Growing up in rural central California, my two best friends each had chickens in their backyards. Their busy moms would bribe us with a trip to Lickety Split, our favorite ice cream spot in town, if we helped out with chicken chores. We’d happily collect eggs, feed and water the birds in exchange for a […]
Katie Rose McGourty
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Blackouts and Enchanted Gardens
Here on the home farm, we used October’s electricity-free hours to get ahead of winter gardening chores. Our clover cover crop has successfully germinated and the leaves on the apple trees and blueberries are turning lovely shades of yellow and crimson. We carefully stacked firewood, cleared out the summer vegetables and got out the barrels […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Getting Covered and Putting up Apples
As the leaves turn color and pumpkins on the vine become more orange by the day, we welcome autumn on the home farm. Harvest season offers reward for carefully tending to the garden all spring and summer growing season: crisp apples, golden sunflowers and homegrown cannabis are soon to be harvested. Life in autumn offers […]
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Micro-farming a Kitchen Herb or Succulent Garden
Late summer, and the weather continues to be fine with warm days and long evenings. Here on the home farm, we’re straightening up our culinary herb garden bed to enjoy stepping out the back door and snipping a few sprigs of fresh herbs to add to farm kitchen sauces, salads, soups and stir-fried veggies. Cucumbers […]
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Garden toMedicine Cabinet
Like the song goes, “Summertime, and the living is easy.” Here on the home farm, we’ve been enjoying the pleasant mid-summer days and long evenings, as well as garden fresh salads and veggies. After staying committed to maintaining designated flower and medicinal herb patches for a few seasons, the sections are well established and we […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Creating Community with Gardens
As we slip into summer, here on the home farm we are enjoying the sunshine. The combination of late spring rains followed by a heat wave gave our plants the message to grow like crazy. It’s good timing because we’ve increased our ranks. Our labor force has suddenly tripled and we’re ecstatic. More hands and […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
A Creative Mess
A creative mess is better than tidy idleness,” stated a neatly typed sign on the door to our grandmother’s art room. Inside were shelves overflowing with art supplies, canvases stacked on every wall and boxes and boxes of wrapping paper, and forgotten Christmas presents. Here on the home farm, we’ve been inspired by Grandma’s wisdom, […]
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Hardy Vegetables and Fragrant Flowers
As springtime sunshine beckons us outdoors, here on the home farm we are rolling up our sleeves and heading out for some serious time in the garden. Daylight hours grow and the mercury is rising. It’s prime time to develop garden fever. Lush winter rains combined with fall and spring fertilizing and mulching created primo […]
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The Particulars of Pruning
With the mercury hovering in the frost zone, here on the home farm we’re enjoying the rush of chilly temperatures. An essential but often overlooked element of successful home farming is the downtime of the winter months. We use this time to put up our feet and drink some hot homegrown tea by the fire. […]
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Fruit Trees and Mint Patches
As winter wraps us in her chilly embrace, here on the home farm we are totally jazzed about the winter planting season. Cold weather brings plants into dormancy, creating an opportunity to introduce new additions, such as fruit trees and edible shrubs in the mint family (Lamiacea). Winter rainfall generously irrigates and softens the ground […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Darkness Garden
As the first autumn rains soak into the earth, here on the home farm we are beginning our darkness gardening routine. As the growing season winds down, we tidy up the remnants of autumn harvests and prepare for the winter planning and planting season. Now is prime time for cultivating high-flavor culinary gems in the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Medicine and Flowers
As the evenings become crisper and the days become shorter, here on the home farm we celebrate the end of another successful growing season. We’re pulling pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and picking our apples. This year marked an important milestone in home farming: The much awaited cannabis prohibition has at long last come to […]