Propagation Workshop

On Wednesday Sept. 23 we are holding our Propagation Workshop in anticipation of the Holiday Plant sale for December. In order to fullfill the requirements of the Organic Certification rules for Dharma Farm, we will be using ONLY certified Organic plants and seeds at this workshop. Any cuttings brough MUST come from an Already certified organic plant. Our main focus for this Plant Sale will be Herbs and Flowers since it was suggested that the marketability of these at that time is best. We haven't determined yet where we will hold our actual sale--it has been suggested that a more public site would be preferred such as a shopping mall or other situation. If that will be the case, you are welcome to include for the sale only, plants that you have propagated and maintained.
If any of you haven't visited the newly opened SEED BANK in Petaluma--you're in for a surprise! The variety and selections of rare and organic seeds they have is outstanding. You'll find them on the corner of E.Washington and Petaluma Blvd. Interior of the bank is also a feast for the eyes with the 30ft. ceiling of hammered metal and large windows.
Also, don't forget to check out the weekend workshops at Harmony Farm Supply in Sebastopol. this Saturday from 10-12 is a cover crop class and next Saturday is a Garlic Class with Chester Aaron --king of garlic growing who has written several books on garlic growing. Each weekend in the winter months offers a workshop including Mushroom growing, winter gardening, water useage, etc.

Sept 11

Don’t forget—Wendy has a MALT event at the Farm Saturday (today)
Vic and I had another meeting at the Kentfield Campus today and dropped off a “bribe” box for the Asst. of Student Affairs. It did it’s Magic—all in the club counsel would like a tour of our Farm. We’re going to be presenting ourselves to the Associated Students Group on Thursday and to request assistance for getting our Club off the ground.

Our 1st Farm Club project will be a Propagation Workshop on Sept. 23 at the Farm Field Greenhouse from 10 AM to 2PM.
We’ll be planting for our Holiday Plant Sale in December.
Here’s what we will be needing (if you can supply something from the list, please contact Vic or myself):

Soil (being picked up by Rob Fowler)
Vermiculite
Seed trays or pots
Tags/markers
Permanent marker pens
Seeds
Cuttings
Bulbs

If you can, contact your local nursery or gardening friends to see if they could donate to our cause. I’ve contacted the Bolinas Nursery and will be getting cuttings from many of their Mother Plants to use (for example). They are also donating a huge amount of plastic pots to us. I’ll also contact my farmer friends out here in Bo, too.

Our first Field trip is scheduled in November to UC Santa Cruz to visit the Allan Chadwick garden. We’ll be discussing the details of this trip in the oncoming meetings.

A perk test was done at the Farm last week in a hole dug in the “melon patch”. The results aren’t so favorable. The hole was dug on Wednesday and filled with water. By Friday, most of the water was still pooled. Which means, we have an apparent hardpan layer.

Henry and his Conservation Corps and Interns are really making the Fall garden Glamour!! What a transformation we’re seeing there right now from harvest to hallowed grounds again.

Great Video, Hilary-thanks for sharing it.

White House Garden...

Check out this great youtube video!

August 21

Hi All!
I visited the gardens during my first Landscape Design class last Friday. Everyone was Awed by our Garden--including a few members from our original class that hadn't visited since class ended last Spring. So, now that the new school session has started, how about adding some new members to the Farm Club? Should we have a welcoming party--or harvest party. Perhaps we should send out an invitation to all students participating in any of the classes of the department. Feedback?

Lavender

Back in July, Wendy and Steve were involved in a discussion on Lavender and the disappearance of the true species. Do any of you, or Steve, can you tell me the name of that species and how you are trying to protect it.
And, regarding the Melon posting by Hilary--THANK YOU!! I wonder, though, which is which on the melons. Is the dark green melon with the yellow dots the Moon and Stars? Did we mark where the varieties were planted or just scatter the seeds?

Melon Reminder

The public keeps asking us what kinds of melons we've got and so far our answer has been a vague "well we planted so many varieties..." Here's my list of what we planted back in April with a link to more information.  We still might not be able to tell them which is which (Moon & Stars is the obvious exception), but at least we can sound a little more informed:

Hime Kansen Watermelon (Japanese Ice Box)

Imperial 45 Cantaloupe

Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe

Charentais Melon

Mickeylee Watermelon (Ice Box)

Old Original Melon

Moon & Stars Watermelon

Gleaning/Harvesting...

