Planting a Terraced Hillside With Edibles

We dug up and leveled three terraced beds on this hill. On the edge of each is a planting of wax currants. They are all on drippers.  

Today we planted garlic in the middle bed.

Sunchokes got planted in the lower bed. It is the furthest away but the farmers  I bought them from said they never watered them so they are hearty.

Life on the Farm

Cisterns 

One of our longest beds at forty five feet.

A planting of mustards with calendula at the ends for pest control

A decent harvest of yellow and red potatoes 

We planted mizuna and bunching onions in the bed where the potatoes were. 

Small 425 gallon water tank with our A-frame greenhouse under shade cloth. 

Solar Panel used to charge a battery to power the farms irrigation pump. 

Popcorn with grapes and marigolds.

Arm yourself for the revolution!

Making hot sauce with some freshly harvested red cayenne peppers.

Farmers Market

Carrots

BEETS!

Washing Greens for baby salad mix

Harvesting Baby Red Mustard greens

Baby Salad Greens washed and ready to go to market.

Carrots and Beets

Chard and Baby Salad Greens

Kale, Scallions and Chard

Homegrown Pickles

Dill fresh from the herb garden

Grape leaves from our mountain grape vines and garlic peeled, cayenne peppers and dill heads.

A nice harvest of pickling cukes. 

Water bath

Revolutionary Agriculture

 Revolutionary Agriculture means we are trying to change the food system, from agricultural practices to the way people think about where their food is coming from. The current agricultural food growing system is severely flawed to say the least. We see people using centuries old acequias that divert river water to crops which affects both wildlife and everyone downstream, or farmers irrigating blindly from aquifers that are being drained possibly forever. We are in the midst of a devastating drought but we do not have to make things worse for ourselves, we can make a change for the better. By using water we catch from our roof we can grow a revolution.We grow food in a forest in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Range, specifically the Sangre de Cristos. We are located in a valley that gets significantly more precipitation than areas a mile or two away. We take advantage of this and capture as much as we can. With a 30x30 foot roof and a 16x16 foot portal we can catch most of the water we need for irrigating. Utilizing micro sprinklers under shade cloth or row cover we can have more control over soil moisture and using frost blankets we can extend the growing season. Utilizing knowledge of plants environmental needs we can grow at least ten if not twelve months of the year. We refuse to use coal burning electric power to pump water for irrigating or any purpose.  By not using tractors or tillers we are starting a revolution in the way food is grown. No longer does my food come from a corporate goon in a million dollar combine, we are taking back our consumer rights.This week we have some connectors and cables coming in the mail as well as a small pressure tank for irrigating. Our 12 volt system is totally off the grid and self reliant from oil, petroleum or coal burning power. Petroleum free farming. People don't actually believe you can farm with a shovel and a hoe, but if it worked a hundred fifty years ago why can't it work right now?

Garlic braids, tomatillos, taxi tomatoes, carrots, tarragon 

Scallions and beets sell always 

Lettuce mix including some new red lettuces we are trying out: Lolla Rossa, Marveille de Quatre Saisons, Redina, Red Oaklaef, Red Salad Bowl, Rouge d'Hiver, Garnet Rose Romaine and Ruben's Red  

Chard, purple basil and rosemary

Plant, Harvest, Rain, Repeat

We have been busy planting everything from Red Russian Kale to carrots and beets, Broccoli, Lettuces, collards and all sorts of fall crops the last four days. Every day we plant a bunch of seeds it rains in the afternoon. Most everything is under shade cloth now (as far as the tender greens) with micro sprinkler irrigation with drip also set up. Infrastructure makes the farm what it is. Water cisterns are filling up and we are soon completing the irrigation system with 100% Off the Grid technology; solar panel, small pump, water from the sky and an old battery. Just waiting on some cables to connect everything and a transformer for backup.

Harvesting the first cutting of this Valentine Lettuce this morning for the Farmers Market this afternoon. That's fresh! 

Four days ago we planted all these seeds then got rain everyday since. 

A Quick Update and a Week Off

New portal is great! 

Hens

Beets, broccoli and lettuce, collards and more beets recently planted.

Potatoes

Beds with shade cloth; L to R: wild arugula, mustards and kyoto carrots, then sunflowers, tomatillos, marigolds, calendula and hot peppers, then radishes, spinach, chard, beets, broccoli, and more!

Volunteer tomato in with chard.

Cover crop of rye and buckwheat

Planting of Amaranth

Planting of Red Scallions, Carrots and lettuce

Second planting of the Blue Corn

Tomatillos to the left and under shade with micro sprinklers is carrots, lettuce and radicchio.

In the next few weeks we are preperaing this area for a fall planting of more greens, carrots, herbs, beets and hopefully some sun chokes, strawberries and asparagus. We have big plans but can really only move one day at a time..,.. coming soon is a high tunnel greenhouse or two as well as more solar off the grid technology and pasture for more layers. Exciting time to be a farmer.

Calendula in a hollowed pine log and popcorn is tall!

View to the East

Tomatillos and a propped up sunflower

Beans with lettuce mix growing underneath and pickling cucumbers growing up the other side.

These were volunteers!

Carrots, tomatoes and basil

zucchini is lowing this location/ micro-climate, calendula in between plants and radishes all over too. 

New planting of pak-choi, chard, radish and lettuce.

Chicken pasture is growing

herb garden

new roof on the new portal

Birds eye view west of the house

arroyo