Yes, we are still excited and invigorated after our first growing season; and yes, we are still bounding out of bed early in the morning to get our day going and check off our ever-increasing to-do lists; and yes, we do love this area more and more; and no, none of the major plagues or pestilences hit the farm this year though we had an 80 mile an hour microburst in May that opened the tin roof on the pole barn like a sardine can. Oh yeah, and we don’t have any trouble falling asleep at night.

Visitors remark how quiet it is here – an occasional interruption from the cow bellowing on the other side of the river, a squawking V-shaped flock of geese heading towards the Haw; or a hawk up in the pines with its shrill shriek. Bluebirds, robins, goldfinch, and titmice love it here. Unfortunately, so does our local groundhog, who boldly invaded the market gardens at dusk on several autumn nights.

The major task this past year was renovating the farmhouse and adjacent garage – now an upscale barn for Lee’s healthy cooking workshops (you can see it on the Workshops page). We located some wonderful craftsmen to help with the renovation. We admire their skills, and they, in turn, are very appreciative of the delicious lunches Lee prepared.

The design of the twin market gardens is patterned after Productive Gardens of Cornwall’s Lost Garden of Heligan. We were drawn to the aesthetically pleasing symmetry of the gardens and the variety of colors and textures of the produce in season. The axis of our market garden walk lines up with the door out our back deck. So, we have a beautiful view of the farm year round which is incentive to keep it as neat and presentable as possible. The design of the demonstration kitchen garden was created by Ada Eason from Ada’s Garden. It is a wonderful design that is both functional for teaching students as well as beautiful to look at from the deck.

These past few months we’ve installed electric fencing around the perimeter of the market gardens and berry fields, circled those fields with irrigation lines, upgraded our pump to increase water pressure, planted cover crops to build soil, planted our first produce and marketed them to a regional organic co-op, a local farmers market, and an upscale general store nearby. Now, the over wintered crops are protected by floating row cover or straw, and as days are shorter there is very little growth occurring. We’ll begin harvesting and planting again in February using season extension techniques.

The serenity of the farm has been interrupted a few times in recent months – a family reunion replete with a slipping slide for the kids and those that think they are kids, an organic gardening series led by our farm coach, Tony Kleese, our daughter Meredith’s commitment ceremony, and Lee’s first healthy cooking class at the farm. This spring there will be more healthy cooking classes beginning in late March and visits from the Master Gardeners from Oxford and from Troy as well as other groups.

We will also be hosting the 15th Annual Garden Symposium and Tour here in May with a wine reception and delicious farm dinner to follow. Hope you can join us!

Cover Crops

Posted 2010 about our Greensboro garden–Our last harvest from our fall vegetables was in December before the first snowfall. It was too late to establish a cover crop on those beds for the winter. However, we do have a nice stand of Austrian winter peas that was planted in mid-November in the bed previously occupied by heirloom tomatoes. The foliage of the peas are useful in salads and has held up well from the teen weather we have sustained on our coldest nights.

Two of the key elements of organic gardening are crop rotation and cover crops. The main goal of organic gardening is to build healthy soil. According to Steve Moore, farm manager of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, NC, one ounce of healthy soil has:

• 6-8 billion organisms
• Several billion bacteria (15,000 different kinds)
• 3 million yeast
• 1.4 million protozoa
• And Macro vertebrates such as worms, mites, millipedes, and centipedes

That’s pretty awesome! Cover crops like Austrian winter peas in the winter help to improve soil health by:

• increasing soil organic matter
• reducing soil erosion from wind and rain
• improving soil structure and quality
• improving soil tilth
• enhancing soil biological diversity (think 6-8 billion organisms per ounce)
• remediating soil compaction
• supplying nitrogen (legumes and winter rye)
• moving nutrients from sub-soil to top-soil
• improving fertilizer use efficiency (optimal pH range for nutrient intake increases tenfold either up or down – more acidic or more alkaline – with optimal organic matter)
• Helping suppress weeds
• Reducing disease

Broccoli seedlings are emerging in peat pots that were seeded ten days ago. Where multiple seedlings have emerged, we have “pricked” the extras and placed in other peat pots. We have also started transplants of Romaine lettuce and Salad Mix lettuce, Lacinato Kale, and Swiss Chard. The grow light in the pantry was used for a few days, and now the seeded flats are growing in the garage and placed outside for a few above-freezing hours on a couple of sunny days. This isn’t ideal, but the portable vinyl greenhouse that Larry brought back from a nursery trade show is not substantial enough to take on the snow and ice we’ve had – more is called for later tonight as this is written.

Our friend, Jim Wilson, former Southeast host of the Victory Garden, has said that the moment we can place a spade in the soil on a reasonably warm winter day, “We connect to something that is ancient and authentic”. The head start on the early spring garden helps fight the winter blues and injects a good dose of hope that thoughts of spring engenders.