Keep 'Em Coming!

Well done, Friends!  Thanks, to all who've recycled your plastic pots to me!

Please keep on doing that, ok?  I still have hundreds of seedlings to pot up for market:  tomato, pepper, various herbs both annual and perennial.

Small size preferred, but if you bring larger, I'll cycle them on to other farmers and nurserymen.

Farm2Table Sites for Box Pick-up

Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative
Gathering Sites for Box Pick-up

Here are the Gathering Sites, days and hours. If you know you need to change from the site on your subscription, please notify info@sandhillsfarm2table.com immediately.
These are starting points for time. You will be contacted by your gathering sites shortly with specific directions and instructions. If you really need a different time talk to your site coordinator. If the needs of the site community are different from the starting point, adjustments will be made.  If you are not contacted by your site by Friday, please let us know at info@ as above.

Gathering Sites:
Wednesdays
Pinehurst - Village Chapel Noon to 2:30
Robbins - Deep River Coffee 3 to 6
Carthage - Ag Center 3:30 to 6:30
Southern Pine - SP Elementary 3 to 6
Aberdeen - Poplar Knight Spot 3:30 to 6:30

Thursdays
West End - WE Presbyterian Church 3 to 6
Pinehurst - PElementary School 4 to 6:30
Vass/ Whisper P - New Mathews Mkt. 3 to 6

Farmer's Mkt, SCC, Wednesdays

The Sandhills' Farmers Green Market Go Green with Sandhills!
Wednesdays ALL SUMMER until August 25th (except Wednesday, July 7th)
Aristotle Parking Lot, Sandhills Community College
Call John Frye for more information 910-949-2185
Or email aussiefryefamily@gmail.com

10th Annual Vermiculture Conference, Durham, May 27-28

Register by April 22 to save $50 off the conference registration fee....
NCSU's 10th Annual Vermiculture Conference - May 27-28, 2010 - Durham, NC
- Dr. Clive Edwards (Ohio State University): "The Effects of Vermicompost and Vermicompost 'Teas' on Plant Pests and Diseases."

- Dr. Norman Arancon (University of Hawaii): Vermicompost and teas effects on plant growth and pest/disease suppression.

- Jeff Budzich (WeCare Organics, Pennsylvania): Systems design, technological and operating parameters, and process characteristics of the Class A stabiliation of biosolids through vermicomposting.-- generating a high quality, high value end product.

- Dr. Suneet Dabke (Fulbright Scholar from India): Bioremediation of contaminated soils via vermitechnology.

- John Harris (Harris Worm Farm, North Carolina): Low-cost, mid-scale outdoor worm farming.

- Tom Herlihy (RT Solutions-Worm Power, New York): Dairy manure vermicomposting, continuous-flow reactors, marketing vermicompost, vermicompost tea.

- Jamie Melvin (Sansai Environmental Technologies, Ohio): Vermicomposting food residuals, yard debris, cardboard and other materials in indoor windrows; selling vermicompost and tea.

- Mark Purser (The Worm Farm, California): Indoor and outdoor windrows, applying feedstocks, harvesting and sales.

- Maria Rodriguez (Byoearth, Guatemala, Central America): "Fostering Entrepreneurship and Social Change via Vermiculture." Adding value to degradable waste found in Guatemala City's garbage dump through the empowerment of women with the experience "Fertilize Your Future."

- Dr. Sarah Sathyavathi (India): Vermicomposting biosolids and its use in plant growth.

- Rhonda Sherman (NC State Univ.) - "The Status of Vermicomposting in North America."
See conference website for speaker bios, registration, accommodations, etc.:

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/workshops/worm-conference/
Questions:
Rhonda Sherman
Biological & Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University
rhonda_sherman@ncsu.edu (best way to reach me)
(919) 515-6770
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/people/faculty/sherman

Help! I Need Your Recycled Pots

I've completely run out of small individual pots for marketing seedlings.  AND I can't even find paper Dixie cups to substitute, they're all plastic, even the little bathroom size.  The last thing I want to do is supply more plastic and/or styrofoam to the landfill!  PLEASE recycle to me your plastic pots as you plant your annual beds.
Thanks soooo much.  It's urgent!  Market opens this coming Satruday.

