Using Newspaper as a weed block/ mulch

Every year I spend WAY too much time weeding. I think everyone does. I actually am not one of those who can't have a weed in sight, I just like to make sure that the weeds aren't bigger than the actual plants I planted.
Weed Mat is expensive and Mulch doesn't really break down fast enough to till back in.

So it was suggested to me to use newspaper as a weed block. It's biodegradable, it would allow moisture to pass and may even retain moisture- PLUS it's almost FREE--- sounds like an awesome idea.
Of course I had to look into it a bit, and then play the the crazy inventor thing and I came up with an idea to use newspaper to keep your garden (relatively) weed free.

Here it is- Your and my secret... and everyone elses on the entire world wide web... but right now- Our Secret:

1. When you are planting your plants you dig your hole where you want them,
2. Cut a small  X out of the newspaper  I think 3 sheets maybe 4
3. Lay the newspaper over the hole obviously lining up the X with the hole
4. Plant the plant 'into' the newspaper
5. Repeat as you go down your row overlapping paper so no weeds could peek thru
6. Weigh down the corners of each of the papers I'm going to use either a little dirt or small rocks
7. Wet the paper to make sure it stays in place, and so that your transplanted babies get water

So if I am lucky I will get to actually plant something in the next few days (tomorrow?!!) and take pictures to post here...

Wish me luck. I just hope I don't get stuck reading the funnies and get nothing done :)

Living on a funny farm - Unexpected delivery

Living on a farm one can never truly plan anything. Or plan ON anything. I have been trying desperately to get into my garden over the last week and with multiple days of rain, outside commitments, and now -Post- Baby Sheep drama  it looks like I will have to wait ANOTHER day.

Austin, at least, has been making sure that my strawberries are picked - though none make it to the house.

I've done a bit here and there but I haven't really had a chance to get dirty in almost a week! What I had wanted to write about before (and the rain so rudely interrupted) was using newspaper as weed block/ mulch. I am going to write something on the theory of that in a moment and then when I do it- I will post pictures.

But really on this blog I just wanted to say that on a farm- Life is uncertain. It never matters to the animals that I have an appointment, or that we have something to do... they just need us when they need us. And I am ok with that. They are there for me and I am here for them... just sometimes a girl wants a little bit of time to herself.
So Baby Sheep...
the Baby Sheep drama- First, let me say that I am thankful for all that I have and that I get to experience first hand how life goes full circle.
Ok- so My "Mama" Sheep birthed today. She had a beautiful lamb and took great care of it from the beginning. However it seemed like "Mama" was still restless and the little lamb seemed chilled ( We will be naming the lamb 'Gift' in another language) So Austin and I dried and warmed the sheep (I did skin to skin to share body warmth) and moved him and "Mama" into the stall. That in itself was no easy task. We kept warming the sheep, and checking in all afternoon and then after dinner we went back to check on them again. We were concerned because we had not seen an afterbirth so we wanted to check the stall and the pasture if necessary. When we went to check the stall we found the afterbirth as well as a very underdeveloped lamb that had never even made it out of the bag. It was obviously dead before it was born and it was sad. Poor "Mama". So, of course we removed the mess and made sure that "Mama" and the little "gift" were ok, but sometimes it's just hard. There was nothing that could have been done differently, but it's still sad.
So it's a part of life on a farm, I get to experience birth- death and sometimes those 2 are too close together. All in all I still think I'm one of the luckiest girls on earth (living here on this farm) and but I can feel a little more at ease knowing that I can trust Mother Nature's judgement.

A Spring Garden

The Glory of Gardening Blog Entry #1
So, where do I start? How do I share all of my "knowledge"?
(Which my 'knowledge' btw is really a whole lot of Don't do this because if you do than squash bugs will take over your garden and perhaps the universe)
So I was asking myself all day... where to begin? and Finally I figured out that I would start with what we all have or are trying to have right now.

A Spring Garden

The greatest thing about a spring garden is that it a glorious way to daydream about the summer sun, and to be in total contact with the Earth. Spring is a time for rebirth and I know that for me it's more than just time for planting seeds, it's a time for planting intentions.
Spring Gardens are the foundation of your whole year of gardening. What you plant now dictates what you can plant later, and where you can plant it. Because certain veggies can be harvested so quickly (Radishes for example) and others can take so long (say parsnips) proper garden planning is essential for those who want to maximize space and harvest.

WAIT--- what... it's complicated? No, it's not. actually- well, it can be- but let's not worry about all that. Right now let's just worry about a basic garden design for a Spring Garden.
The Spring is tough because you can have cold, cold nights and sometimes really warm days. Picking the right plants for these extremes can prove to be very difficult. I have some basic go to veggies for my Spring Garden.
They are: Kale, Spinach, Chard, Asparagus (we will discuss on a whole different post) onions, beets, carrots, radishes, peas and the lettuces.
Really all of these can grow in very cold weather. The leafy green stuff usually doesn't tolerate heat well and will 'bolt' (meaning flower to make seed and then die) if it gets to hot. Heat also tends to make the leafy stuff bitter.

If it gets really warm really early the others may bolt, but it is less likely. This picture is of kale that has bolted. I decided to save the seed so I am letting it grow until the pods (where the seeds grow) start to turn brown. Then I will cut it all down and feed it to my animals. Except the seeds. I actually feed it to my animals now too, because there is no way I will need that much seed next year. OH and also I really love edible flowers, just cause they are fun, so we munch the Kale flowers.

So the basic idea of planning a Spring Garden is to make sure that whatever you want to grow and harvest will be able to be used and then another crop should be planted in it's place. Crops should be rotated and there are a lot of different ways to mingle crops with herbs, onions etc. to help naturally reduce pests and disease. To the right I have onions planted along with spinach. Onions naturally repel pests (and humans) so I like to plant tender plants like spinach with them. That way I don't have too many half eaten leaves. The other great thing about this is that it allows me to pull onions as I need them and when the spinach is finished I can replace it with another veggie that would benefit from growing with onions. Eggplants are VERY sensitive plants so I will probably put in eggplants in place of the spinach. Eggplants don't like to be cold, and since Spinach doesn't like to be hot it's a perfect successive planting. As my Eggplants grow, I will continue to pull my onions as I need them, making more space for the little beauties to grow. It's kind of like playing a game of chess... but since I am not very good at that game let's call it a game of Connect Four - you have to PLAN FOR THE Season, Size of the plant, Length of time till harvest, and Pest & Disease issues.
Touching on that VERY briefly- I will share a picture of how I am beating cabbage worms this year.
For those of you who know me personally know I dislike cabbage worms and Squash Bugs... everybody else I don't mind. They can eat all they want, as long as I get left something to eat there is enough to go around. Cabbage Worms and Squash Bugs don't play nice.
So I am drawing a defensive line (See left) which is actually a great way to organically control pests.

Anyway... So much more to say, but it's late and I have to go check on my chicks. Wishing you all well and Happy Gardening and Sweet D.r.e.e.m. ing (Hope you don't mind me using that Dani!)