Sights on the pharm

Summer is here, and its even sunny. . . aaaaaaaahhhh. . .

Everything i ever learned about compost was a lie!!

Okay, not entirely. But there are some household composting rules that have good history, but simply aren't true. How do i know this??
As of today i am a certified compost site operator. i went, i saw, i composted!!!!

i had the grand pleasure of spending a week with 25 other people from all over the world learning how to make some mighty fine soil amendments!! It was fabulous. There were of course people from the states, but also a fella from the Philippines, a fella from Chad (Africa) and bloke from the Galapagos. . . he was really from Germany, but works for the WWF on the islands. Lucky dog!

So what about some of these "myths" that should be reconsidered by every person in America:

1) Compost can't be made from human biosolids (poop).
Wrong! Actually some of the finest, and safest to use on your home garden, compost is made from human biosolids. If you see it in the store it is more than safe. This doesn't, of course, mean that you should (or even can legally) make it in your home composter. . . unless you have a composting toilet.

2) Compost stinks.
False. If managed correctly a compost pile won't smell at all!!

3) You can't compost meat.
Wrong again. In fact no too many years ago the Maine compost team composted a full sized pilot whale. Total time from whale to dirt with a few knuckle bones - 12 weeks.
In 8 weeks you can make chickens into dirt. In 12 a cow is nothing more than a skeleton, wait another year or so (or buy a grinder) and even the bones break down!!!

Pretty cool eh?!?! Why be afraid of the things your food eats. After all, it is what we will all become eventually anyway!!


Pictures to follow!!

i like feeding the critters!

Managed feed regimens leads to healthier coats and meat!

Like sand through the hour glass. . .

Hmmm. . . this blog, like so many other things in my "old" life seems so foreign.

The demands of the family, Pearson's town, and that other place i work have been overwhelming. Alas, things on the pharm are moving forward (at a dizzying pace). This is not that latest that i have ever tried to get a garden in, but we are creeping up on it.
Addy, Owie, and i spent yesterday planting gourds, melons and the like. before the weeks out the corn, tomatoes, and peppers will be in (along with, Lord willing, everything else).

In the tree department, we had an issue with a band of rabid Pygmy beavers. Our front yard is largely denuded. . . except that the trees are still there. Just. . . well. . . sideways.

Speaking of trees - back in the old days, at a place called Pico Blanco, we used to wander the forest in search of albino redwood trees, which yes, there are!!! Well, there is another magic tree that is close to my heart. The Monterey Cyprus only grow naturally on the Monterey peninsula in California. Well, in a moment of nostalgia, after having lived here for far too long, i found some seeds online. So of course i bought them, planted them, and they grew.

A couple of weeks ago, just after having moved my prized tree outside for the summer i noticed something amiss. One of the branches was oddly colored. At first i thought that it was dead, but then it grew, and grew some more. i have never known a dead branch to grow before.

The branch is not pure white like the albinos that i am familiar with, but rather a golden color. i don't know what to make of it. Like so many other things on the pharm. . . its weird!

When there is no time like the present

i have been meaning to blog for what seems an eternity, but never do find the time. Planting season is a busy one!!! As i am temporarily trapped inside (its raining pretty good out) i had best blog now, or it might get put off again for another month or so.

This May has been rewarding and brutal. i am loving my job so much that it has really become more of an extension of my life. This is a far cry from most of my previous job experiences i have had, and i am totally loving it. The sad part is that it is eating into my personal time. A triumphantly disastrous example played out this weekend. . .
At Pearson's Town we had a "community planting celebration". It was fabulous. We invited anyone and everyone to come and plant with us, talk with us, and see what we are up to over behind that mysterious ol' barn. Well . . . . in my frenetic rush around the house Saturday morning to make sure that everything was ready and rolling for work, i somehow (absentmindedness) failed to turn on the climate control system for my home green house. My starts, all five hundred plus of them, were the pride of my spring. Guess what. . . . all but 10 are now dead. Yes, Saturday was the first day in four that reached above 55 degrees outside, and was the first that we had seen the sun in as many days.

