Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sustainable Cortland Events
Please feel free to join us even if you haven't had a chance to read all the books, as there will certainly be interesting discussions, and of course great soup and homemade bread! RSVP is not necessary, but would be helpful for planning. Please email sustainablecortland@gmail.com to let us know if you are planning on coming. Hope to see you there!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Preserving the Harvest Presentation
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| Chris Applegate at the Virgil Market |
Chris is an excellent speaker and very knowledgeable. I encourage anyone thinking about preserving food as well as those who already do to come to this session. She'll be able to answer all kinds of questions.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Finally some fruit!
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| Apples |
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| Barlett Pear |
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| Asian Pears |
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| Mulberries |
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| Grapes |
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| hazelnuts |
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| making strawberry jam |
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Gardening has Started!!!!
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| broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage seedlings |
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| shallot and leek seedlings |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
SPRING THINGS
Has it really been since October that I made time to add to this blog? Where does time go? Anyway - here is news that might be of interest to readers:
First, make sure that you plan to attend a great workshop for gardeners to be held April 9th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Port Watson Mini-Conference Center (131 Port Watson Street, Cortland)! For only $5 you can attend workshops on food preservation (by Chris Applegate!), vegetable growing, native and alien plants, and summer perennials. The keynote speaker is Elaine Norris speaking on "Growing Your Own Food" Please call the Seven Valleys Health Coalition at (607) 756-4198 to register ASAP or go to their website where you can download the registration form http://www.sevenvalleyshealth.org/
Second, there will be some sustainability related events announcements soon from both the SUNY Cortland Sustainability Week Planning Committee and the Sustainability Track. Multiple movie and speaker events are being planned. So please stay tuned for more info.
Third, Fresh From The Farm! Saturdays, April 9 - May 14, 9 am - 2 pm, Little York Farms, LLC, 5668 US Route 11, Homer (3 miles north of Homer Village). A NEW opportunity to buy locally grown food!
Spring is on the way - someday:)
First, make sure that you plan to attend a great workshop for gardeners to be held April 9th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Port Watson Mini-Conference Center (131 Port Watson Street, Cortland)! For only $5 you can attend workshops on food preservation (by Chris Applegate!), vegetable growing, native and alien plants, and summer perennials. The keynote speaker is Elaine Norris speaking on "Growing Your Own Food" Please call the Seven Valleys Health Coalition at (607) 756-4198 to register ASAP or go to their website where you can download the registration form http://www.sevenvalleyshealth.org/
Second, there will be some sustainability related events announcements soon from both the SUNY Cortland Sustainability Week Planning Committee and the Sustainability Track. Multiple movie and speaker events are being planned. So please stay tuned for more info.
Third, Fresh From The Farm! Saturdays, April 9 - May 14, 9 am - 2 pm, Little York Farms, LLC, 5668 US Route 11, Homer (3 miles north of Homer Village). A NEW opportunity to buy locally grown food!
Local pasture-raised beef - CNY Beef- Herb plants - Frosty Morning Farm
- Baked goods - Chris Applegate
- Free range eggs - Barbara Clark
- Semi-soft cheese - Kelley McGarr
- Homemade beef soups - Kory’s Place
- Sweet baked goods - Fleurette Clough
- Real maple syrup - Delavan Farms
- Honey - various vendors
- Adding more vendors weekly!
Spring is on the way - someday:)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
October Updates from the Homestead
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| New York Asters in the Garden |
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| Some of the 2010 squash and pumpkin harvest |
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| Swiss chard and purple kohlrabi |
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| Potatoes in the bin and shelving unit. |
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| Our solar thermal system being installed. |
The farmers market season closes this month, with tonight being the last Homer Market. There has been discussion about a virtual local winter market - more on that as it develops. Also as you look for places to get winter veggies and NYS apples, please check out the Farmshed blog and the FREE app for iPhone (works on iTouch and iPad, too) which will map for you local farmers markets, CSA's, U-Pick Farms, local food stores and restaurants serving local foods. Neil Brody Miller of New Woodstock has developed this resource specifically for Central New York (with potential plans to go national later).
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Local Produce Season begins in Cortland County
It is Memorial Day weekend. We've had some pretty hot weather already, and the garden (and the weeds) have been growing quite well. Despite that Dave from Dave's Veggies in Homer warned that the last frost could happen June 15th (the last new moon before the Summer Solstice), we've gone ahead and put in tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions, shallots, scallions, parsley, basil, dill, tarragon, rosemary, potatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers. Soon we'll put out the winter squash, plant some beans and corn. And just about as soon as we put out the veggies from our little hobby greenhouse, the voles and rabbits are doing their part - already eating some of the tiny potato plants who have poked out their heads, and cleaning off the cabbage leaves for us. We've been harvesting, lettuce, beets, carrots, swiss chard, and spinach (trying before the rodents get them). Here's to hopin' that the new addition to our family (a rescue pup named Calvin who is a Fiest Mix) will help keep our garden more rodent free.
Last weekend we received our first share from the Rising Moon, Setting Sun CSA in East Freetown. We received some delicious lettuce, herbs, and scallions. One may wonder why with our own garden do we belong to a CSA. Well we joined for a number of reasons: 1) If the rabbits get our lettuce - hopefully they won't get theirs; 2) They plant in succession much better than we do - so we get things through out the season; 3) Since we try to eat local as much as possible, it helps to have some extra food coming in; 4) We are learning growing techniques from them that improve our own gardening; and 5) I don't know how long our backs will hold out for us to do our own gardening - so we want to make sure they are around to grow us food!
We are looking forward to next weekend as the farmers markets are open. It is a great place to catch up with folks, and chat with local farmers about how things are growing and learn techniques. Also in addition to food, other local products are available, too. Some great natural cleaning products, soaps, creams, and more make it a great one stop shopping trip for us. In addition to Saturday mornings, the East End Farmers Market (Cortland's local only market) will also be on Wednesday evenings at the Homer Green.
Speaking of Homer - the new Homer Community Garden project is taking shape. Check out the Homer Community Gardens Blog to keep up with their progress.
Last weekend we received our first share from the Rising Moon, Setting Sun CSA in East Freetown. We received some delicious lettuce, herbs, and scallions. One may wonder why with our own garden do we belong to a CSA. Well we joined for a number of reasons: 1) If the rabbits get our lettuce - hopefully they won't get theirs; 2) They plant in succession much better than we do - so we get things through out the season; 3) Since we try to eat local as much as possible, it helps to have some extra food coming in; 4) We are learning growing techniques from them that improve our own gardening; and 5) I don't know how long our backs will hold out for us to do our own gardening - so we want to make sure they are around to grow us food!
We are looking forward to next weekend as the farmers markets are open. It is a great place to catch up with folks, and chat with local farmers about how things are growing and learn techniques. Also in addition to food, other local products are available, too. Some great natural cleaning products, soaps, creams, and more make it a great one stop shopping trip for us. In addition to Saturday mornings, the East End Farmers Market (Cortland's local only market) will also be on Wednesday evenings at the Homer Green.
Speaking of Homer - the new Homer Community Garden project is taking shape. Check out the Homer Community Gardens Blog to keep up with their progress.
Friday, September 18, 2009
September Garden Update
Well here it is September 18th and we haven't had a frost yet (probably going to jinx us now). We don't consider it fully fall until the Hummingbirds have left. We did see them yesterday, but not today. We'll have to be more observant tomorrow to see if they are still around. Last year, September 8th was the last day we saw them.
Our garden is still producing pretty well as a result of the warmer September weather. Our popcorn is the tallest we've ever had, onions are all harvested now and are huge. We've pulled up all the late cabbage and have two big crocks full of sauerkraut. The early cabbages that we cut off (leaving the roots and a few leaves) have put up fairly decent sized additional cabbages. Brussels Sprouts are "sprouting", pole beans and eggplant are still coming in pretty strong, and the fall veggies I planted (carrots, turnips, beets, peas, lettuce, kale, spinach, and swiss chard) are doing fairly well. The cucumbers, zucchini and bush beans are all still producing some, but the end is near for them. The winter squash got a very late start, but we now have some pumpkins ripening, a few butternut, few spaghetti, and thanks to some "volunteers" several acorn squash. The leeks are still sitting in the raised bed, waiting for a frost before I pick them for storage. And I probably need to yank up the celery and get it into some sand for storage soon, too. Despite the late blight which hit most people's tomatoes and potatoes, we managed to get some potatoes and enough plum and cherry tomatoes to can enough juice and sauce for us.
It will be time soon for us to get the garlic planted and to also plant several daffodil bulbs around our apple trees. We are trying a permaculture technique that Paul Knapp (Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble) told us about. An organic farmer friend of his from Wisconsin has planted daffodils, mint and comfrey around his apple trees and is seeing some real benefits - so we also decided to give it a try. We were able to get some comfrey from Karl Frost (Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton) and have that planted. We are hoping it helps out our struggling apple trees which are having a hard time in our horrid soil and windy location.
Sunday we are looking forward to gathering with some other Cortland County gardeners to talk about our successes and failures this gardening season and what we might need to consider with the late blight for next summer.
