Brandy Brook Farm Stand

08/14/2025

Well, we haven’t exactly got the harvests we were looking for this season 😭

Every season looks a little different, but whats most important is that we continue to grow our food production; even if it’s one tree at a time 🤠🌳

07/01/2025

Building quality soil takes time ⏳

We work to speed up the process by utilizing compost made from food waste, organic debris, clean cardboard, and chicken bedding. 🍂🪵🐔

After a few months, this is the result 📅

You may notice some of the wine grape vines have not fully broken down but this Is OK as they will provide additional aeration for the soil.

06/06/2025

🍓Strawberries 🍓

They’re a great companion for lettuce and asparagus. We also plant them as ground cover around newly established beds to reduce w**d pressure and improve top soil.

04/27/2025

At the end of every season, we cut down stems of whatever is left growing and leave the roots in the ground. Leaving roots in the ground allows better aeration of the soil and creates nutrient-rich pockets for new roots to follow.

This past season, we allowed some cold tolerant varieties to continue to grow through winter without any frost protection. Pictured below is some Curly Kale still going strong 💪 🌱

02/22/2025

Outside is still a frozen tundra but inside it’s starting to feel more like spring. 🌲🌻🌷

We’ve been processing wood/mulch in preparation for new plots & got our first round of seeds started.

12/29/2024

This season we tested cold tolerant varieties to see which could survive without frost protection. Plantings of spinach, kale, choy, and herbs have been in snow and freezing temps for the last several weeks.

11/23/2024

Our old pallet footbridge had fallen into disrepair and needed to be taken down. This gave us an opportunity to build a heavy bridge in order to access another field with our trailer.

Ideally, we were looking to construct it for $0 but it looks like we may have to buy a box of screws to finish the job 😅

The bridge will allow us to process wood faster and make prepping & planting the new field much more efficient.

11/03/2024

Before we planted some of our fruit trees we began creating hedges as natural fencing to mark boundaries and deter deer from eating the young saplings. So far it has worked well for our pear trees and we will continue expanding our hedges along side our other newly planted fruit trees.

Stefan Sobkowiak is a biologist and permaculture expert. Here is a video of Stefan explaining the importance of his natural hedges at his permaculture orchard, Miracle Farms.

https://youtu.be/r4B7VQo371U?si=GEo04T_yMvUttmP9

Are YOU planning to plant some fruit trees this year? Or have you planted some fruit trees already? Let me show you something you REALLY want to plant before...

10/25/2024

Winter preparations are in full swing ☃️

We’ve started collecting seeds and clearing out cool season veggies to prep beds & rows for winter. We do this in several different ways…

❄️Cover cropping
❄️Mulching
❄️Topping w/ compost
❄️Covering w/ chicken bedding & manure

Keeping the soil fed & covered are the two most important parts of winterizing the garden. How do you prepare your garden for winter?

09/27/2024

⚠️ Unpopular opinion: Not all invasives are bad⚠️

For the last 8 years we’ve researched and learned a lot about agriculture and forestry. One topic which became of interest was that of “invasive plant species”. These are plants that originated in other parts of the world but that thrive in our local climate.

Some believe that we should work to eradicate invasive species, however, they provide certain significant benefits; some aid in slowing erosion, others provide food for wild life. Pictured below is autumn olive. The small berries are edible and can be made into jam. It also grows & spreads quickly and can change the microbiology of the surrounding soil.

What are your thoughts on invasive plants?

09/07/2024

Butternut squash are one of our favorite winter squash varieties. They’re tasty and store well over winter. They also take up a lot of real estate which is why we don’t plant as many as we’d like. This year we should be able to harvest between 25-30 butternut squash. Next season, they’ll be moved to a trellised grow space.

08/21/2024

Ramial mulch is the foundation for our gardens and rows on the farm. The mulch is made on-site from natural hardwood and is aged until being added to grow locations. The white strands are part of a mycelial network. Mycelium is critical for soil health and nutrition. As the network grows it helps to retain moisture and nutrients around our grow areas and produces some serious mushrooms.
🤙🍄‍🟫🪵🍂