Category: Education

Spring Seed Starting

3/3/2021

Our spring growing season has officially begun! We started our first round of seeds in the greenhouse this past weekend, and some seedlings are already poking their heads up through the soil. Ever since Kevin and I started the seeds for my first garden years ago, the process has always struck me as magical. It still inspires me to watch a tiny seed, fed with the simple ingredients of moisture, heat, and nutritious soil, become a plant that can feed us all season. It is thrilling to see new signs of germination in a different crop each day, and noticeable growth from yesterday’s tiny seedlings. Time flies, and I know it won’t be long before we’re transplanting these babies out into the great big world, and then not much longer until we’re enjoying their bounty!

If you’re planning to start a garden for the first time this year, there are lots of books and other publications out there (sometimes to the point of overwhelm!). Ron and Jennifer Kujawski’s Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook and The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields by John Jeavons and Carol Cox may be good places to start. If you’re looking to dive into more resources (whether this is your first growing season or your tenth—there is always more to learn!), I compiled a list of some that have been useful to us in this blog entry last year. We love learning and exchanging knowledge, and would love to hear about your go-to gardening resources, too!

This sweet little bee ventured out on a warm day into the high tunnel. Don't get ahead of yourself, my friend!

The Earth Knows My Name

7/23/2020

If you’re looking for a good book to read on days when it’s too hot to be out in the garden, might I recommend Patricia Klindienst’s The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans? I just finished this engaging, but gentle, almost meditative book. The author visits farmers and gardeners all over the United States whose gardens both feed their bodies and nourish their cultural connections, whether their homeland is Cambodia, Italy, or India, or their ancestors have farmed the same land since long before European settlement. Klindienst provides space for the farmers to speak for themselves, revealing the stories of their gardens as ways of telling their personal and cultural histories.

I was struck by the diversity of experience within growing food, which is done all over the world, in very different situations and environments, growing very different crops. Yet there is a deep commonality to this practice: an intense connection to the place, the land, and the particulars of climate and ecosystem, as well as the attention paid, care given, skills perfected, and community built. For the people in the book who had left their homeland to forge a new life in the United States, their gardens—their traditional practices and techniques, as well as the crops they grow—serve as a way to ground them in their new homes and tangibly connect them back to the places and people they had left behind. For people such as the Gullah farmers of South Carolina and the Native American farmers of New Mexico, growing food is an embodiment of their heritage, a continuous line from the past through the present to the future.
For all of the growers in the book, their gardens are deeply healing places, and their relationships with their gardens seem akin to familial bonds, or even extensions of themselves. “The earth is the actual ground of our lives—we grow out of the soil too. If it dies, we die. If it lives, we eat and live. You know this when you grow your own food,” Klindienst reminds us.

Referring to her garden, Italian-American Maska Pelligrini tells Klindienst, “It’s our life, you know.” Klindienst reflects that “Maska’s all-embracing phrase, ‘It’s our life,’ included the whole garden—soil, plants, worms, birds, insects, water, sun, wind, and her. In her marvelous, encompassing, humble phrase, ‘our life’ extended to include ‘their lives.’ Her garden was an interdependent community, a democracy.”[1]

[1] Klindienst, 241.

Prak Kom, Khmer Growers, Amherst, MA, from pklindienst.com

Ralph Middleton, St. Helena Island, SC. Photo courtesy of Stephen Morton, from pklindienst.com

Honoring Paul Robeson in the Tomato Garden

5/18/2020

Image from the BBC.

One of our favorite tomato varieties is the Paul Robeson. It is an exceptionally juicy beefsteak type variety with purple shoulders. I knew it was a Russian variety named after the African American actor, singer, and activist, but am embarrassed to say that I didn’t know much of anything about the man other than the fact that he had a delicious tomato named after him. We recently watched a PBS American Masters documentary about Robeson, and I am astounded that his name and life story aren’t better known.

Robeson was born in 1898. His father, a former slave, taught him early in life that he was just as capable and worthy as his white peers, and he took that message of equality to heart throughout his life. Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers College, where he was the only black student. He gained a national reputation as a college football star and was valedictorian of his class. He graduated from Columbia Law School, but refused to accept a law career subject to racist barriers, and instead followed his passion for singing and acting.

Robeson’s incredible bass baritone voice is best known today from his performance of “Ol’ Man River” in the musical and film Show Boat, but his musical range was vast, crossing many styles and languages. Between concerts all over the world, Broadway performances, music recordings, and early films, Robeson became the most famous black man in the world. His performances of Othello in London and on Broadway were renowned (at this time, the role was typically played by a white actor in blackface) and he played to some of the first racially integrated audiences. While he struggled to land film roles that met his goal of uplifting the black experience, he continually used his platform to stand up for, and stand with, the downtrodden.

