The Living Green Farm Journal

"Sweet fields arrayed in living green, and rivers of delight"

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Sunday, March 28th

Keep On Diggin'



P0241_FarmKurtBackhoeBucket (79k image)
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I went back down this weekend to work on trenching again... it was a sunny day sandwiched between two weeks of drizzle. The ground was a bit wet still, but I figured it was my only chance in view to push the drainage project forward. The main downside was the need to stop periodically and pry the mud out of the backhoe bucket, as shown above. I learned to stop short of curling the bucket fully so as not to compress the dirt in the bucket; you only have to overshoot it once to pack the bucket so tightly that it is a real bear to get out.
Kurt on 03.28.10 @ 09:37 PM PST [more...]

Tuesday, March 23rd

One With The Machine



P0199_FarmKurtBackhoe (33k image)
Click on photo above to view movie (warning large 6430k Quicktime movie file)

Richard Heinberg, in his book "The Party's Over," refers to humans as going beyond mere tool-making. He says we equip ourselves with prosthetic devices that allow us to accomplish much more than what our bodies alone are capable of. The example he gives is that of an airline pilot; a pilot apparently once said to him that he "straps on a 747 and goes to work." And thus the 747, in effect a prosthetic device or super-tool, allows him to fly thousands of miles while in effect carrying hundreds of passengers.

This past weekend I strapped on the back hoe down at the farm and went to work digging trenches.
Kurt on 03.23.10 @ 10:50 PM PST [more...]

Monday, March 15th

The $80 Experiment



14677_FarmTrenching (82k image)

This has been a warm winter, and not as wet as some other years. Nonetheless, the south yard still ends up with pools of water... right where I planted a couple of rows of raspberries a couple of years ago. Needless to say, the raspberries have not done that well. In the city a raspberry patch is a fierce competitor: they leap fences into neighbor's yards, they sprout out of adjacent garden beds where they're not wanted, and they generally grow into a thick tangle of canes; I expected similar behavior out in the south yard, but the yearly winter drowning, the relentless pressure of the grass, and the dry summers have kept the farm canes looking like a set of spindly stalks.

What has been needed, and for some time, is better drainage in the south yard. With better drainage, the south yard could host all kinds of fruit and nuts: hazelnuts, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, etc. Thinking that this might be the year to develop the south yard, I ordered all those and more from my favorite nursery, Burnt Ridge Nursery.
Kurt on 03.15.10 @ 08:10 AM PST [more...]