Shownotes
Ugly Farm
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am IDK if I am a rockstar but I am trying
NE CT, the poor part of CT, we’re not in Hartford
There’s a lot of farms in general in this part of CT
- it’s not where I started farming
- my husband and I bought a little piece of property
- it’s sort of an Urban farm
- we have neighbors we can see
1.2 acres
Oh, it’s um.
My husband and I were Goth kids in school
I’m really into growing black vegetables
love the black carrots
always buy those seeds
with the black tomatoes
If you forget to trim your tomato bush for a couple of weeks the busy parts are hiding inside are going to have big green splotches on them
either assume
the tomatoes are only going to be black
turn your tomatoes toward the sun
by the time that happens
bugs
slice them
they are black
from the top
taste great
make salsa out of
not as impressive if the whole
Baker Creek Black Beauty Tomatoes
almost every tomato I have ever had
still tastes in one shape or form
black jalapenos
I thought they would be super spicy
picking them and eating them off the bush
You are just dropping golden seeds
Tell me about your first gardening experience?
my grandmother on my mother’s side
mother was used to gardening a vegetable
mostly you go eat green beans when you are seven years old
can’t remember my first gardening experience
childhood was surrounded by plants and gardens
able to go back there and eat a lot of stuff
Yeah! I understand the fence dilemma
we ended up having to replace our whole flock last year
our rooster was an Egyptian flume
we got rid of everybody except our favorite couple of hens
heavy bird that wasn’t going to fly up
doing a big chick order in a couple of weeks
another lesson we learned the hard way
we battled 3 different families of groundhogs
under the fence into the garden
runner ducks won’t eat your produce they will eat the bugs
they will also eat half of your vegetables
they can eat whatever they want
it’s a good symbiotic relationship
save all their leftover scraps and what not
How did you learn how to garden organically?
NO! I learned nothing organically from the family
my ex husband and I got divorced
I had never heard of a farm apprenticeship
discovered that it was a thing
they give you a place to live for the growing season
I found a farm that I could move to
they were paying a pretty meager wage
stay at home mom for 4-5 years
I only got to see my kids 1-2 daysSunday
it’s the hardest thing I had to do in my life
I knew that my ex couldn’t afford to put me in an apartment
he had a good job
he and I had bought a house together
there was a couple of people that worked full time/part time
first got Sundays and Mondays off
find a place to live with my kids
because of that being an apprentice
when you specialize in working
you only had the end of a day to do anything
in a shack by the chicken and pig pens
when you are busting your butt
different organic farm in MASS
I get all excited when I see an edible plant
vegetable gardening is going to be my first love
all I know is gardening organically
I already planted
- garlic
- onions
- shallots
- sweet potatoes
- sage
one of the things I have been making with my herbal
- smudge sticks
- sage bundles
in a hippie store
made with white sage
difficult to grow
southwestern type of plant
which I do
inside the house all winter
- minimal white sage
- regular sage
- garden sage
- that field I am going to be renting
in a dryer area
some other potatoes
you would have to go back and water all the time
20 minute drive
don’e want to be there every single day
require
every different herb has a different meaning and use
look them in my special book
smudge blends
loose incense
take a class in that officially
that’s where I’m
technically 6A
treat it like 5 just in case
you don’t want to be
you shouldn’t buy a lot of plants that it does great zone 9-6
there’s a good chance it won’t make it as a perennial
if you get stuck on a certain plant
generally safer
if you are planning on it being a tree
buy anything that grows in anything warmer
you would want to make sure whatever your growing
make sure that it grows to zone 3
if you re growing something that taps out at zone
I mix all kind of things
- sage
- juniper
dry some and burn it next time you get it chance
get it so it’s crumbly dry
wood charcoal for our grill
stick it in a dish
helps once it gets smoldering
dried juniper
smells really nice
mugwort
sweetgrass that I got from nursery
my husband’s from Wisconsin
quarter
raised with that
not raised full on Native American
1/2 and 1/2
summer camp for learning all the traditions and things
throw some yarrow in there
echinacea
looks really cool
look more then being a super special herb
- oregano
- lemon balm
- mints
- yarrow
- super tall
bundle them all up in your smudge stick bundle and let them dry
every herb because of it’s own special meaning
created it’s own blend
aura
this will protect your house
good dreams
heal
medical emotional ailments
I do, I just started this year
it’s really popular
OMGod! sage stick
smudge sticks that’s so cool
just applied for my cottage food license
tea blends
herbal blends
almost done with my certified
online
there’s one herbalist school in CT in Milford
1 1/2 time
don’t have that kind of gas money
Boston
Commonwealth center for herbalism
listen to their podcast
online course
heart of herbs herbal school
lady that runs this course
ran a 50% off sale at black Friday
still ended up on the credit card
less then expecting
you take tests and quizzes
prove
file you are building
different profile for each different plant
- rosemary
- sage
- red clover
- plantain is like my favorite
heals everything
no body in the entire US that certifies or licenses herbalists
too close to saying you’re a doctor
can’t license herbs
certification course
prove to people that want to be
trusted to know what I am talking about
not allowed to give medical advice
I got diagnosed with crohns disease
what would be the best herbs
it’s along process
a lot of herbalism for free online
a lot of famous herbalist
will run a free class
school for evolutionary
taking it again this year
free course
herbalist podcasts
tons of free info
registered with the American Herbalist Guild
million books and things
learning for free for a year and a half
my second paid course
course from the UK
they do license people in the UK
learned what they have been teaching
so I can hopefully help some people
I forage
not bring something home with me
just a little bit
patch of it
to answer your question
plantain
people walk
waste areas
- try to get it so it’s not one that people have trampled on a bunch
- turned me on to being an herbalist for good
- bug bite or sting driving you nuts
- grab a piece of plantain, chew it up stick it on there
- works on mosquitos
- bee stings
- helps a little bit for poison ivy
jewel weed
plantain
is awesome
find one or two little herbs learn how to use them
a could of
Tell us about something that grew well this year.
I grew green beans that were coming out of my years
can’t possible eat so much soup
coming and coming
not pick them
stand there in
throw a couple to the goose
she’s sees me picking
purple
those are crazy prolific
make note have a ton of
I grew some extra tomatoes want one
it was massive
took over the entire raised bed
I couldn’t go in there and trim it
one of those orb spiders
Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?
we have spent the last two and half years preparing our large growing space
it’s about
I’d have to do the math
50 feet wide 65 feet long
it’s a pretty big chunk of the lawn
that’s the big garden
we spent an entire year mowing it down
the first year it was here
we paid a guy to take down the bushes
offered to till it
ended up tilling up poison ivy the entire season
the entire summer
he just mowed over it
if you mowed over it it wouldn’t be able to take hold
it worked!
NO TILL
layer and layer of cardboard and hay
in the fall every leaf I raked up
- fb market place
- I want your leaves
- come grab your leaves
- gonna call another lady
I’m gonna go get people’s leaves
another layer of leaves
some people will put a layer of wood chips
not a whole layer of
paths of wood chips
fencing
at a point in our lives
w’ere going to dot he fencing right the
tall enough
right length
burry it
building a big fence around it
this is my first real foray without raised beds
giant area of no till gardening
every year
more hay
you can get moldy gross hay
$2/bale
lay it all down
kind of an experiment this year
root crops in there really
burdock
- not carrots
- or beets or anything
- they will have to go in a raised bed
spend this year growing some stuff int here
that will be my official farm garden
into the herbalism thing
planting lots of bushes and shrubs
- apples
- peaches
- blueberry bushes
they’re not dead yet, that’s a success
herbal medicines
come from shrubs
- cramp bark
- vibrant
- witch hazel
I just ordered a birch tree
birch oil with that
different berries
spreading it all over the place
centralized garden beds for vegetable growing
right kind of light
willy nilly in the yard
compost in the whole
hay and wood chips around it
changing the soil
making it better
slow long process
10 year from now
Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season?
Yes my peach tree
that’s all you really need if you are not selling a lot
I call it my baby, my baby peach
It came from a peach I ate at a farm i worked at
they look like a little donut
short flat round things
stuck them in a bag with a little moist soil in my fridge
in a pot with some better soil
managed to
planted it in the ground
it has exploded this thing
trunk has to be 5-6 inches in diameter
5 years since I ate the peach
last year I had tried to trim it
I had a book on how to trim fruit trees and I thought I trimmed it well
with peach trees you really have to prune them severely
in the spring it looked beautiful
100s of flowers
beautiful
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Now Let’s Get to the Root of Things!
Black Sun Farm
Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.
squishing bugs
What is your favorite activity to do in the garden.
things that smell nice
fruit
I say on the farm don’t ever expect em cause I eat them all
I’ve had bugs eat them a couple of times
I have a couple of ever bearing
I don’t like the June bearing ones
you have etc plant more
I have the ever bearing strawberries
the little tiny alpine strawberries but they’re white
they’re prolific
pick it and stick it in a pot
they grow that easily
I am trying to convince my husband to build me a vertical strawberries
the flavor of the little white strawberries
worth it if its for yourself
What is the best gardening advice you have ever received?
I learned this lesson on the farm
large garden
write down a task and think it will take 15 minutes
you need to reconcile
a gardening task
it’s only going to take longer then you expect it to
not going to expect
gonna weed these garden beds it will take 10 min
you will not realize
trim the onions at the farm
when you grow onions from seed
set their little onion hair things
cut the tops off
before you plant them in the ground
trim the onion heads
done in early
no no no
never takes
standing there with the scissors
cutting of
flats of onions
could of rows and done
finish weeding
don’t sweat it though
it will get done eventually
you don’t have to get it all done at once
keep whatever pace
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 had a landscaping job for a month and a half
they gave everybody a soil knife I had to give e mine back
A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?
The thing I love and make and love to tell people about
in working farmers market say ew beets I don’t like beets
well how do you eat them
beets boiled are disgusting
what you want to do with beets
you can use the greens
my kids will love them this way
slice them in bacon fat with a little onion and garlic
cook them till here
A favorite Podcast?
I listen to the commonwealth center for holistic herbalism
A favorite internet resource?
herbal academy of NY
Matthew wood institute of herbalism
for gardening
to be fair
Pinterest has some good s
growing chart for your state that your state puts out
during this time of month
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?
I liked the organic medicinal herb farmer
market gardener
Gaia's garden
little page Sherban
Cunningham
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?
if you can do an apprenticeship if you don’t have kids
I have seen a ton of people on line they go do an apprenticeship
your a farmer or you respect where your food came from forever
look up the laws in your state
if you want to mix teas
herbal salve
in CT there are a lot of rules
I can’t sell without a special license
just to sell a couple of jars with salve
I said forget that
get yourself a booth at a craft fair
sell pretty much whatever you don’t need
a little roadside table
still a roadside stand and I still get customers
get your card out there
I make this, I can make hat for you
website
Wordpress site
personal level site
make yourself some business cards
website
craft fairs
easy things like that
friend is doing a flea market
try it out and test your market
doesn’t require any special insurance
test your market to find out
Final question-
if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?
besides the plastic and trash pollution
comes and says
rant and rave about that
reusing what you are going to throw away
yogurt cups
anything you can possible
broken in half of this country
buy local
if you buy local produce from your local farmers
reducing the amount of greenhouse gases going into the air
you walking down to the farmers market handing the money to the farmer
doesn’t have to tell it to the store
handing your money
to
buy a couple of chicken or ground beef or bacon your having your money to that farmer
direct person to person
exactly where it was grown
raised
you know how it was raised
I like to buy the meat
she lives down the road from my sister
bought bacon from a lady a couple of times away
that is the pigs
they're amazing
vegetable farms
as long as you are not tramping through the vegetables
pick some kale
better for you
better for the farmer
not having to have all these other overhead costs
not having to transport
global economy
not really great for the planet
I like eating bananas
try my best to eat what’s in season
whatever vegetable
in season had to travel the least amount
I can probably get apples in Sept probably anywhere
early spring that’s when they’re growing
pay attention to what come out what time of year
you giving money to local farmer business
How do we connect with you?
Black Sun Farm
On Instagram
On Facebook
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