An Article about Raven's Wing and Farm Up

http://voiceofmoorecounty.com/2010/03/31/like-mother-like-daughter/

Recycle to Keep Prices Low

Help me keep prices down at the Farmers' Market!  Recycle to me your small plastic pots and black plastic holding trays.  (Recycler can't take those black things anyway.)
You can drop them off at Farm Up, 345 N Page or bring them to the Saturday Market, downtown Sou Pines.
I could also a few gallon milk jugs, too.  They make great water dippers.
Thanks a MILLION!  Maureen

Terrific Article on DE

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

Follow These Heroes

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/heroes

Growing Where They Are: Small town entreprenuers

http://starworksnc.org/

Return to Lighterwood

[from Jesse on his pine tree farm and homestead, Moore County, NC.  LOVE THAT SOUND!]
Hey folks
Just wanted to let you know the Whip-poor-wills returned to the farm tonight. Although it was quite cool, they could not resist making some noise at that incredible Moon. With this bird, returns spring toLighterwood Farm. This makes the 24th year I have recorded their return.   Jesse

Buckwheat Is In

Get it at Aberdeen Supply.

Drumming Up the Equinox in Sou Pines

Meet at 1:00 Saturday, Spring Equinox, downtown park, Sou. Pines.  If you're into potlucks and can join us, come around noon to Raven's Wing Healing Center, 325 N. Page.  We'll walk and/or ride to the park from here.
Some folks will have extra drums.  Bring anything percussive to welcome Spring!

Get Ready!

Peppers and tomatoes getting ready for Farmer's Market, Downtown Sou. Pines, opens April 17.

HABANERO CHILE Capsicum chinense    Native to Central America's tropical lowlands, this world-famous, scalding hot pepper thrives where summers are long, hot, and humid. Lantern-shaped fruits ripen to a striking golden orange. Reported to be 1,000 times hotter than the jalapeno!

RING-O-FIRE Chile Capsicum annuum    While a little longer than the traditional cayenne fruit, this chile packs even more heat, is higher yileding and easier to pick. Great dried, fresh or strung up in a ristra.


RED MUSHROOM PEPPER Wrinkled, flying saucer-shaped fruit are unique-looking. They are flat, 2" across and a glowing red color when ripe. Very hot with a superb, fruity flavor and unique taste that keeps you wanting more. One of the prettier and tastier peppers you will grow, especially if you like them hot! Attractive plants set huge yields as long as you have lots of warm summer days.


CORBACI PEPPER A unique and wonderful sweet pepper. Very long, 10” fruit are curved and twisted, very slender, like a Turkish scimitar. This rare heirloom from Turkey has a very rich flavor, perfect for pickling or frying. One of the most productive of all peppers, out-yielding all others in tests by the U. of CA.


CORNO DI TORO PEPPER The traditional favorite in Italy. Long 8" tapered, bull-horn shaped golden-yellow peppers are sweet and spicy. They are great fresh or roasted. Large plants yield well. Among the best peppers you can grow and so delicious. Pure Italian seed.


PATIO RED MARCONI Ideal for growing in pots or raised beds. Compact plants are perfect for limited spaces. Ripe fruit are intense red and very sweet.

SWEET CHOCOLATE PEPPER Bred by Elwyn Meader and introduced by NH/AES in 1965. Ripens from green to chocolate on the outside and brick-red inside. Thick, sweet flesh.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROMA TOMATO Lycopersicon lycopersicum ‘Roma’ Small, plum-shaped bright red, thick-walled with meaty interior and few seeds. Excellent for paste, cause, canning or freezing whole.


SWEETIE Tomato     Cycopersicon lycopersicum ‘Sweetie’ Bright red over 2” diameter are unusually sweet with high vitamin C content. Staking recommended as the vine bears fruits in long clusters of 12 to 20 fruits. Great for snacking, salads and low sugar preserves.

CHEROKEE PURPLE Tomato     Lycopersicon esculentum   Traditional 8-10 oz.fruit.  Purplish-brown, flattened 10-12 oz. globes with outstanding flavor. Indeterminate yet short vines.

MARGLOBE Tomato   Developed in 1917 by Fred J. Pritchard of the United States Dept. of Agriculture by crossing together the tomato varieties Globe and Marvel. The Marglobe was formally released to the public in 1925 and was one of the first tomato varieties resistant to both Verticulum and Fusarium Wilts. As time went on, Marglobe became a popular tomato variety with tomato canners and was the parent of many new varieties, most notably the famous Rutgers Tomato.  It produces a large crop of smooth, solid fleshed red tomatoes of approximately 6 to 7 ounces in weight, crack-resistant and excellent for canning. The vine is determinate, producing a large crop of tomatoes at one time.


AMISH PASTE TOMATO Many seeds savers believe this is the ultimate paste tomato. Giant, blocky Roma-type tomatoes have delicious red flesh perfect for paste and canning. World class flavor and comes from an Amish community in Wisconsin.

COUR DI BUE TOMATO   This Oxheart type Italian heirloom, a favorite in Italy for many years. Beautiful 12 oz. fruit have a delicious sweet taste, similar to the shape of a heart, great for fresh eating or cooking. Large vigorous vines. Hard to find.

FOX CHERRY TOMATO Delicious large, red heirloom cherry tomatoes, one of the best-tasting large cherries around. The vining plants are very reliable; even in years when the wilt kills about everything else, these seem to do great. The fruit weigh about 1 oz each, perfect for salads.


CHILE VERDE TOMATO A far-out and really cool tomato developed by Tom Wagner, who also bred the ‘Green Zebra,’ this one is especially fascinating, with its amazing, pointed pepper shape and the mellow green skin, nearly like a green chili. The flavor is also good, strong and earthy, perfect for canning or for making green ketchup! One of the few green paste tomatoes and, like most paste types, this one has few seeds. Plants are vigorous with thick stems and large leaves.

ISIS CANDY CHERRY    (Indeterminate) Delightful round one-inch fruits may vary in shades and blush patterns of reds to yellows, usually with golden flesh. Typically carry an intriguing "cat's eye" or star in yellow on the blossom end. The flavor is outstanding, sweet and fruity. Kids adore them!

FURRY YELLOW HOG TOMATO    Small bright lemon-yellow fruits occasionally reach 8 oz. Pleasant citrusy flavor, very full-flavored and more acid than most yellows. Fruits are slightly fuzzy like peach-type tomatoes. Plants bear over a long season.

LOLLIPOP CHERRY TOMATO  Delicious, light yellow translucent cherries. The flavor of these is really good--both sweet and fruity. Plants set good yields. A real winner!


BLACK FROM TULA TOMATO  A unique, large, dark tomato exhibiting a rich, deep purplish-brown color. Some seed savers say it is the best tasting of all the dark tomatoes. Very rich, old-fashioned flavor, sweet and spicy. Rare Russian heirloom.

ARKANSAS TRAVELER   Medium-size pink tomato, smooth and a beautiful rose color. Excellent heirloom from Arkansas, tolerant to heat and humidity, crack and disease resistant. Good flavor, a Hillbilly favorite.

SUNGOLD SELECT II This is a selection from the regular Sungold tomato, sent to us by Reinhard Kraft of Germany. This is one of the tastiest orange cherry tomatoes.

SAN MARZANO PASTE   From Italy. Compact and prolific producer of bright-red, slim, 2-3 inch, plum-type, fruit over a long season. A paste tomato with pointy end, heavy walls and little juice, so it's great for tomato sauce. Crack resistant. Better tasting than Roma.

BURBANK RED SLICING   Plant produces good yields of medium size red tomatoes, very flavorful and turning red when mature. Plant does well in dry regions and does not require trellising. Heirloom variety developed by Luther Burbank in 1915.

PRIZE OF THE TRIALS   Best overall cherry tomato for flavor, yield, and crack resistance. Productive vines bear orange, apricot-sized fruits that thrive in hot dry climates.