It's a fact, I just can't seem to get enough of the farm life!  It's Camp Mommy this week, so what fun activities did I plan for my girls? That's right, hard labor!  

First, on Monday afternoon, I took them to Green Gulch to join Marin Organic's "Glean Team."  My eager young farmers personally harvested about 4 cases of rainbow chard, fingers turning red  and yellow in the process.  They were downright joyful upon realizing that some of the chard perfectly matched to their hot pink shorts. Relate it to fashion and they will come! Unfortunately we were not able to avoid the wrath of the abundant stinging nettle and we all left with welts on our knees.  But it was a small price to pay for the great contribution we had made to Marin Organic's school lunch program.

This morning, I was happy to assure my girls that there would be no thorny encounters at the IVC farm, our next harvest adventure of the week.  The shoppers were already there when we arrived and so I promptly put the girls to work under Henry's direction.  They started by gathering basil and peppers, worked their way over to melons, climbed up the hill to pull corn from the towering corn stalks and concluded by picking beans. I caught them a few times eating the goods, munching on tomatoes like they were apples...or was that me, caught redhanded, not in the cookie jar, but in the tomato vine?

We now have a white board at the farm entrance to list all the produce that we are harvesting.  Besides the items already mentioned, we also had potatoes, lettuce, chard, flowers, cucumbers (big), zucchini (bigger) and crook neck squash.  And while our visitors enjoyed this new shopping tool, they were disappointed to find out that the stand would be closed next week when the new school session begins (the stand will reopen in following weeks). That message carried a bittersweet reminder for us Dharma Farm Club diehards, that next week a new round of Organic Farm students will have their first class and the farm would no longer be "ours and ours alone."   We're a generous crew though, and in the spirit of many hands make light work, we are looking forward to the camaraderie of a new batch of volunteers working with us side by side.

So what's next on the agenda of Camp Mommy? Pt. Reyes station and a visit to Bobby Foehr's chicken ranch. If any of you attended Steve's Chicken workshop, you'll remember Bobby- he's the guy that captured the swarm of bees outside Toby's.  Bobby's got chickens for laying and chickens for eating, so I think it will be an exciting life lesson for my daughters. 

Farm Sweet Farm

Greetings! I have returned home. Can't wait to share stories and pictures with everyone. Farming in St. Croix was pretty sweet. Except everything was always thirsty!! We did not have enough water :( Lots of passion fruit, coconut, papaya - pretty much everything grows there except it is almost impossible to grow onions!

I'd love to come to the farm this wednesday... anyone want to carpool?

MORINGA! the miracle plant. put it through the chipper for compost (member of the legume family) three seeds sitting on top. these seeds make WATER POTABLE. check it out: http://www.naturalnews.com/022272.html

Working with a service camp from the US to weed this shade house. We built it for a local elementary school's own "edible schoolyard"

Go Wendy!!

new group of kids from the same service camp: overland. we spread all that gravel as a suppressant. it started as a 6ft pile in the back!

Sheep and Goat (annie) tend the mango/banana orchard

baby yellow warblers in the garden!!

little bunny foo foos are the meat we eat

coconut harvest. i learned to wield that machete like a master!

passion fruit, pumpkin, cucumber, gourd, loofah...

organic farming with the kids! mostly cover crop... the kids harvested pigeon peas. we followed Steve's example with the "spiritual sow" and planted some pineapple for fun :)

they covered the beds with mulch and compost (we sang your song wendy!)

me: what is the heart of organic farming?

2 or 3 kids quietly to themselves: feeding the soil

me: feeding the what?

all: SOIL!

me: what?!

all: FEEDING THE SOIL!!

YAAAA.

more picture to come... Can't wait to get out to IVC!!

Lots of Love

MUST READ Book

I'm reading an EXCELLENT book by Barbara Kingsolver called, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". It's certainly a book that strengthens the resolve of all that we are doing. She and her family decide to move away from Tucson, AZ to their farm in the Appalacian Mtns. where they can live sustainably from what they and their neighbors produce. It's a year long commitment that the family makes and a documentation of that journey. VERY well written, and includes commentary on how this country has gotten into the Industrialized "Pickle" that we are experiencing as far as diet and food consumption.

Take Action Now!

