A new video offering. I head out into the garden–in between cold spells and rain showers–and plant some potatoes.
Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, planting, gardening, food, growing, potatoes, spuds, farming, agriculture, sustainabilty, victory gardens
Popularity: 1% [?]
A video format of a presentation I gave for the Agriculture Resource Committee of San Juan County on Farmland Preservation to the Shaw Island Community on April 30th, 2008.
Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, grazing, farming, farmland preservation, san juan islands, arc, agriculture resource committee, shaw island
Popularity: 2% [?]
I’ve just got my copy of the new Wiggly Wigglers Catalogue–well, my paper copy is still lost in the post somewhere between here and there,1 so I got hold of a digital copy. . .it helps to have contributed to it!–From cover to cover, this is huge! Not only is the catalogue their biggest ever, packed with new items and stand-by favorites, but it contains more than just a boring compilation of items for sale. Anything but boring. This publication raises the bar on what a catalogue should be. From the pig tail on the cover to the quotes and contributor profiles inside, the thoughtful–and thought provoking–items for sale and gorgeous photography, Heather Gorringe and th
e entire Wiggly Team have redefined what a mail-order catalogue should be like.
I’m not just saying this because I am proud to have been a part of selecting items to appear in this new catalogue (nor because I’m mentioned and quoted over 8 times!!!), but because I really believe Heather’s idea of creating a catalogue using Social Media has led to something truly unique and creative. Using contributions and quotes from bloggers like Anne at Downshifting Path to Simplicity, Muppet at Fluffius Muppetus and The Alternative Kitchen Garden Podcast, Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand, Jane Perrone at Horticultural, Simon Sherlock, Mark Eccleston at The Green Fingered Photographer, and Melanie at Bean Sprouts (just to name a few, and all bloggers whom I regularly read) makes for a lively and unique read–something you will want to flip through and read many times before it is worn enough to consign to the worm bin.
I haven’t had time to fully digest everything in the catalogue yet. Reading it on the screen isn’t nearly as nice as flipping actual pages in my opinion. This page, however, on clay pots leapt out at me. I love clay pots. I have a small, treasured collection of my own I use whenever I get a chance, and I especially like using them for seed starting. To me they are aesthetically and ethically pleasing: they just look fantastic, and they are infinitely sustainable. From the jobs they provide, to their recyclability–once broken they can be used in other pots, as garden decorations, as a crushed pathway–to the fact that if you’re using clay pots you’re not using cheap, plastic, break as soon as you look at them, chemically saturated garbagy pots.
One other set of pages I love are the Opinel Knives. They aren’t the easiest knives to find, nor is such a useful collection usually found in one place. I love my Opinel knives. I have many which I use almost daily, with my favorite one in my pocket all the time. They are functional and durable. From cutting bailing twine to trimming fingernails, grafting trees, paring an apple for lunch, harvesting vegetables, or scraping moss off a rock, having a good knife is essential. These knives have style and you cannot beat the simplicity and strength of the locking mechanism. As each of my children has turned twelve they have received an Opinel No.8 and encouragement to use them wisely as they help on the farm.
To find out more about the newest items in the Wiggly Catalogue, check out the Online Store or request a catalogue of your own.
Technorati Tags: podchef, wiggly wigglers, social media, heather gorringe, fork full of country, weekend farmer, wiggly catalogue, opinel knives, clay pots, pigs
- The paper catalogue is fantastic, almost like a magazine. Well worth the wait! [↩]
Popularity: 11% [?]
Getting a jump on the growing season is important. Here’s how I start vegetable seeds in a simple, no-nonsense fashion.
You can find out more by listening to Gastrocast #144 and watching The Roving Podchef.
Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, gardening, seed starting, planting, farming, growing, starting seeds, vegetables, food, cooking
Popularity: 22% [?]
Please take some time to watch this video, then visit the site and listen to the two audio selections. I have been trying to find time to write about these issues, but this media trumps all.
Technorati Tags: peak oil, peak food, richard heinberg, soil association, organic, global climate change
Popularity: 13% [?]
