harvest time, urban farms

HARVEST TIME
one of the fun part of gardening is harvesting time
especially when the tomatoes start producing well

here is a picture of a sample of what we recently harvested
from our garden here at the country n

recently dug up our potatoes
we should have about 10 gallons of red potatoes
which we will store and eat on a regular basis until
sometime in the late fall

we also harvested a large bed of onions
those of you who saw the video from the
alzheimers research center
its the bed i was messing with in the video
we take all those onions and hang them in panty
hose on the rafters of a shed and cut them down
as we need them

the harvest was limited this year because i put
hairy vetch on my beds to act as a green manure
the problem was they over grew my onions and
the tops fell to the ground
this limited the onions growth
overall though we got a good harvest and should
have onions through the fall also
sure are good fresh

we are just now getting the beginnings of our tomato
crops
our vines are full of maters
some never make it to the house as i eat them right
off the vine

for memorial day meal we will have fresh potatoes from
the garden with fresh green beans from the garden

we also picked our peaches yesterday and got
4  5 gallon buckets

thats as much as we need
we will freeze them and use them in my wifes shes
peach cobbler
she promises one for the memorial day meal
they also are used to make a drink called the peach fuzz
it makes you feel fuzzy when you drink it

we planted also this year the three sisters
corn rattlesnake green beans and miniature pumpkins
which we will eat like a winter squash
the pumpkins shade the garden beds
the green beans grow up the corn stalks and fix
nitrogen into the soils
the corn grows up for the support of the beans
we get three veggies in one garden bed
those indians were smart werent they

after we harvested the onions and potatoes i overseeded the
beds with black eyed peas which we will eat from all summer
the peas also fix nitrogen in the soil
this fall ill turn the peas into the soil and they will act
like a green manure

this is so much fun
you should try it if you are not already

start with a square foot garden preferably a keyhole garden
good luck

URBAN FARMS
if you live in the austin area you are probably familiar with some of
its urban farms
theres several but the two weve visited more than once are
the boggy creek farm and the springdale farm
they ink out a living farming in town
great places to visit

all around texas people have ag exemptions which give you a break on
your property taxes if you have farms
heck we all know people who have bent the rules a lot and get
a big break on their taxes
two goats on a small acreage area and they are ag exempted

thank goodness those urban farmers get a tax break since we all
know what how high those taxes are in town
(my taxes are a fourth of what they were in town for the same
property value)

think again
those guys dont get an ag exemption
teach them to try to farm inside the city limits
the law was passed to help prevent urban sprawl from wiping out
farm land
so now heres a farm in the city that could be wiped out because of
the rising land values and taxes

now that just aint right is it

im on the urban farmers side of this arent you
hopefully the press coverage of this will help get something done
sure would hate to lose those urban farms
thery are a special feature to austin
helps keep it weird or at least different

the organicgreen doctor