Well, 70 degrees outside might feel nice, but it equates to about 120 degrees in the greenhouse. The starts are in small plastic cells that are about 1 inch cubed. Needless to say, it doesn't take long for a 1 inch cube to dry out and cook. . .

On the other hand everything else on the Phunny Pharm is doing quiet well. . . .ooooh look, lightening. Maybe i will stay in a little longer. . . Sorry, ADHD moment.

Where was i?? Oh yes. . . We are expecting baby turkeys any day now. The sheep are getting fat and now respond to whistles and the calling of their names, the chickens are recovering from fox paranoia, and we are finally reclaiming the yard from last years brush and debris.

Um. . .wow. . . it's really raining now. This is so going to delay my digging expedition (yes, i am way behind and still building beds in my garden). In the meantime, here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

The Pearson's Town Gang on Saturday morning before the Planting Celebration

Owen and Sissy joining in the work (No i am not violating labor laws. . . they have a union too).

Mom and Sissy supervising in the Kinder-Garden.

James reclaiming his hands after a "hard day" playing on the farm.

Rainbow Chard. . . Beautiful and yummy!!!!

Sheep - the other, other, other white meat. . . unless mom and the kids name them!

Begining the down hill slide

May is now officially over the hump. The busiest month of our year. Two major events down (birthdays) with two remaining (first camping weekend, and Community Planting Celebration at work). i am still not sure how the latter of all of these events is going to go. Am i nervous?? Not yet. . . there will be time to freak out later!

"Do you consider yourself an agriculturalist?"

That was the question that i was asked last week. . . The question was sincere, and necessary, but definitely the person asking new very little about me. For me to consider myself an agriculturalist, or even a farmer for that matter, would be an insult to those folks that make an honest living toiling in the soil. Do i learn a ridiculous amount every year and put a fraction of that into practice. . . yes.

As my excitement grows, the size of our garden makes huge leaps. As the size of our garden makes huge leaps, the practical application of important principles makes small strides.

******Intermission time****** Buster the Ram just ran through the portable fence because it was turned off and a chicken was tormenting him******

Where was i??? Oh yes!

So now that the garden is MUCH larger we have figured out that we should be orienting the rows east to west instead convenient to more convenient. We learned how very valuable that crop rotations can be for soil health. Lastly (well not lastly, but i don't want to go to jail for genocide. . . the boring to death of all of the 1/2 a reader that visits here) we learned that some pestilences like powder mildew (which affects your curcubits) can be forecast like the weather. It would seem that this last little charm is a gift to us from Florida in exchange for our sending all of our old people to their state.

Anyway. . . not to bore you any longer. . . the garden is finally tilled, the first trench is dug, the sheep is back in the "barn", and the children are in the breezeway playing "Lord of the Flies". Life is as it should be. . . .

It's a busy month. . .

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays.

This is the second weekend of birthday parties. Last weekend, a surprise party, this weekend a pirate party, next weekend. . . camping. It will be a good time and relaxing, but with everything happening between here and Pearson's Town, i could really just use a weekend off.

Here on the Pharm we are recovering from the second big poultry slaughter in two years. The turkeys are fine this year, but the foxes are back and they are exhibiting a rather unusual hunting method. It has always been my experience that they hunt alone, and usually take just one or at the most, two birds a night.

This Mother's Day, they were pack hunting, during the middle of the day, and took between 8 and 10 birds. We are still trying to get an exact count. This first set of chicken chicks has arrived, and are already taking over the house.

In the turkey coop, the hens have abandoned two clutches of eggs, but a third hen has been sitting fairly religiously on a new clutch for about two weeks. We might yet be surprised this year.

And, the sheep - they are getting acclimated. Today was our first attempt at herding them without any fencing. The "barn" and the portable fence are about 20 feet apart, which doesn't sound like a lot until you have to get three skittish critters from point A to point B.

We expected a busy season. . . we were right. With any luck we will slow down before summer is over!!!