Farmer Jay » weeds

Live From the Farm: Weeds

Farmer Jay — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:54:59 +0000

Today’s fine selection of weeds. Wow.

Originally uploaded by Farmer_Jay

Weeds!

Farmer Jay — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:01:40 +0000

Weeds! I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to wait until the plants established themselves before I pulled any weeds out (I wasn’t sure what was a weed and what was a plant). I must have waited too long. I’m almost done pulling weeds and look how much I’ve pulled out. Remember, this is only 200 square feet of growing area. And plenty of weeds.

Friday Weeds – April 24, 2009

Farmer Jay — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:34:34 +0000

The start of summer is here. There are two great writers coming to Chicago. Check out:

Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame will be at the Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (2430 N. Cannon Dr.) on April 25th from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., signing her book, The Edible Schoolyard. [amazon-product]0811862801[/amazon-product]

Save the Date – Michael Pollan writer of Omnivore’s Dilemma will be at the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington Library Center on Monday. May 18 at 6:00 p.m.
[amazon-product]1594200823[/amazon-product]

Friday Weeds – April 17, 2009

Farmer Jay — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:45:54 +0000

Various items for the week:

Green City Market
Saturday from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
The last of the Green City Indoor Markets (we’re moving back outside!). The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon, will host The Market inside the Museum from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

I will be getting my eggs there as well as whatever else looks good.

North Shore Distillery
Introduces Mole Poblano
Our new limited release spirit is coming out this week.

Taking inspiration from traditional Mexican mole sauces, and specifically Mole Poblano, we infused and distilled seven types of chili peppers, cacao beans and a wide range of herbs and spices into this wonderful, complex spirit. The color and flavor of Mole Poblano comes solely from the peppers, chocolate and spices.

I own their traditional gin and it tastes (and smells) homemade.

Slow Food Chicago Event
Morel Hunt
Saturday May 2nd 9:00 AM
Join Leon Shernoff hunt for morels. Leon is a mycologist and the editor of ‘Mushroom The Journal of Wild Mushrooming’, the only North American consumer magazine for people who hunt morels, porcini, and other interesting fungi.

Square Foot Gardening

Farmer Jay — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:20:12 +0000

A new concept this year in at the Farm is Square Foot Gardening.

Row of Swiss Chard 2008

If you haven’t look to the far right column, you’ll notice that I farm 200 square feet including walking space around the plots. There are 8 plots in on the farm and normally I grow in short rows. The picture to the right is a row of Rainbow Swiss Chard from last year. Since I grow only 200 square feet, I grow pretty tightly together.

Growing tightly together and in small spaces is the mantra of Square Foot Gardening. You understand how serious this book is when you read the background on the author:

When he created the “square foot gardening” method, Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer and efficiency expert, found the solution to the frustrations of most gardeners.

It takes an efficiency expert to take his work home with him.

I’m a fan of growing in rows (regardless of how inefficient it is) because it looks more professional. I may be an amateur farmer, but I want to do my best to look like the real thing.

Over the winter, I read up on Mel’s Square Foot Gardening methods and realized that in my situation, it should make life a little easier. This year, based upon Mel’s book, I plan to utilize a good part of the garden in square foot blocks. The spinach, radishes, peas, and lettuces are planted to the Square Foot Gardens recommended spacing.

A few notes on my use of Square Foot Gardening:

The peas are in 4 1-sq-ft blocks along a trellis. If you read the book, you’ll realize that square foot gardening is about spacing plants closely and managing your plants in blocks. Not every plant can fit into a single square. My peas will be 4 feet wide.
My radishes will be planted in 3 1-sq-ft blocks. One block planted every two to three weeks rotating so I’ll always have 16 radishes every 14 days.
The lettuces and spinach were planted in 8 1-sq-ft blocks. I plan to trim each differently. Some will be for baby spinach/lettuces, and some will be allowed to let grow more fully.
I grow huge tomato plants. Regardless of the suggested trimming methods, these will likely take up more room.

Cucumbers, watermelon, herbs, and many others are soon to be in the ground. While I know weeding will be easier, I hope it all works this year. Many pictures and stories to come.

If you are interested in the book:

Friday Weeds – April 10, 2009

Farmer Jay — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:48:44 +0000

Random thoughts for the weekend:

Tending the Stanford Garden – Article from the Stanford Daily on farming education and maintaining a vegetable garden at Stanford.
Growing Grain on a small scale – From Treehugger, their guide to growing grains in a home garden.
City Farm Spring Start, Saturday, April 18, 2009, 10am to 2pm
Join the Resource Center’s City Farm as we begin our tenth season by helping to get our main garden ready to produce another 12,000 pounds of food for Chicago. We will have groups rotating among four activity workshop areas: preparing compost, spreading compost, planting, and recycling (not a typical farm activity but an integral part of what we do).
Pass on the Gift – Pass on the Gift from Heifer International. I’m a big fan of Heifer because they are an organization that “teaching people to fish” instead of giving people fish. Today is Egg Day. If you donate, your donation supports projects that include chickens, ducks and other poultry to provide nutritious, delicious eggs.
White House Garden Layout:

White House Garden (from the New York Times)