031 – A Clean Slate

031 – A Clean Slate

with host Linda Borghi

Farm-A-Yard Podcast logo: orange sun with sunbeams rising over a mound of black dirt with 2 sprouts and a microphone in green coming up out of the soil.
Farm-A-Yard Podcast — It’s a movement… have ya heard?

Why do we need to “clean the slate”, be daring and grow some of what we want to eat?

Linda gives us some very compelling reasons. Besides, you can grow just 100 square feet of garden and save yourself $700.00 a year at the grocery store!

Learn the simple steps to plan your garden now, even learn an easy way to figure out how much produce your family eats now and how much you would need to grow.

New motto: “Grow it, why mow it!”  Start small and you will get hooked! Grow your own personal food security. Learn how to sow, eat, repeat!  We are only one seed away!!

Listen to this podcast and start your garden plan today!

This podcast is made possible by funding by our Patreon supporters.  

For extra free content or to become a patron please see us at https://www.patreon.com/FarmAYard

Links:

Seed Catalogs

 

Music credit: “Insomnia” by John Sheehan.  Used with permission.

028 – Gardening Biodynamically for 45 Years

028 – Gardening Biodynamically for 45 Years

with host Linda Borghi and guest Charlotte Anthony

Farm-A-Yard Podcast logo: orange sun with sunbeams rising over a mound of black dirt with 2 sprouts and a microphone in green coming up out of the soil.
Farm-A-Yard Podcast — It’s a movement… have ya heard?

Charlotte grew up close to the land and working in the garden. She connected to the earth and learned to grow biodynamically.  She knows first hand, the important connection of soil microbes to our health and that this growing method can produce nutrient dense food. Learn from the experts as Linda and Charlotte share some experiences in this Part 1 of 2 episodes.

This podcast is made possible by funding by our Patreon supporters.  

For extra free content or to become a patron please see us at https://www.patreon.com/FarmAYard

Links:

Music credit: “Insomnia” by John Sheehan.  Used with permission.

024 – Milk Crate Farm

024 – Milk Crate Farm

with host Linda Borghi

Farm-A-Yard Podcast logo: orange sun with sunbeams rising over a mound of black dirt with 2 sprouts and a microphone in green coming up out of the soil.
Farm-A-Yard Podcast — It’s a movement… have ya heard?

Linda’s been back on tour!  New tagline: “You are just one seed away!”  From what? Well…Everything!

Here I am by the Hudson River and wherever I go, the first thing I think about is, what can we grow here?  How about a mini milk crate urban farm? Yepperooni!

Check out the versatility of growing like this and all the easy details step by step!  Learn how simple it can be to grow some of your own food!

This podcast is made possible by funding by our Patreon supporters.  

For extra free content or to become a patron please see us at https://www.patreon.com/FarmAYard

Links:

Music credit: “Insomnia” by John Sheehan.  Used with permission.

021 – The Future Lives in the Fall

021 – The Future Lives in the Fall

with host Linda Borghi

Farm-A-Yard Podcast logo: orange sun with sunbeams rising over a mound of black dirt with 2 sprouts and a microphone in green coming up out of the soil.
Farm-A-Yard Podcast — It’s a movement… have ya heard?

Gratitude is the Attitude…as Linda is harvesting seed from her 600 square feet yard farm, she is always amazed at the miracle of seeds to secure the future of life on the planet.  Even after disaster, we are so grateful that nature has a code of recovery.. Gems of wisdom in this podcast to help all of us seize the opportunities for regeneration, including  Biodynamic solutions for disaster recovery.  Discover Linda’s  “Java Juice” that produces 5 foot basil plants!

This podcast is made possible by funding by our Patreon supporters.  

For extra free content or to become a patron please see us at https://www.patreon.com/FarmAYard

Links:

Music credit: “Insomnia” by John Sheehan.  Used with permission.

To Till or Not to Till?

“A new idea: If we revive the tiny creatures that make dirt healthy, we can
bring back the great American topsoil. But farming culture — and government— aren’t making it easy.”
Folks, we have a soil crisis and our future depends on shifting from the practices that have destroyed it’s fertility.  This need is at the heart of the Farm-A-Yard revival to equip folks to ditch the grass and grow food using organic/biodynamic practices that can heal the soil, the food and the people!
Here are some excerpts from an excellent article by Jenny Hopkinson…
“*AMERICA USED TO* be famed for its rich and fertile topsoil. Prairie and
forests were virtually untouched when settlers first started dividing land
into fields across the Southeast and Midwest, making for rich dark soil in
which to grow food and fiber.

Since the invention of the plow, farming has focused on disrupting the soil to make it productive. Most farming methods, whether conventional or organic, are based on “tillage” – the premise that to plant crops and
control weeds and other pests, the soil must be broken up and turned over, then amended with chemical fertilizers or organic compost to boost
fertility. And it worked for a long time.

But tilling, it turns out, kills off many of the microorganisms that build
the soil. It churns up their habitat and exposes them to air; it also makes
it easier for soil to be washed off the land by rain and wind. Over time,
the damage has built up: More than 50 percent America’s topsoil has eroded away. In areas of the Southeast, the country’s original breadbasket, it’s almost all gone.”

Read more of this article here:

What is Biodynamic Gardening? Part 1

Biodynamics is “beyond organic” because of its complete, whole system approach. It offers a simple way to heal and nourish your growing environment.  It connects you to the cycles of the moon, seasons and natural rhythms of nature’s ways.  It is a sustainable way to grow nutrient dense foods because it puts more back into the soil more than it takes out.

Some of the practices are very different from conventional way, but when you begin to practice and apply the principles, the results are undeniable and they are already proven to produce high quality, nutritious food by working with nature, not against it.

The use of preparations, based on plants and minerals, brings vitality to soils and can take your growing experience to another level.

The preparations and the Stella Natura planting calendar really help to organize and simplify your gardening experience.

A major perk to growing biodynamically is that the costs of implimenting these practices are minimal. Biodynamic methods build soil value exponentially with less and less effort over time.

One thing that makes biodynamic gardening different is the preparations. There are nine of them that act as remedies to vitalize any soil.

The first step in having a yard farm is to set your intention.  Why do you want to be a yard farmer? Write it down.

Next it’s important to observe your plot area and assess if it is suitable for growing what you would like to grow, or learn what already grows well in your area in order to minimize your labor and make your project more likely to be successful.

Get a soil test.  We LOVE soil and helping people heal their soil so that they can grow and enjoy nutrient dense food!  The soil is indispensible to sustaining life on earth. We will talk more about soil in the next blog.

Stay tune for more first steps for growing biodynamically!

Be sure to download our podcasts https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-farm-a-yard-podcast/id1276181255?mt=2

Return to read more blogs to learn how to implement biodynamic methods in your yard.