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

Farmers Market Today!

RAdish 

Healthy soil in the herb garden with mushrooms growing up in the mint.

Newer lettuce planting doing very well. Just need to be thinned this weekend.

New pasture for the hens. We are getting a hundred or so day old chicks next month.  

Everything's Coming In Now..

We are getting ready to head up to Colorado for a week. Lots of projects have been getting done around the farm in preparation. We have built new pastures for the chickens, planted brussels sprouts, lettuce, chard and carrots in a newly built low tunnel, and made many small adjustments to the irrigation system. With a couple of good storms we got some cooler weather which made all of our work easier. 

The purple pole beans are covered in flowers

Tiny pole bean

Cucumbers growing up the opposite side of the pole bean trellis

Tiny pickling cucumber.

Cucumber flower

Lettuce just after harvesting for market. This salad greens mix is growing under
the pole bean/cucumber trellis.  The tunnel that the vines from the bean and cucumber
plants form make it easy to create a microclimate suitable for the lettuce this time of year.

Yellow Taxi tomatoes

Garlic and Carrot Harvest

These carrots are as tasty as they are beautiful! 

We will have some this evening at the Eldorado Farmers Market

The garlic is small but packs a big bite in its spiciness.

Farming in the Rocky Mountains

Tomatoes getting their first true leaves.

Blue Flax Flower

Hot Peppers: Habanero, Jalapeño, Cayenne

The Four Seasons

This super wet snow came five days ago  

It was sunny and warm just an hour before this photo was taken

Talk is Cheap

Roma

Basil

Cabbage in coldframe

Putting up zucchini

Homemade Dill Pickles

Pickling cucumbers chillin'

Firewood...

...heats  you twice so they say. But I think the guy who coined this one never really cut his/her own.

I say it heats you six times. Cutting, loading, splitting, stacking, bringing it inside and then when you burn it.

Summer is Fading Fast.

some harvesting happening but mostly just busy. Cutting firewood, splitting and stacking. Getting ready for what The Old Farmer's Almanac is calling a dry, mild winter. Still want a pile of wood the size of the house. Making pickles tomorrow and canning tomatoes next week. three batches of homebrew done. Planting kale from our seed in a coldframe soon too. Many exciting things happening down on the Spotty Dog mini-farm. more soon. photos are hard to take when you are busy living life. we will try. this is an especially beautiful time of year in Northern New Mexico. Just feels like winter is creeping up on us and the wood pile needs to multiply. along with our pantry stock.

some recent fotos:

Sunflowers are pretty:

Back To Reality

We are back from our week-long Southwest Colorado Micro-Brewery Mini-Tour. We took hundreds of photos, slept right on a river and visited almost ten breweries. (that's an average of more than one a day!) The select photos can be seen here (high desert home garden's picassa web albums.)

Even Hobby Farmers Need A Vacation

keepin' it local

not only is our main heat source, wood harvested from the very local five acres we live on, but our dogs have been on a local, raw, and organic diet for longer than i can remember.

Day off to the river..

Blue skies: