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  • Spring Cleaning

    The arrival of spring brings an excitement, people are out walking, the birds are busy building nests. Along with the promise of warmer days there is an anticipation to get the garden prepared for planting.

    Fabric grow bags sit next to a tub of cleaning solution in preparation of spring planting

    Sanitizing all the pots and grow bags before replanting in them is one of the first steps of Spring cleaning. This ensures any pathogens or bacteria that may have accumulated over the winter months are eliminated, providing a clean slate for my new seedlings to grow.

    Fabric grow bags and seedling trays are sanitized in preparation of spring planting

    To sanitize I did two different baths for the containers I washed using a diluted mixture of bleach water on one soak, followed by a soap soak.

    Seeds sit in front of clean trays full of potting soil

  • Bonsai Podcast

    Wise Moon Garden podcast featuring Bonsai artist Mark Vargas.

    Bonsai : a potted plant (such as a tree) dwarfed (as by pruning) and trained to an artistic shape
    also : the art of growing such a plant

    Merriam Webster Dictionary
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  • My Favorite Gardening Books

    A stack of Gardening and Homesteading Books

    There is a different book for each topic, serving its own area of expertise. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

    How to Grow more Vegetables is a fantastic resource for the home gardener all the way up to the market grower. Jevons explains what it takes for a healthy garden and how one can grow more within less space, the concept known as square foot gardening.
    We own several books on Microgreens however this is the one we always refer to as a resource.
    The only book you will ever need for plant propagation!
    This book was picked up at a used book store a couple decades ago and still serves as a fun book with basics on homesteading and then some.
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  • A Map of Local Garden Centers

    Here is a map of local garden supply stores and nurseries here in Humboldt County.

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  • Wait, What the Snow?

    Snow blankets the garden beds for the first time

    What happened? Here I thought winter was over and we get snow, snow? We never get snow here. The mountains certainly, but here, not snow much! It was a delightful surprise to see snow outside my window this morning. I couldn’t help but admire the snowflakes twirling around and the way the snow dusted the trees and plants. It’s not often we get to see snow in our garden and this morning was just magic.

    Snow fall lines a fence and coats the trees
    A fresh dusting of snow lines the tree tops
    The garden and potato bags are covered in snow
    Ace inspects the snow
    Snow falls upon Wise Moon Garden
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  • Let’s glimpse into last year as we await the new garden

    Excited for this years garden
    Garlic ready to be harvested
    Music garlic curing after harvest
    A colorful medley of peppers grown in the greenhouse
    Squash vine their way through tomato cages

  • One Potato, Two Potato

    Potatoes sit in the foreground before they are cut into smaller pieces

    I had a bag, well two bags of potatoes that started to sprout. I cut them down into smaller pieces and let them dry or scab up before planting. At this point they can be put into a bag to encourage sprouting, or I can plop them in the soil and let them go to work. It does help to buy organic potatoes or ones that have not been sprayed. Often the conventional potatoes will not sprout, or not as well.

    Potatoes can be grown in hills, raised beds or containers. My favorite way to grow potatoes is in a fabric grow bag. I find it an easy way to reach in and harvest the tubers without compacting the soil. It is easy to riddle your hand down and feel for the potatoes to harvest. We shall plant these soon.

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  • Moon Phases Calendar 2023: What’s the Moon Phase Today?

    Wondering what is the Moon phase today? Use the Farmer’s Almanac 2023 Moon Phase Calendar to find dates and times.
    — Read on www.almanac.com/astronomy/moon/calendar/zipcode/95501/2023-02

  • Farmer’s Almanac Planting Calendar

    The upper field at College of the Redwoods sustainable farm located in Shively

    https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar/zipcode/95501

    The Farmers Almanac has been used as a reference for gardening by farmers and garden enthusiasts for decades. It was a publication I saw often at homes of those I knew as a child, decades later a copy would sit upon my shelf as my spouse and I followed the moon charts for our small family farm.

    A tin sculpture sits to scare birds away from the berry patch at our previous home
    Wise Moon Farm

    It wasn’t until later when I was enrolled in sustainable agriculture classes at College of the Redwoods that I realized there could be some real validity to biodynamic farming and growing by the cycles of the moon. If you have never visited the College of the Redwoods farm out in Shively, it is worth the drive. The farm out at Shively produces crops for Community Supported Agriculture and an annual pumpkin patch, all without added irrigation, using the cycles of the moon to know when to go out in the field to help water wick up to the crops.

    Picture of myself with instructor Franz Rulofson of College of the Redwoods during a tractor operations agricultural class

  • Making Fakin’ Bacon

    I know can anything other than bacon really taste like bacon? We thought we would try and see if the mushrooms could really take on a bacon flavor.

    Making Bacon out of Oyster Mushrooms

    They definitely took on a smoke flavor and were tasty. Not exactly an exact replacement for bacon though. It still brings on that deep smoke flavor to add depth to dishes.

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