Our garden is still producing pretty well as a result of the warmer September weather. Our popcorn is the tallest we've ever had, onions are all harvested now and are huge. We've pulled up all the late cabbage and have two big crocks full of sauerkraut. The early cabbages that we cut off (leaving the roots and a few leaves) have put up fairly decent sized additional cabbages. Brussels Sprouts are "sprouting", pole beans and eggplant are still coming in pretty strong, and the fall veggies I planted (carrots, turnips, beets, peas, lettuce, kale, spinach, and swiss chard) are doing fairly well. The cucumbers, zucchini and bush beans are all still producing some, but the end is near for them. The winter squash got a very late start, but we now have some pumpkins ripening, a few butternut, few spaghetti, and thanks to some "volunteers" several acorn squash. The leeks are still sitting in the raised bed, waiting for a frost before I pick them for storage. And I probably need to yank up the celery and get it into some sand for storage soon, too. Despite the late blight which hit most people's tomatoes and potatoes, we managed to get some potatoes and enough plum and cherry tomatoes to can enough juice and sauce for us.
It will be time soon for us to get the garlic planted and to also plant several daffodil bulbs around our apple trees. We are trying a permaculture technique that Paul Knapp (Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble) told us about. An organic farmer friend of his from Wisconsin has planted daffodils, mint and comfrey around his apple trees and is seeing some real benefits - so we also decided to give it a try. We were able to get some comfrey from Karl Frost (Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton) and have that planted. We are hoping it helps out our struggling apple trees which are having a hard time in our horrid soil and windy location.
Sunday we are looking forward to gathering with some other Cortland County gardeners to talk about our successes and failures this gardening season and what we might need to consider with the late blight for next summer.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Mid-August Garden Update and the Deadly Late Blight
Well, we thought we had been struck by the late blight on our potatoes. But after talking with a few farmers at the East End farmers market last Saturday, we may just be experiencing an early die-back of the potatoes – meaning they are already ready for harvest. Once it dries out a bit from all our rain, we’ll be digging those potatoes up. The early blight and septoria seem to be doing a job on our tomatoes –but we don’t think they have the deadly late blight as of yet either. Cherries and yellow pear tomatoes are coming in – a couple of handfuls a day now, and a few romas are ripening. The larger tomatoes – I’m not sure those will ripen before we get the Late Blight. It has been confirmed in a few locations in Cortland County – so it is only a matter of time. If you haven’t heard about the late blight, here is a fact sheet put out by Cornell Cooperative Extension. Another good resource is the Vegetable MD Online, also from Cornell Cooperative Extension which lists fact sheets and photos for other vegetable diseases.
Cucumbers have finally begun to come in – hopefully they will continue to produce. Winter Squash is having a hard time, but I have learned that apparently I’m not the only one from talking with other gardeners around the area. The zucchini is beginning to hit its stride, meaning I end up with giant ones before I get a chance to harvest them. Celery is looking good, although the slugs and snails are starting to get to it – so another round of iron pellet slug bait will be needed.
Beans are doing well and we’ll be canning some this evening. I’m excited as I finally purchased a bean frencher, to make French style green beans – I hope it works well (OK – so I get excited about odd things). Fall plantings of carrots, beets, turnips, lettuce, chard, kale, spinach, and peas are all up and growing well in some new raised beds.
In addition to harvesting potatoes for storage, the garlic tops are dying back – so it is time to harvest that for storage also. A few of the “giant” onions tops are also starting to fall over, indicating it is near harvest time them as well.
We are still getting a few raspberries, blueberries, and mulberries. We ate our 1 plum – yes giant harvest on those this year she says oh so sarcastically – thank you DEER. It was really sweet though. Unbelievably, our everbearing strawberries are giving us giant berries still – so they must be liking the unusual summer weather this year. Now, do I make a pie, strawberry shortcake, or . . .
Cucumbers have finally begun to come in – hopefully they will continue to produce. Winter Squash is having a hard time, but I have learned that apparently I’m not the only one from talking with other gardeners around the area. The zucchini is beginning to hit its stride, meaning I end up with giant ones before I get a chance to harvest them. Celery is looking good, although the slugs and snails are starting to get to it – so another round of iron pellet slug bait will be needed.
Beans are doing well and we’ll be canning some this evening. I’m excited as I finally purchased a bean frencher, to make French style green beans – I hope it works well (OK – so I get excited about odd things). Fall plantings of carrots, beets, turnips, lettuce, chard, kale, spinach, and peas are all up and growing well in some new raised beds.
In addition to harvesting potatoes for storage, the garlic tops are dying back – so it is time to harvest that for storage also. A few of the “giant” onions tops are also starting to fall over, indicating it is near harvest time them as well.
We are still getting a few raspberries, blueberries, and mulberries. We ate our 1 plum – yes giant harvest on those this year she says oh so sarcastically – thank you DEER. It was really sweet though. Unbelievably, our everbearing strawberries are giving us giant berries still – so they must be liking the unusual summer weather this year. Now, do I make a pie, strawberry shortcake, or . . .
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