Open-Pollinated Garden

This is the year I am making the transition to open-pollinated / heirloom varieties in the garden with the idea in mind to begin saving seeds. I consider it an important matter of food security to be able to save viable seed from a crop. It will also allow me to select seed from plants that do well right here in the Grand Prairie. AND there are some REALLY exciting heirloom varieties out there!

I'm continuing with the low-tech approach in the garden this year(with the exception of plastic). After toying with it on a small scale for a couple of seasons I tried it on a larger scale last year. I only committed to it for one year because I was unsure how it would go but even before last season ended I knew I would stick with the low-tech approach for another year. I can't imagine doing it any different next year but for now I'll just take it one season at a time.

Need some fresh air and exercise? Come join me in the garden! I'll be looking for help all season! Email jake @ grandprairiefood.com for more details.

The Flock

The Flock

Last year I more than doubled the size of my flock to keep up with demand for eggs from organic and pasture fed hens. This year those birds will be in high production but I'm still concerned I will be sold out. I will be selling flock shares again this season. A full share which will guarantee at least one dozen eggs per week at market (24 weeks) is $72, 1/2 share(12 weeks) is $36, etc.

The birds on my farm are free roaming, meaning they are not cooped or fenced in. They have been raised from day one on certified organic grains grown locally and put out in the pasture at about 6 weeks old (unless the mama hatches them, then they are out in the pasture from day 1). And flock share customers are invited out to verify this for themselves.

Important to note, the term "free range" just means the birds have access to the outside, not that they actually go outside or that if they do go out that they have good stuff to balance their diet with. A "free range" bird may still never taste anything green in it's life. My birds have access to all the greens and bugs they can catch (its funny to watch them hop up to grab a flying bug). Eggs from pasture fed birds have many times more omega-3 fatty acids and more Vitamin A than birds with no access to greens. And they have less fat and cholesterol than factory farm eggs.

Contact me at jake @ grandprairiefood.com for more info on flock shares or talk to me at the market.

We'll also be taking orders for organic, pastured broilers available this Fall.

Since last summer...

Since Last Summer...
Here's the short version to get everyone up to speed -

Managed to get most of my harvest out of the garden last year. I was surprised with how much the garden produced, weed patch that it was. Also managed to make it to every market day in Bloomington last year. Thanks again for everyone's support.

Last Fall, with the help of a dear friend, I found a new home for the garden. I am starting the garden from scratch out of lawn at an old farmstead. Busting the sod with hand tools is hard but rewarding work. I've also learned in previous years that exposing soil that has been beneath sod can yield poor results the first year. I'm guessing it has to do with exposing long buried soil and organisms to the sun and wind and disrupting the wicking effect of the soil.

Those things considered I don't expect to get near as much planted this year or get as much yield from what I do get in. Another good year to learn. Like last year, much of this year's work will pay off in following seasons. Only now I don't have to worry about landlords changing their mind.

Got in my garlic and some flowers bulbs last fall. They made their show back in March. So at least I'll have that much. Planting this Spring has been delayed multiple times because of wet weather. Important to keep in mind that working in soil that is too wet can have an impact for years to come due to compaction. I have managed to get some peas, potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, radishes, spinach, lettuce and other greens in.

Would love to get my beans and rest of my potatoes in but we just had 2 days of rain so delayed again. As more comes up I'll have a better idea of what I'll have the first week of market which is May 19th.

See you there!

Got My Blog Back

Apparantly after a lack of activity and google taking over blogger, I lost access to edit my blog. I wrote google a couple of times and was finally able to claim the blog as mine again under my new google ID. So it is active once again... at least until I get too far behind in the garden.

Past couple of days have been rainy so it was a perfect chance to get this done. Now I can fill in everyone about all the garden news since last summer. Stay tuned.