FROM SCRATCH CLUB

The following is the very basic tale of how I’m starting my own micro-farm in Ballston Spa. It’s called Little Sparrow Farm, and yes, it’s named after Dolly Parton. Last summer I was telling a friend how I was going to be ordering a lot of garlic. The amount I ordered ended up being over […]

For the next handful of weekends, I’ll be jumping on the FSC Time Machine to create recap-posts of the  different topics we covered in 2012. Since Dianna, hit it out of the park this week with her post {Gardening in 2013} Homegrown Dry Beans, I thought I’d kick-off the series with our gardening posts! Get out […]

While the debate about gun control rages around us, we are quietly getting ready for the zombie apocalypse by planning our garden instead of amassing weapons.  I am not a survivalist, but I do like the idea of being able to eat a nutritionally balanced diet out of our garden in case there is a […]

When I first started gardening, I couldn’t imagine planting anything in the fall. Sure, I knew about tulip bulbs, but I thought of putting them in the ground as winter storage, kind of like keeping your sweaters safe from moths in summer. I couldn’t wrap my head around plants that didn’t follow the path of […]

We have been wandering in the desert of home wheat production for three years now.  We could see the mountaintop, but were not sure we could get there.  Although it is not that hard to grow wheat, harvesting, threshing and milling all present real technical problems to overcome for home growers. We learned how to scythe, then […]

Editor’s Note: FSC Community Voices Contributor, Gina M, a local blogger at ModSchooler and a guest contributor at Albany Kid, is back with another doozie of a post: Homemade Veggie Bouillion.  Its getting food preservation serious up in here! Her first post, No-Fuss Slow Cooker Beans is also terrific, perfect for the summertime no-heat kitchen! […]

We have been growing wheat for three or four years in our community sharecropping plots.   Wheat is not hard to grow and not all that hard to harvest although there are some pitfalls.  The hard part is removing the teeny wheat berries from the inedible straw and glumes that surround them, which is called threshing.  […]

When we bought our house in the summer of 2009 we quickly realized there was no simple spot for our garden. Our larger backyard was simply too shady and the front yard was engulfed by a tree and a 20-30 year old hydrangea bush. That front spot got plenty of sun though, so we knew […]

As the community share cropping season gets going, we are planting and scheming and trying to improve the gardens compared to last year.  We already worked out our crop rotations during the winter, so now we are concentrating on weeding, feeding and cover cropping.  Cover crops are incredibly important for soil improvement, fertility and stabilization […]

Now that the wheat we planted really looks like it might become food, I’m beginning to dread its harvest. I feel like the Little Red Hen’s friend, ready to hide until there’s dinner. Even though I’m the one who convinced my family we should plant our new lot – behind our house in the city […]

I love to garden. Maybe you do too. I love to do lots and lots of things. So many things, in fact, that I am too busy to allocate as much time to my garden as I would like. If only I had an extra 2 hours a day… that would make things so much […]

    O wind, where have you been, That you blow so sweet? Among the violets Which blossom at your feet – Christina (Georgina) Rossetti This Spring, I discovered that many of the “weeds” that grow in my yard are edible! This is exciting if, like me, you enjoy foraging for food and, come springtime, are […]

I spent three years of my childhood in Germany when my father was stationed there in the army.  I have very distinct memories of the allotment gardens people cultivated at the edge of town in little individual rented plots of land, each with its own immaculate garden hut for sitting and enjoying the summer days […]

How Does Your Garden Grow? Sizing up our land and making the most of 1 acre. My husband is a cultivator; it’s in his veins. By the time most people begin their Spring cleaning he is out tilling the ground and planning the upcoming year’s garden. When were looking to build a home all he […]

  There are many ways to garden. Some people buy plants from a nursery, your local farmer or garden center, which is a great option for many. I have done this in the past, primarily with annuals flowers (like pansies and petunias), tomatoes and peppers.* Last year, I decided to try my hand at starting […]