Thursday, March 8, 2012

Spring Time!

My Beloved Sister and I have a running joke. She is my City Mouse and I am her Country Mouse. She also calls me Ouisie. Watch Steel Magnolias and you will know why. Hint: It's Shirley McClaines character.

One of my favorite Winter past times is drooling through seed catalogs. I love those pretty pictures of seeds and future plants. While my Sister decided which black dress to wear to a cocktail party I am trying to decide which variety of corn to grow. This year I am trying to find aspara
gus seeds.





When I was introduced to the World of Waldorf I discovered biodynamic farming. This will be my second year growing plants and food crops using Rudolf Steiner's ideas and methods. What is biodynamic farming? It is often called "premium organic." Harold Coven, Master Gardener at the Steiner College in Sacramento, calls it " having a relationship with the land." A healthy farm will produce everything it needs.

Last year we have started to actively compost "EVERYTHING" that can be made into compost. The fringe benefit, and much to the confusion of the garbage company, is that we have reduced our trash to one small curb side trash bin. The big benefit is the wonderful rich soil we have been able to use in our garden.

Another element to biodynamic farming is planting to the cosmic rhythms. Each plant is effected by the cosmic phases of the planets. Trust me I was pretty skeptical at first. However, the increase yield and the quality of flavor from last years experiment spoke volumes.

This year as I am selecting my seeds and plotting my plants I have added a new seed catalog to my collection.

My favorite catalogs in the past year have been:

1. Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. They are Non-GMO and organic seed company. They have a wonderful site and blog to visit here.
It's probably a good thing that Baker Creek has a retail store in Petaluma, California and not in San Diego. I would be happily be paying their lightening bill.

2. Seed Saver Exchange. Non-GMO, open pollen, and heirloom varieties. Outstanding quality. One of my dreams is to visit their farm.
They have a wonderful site and blog to visit here.

3.My newest addition... Turtle Tree Seed Biodyamic Seed Initiative.
Each of the certified Demeter Certified biodynamic farms contribute seeds to this catalog. I know some of the seeds they use come from Seed Saver Exchange so it is a nice validation to see them support each other.
Their website is simple and can be visited here.

So, it is time to plant my fruits and roots.

Happy Planting...


No comments:

Post a Comment