His activism ranged from black civil rights to anti-colonialism, labor rights to anti-fascism to the peace movement. He became enamored with the Soviet Union, where, when touring, he found himself treated as “a human being for the first time in my life,” he said. “I walk in full human dignity.”[1] His unbridled affection for the USSR got him in trouble with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Intense anti-communist pressure from Senator McCarthy and others caused many civil rights leaders to denounce Robeson out of fear. Robeson stood firm on principle, refusing to play the game. During his testimony to the HUAC, Robeson was asked why he didn’t leave the US and move to Russia. His reply: “Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you. And no Fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?”[2] His defiance did not help his case, and Robeson was entirely blacklisted in the US. His records and video footage were destroyed. His passport was even seized by the government so he could not tour abroad.

In 1958, a Supreme Court ruling restored Robeson’s passport and his career started a gradual recovery, but a mental and physical breakdown in 1961 forced him to retire from public life. He died in 1976 following a stroke.
Truly, Robeson had problematic blind spots when it came to his stalwart defense of Stalin’s Soviet Union. Yet his unflinching activism, dedication to his beliefs, brilliance, and sheer talent in arenas from music to sports to linguistics should make him an honored household name. With my new knowledge of Paul Robeson’s life and work, I now think of tending his legacy when tending his tomatoes.

Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-paul-robeson-said-77742433/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUki-v-NvoE
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/paul-robeson-tomato

[1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-paul-robeson-said-77742433/
[2] http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440/

Photo from Tomato Growers Supply Company

Growing Resources

4/26/2020

In the midst of the current crisis, lots of folks are starting their own vegetable gardens for the first time or digging into existing gardens with a greater sense of purpose. There can never be too many vegetable gardens, as far as we’re concerned, and growing some of what you eat, even if it’s just a few herbs or a potted tomato plant on your deck, is such an empowering way of connecting with your food. I will never forget the thrill of growing our first garden eight years ago--the magic of sprouting seeds and the intense satisfaction of eating our first harvest.

It’s inspiring to see so many of our neighbors and friends turning over ground to start their own coronavirus victory gardens for food security and for the joy of watching plants thrive under loving care. In a time with so much unknown, when many are feeling disconnected from the world we’re used to, it can be profoundly grounding and empowering to put your hands in the dirt and to know in the deepest way where our nourishment comes from.

Growing food is a continual learning experience (part of what keeps it interesting!), but here are a few online resources we have found really useful in our ongoing garden education:

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange’s Growing Guides are a great place to start. They are very thorough, covering everything from seed starting and growing for biodiversity to crop-specific guides for just about any vegetable you’d want to grow.
Seed Saver’s Exchange also has a very good library of articles on all aspects of the vegetable garden, including site planning, crop-specific growing guides, and seed saving information.
Your county extension office is an incredible resource (shout out to our amazing horticulture agent, Faye Kuosman!). They can help you with soil testing (a key step to garden success!), troubleshooting, and connecting you with all the resources you need. The UK Extension Office’s guide to Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky is a useful reference, as well.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ Growing Center has excellent charts, calculators, and other planning guides, as well as an “Ask a Grower” feature.
The Organic Grower’s School has a wealth of resources for home gardeners, farmers, and consumers on their website, including some specific to growing during the COVID-19 pandemic, an excellent Gardener’s Library, and materials from their annual conferences.
We haven’t used Territorial Seed’s Garden Planner App yet, but it looks like a user-friendly way to keep track of all of your garden planning information in one place (rather than our approach of massive spreadsheets!). I want to give it a try in the future.
The Bionutrient Food Association has a vast library of documents, videos, and book recommendations available online. They tend to be more advanced, for experienced growers wanting to increase nutrient content in their crops by creating a super healthy soil food web.
The University of Kentucky’s Center for Crop Diversification is geared toward professional growers growing on a large scale, but its crop profiles and maps contain a lot of good information.
I really enjoy listening to the Farmer to Farmer Podcast, in which host and experienced organic farmer Chris Blanchard has down to earth conversations with other farmers about their operations and experiences. Unfortunately, Chris Blanchard passed away in 2018, but there is a hefty archive of past episodes to listen to while you work.

And some of our favorite gardening books include:

John Jeavons’ books How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine and The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields, which is essentially a condensed and very accessible version of How to Grow More Vegetable. Both books are helpful with creating a solid garden plan.
Eliot Coleman’s The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener and Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long are bibles in the organic growing realm. Coleman grows year-round in Maine, so he has the art of the four-season harvest down!
Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical Self-Reliant Gardening is another treasure. Bonsall, also a Maine farmer and homesteader, has a strong personality and sense of humor that come though his writing along with his passion and hard-earned knowledge.
The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving, put out by Seed Savers Exchange and edited by by Lee Buttala and Shanyn Siegel and Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth are excellent resources if you want to save your own seeds.

We learn so much every growing season, from publications, from other farmers, and from the garden itself. It is so exciting to see many others jumping enthusiastically into growing food. Please let us know if we can share our experiences to help you get started!

Many seed companies have been inundated with orders this spring and many are sold out or are suspending orders to catch up. We have some little plants ready to go into your garden, ranging from cilantro and basil to okra and peppers from our own saved seeds and heirloom tomatoes. We also have a set of edible flower plants to make your harvest as beautiful as it is delicious!

Happy Growing!

