairs). These crops are reliable under a wide range of conditions. My goal with this series is to help you become more efficient, productive and profitable (if selling) as you deal with another strange year. Maybe you are not at home as … Continue reading “Workhorse Crops for September”

Haraka No-Till Rolling Punch Planter

More growers are trying no-till methods, and I have reviewed several no-till books: The Living Soil Handbook by Jesse Frost; The No-Till Organic vegetable Farm by Daniel Mays; The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution by Andrew Mefferd; and No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture by Bryan O’Hara. Good tools for small-scale no-till work are hard to find. This Haraka … Continue reading “Haraka No-Till Rolling Punch Planter”

Cover Crops in Summer

  Sow summer cover crops while it’s still too early sow your winter cover crops. Sow oats 5-8 weeks before your average first frost to get good size plants before they get winter-killed. Sow winter rye from 14 days before to 28 days after first fall frost. Oats, barley, wheat and rye sown too early … Continue reading “Cover Crops in Summer”

Winter Hardiness

It can be hard to find out just how cold a temperature various vegetable plants can survive. Reading books written in different parts of the country can be confusing: “survives all winter” is one thing in the Pacific Northwest and another in Montana. So for some years I have been collecting data and exchanging information … Continue reading “Winter Hardiness”