Dumb and Dumber

GOD:  Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now.  But all I see are these green rectangles.
St. FRANCIS:  It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers 'weeds' and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
GOD:  Grass?  But grass is so boring.  It's not colorful.  It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms.  It's sensitive to temperatures.  Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS:  Appaently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:  The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast.  That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS:  Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.
GOD:  They cut it?  Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS:  Not exactly, Lord.  Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
GOD:  They bag it?  Why?  Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS:  No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
GOD:  Now, let me understand you. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it grows, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
ST. FRANCIS:  Yes, Sir.

GOD:  These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat.  That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:  You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
GOD:  What nonsense.  At least they kept some of the trees.  That was a stroke of genius, if I do say so. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer.  In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes.  It's a natural cycle of life.
ST. FRANCIS:  You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new cycle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
GOD:  No!?  What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
ST. FRANCIS:  After throwing away the leaves, they buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
GOD:  And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS:  They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:  Enough!  I don't want to think about this anymore.  St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts.  What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:  'Dumb and Dumber', Lord.  It's a story about....

GOD:  Never mind,  I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

A Thought For You

You Reading This, Be Ready

by William Stafford
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps across a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. The interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life-

What can anyone give you greater that now,
starting here, right now in this room, when you turn around?

Maureen and a Chicken (not rooster)

http://next.nc.newsmemory.com/  page 11

Farm Up the Street Is On the Tour!

Save the Date for the 2010 Urban Farm Tour!!!


On Saturday, April 10th urban farmers across Cumberland and Moore Counties will open their homes and gardens in order to show us how they weave elements of rural life into their town and suburban lifestyles.

Visitors will see urban homeowners, much like themselves, demonstrating a passion for a wide variety of farm-life practices adapted to their back, side, and front yards! You’ll see demonstrations of bee‐keeping, native plantings and edible landscapes, rainwater harvesting, raising chickens as laying hens, vermi‐composting (worms), shade gardens, certified wildlife habitat, growing fresh‐cut flowers, and more. And you’ll also learn firsthand how practices such as tilling‐in cover crops, composting and building raised beds can improve soil quality and increase garden yields.

The Urban Farm Tour is self‐guided and participants will be able to pick up a Tour program at one of two Headquarters locations; the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens in Cumberland County and Aberdeen Elementary School in Moore County. Sites on the Tour will be open from 10am to 3pm and you can purchase a Tour button for only $5 per person. Buttons will be on sale soon at a number of convenient locations. Young Urban Farmers (children 12 and under) are admitted free!

So mark your calendars now for the 2010 Urban Farm Tour on Saturday, April 10!

For more information about sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, or to include your urban (or suburban) farm as a site on the 2010 Urban Farm Tour, contact Heather Brown at brownh@ctc.com or 910-639-7024.

Personal Chef Needed, Pinehurst Area

PERSONAL CHEF

Full-time or part-time position available immediately as a personal chef / household manager for a small vegan family in Pinehurst. The ideal candidate would have a strong background in healthy vegan cooking, a commitment to organic and locally grown food, an ability to work comfortably in a home setting, strong organizational skills, and independent creativity in the kitchen.
Responsibilities would include grocery shopping, designing and preparing meals, food storage, the management of the kitchen and supplies, and assisting with the overall management of the home. An extra plus would be an applicant with experience as an organic gardener and orchardist, and skills with canning, preserving, drying, and freezing fresh food from the garden.
To apply, please email cover letter and resume to: chefinpinehurst@yahoo.com.

Update on Gerbils

Well, I called Animal Control.  The smallest animals they get there are ferrets and rabbits.  So we're still looking to adopt a few gerbils.  Let me know if you have a lead, ok?  e me, suttonmaureen@hotmail.com  Thanks!

Great Workshops, Pittsboro

http://theabundancefoundation.org/workshops  Check out these offerings!  Anything The Abundance Foundation offers is well worth the trip to Pittsboro!
Hey, stop in Tramway, too, to shop Big Bloomers!

Stray cat

Happily, this is not our cat. . .

Adding Gerbils to the Cycle

Dear Friends, we're looking to adopt a few orphaned gerbils and their terrarium. Whoda thunk a gerbil at PetSmart would cost $14.95?
Here at Farm Up we need a few to pre-shred stuff for our red wriggler worms--and to drive the house cats crazy!
Thanks if you can connect us with some gerbils who need a home!