Winter Projects

1/9/2020

Here at Dandelion Ridge Farm, we’re spending the winter doing all the work that there isn’t time for during the peak growing season. Kevin is wiring our greenhouse for electrical, so we can finally turn on the chandelier we have hanging in there (and run fans, heat mats, and the other practical pieces)! We’re planning for next season, learning from conferences like the Kentucky Fruit & Vegetable Growers Conference this past week, and doing lots of record-keeping and other office work—not the most glamorous and fun part of farming, but almost as vital as the planting, weeding, and harvesting! We’ve been working with the wonderful folks at Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD) on business planning, and are also preparing all the records needed to apply for organic certification this spring.

Learning and Growing

10/24/2019

Things are trucking along here at Dandelion Ridge Farm, settling into the autumn rhythm. We don’t have to water so much these days (thank goodness!), and are doing our best to keep cold sensitive plants like ginger warm enough. Greens like kale, collards, romaine, and dandelions are thrilled with the cooler weather, though—summer heat is not their friend! We hope to keep greens and herbs going throughout the winter.

We will have very limited quantities of tarragon, lemon thyme, and marjoram this week. These plants are young and not producing much yet, but I think we can manage a small harvest. Tarragon can be a challenge to get established, but its licorice-y flavor adds so much to a dish. Lemon thyme has a fun, citrusy brightness against thyme’s savory background. And marjoram has similarities to oregano, but is more subtle, sweet, and nuanced. Stop by our farmers’ market booth on Saturday to try some!

Today, I went to a workshop at one of the University of Kentucky’s Horticultural Research Farms about agricultural high tunnels. We got our tunnel this spring, and while it has been wonderful to grow in a more protected and controlled space, it is definitely an adjustment, with its own tricks and challenges. We always benefit from these educational opportunities and I certainly learned a lot from the experts today!

Kevin’s presentation at the Hudson Valley VegFest in Kingston, NY this past weekend was a hit! He spoke about our journey into farming, from harvesting and weeding in his parents’ subsistence garden as a kid to learning about more sustainable practices as an adult; from our meager first harvests from our raised bed garden in Asheville, NC six years ago to this year’s harvest of 4,300 pounds and growing! Kevin discussed the array of problems with the current corporate food system and the need for each of us to do what we can to break with the industrial model and engage more fully with the food that sustains us.

In the kitchen, I’ve been playing around with different ways to preserve ginger, including dehydrating both the roots and the stalks and leaves. I’m also working on an intense Ginger Marmalade made with apple cider, so stay tuned for that! I think it will be a great addition to a holiday menu!
Update: Try it in this Sweet Potato Hash with Ginger Marmalade for a perfect holiday side dish!

Cold Weather, Dried Herbs, and Getting Involved

10/16/2019

I hope you are staying warm in this cold snap! Our ginger and sensitive herbs are bundled up under blankets or tucked in the greenhouse as needed. This guy is enjoying the tropical environment among the ginger foliage, too!

Now that autumn definitely seems to be here, the kale and collards we planted for the fall are coming on and we will have our first small harvest this week! We will also have dandelion greens and romaine in the next few weeks.

We have another exciting new offering: upon popular request, we are now offering a very limited supply of Dandelion Ridge Farm dried herbs and pepper flakes! We carefully dry the best of what we grow for your enjoyment year-round. We’re offering epazote, thyme, sage, oregano, and rosemary, as well as ground jalapeño peppers and crushed habanero flakes for you heat-lovers out there!

We’re staying active with events this week, too! Kevin is on his way to New York’s Hudson Valley to present at the Hudson Valley VegFest, where he will hopefully inspire folks to move along the continuum from passive consumers to active food producers, whether it be starting a farm, learning to cook, or growing a few herbs on a kitchen windowsill.

We were also pleased to be part of a World Food Day celebration at Community Action Council’s Wilburn Center in northeast Lexington on Wednesday. Community members got to watch food demos, taste dishes from diverse cuisines, and take home fresh vegetables, including Dandelion Ridge Farm sweet potatoes.

Cover Crops Feed the Soil to Feed the Vegetables that Feed You!

10/2/2019

We went to a hugely informative field day last week put on by the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK). Held at UK’s Horticultural Research Farm in Lexington, the field day was on soil fertility and cover crops. In addition to information-packed presentations from Drs. Rachel Rudolph and Krista Jacobsen, we got to see different types of cover crops UK’s Horticulture Department is trialing.

Cover crops of various types play important roles in regenerative farming: some feed the soil with nitrogen and organic matter, while others aerate soil and break up compaction. They minimize erosion, suppress weeds, and can balance soil nutrient levels. In addition, many provide habitat and food for beneficial insects. Here is our fall mix of cover crops—rye, peas, vetch, and clover—doing its thing in our high tunnel, preparing the soil for next spring’s crops!

OAK is an incredible resource for both farmers and consumers in Kentucky, providing educational opportunities and materials for anyone interested in sustainable agriculture. They just unveiled their Find a Farm Database that allows you to search for local sustainable farms--including Dandelion Ridge Farm!--by crop, county, or zip code.

By deepening our connection to the food system, we can further connect with each other and the world around us.