Soil, The Great Equalizer

Soil, The Great Equalizer

As I woke up one morning this week to ice
glazing my plants where the sprinklers irrigate I mused on the finality of weather. It seems to have the last say no matter the effort I put into my farm to cultivate and nurture it. When the time comes Winter has the last word. . . Or does she? If I have wit and and ability I might just be able to fend off Winter’s finality by using cold frames and row covers and my winter greenhouse. But to be successful in this mission to thwart our harsh Wyoming cold season I need to know how to work with my dirt. Without good soil I will be sorely disappointed in my efforts.

Yes, soil is the great equalizer.

You see, the soil cares not if you are male or female….old or young. It doesn’t care what nationality you are, what religion or even your political persuasion. If you care for it and give it what it needs to be healthy it will return your care with abundance. If, however, you exploit it by over farming and depleting it’s nutritional reseviors or push it to produce more than it should by using chemicals, the soil does not care how desperately you need it to produce for you. . . it will simply give you back shoddy produce. It’s very in tune with Karma.

You get back what you put in. Simple as that.

From the beginning of time men have struggled to produce food and clothing from the land. Wars have been fought over owning the land and the right to produce from it. In the end, however, we shall all see that it is those who have learned to work with and not against the soil. . . to nurture it with loving care . . .who will have the ability to produce sustainably. No matter their color, their race or their religion the Earth will provide abundance for those who truly care about the Earth.

This is something large companies cannot understand. They want results now. Greedy people will always find ways to try to force what they want. Chemicals pumped into the soil and it’s plants will give a reward for a short time and then the soil will quit producing waiting for time and nature to heal it.

My farm’s soil was depleted through many years of over farming and the use of misguided practices. So we farm in raised beds made from compost we create every year, nourished by the worms we raise. No Chemicals touch this soil. It is not compacted with tractors or feet, it is lovingly nurtured with fresh compost every year. This soil does not care that I am an older woman cultivating it. It only cares that I treat it with respect and that I nurture it consistently. And it gives back with abundance.

It returns to me what I give to it.

We could learn a lot as a world community from our soil.

By: charly mcomber

The frost has nipped us several nights in a row now. The garlic is all hung up to cure and the greenhouse fire is going tonight to get us through the chill. Time to sew the beds for spring harvest. There are many fall chores to get done before the snows begin to fly but I have plenty of time to ship off a box of garlic and herbs to you! Order now while the garlic is at it's freshest!

My favorite time of year has arrived here in Star Valley, Wyoming. I wait for this all year. The Autumn! It is a time of crisper air, vibrant colors in the mountains, layering hoodies over my t-shirts and sweatshirts…. and it’s the time of harvest. When I walk out in my gardens in the morning pumpkins are beginning to take on a gilded look as they slowly ripen to orange.They peek shyly from beneath their broad leaves that are beginning to curl from the first light frosts. Vines are bending under the weight of sugar snow peas. Zuchini has begun to outrace me in production. One minute they are small fingerlings and the next they seem big enough to build a boat out of. And the Kale! Kale is queen in my garden. Specifically Red Russian Kale. It is large and beautiful with it’s deep green leaves lanced by magenta ribs. With these frosts it is beginning to sweeten up to fine flavor for juicing and smoothies. I’ll be freezing much of it for winter use.

Yes, with Autumn every morning is a magical adventure. Today we had a rare storm come through leaving just a touch of rain after much threatening and rumbling. Unfortunately there will be more danger from lighting fires than the relief of rain but it was truly beautiful to watch. Every leaf seemed to reach upward to the rain. And in my fairy garden I swear I saw out of the corner of my eye the door open to the fairy tree.

