by Briscoe White | Feb 1, 2010 | Exploring, Life on the Farm, Miscellaneous |
It is hard not to comment on the weather when discussing the garden. Everything about it is weather dependent, including when the gardener wishes to garden. But when one has a greenhouse full of young plants like we do here, severe weather can become a real challenge.
The Growers Exchange greenhouse crew has pulled through yet another terrible winter storm. We burned several cords of wood and didn’t lose a single greenhouse! These winter storms isolate us and sometimes cut us off from the rest of the world. This last storm required four nights of vigilance to keep the young plants safe. There is always a chance that a large greenhouse may be affected quite badly by the storms, such as damaging or caving in the roof, depending on the severity of the storm. There are roof replacement Raleigh services, as well as many others in various areas, that can help replace a fully damaged roof, so your plants can go back to being their thriving selves.
The strangest part is when it is over and you drive off the farm into the real world, which is going on like the storm never happened. Sometimes I wonder if it is better to not be affected by weather or if all the stuff we go though is worth the effort. I realize, sad as it is, that some of my best adventures have been during these storms. They almost seem fun as they fade into history, somehow all the pains and tribulations are forgotten. When winter is over, we are all set to plant!
GIANT icicles outside of our offices.
by Briscoe White | Jan 29, 2010 | A Year in the Life.., Gardening, Indoor Gardening |
I cannot wait to begin reporting on our planting and growing progress. But here we are in at the end of January and all of us a The Growers Exchange are getting ready for another snowstorm that will arrive in the night. Our garden under cover has progressed another step; the irrigation is done. Now our test gardens can be watered automatically, freeing us on weekends. Irrigation is so easy and makes so much more gardening possible. And it does free the gardener to leave for some time and not return to a ruined garden. In an industry like the cannabis business crop consistency has to be of the utmost importance and therefore, they incorporate things like grow room design to grow their crops and this includes things like water treatment that helps to maintain this consistency and works on a larger scale.
Now the garden we will tend to is ready to plant. We will start in the greenhouse, sowing seeds for the first plantings in a few weeks. The logs around our salad patch have been impregnated with spores of Pearl Oyster mushrooms. Our goal is to grow as much as possible in our limited space. I hope people will follow and tell us what they are growing. It is not practical for most people to grow their own food; but any one with even a sunny window can grow something that will improve the quality of their life. For now we are waiting for spring, but soon we will be able to begin our spring garden, maybe after this storm. I will let you know next week!
Our Irrigation Setup
by Briscoe White | Jan 27, 2010 | Exploring, Life on the Farm, Wildlife |
Eagles live on the James River all around us here and we see them often from the nursery. They are beginning to get busy, as spring is not too far away. Pairs are together defending territory and building giant stick nests. As a parent of teenagers and young adults, I understand the pair’s conflicted feelings as they drive grown offspring from the nest. And I totally do not understand how, having raised one brood, they steadfastly set about raising another.
The eagle nest on our property has produced young for many years, I personally have seen nine eagles in sight at one time. It wasn’t too many years ago there were no breeding eagles here, having been decimated by DDT and locally Keypone, which was allowed to drain into the river. The eagles is proof of Nature’s ability to heal and repair old damage. We love watching all the bird life on the river; eagles are our favorites.
Want to learn more about how eagles are bouncing back from the brink of extinction? Check out this great documentary from PBS’s Nature: American Eagle.
Briscoe releasing an eagle that was tagged by biologists from the College of William & Mary last winter.
by Briscoe White | Jan 25, 2010 | Miscellaneous |
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Our Goal is 400 Fans by
Groundhog Day!
by Briscoe White | Jan 22, 2010 | A Year in the Life.. |
I have introduced The Growers Exchange playpen before, but what we have is a cold frame with beds and tables, and containers for all kinds of gardening. We want to create areas similar to what urban gardeners face. At our potting bench we will mix plants in container so they are beautiful and functional. Most of our materials have been scrounged, keeping cost to mainly seeds and plants.
The picture today shows our infrastructure complete, we will now work the soil in the beds and add drip irrigation. Our plants will begin life here on a diet of kelp meal, and we will work hard to keep a natural environment. Crops will be chosen from The Growers Exchange list, Starting with a salad crop, we will slowly add to our garden. The best that could happen would be suggestions from our readers! We hope that a free exchange of ideas will develop and this garden will spread its roots far.
We will soon start planting the first bed; it will be a lettuce garden with about twelve types and colors of leafy greens. The logs surrounding this bed have been impregnated with mushroom spores and will fruit in a few months. Follow our garden a day at a time and feel free to suggest what we might want to plant. The fun part is ahead, it’s time to start planting.
