Originally published on Jun 14, 2016

I’m so honored to share this guest today because she’s in the Organic Gardener Podcast Facebook Community! 

Tell us a little about yourself.

Honest to Goodness Farm and Flowers is located in Elizabethtown about an hour away…  This is our first year growing cut flowers for sale at the market. Honest to Goodness Farm and Flowers is located in Elizabethtown about an hour away from Louisvilee, KY.  This is our first year growing cut flowers for sale at the market.with our weather…it gets really hot here. our soil is

it goes into what happened last year….

renegotiated the least

able to take back the

we wanted to grow food,

compost brought in

got everything planted

we didn’t

it was pretty much a total fail

stunted cucumbers

it did not work out very well

did plant a huge row of Johnny’s butterfly mix and beneficial mix

I was able to make bouquets for friends family

it was just the bright spot

not having everything go like we had planned.

What was it that stunted the cucumbers?

we had had a ton of rain…so that was not something we considered

where we planted, had poor drainage

idk if it has anything to do with the fact that it’s been farmed commercially and sprayed.

IDK if it had anything to do with that. The soil’s not the best, it’s kind of clay, we did try to amend it.

It was kind of strange

we’ve grown in a plot up closer to our house but when we got to the commercially farmed land it was totally different story

So we had to make some changes at the end of the season

• we did some cover cropping

• we added more compost

normally we would do ….

• thatch to cover

flowers are now on that piece of land. 

growing really well

it really taught us a lot, idk why it did that? We just had to move stuff around a little bit

Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.

I really do not like weeding… I know most people say that, but for me especiallyI do not like to be still, Im constantly moving, the mental fortitude that it takes to weed doesn’t work for me. 

we’re using

local

come by

a huge load of raw wood chips and we’re using them. I’m sure we’re gonna come across some pest issues, maybe slugs and I’ve heard there are something called ear wigs really don’t have, but I think we might those especially around the dahlias

We’re using natural ways to try to keep the weeds away, 

I think one of the big themes of my show has been soil health and I think you guys sound like your trying so hard to improve your environments. I think they say it takes 3 years officially to turn a place that has had chemicals and pesticides, and if this is your second year, one more year before you get there. I think the wood chips will help and it will certainly keep the weeding down. I just went out and took pics of my weeds that are growing. Its really been amazing!

We’d never seen lady bugs before and in hat patch that we had planted last year it has come back and there is beautiful yellow coreopsis and even the new stuff I planted this year is covered in lady bugs os it’s just amazing to see this stuff out there and it works, its’ really been helpful for us

changing for us

part of the process

it’s not always easy but it’s worth it!

What is your favorite activity to do in the garden?

I love photographing things… that’s been really fun, I want to share what we’re doing and how things are going. Every morning I walk out with my coffee and take  a look and check and see what’s changed and what’s blooming and I also I really enjoy harvesting too!

What is the best gardening advice you have  ever received?

This was a hard question for me, we’ve been getting a lot of advice. And most of it is not what what we want to do. Most of it is from 

especially not what we want to do

extended family

you need to bush hog that, or you need to do this or you need to  spray with this. But we get research from our books etc and we’re just trying to keep and do organic practices

not what is typically done around here, and typically done in the extended family and we’re just turing to do our own thing!

I think that’s great and you gonna find. One of my very first guests Ladonna Kinnick said she was in a very commercial area and the farmers were telling her this is not gonna work and that’s not gonna work and then they were like how come you don’t have any mosquitos and how come your stuff is coming out so nice? And the commercial farmers that were laughing at her in the beginning. And it’s hard.  

Lentil Underground

And Liz Carlisle’s wrote this book called the Lentil Underground but she asked why do we if we know that this produces the best crops and crop rotations is important and mixing green cover crops are the best practices why aren’t we doing it and she was surprised to see home much an affect social pressure was having… if you on’t spray near the wate. It didn’t have anything to do without the science. the were worried but.

I agree it’s really fear based

sued to doing food a certain way, when you livelihood is on the line it’s a really touchy thing.

it’s really fear based

they are so used to doing things a certain way

there’s fear there that its not gonna go

especially when your lively

A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be?

I really like the stirrup hoe and my husband likes the wheel hoe

We also have this tool it loops and edges and we use it all the time

I also get what

The basic garden tool… made in the USA can get it on amazon… we use it all the time!

I’m 5”1’

I get really well made wood and solid metal kids garden tools and those are really helpful to me. I probably sound silly, when your short, all of this stuff is taller then me and hard to use!

I’ve been thinking lately why doesn’t Apple make a different phone for women and men, and to expect me and my husband to use the same size phone is crazy. I am adapting to my new phone.

A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?

What we always make every year, when the tomatoes come in , is just

• sliced tomato
• fresh buffalo mozzarella
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

I think that is the most recommended recipe on my show. I grew up in NY and my mom gets the fresh mozzarella balls from the Italian cheese store mmm…

the simple things ….

A favorite internet resource?

The flower farmer Facebook group.

really helpful people to answer your questions and that’s been really good.

Bare Mountain Farms their blog has been really great

they’re doing a no-till practice which is what we are trying to transition

they’re doing flowers that way it’s interesting to read their posts. 

They were my New Years guests Tony and Denise Gaetz in Episode 110!

A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?

I really love YouTube.

I like Florets blog too. I really like Youtube because I’m visual person if I can see a video instead of reading a book. We’ve watched a lot of documentaries on youtube.

We just got JM Fortier, the Market Gardeners Toolkit…

it’s a documentary that’s great!

live action version of the book

also available on

audible.com

Business Advice

If you have a business to you have any advice for our listeners about how to sell extra produce or get started in the industry?

I have had not much to sell, my farther is selling starts,

I haven’t had much in yet,

it’s our first year…

we’ve had some luck selling to people directly on Facebook…

Honest to Goodness Farm and Flowers on Facebook

people would come and pick it up kind of like a farm stand sort of thing, we’ve been selling that way.

That might be a good idea for people, I guess Jacqueline Freeman from Washington said something similar. 

I have really big hopes for this year, everything looks good, it’s hard to talk about this 

I’m just trying to do this, we are working with poor soil, farming and gardening is no an instant gratification thing. I have really big hope for this year, everything looks good fingers crossed.

i think you’ve been very inspirational today, and you talk about family members who don’t really know what your doing and your kids. it’s kind of like podcasting it’s a marathon not a sprint, 

you mentioned some great resources Denise and Tony from Bare Mountain Farms and Floret and they’re great resources for growing flowers. I like the way your focusing 

You know Mandy Gerth was like my Gardening CrossFit Hall of Famer, she said she moved her from Ohio or Indian and she said people in Montana don’t realize how having