I have partnered with Seeds From Italy to bring you a special seed offer at a 20% discount. These Italian and European vegetable seed varieties–some of which are Heirloom–are not available in many places in the US. If you purchase the seed selection I have created, you not only get a tremendous value but I will also be offering advise, sharing insights, and cooking the produce as we grow the seeds together on the show.
You can find a link to the offer, and a description of the varieties here. Of course to see this page you have to become a member of The Gastrocast Forum–but that’s okay; it’s free, confidential, and it’s where you can share your experiences growing the seeds and enjoying your harvest.
So, if you haven’t bought your garden seeds already, or are considering starting a garden, or want to explore growing some vegetables yourself in some containers on your patio–why not try this out.
Technorati Tags: vegetables, seeds, gardening, planting, seeds from italy, heirloom, podchef, gastrocast, grow your own food, spring planting
Popularity: 21% [?]
A little something I whipped up with Driftwood Ranch grass fed beef the other day when Dana Kinsey came over to talk.
Technorati Tags: gastrocast, podchef, cooking, food, meat, beef, grass fed, flank steak, thai cooking, noodles, stir-fry, driftwood ranch, orcas island
Popularity: 23% [?]
Dana Kinsey of Driftwood Ranch on Orcas Island dropped by the other day, and here’s what we talked about:
Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, beef, grassfed beef, cooking, driftwood ranch, orcas island, food, farming
Popularity: 21% [?]
The other day, my nephew was giving out about how stupid I must be to let my cattle ruin the field. Didn’t I know any better than to leave them in an acre section and let them churn it all up–wasn’t I supposed to be a smarty pants grazier? Why wasn’t I moving my beasts around the fields instead of ruining one?
Thirteen year old boys know so much! My daughter told him to come ask me why I was destroying all the land in the known universe, but I still haven’t seen him. Instead I offer my apologies and explanations to the world as to why I would allow hallowed ground to be churned to mud.
Here in our own dot of the Pacific Northwest, grass grows almost all year around. During the months of November through February it slows to an almost imperceptible crawl, but it is still green and creeping along. Depending on what sort of summer we’ve had and how long it stretched into October, this winter crop of grass can be long and dried out, short and recovering after being grazed a bit in the autumn, or cropped to the ground.
Grass grows not just in stimulus to warmth and light, but also as a by-product of cutting–those leaves want to grow bigger to catch more sun rays. Of course, with an absence of all three of those elements in the winter that grass just sits there waiting to burst forth in the Spring.
I have limited grazing lands available to me. In order to get the most out of my pastures for my animals I must manage them to the best of my ability, factoring in weather, cattle pressure and season. If I let my cattle graze all of the pasture in the winter, they would destroy all of it making it slower to get a start and regrow in March. Not only do cattles’ hooves impact the ground when it is damp or thawing from a freeze, but they also tend to crop the grass down quite low at a time when it is powerless to recover. Additionally, during frosts or snows, the cattle can snap, break and otherwise damage the grasses they require in order to live. Like I have said–I only have a limited amount of land for my animals, I don’t have the luxury of moving them to greener pastures while the one they’ve destroyed recovers.
And so, in the picture above, you can see what happens–and why my nephew was being such a wiseacre. Rather than letting the cattle destroy all of the pasture, plugging it up, making in difficult to mow in the summer, and slow to grow in the spring, I only allow them to ruin a portion of the fields. As we feed hay during the winter the hay seeds help restore this piece of ground, and if it needs mechanical remediation, it is small enough to only take a few hours to set right.
So there you have it–destroy some to save the rest. It’s the middle of January now–we’ve had frosts and freezes, but little snow. The hay is abundant and the cattle are looking well fed and happy. In another month or so, depending on the rains, I will move the cattle and allow them to begin to graze on some of the recovering pasture as it bursts into growth in March. Our prime grass season here is from April to July. So during those months I have to capitalize on grass growth and will be busy daily moving the cattle so they always have fresh, lush grass before them.
As for the churned up paddock? This year I think I’ll be lazy with it–it’s covered thickly in manure. After harrowing it once, I might just see how a crop of corn or barley does in it, maybe a stand of sunflowers–hate to waste the cattle’s hard work getting it ready over winter.
Technorati Tags: farming, livestock, pasture, grazing, grassfed beef, grass, paddocks, animals, fields, hay
Popularity: 22% [?]
