I think that growing food at home doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
It takes time, space and some monetary investment, and there are no guarantees that what you’re trying to grow will actually grow into a satisfying meal.
We get soil deep under your fingernails, chicken poo on our shoes and our sourdough loaf comes out (often disappointingly) different even though we’re following exactly the same steps as the week before.
And yet, there is a yearning to get out and get dirty, because this is different.
In a world of two dimensional, standardized convenience, this is a living, three-dimensional, messy use of our time which connects us to what’s real: nature, the seasons, other living beings.
So, don’t grow food it because it’s going to save you time or money, it won’t.
Grow food because it’s an enjoyable way to say f*** you to the system :)
Less thinking & more growing,
Nico the Small Farmer 🌻
Hello friends,
Short note this week on keeping the soil covered, aka mulching.
This is what the last few months have looked like for me: lots of rain + lots of work (outside of the garden) = weeds taking over!
Contrary to popular gardening belief though, as long as my planted crops are growing well, I really don’t mind having weeds hanging around the garden.
In fact, I see weeds as a way to keep the soil covered (e.g. living soil cover), accumulate valuable nutrients, offer food & habitat for various insects, as well as become mulch when time comes to plant food.
Chopping & dropping weeds to clear a garden bed for planting summer crops
And as I’ve shared in my “Happily transplanting tomatoes” post, all you need to do to transplant seedlings the *no-dig* way is to make an opening in the mulch just like a bird’s nest, loosen the soil with a spade and plant directly.
Using weeds as mulch can be quite risky, especially if they’ve already gone to seed. There is the possibility that weeds will be coming back stronger next year, and that this might affect food production, though this is a risk I’m happy to experiment with on the small farm (= home farm).
But if weeds don’t sound like your kind of mulching thing, here are 11 Amazing Mulch Materials for Permaculture Gardening.
Friends, thanks for reading through and would love to hear more about your growing journeys too.
Enjoy summer and whatever you do, get mulching! Love, Nico 🌻