How to Prune, Plant Blueberry Bushes

TO GET READY FOR FARM UP'S BLUEBERRY CROPMOB BLITZ!  (see Monday's post)

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service will hold a blueberry pruning and planting demonstration on Saturday morning, February 27, at 1460 Red Hill Road in Cameron. The workshop will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 10:30 a.m.
Ag. Ext. Agent Taylor Williams will cover varieties, site selection, soil preparation, pruning mature blueberry bushes, and planting “stool” plants (shoots from base of existing blueberries).
The meeting is free and open to the public. Bring pruning tools and a shovel. Please call 947-3188 for more information, for directions, and to register for this class.
Directions: From Carthage, take 15/501 North 2.7 miles and turn right on NC 24/27 East toward Cameron. Go 2.5 miles, and turn left on Bryant Road. Go 0.6 miles and turn right on Red Hill Road. After 0.9 miles, 1460 Red Hill Road will be on your left.

Food Fight! A film

http://www.foodfightthedoc.com/foodfight.html

Update--How'd it become Feb. 17 already!

Urban Farm Tour coming April 10!  Hosted by Sustainable Sandhills, the tour needs sponsors; please let me know if you can kick in.  Three levels:  $250, $100, $50.  More about that later.
I've been to the land of snow--Ames, Iowa--for a couple of weeks.  My sister there swears she has perennial Red Russian Kale, but it's kinda hard to see under 38" of snow. . .  I went by Greyhound--a story in itself!
Honey bees are foraging any time the temp warms just a bit.
I lost a Penelope to stray dogs last month--poor Penelope, chickens can't fly worth a darn--but I'm pretty sure Animal Control has found the dogs.
Son and daughter-in-law have moved to Swannanoa, NC, where they have an acre farm with a history of organic production!
Raven's Wing Healing Center next door, daughter Carley's massage therapy business, is doing well and offers us both a restful place for meditation, documentaries with friends, potlucks and discussions--not to mention the theme potlucks we'll be hosting when the Farm2Table boxes begin arriving.
And many thanks! to Fenton and Jan for riding herd on this excellent, radical effort to bring local food to over 500 subscribing foodies!
Pepper, tomato, lettuce, parsley seeds are under the grow light, peas going into the ground today.
Ciao later!

Blueberry Blitz!

Dear Farmers and Foodies,

February/early March is the time to prune and/or divide blueberry bushes.  Blueberries are suited to our acidic soils, are pest-free, anti-oxidant, easy to mulch and grow, practically no watering needed after the first year.

So how about this:

Whether they're your bushes or a friend's or neighbor's, consider dividing or digging up some clumps to donate.  Think about which public spaces might benefit from free, pick-your-own food!

Then:

*  TELL your friends and neighbors about this effort.

*  BRING those baby blueberry starts here to Farm Up the Street.  Either potted or bare root.  Deadline March 7.
                                         And/or

*  LOCATE a place or some places that want and will accept a starter blueberry bush or several.  Consider parks, schools, median strips, libraries, churches, etc.
                                        And/or

*  VOLUNTEER to help Farm Up's cropmob group plant blueberry bushes on Saturday, March 13.  We'll show you how.  Bring a shovel, we'll furnish the rest of what we'll need

Please let us know what YOU can do to help with Farm Up's First Annual CropMob Blitz.

e me:  suttonmaureen@hotmail.com or call Farm Up:  692-9413.

Looking for April, too cold for moi!

More Help on the Farm

Tania used Farm Up improvements as her high school project.  What a worker she is! 

Miles and Jackie from Raeford

Farm Up has rec'd LOTS of help from Miles, left and Jackie, right.

One of 10 Penelopes

Our laying hens are all Black Australorps, mild-mannered, good egg producers!

Babies in the Pic

Those baby Guineas are now full grown and patrolling several blocks around for ticks, fleas, weed seeds.  Please don't run over them!

creating a new blog called Farm it up

Just started it this evening, will see how it goes.  Must get more pics!