Today I will celebrate the Autumn by making a Kale salad. If you’d like to join me grab a handful of red russian kale, about a cup of fresh apricots and a cup of fresh figs, some chia seeds, pumkin seeds and slivered almonds. A handful of tart berries of some kind are always nice. In a blender toss in just a few of your apricots, a half cup of cashews and a half cup of kefir (I use almond milk kefir). Blend till smooth adding cashews until you have a nice consistency for a dressing. Chop the kale into bite sized pieces and toss with dressing. Add a nice sprinkle of chia seeds, chopped apricots, berries, almonds and chopped figs. It’s delightful. Dont forget the pumpkin seeds (lovely toasted). Enjoy and think of crisp fall evenings with hops cones dancing on the vines and the spicy smell of pine trees towering over fragrant beds of herbs and vegetables.

Oh yes! Autumn is an enchanting time at Crazy Lady Farm.

Water, The Newest Precious Commodity?

I’ve watched with interest these past few years the impact of global climate changes. Last year as drought and fires raged through Australia I felt an icy premonition tickle my spine. Could this happen in my own country I wondered as I gazed at pictures of fires raging and burned koala bears? I was right to worry. This year drought has devastated not only my country, The United States of America, but it has ravaged many other countries accross the globe as well. And many of these countries provide food for the rest of the world. It all comes down to water, or the lack thereof.

Here in the long untamed West of the U.S. we are familiar with conflicts over water. Water being a precious commodity, many a battle through out the years centered over who had control over it. In my peaceful little valley my farm is blessed to be watered by a spring from the mountains. Not that we are untouched by the drought, mind you. A summer with no appreciable rainfall has left it’s mark. We are busily adding drip irrigation to all my raised beds and the plans are underway to continue to create a beautiful labyrinth of raised beds to replace the water hungry grass. We already water our two big pine trees with the grey water from our washing machine and collect rainwater for part of our greenhouse watering needs…when we have rain that is. So, for now, here on our peaceful little farm we have sufficient for our needs. There is no need to fear. Or is there?

 

I have watched with mounting alarm as community after community on our east and west coasts lose their water rights. Some had those rights signed away by greedy politicians who sold the water behind closed doors to big water companies who then sell that water to the rest of us for close to 2 US dollars a bottle. And as the drought has intesified they are finding out exactly how precious is what they have signed away. In other states water rights have been taken away by laws passed when people were not paying enough attention. In many states now it is illegal to capture rainwater from your own roof and there are high penalties if you do.

 

So, I begin to wonder. Is it gold we should be stockpiling against future economic distress and unrest? Or is it water?

The Lowly Cabbage

This time of year my cabbages are gorgeous. I sincerely regret having to harvest them out of the garden because they fill the garden with a sence of order, decorum and abundance. But I cannot let them split and try to flower so dutifully I head out with my cutting tool. Cabbages have been around for a long time, sustaining man and animal alike. And many a garden thug has tried to beat me to that harvest. Slugs are slimy thieves with a voracious appetite for cabbage. I find an organic product called ironically “Escargo” from Organic Gardening is very useful to control them without harming the garden, my animals or people. The cabbage worm is another culprit. The cabbage butterfly is a deceptively sweet looking white presence in the garden…flitting from plant to plant. I thought this year I would take care of them naturally by catching them with a butterfly net. It must have been amusing for my husband to watch. Those things are a lot faster than they look and have an uncanny knack for knowing where the net will be before I do. So I did something better. I sprayed my garden with compost tea. Where I sprayed I have far fewer cabbage worms! Another pest is the cunning raccoon. Raccoons are not indigenous to our valley.They were brought in years ago by hunters who wanted sport. Now they have multiplied and are a huge problem to the local wildlife and to our gardens. I’ve had many a cabbage ripped open so they could take one or two bites and move on. I have had some success with live trapping (no I don’t kill them). I did find that leaving out saucers of beer to trap and drown slugs was only providing my raccoons with a nightly beer party. When I found one passed out on his back in the middle of my beer traps I decided to just trap the live traps with the beer. Who knew they liked to party that much?

This year, as you can hopefully see from my picture, I am harvesting some lovely heads of cabbage. I think it’s time to learn to make sour kraut. If anyone out there has a favorite recipe I would love to hear from you. just send the recipe to my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/crazyladyfarm

Isn’t it wonderful that something so wonderful and common as cabbage can be enjoyed by so many! Maybe we can learn something from that.

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