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03/31/2018

Moved all of the plants out of the house and into the small greenhouse. Some warm weather and sunshine would make them very happy.

09/25/2017

Tomatoes, preserved in every way that I know how.

09/02/2017

9/2/17
The state has identified a new invasive species poised to kick out the natives.

According to a news release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Japanese stiltgrass has been positively identified on private property in Scio Township, near Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County.

“This annual grass is considered highly invasive, taking hold in areas of disturbed soil along banks, roadways and woods,” said Greg Norwood, invasive species coordinator for the DNR’s Wildlife Division. “Seeds can be transported by water or on animals, and seeds can remain viable in the soil for three to five years. Because deer don’t feed on Japanese stiltgrass, it often takes over in areas where deer browse on native plants and leave open patches of soil.”

The identification of Japanese stiltgrass was confirmed by the University of Michigan Herbarium, It is the first detection of the species in the state.

The plant has been on the state's invasive species watch list since 2015 because it has been found in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

Researchers believe it came to the United States from Asia in the early 20th century as packing material for china pottery. It is established along the East Coast and in the South.

The DNR is collaborating with The Stewardship Network, a nonprofit conservation group based in Ann Arbor, and other partners to identify the extent of the infestation. To date, small satellite populations have been located on the original property and a nearby site. The primary infestation was treated with herbicide, and plant material was burned. The small patches of grass at the satellite locations were removed by hand and disposed of.

How can you help?
The DNR is asking landowners, land managers and anyone spending time in the outdoors to watch for Japanese stiltgrass and to report the location and photos of any suspected findings to Greg Norwood at [email protected].

Japanese stiltgrass has leaves that come to a point at both ends and often have a silvery stripe or mid-rib.

Japanese stiltgrass looks like some native grasses, so it may not appear out of the ordinary to the general observer. Here is what to look for:

A thin, bamboo-like grass with jointed stems and well-spaced leaves.

Smooth green leaves 2 to 3 inches long and one-half inch wide, tapering to points at both ends, often with an off-center silver stripe or mid-rib.

1- to 3-foot-high beds of grass, with some stems running across the ground and others shooting upright.

Roots, both at the base and stem joints, that are weakly attached to the soil and easy to pull up.

One to three slender, green flower spikes at the stem tips, appearing in August or September.

More information about invasive species, including identification information for Japanese stiltgrass, can be found at www.michigan.gov/invasivespecies.


http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2017/09/02/state-finds-new-invasive-weed/627363001/

09/02/2017

I tried propagation of different bushes this year for the first time. Not all of the cuttings took root but I did have some success. Can't wait to try some other types, next year.

08/29/2017

Elderberry tincture. Jeremy, Kellie

08/29/2017

The harvest and processing.

07/21/2017

Summer, 2017

04/28/2017

Staying busy Red Barn Farm

04/07/2017

Tomato plants - reaching for the sunshine after yesterday's snow-storm.

11/27/2016

I earned this "badge" by taking part in Oregon State University's "Introduction to Permacultue" class.

It was a great class, completely online, 4-weeks long, didn't require a ton of time, and was completely free. (no books, registration, etc.)

If you'd like to learn more about designing your property/plant-growing in a way that makes the best use of rain, sun, etc., this is a great class.

You do not have to have a large amount of acreage to take part.

https://learn.canvas.net/courses/1297

11/27/2016

This is a fun experiment you can try with your own pastures and fields. It comes to us from Anthony Bly and Sara Berg of South Dakota State University Extension. Just remember that different areas will have different kinds of soils and you may get different results.

Soil microorganisms require carbon to survive. Men’s cotton underwear briefs contain high amounts of carbon. Therefore, briefs can be buried in the soil and retrieved later to see and evaluate soil microbiological activity and ultimately, soil health status. During the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition’s first Soil Health School in the Aberdeen and Ipswich areas, a “Tighty Whities” demonstration was conducted. The briefs were buried to about the waistline in the soil five weeks ahead of the school at 3 sites that included: corn with conventional tillage, soybeans under mulch tillage, and no-till soil currently with growing cover crops. Soil health school participants had the opportunity to extract the briefs and view the results of five replicates in each field. Results were revealing…to say the least.

A new brief was compared to one brief from each field.

The first soiled brief in the picture above (second from the left) was from the no-till field with cover crops. Hardly anything remained of the brief, indicating extensive soil microbiological activity. The brief from the mulch (reduced) tillage soybean field (third from the left) had more material remaining when compared with the no-till/cover cropped soil, and the conventional tilled corn (for right) had the most material which indicated the least soil microbial activity. All 5 briefs buried at each site were weighed, with the results matching the degradation observed in the photo (Table 1).

Kathy’s Note: If the lower case letters and some of the other data is as confusing to you as it sometimes is to me, here’s a translation: “Significance” is derived from statistics to help us see if a practice really makes a difference. The difference is something that you can see, that you can acknowledge and that you can expect again (under the same conditions). Probability (PR>F in the table above) indicates how certain you are that you’ll get this same result again. So what the statistics here show us is that there was a significant difference seen, and after 5 replications (5 pairs of underwear buried in each field) the chances that you won’t get these same results are 1 in 1,000.

The “Bottom” Line
Soil microbial activity is a key soil health indicator. Most seasoned soil health producers recognize the value of the soil microbial kingdom and often refer to it as “the herd.”

If you’re a crop producer considering no-till and are concerned about too much residue consider using another herd to help your soil microbial herd. Integrating cover crops and livestock in a no-till system can profitably utilize and manage plant residue levels.

http://onpasture.com/2016/11/21/tighty-whities-can-tell-you-about-your-soil-health/

This is a fun experiment you can try with your own pastures and fields. It comes to us from Anthony Bly and Sara Berg of South Dakota State University Extension. Just remember that different areas …

11/15/2016

Lady-farmer emoji.