Williamson Act Terminated Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week used his line-item veto power to terminate the California Land Conservation Act, more commonly known as the Williamson Act. Since 1965, California landowners have voluntarily enrolled about 16 million acres in these contracts, agreeing to restrict land uses to agriculture or related open space. They're then taxed on the agricultural value of the land rather than its fair market value, and the state reimburses each county what it loses in uncollected taxes. According to the Department of Conservation, one in three farmers surveyed claim they wouldn't be able to keep their properties without Williamson Act tax savings. TellMarin County supervisors you hope they'll continue the Williamson Act on their own, despite the actions of the governor.

Another beautiful day at the farm...

Really.  It could not have been a more gorgeous day yesterday.  Conditions were perfect: a clear blue sky, warm but not too hot, a slight breeze and the scent of ripe melons in the air. And boy did we harvest melons! Dozens of cantaloupes of all shapes and sizes as well as scattered watermelons filled the farm stand, alongside red tomatoes, green and purple beans, lettuce, potatoes, chard, zucchini, peppers, basil and our ever popular cut flowers.  Oh, and did I mention the corn? Yes, that's right, our first ears of super sweet corn!  Originally an East Coaster, I never thought I'd meet a cob of corn that rivaled New Jersey Silver Queen.  As a kid, we'd drive to the shore and stop at a farm stand along the way so we could snack on the raw corn in the car- JOY! Well yesterday I was a child again as I chewed the sweet, tender kernels that we all planted with our very own hands.  With corn production under my belt, I must say I now officially feel like a true blue farmer!

Part of why our harvest was so successful yesterday was that we had many eager helpers. Henry had an enthusiastic group of Regen kids working the field and the compost piles.  His group was also joined by the Kentfield campus' outreach coordinator Jorge and his crew of teens who were conducted on a CCNB tour of the farm and greenhouse.

Another new addition to our activities yesterday was our new farm manager Bethallyn Black! We are lucky to have her years of experience working as the Urban Horticulture Program Manager for UCCE Contra Costa.  A resident of Walnut Creek, she made fast friends with the Dharma Farm Clubbers by bringing along a basket of asian pears and pluots from her productive home garden.  Bethallyn jumped right in working the stand, harvesting in the field and educating the public that are ever more interested in learning what we're doing out there.

Thank you all who were there and look for some pix that Steve will post (right SQ?!) under separate cover...

Inspiring!

Through the Marin Open Garden Project I came across the "Free Farm Stand" blog.  Wow! In the latest post, Tree (who started the project) talks about Peak Produce (as in Peak Oil)- I just love that!  Are we at Peak Produce?  I don't think so with all those tomatoes, melons and corn ready (or almost ready) for picking.  

The stand has given away over 1500 pounds of free produce this year culled together from community gardens, home gardens, gleaning and even dumpster diving.  While this stand is in SF, we should remember that there are plenty of individuals and families in Marin County who can't afford fast food let alone the good, healthy, slow food we're growing.  

I hope we can figure out a way to connect some of those people with the bounty we're producing at our gorgeous farm. Given our good fortune at having this land to tend, it would be great to feed it back to those most in need.

Filled with glee!

I've taken a blog break this summer, but something happened on Wednesday that I feel compelled to share!  As I was planting cauliflower I looked over to the row next to me where broccoli had been planted the previous week.  Did I think, "Oh, how nice, broccoli"? No.  Instead I thought, "Who the heck planted these seedlings, because they did it all wrong!  Look at the exposed stems!  These need to be redug and replanted!"  So what could possibly make me gleeful about this?  Well, if you refer back to my first or second blog posting you'll see a reference to Steve voicing that very critique to our class and my cringing at the thought, "Was it me?"  HAH! Now I'm the criticizer, not the criticizee! So if you're listening Steve, or reading that is, your students have indeed learned a thing or two.  Watch out- we may be checking up on your work soon:)

PS No offense to the broccoli planters, teenagers from the Regen project. They're incredible kids with just a thing or two still to learn from their elders...

July 15,2009

Work commenced at 9:30 am members arriving staggered throughout the morning and working also into the later afternoon hours

PRESENT:
Elizabeth Baker, Creta Pullen, Veronica Valero, Barbara Leufien, Luanna Navarro, Victoria Stavig, Henry Wallace, Wendy Johnson

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND DISCUSSION:
Wendy will be hosting a program for “Grown in Marin” at the Farm on Saturday-- Food and Farming on the Urban Edge:Growing Food in Your Own Backyard Any and all are welcome to come—and especially to help in the field. A perfect opportunity to show off our bounty (and sell it!!)
We had a willing Volunteer named Shannon come to help us on the farm today—able, willing, and very skilled. The Regen. Students were also in attendance on the field.

It’s time to get down to the Process of actually formalizing the club. I met this morning with the asst. of Nanda Schorske (Laurie Loeffler)because the Kentfield campus where I needed to drop off the paperwork was closed due to a power outage, so this has given us a wee bit more time to solidify our Mission Statement. Since we are having a Saturday work meeting this weekend, perhaps we can while we work, whistle the tunes of our mission. I hope to see a few more faces to help us accomplish this. If you haven’t been to the farm in awhile, you will be VERY surprised at the bounty we have been harvesting every week. People are making it a ritual now to stop by and ask (and to buy)what’s just been picked.

As treasurer, too, I would like to request a bit more professional housekeeping with the money end of the club. We’ve been a bit loosey-goosey as far as record keeping. I need to receive reports on all monies brought in from our harvesting and I need to have receipts for all the expenditures. The farm is getting a new Farm Manager next week. She will be handling all the monies from now on, so let’s give her all the help she needs to keep it on target (whatever that is).

TODAY’S FARM PROGRESS:
Prepared beds for and planted-
Eggplant (All Star Organics)
Sweet and Hot Peppers (All Star Organics)
Broccoli (Green Gulch farm & Harmony Farm Supply)
Lettuces (Green Gulch Farm)
Ttransplanted-
Onions (Green Gulch Farm & Harmony Farm Supply)
Lettuces (Green Gulch Farm)
Carrots
Thinned-
Beans and Buckwheat
Cleared for Harvest-
Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Turnips, Zuccini, Beans, Flowers

Must read...

Check out this article from Sunday's NY Times magazine: Street Farmer. Think big!!

July 8-2009

We hosted another Project Regeneration class through the Conservation Corps. This class was very enthusiastic about working and extremely helpful in all they accomplished. Mention was made concerning a Saturday work day. Neither Steve nor Wendy has time to oversee this, but Steve said a self directed work day on Saturday is an EXCELLENT idea for any and all who wish to put in some time on the field. You can also sell produce during the time you are there and we can figure out a spot for you to leave the $$$ collected for me to pick up on Wednesdays. Let me know who is interested in this situation. I do know that Dione and Paige expressed interest—and anyone else is certainly welcome. I can come at least one Saturday and show you how to set up the buckets for selling.
Speaking of selling—we have collected by any and all means—approx. $200 to date.(you can ask me personally what “by any and all means” is) There have been some expenditures leaving us with cash in hand of $140. We can really use plastic sacks for giving out to customers who show up w/o something. (And, they are many). If you save plastic bags, please recycle them in our direction. We can also use more buckets (large tubs are good) for holding water to support the produce—if you have any or would like to donate them.
For anyone wishing to pass on information that Henry should know, you can contact him via cell phone at 612-327-4167 or via email at rockns_10c@hotmail.com

Steve discovered the giant Turnip that nearly ate Dharma Farm!!

We harvested our First ripe tomato from what looks to be a bumper crop. And, we discovered 3 baby watermelons.

Harvesting and sales were the order of the day on July 1. I arrived early to find people already clamoring at the gate salivating for fresh picked. I couldn’t harvest fast enough!!! Thank you Henry for preparing the tubs for produce early!! AND, thank you Liza for the WONDERFUL gazebo!! It certainly is a Blessing to stand under and a respite from the Sun. We harvested lettuces, chard, kale, zucchini and Flowers for bouquets. The word must be out, because people were coming in DROVES, (actually, they were the morning hikers) and they’re all telling their friends and are looking forward to every Wednesday, now.
We planted pole beans, artichokes, and cucumbers. And, we also harvested the arugula for seed. Steve will be giving a demonstration in our next class on seed saving.
We also had someone stop by to see if one of the class members might be interested in a gardening job. The mention was made of making a posting board for people to leave us messages, and for us to leave announcements. What do you think of that idea?
Steve discovered a gopher invasion in the melon patch and secured two cinch traps. Hopefully, we can nip their intrusion before they do too much damage.
Anyone wishing for a Saturday workday, please contact either Hillary or myself—if there’s enough interest, we’ll try to set one up. I know those of you who can’t make it on Wednesdays are really missing the bounty and the fun of interacting with all the interested people wanting to purchase our produce.
Growing up in Iowa, the corn state, we had a saying: “The corn should be knee high by the 4th of July.” Well, our corn certainly is!!! It looks great, and we found 5 melons on one vine that are of a remarkable size already!! YEAH US!!!