Harvest of Joy Farm LLC

08/05/2021

If you have visited us over the past decade, chances are you were greeted by Bud. Bud died last week after a long happy life of chasing rabbits and irrigation sprinklers and keeping tabs on all of his humans. Bud loved people and one of his joys was greeting visitors to the farm. Thank you to all of you who made his life happier with your visits, head pats, and butt scratches!

02/03/2021

Hi Friends, I know that many of you are dreaming your gardens right now and that some of those dreams include saving seeds. I have been a student of Rowen White through her online Seed Seva Mentorship program since 2017. Each year I return to this course to be refreshed and re-inspired by this class and the community of students engaged with it. Rowen is a gifted teacher and she covers the practical, biological, ethical, and cultural aspects of seed stewardship in a joyful and accessible way. If you are interested in seed stewardship, this class will be worth your investment. And--if you do decide to enroll in this course and would like to form a local study group, I would love to talk with you about that! Blessings, my friends. We're halfway to Spring.

SEED SEVA Seasonal Mentorship Online Course We are woven into a time-honored reciprocal relationship with the seeds that extends past beyond living memory… these agreements between us and the plant kin-dom are imprinted into our Bodies as ancestral memory…Join us as we explore the means and ways...

10/12/2020

John and I will be facilitating a free online workshop on seed stewardship through KVCC's community programs this Wednesday at 6pm. We will be sharing a bit about our approach to seed stewardship but will be leaving lots of time for questions and conversation. We'd love to have folks with a range of experiences with seed saving in the conversation as we make plans for next year's seed gardens and classes. Those of you who are experienced seed-savers, please join us so we can learn from you! Those of you who are new to seed saving, think about what questions you'd like to ask and what support you might need to weave seed stewardship more deeply into your garden plans for next year. Follow the link below to register: https://www.campusce.net/kvcccommunity/course/course.aspx?catId=37

09/17/2020

Here's an update on the aerial insecticide spraying scheduled for tonight. I was able to reach a person on the EEE hotline today who told me that he had no information regarding any studies that were being done to assess the efficacy and impacts of the aerial spraying and no information about any alternate and/or more comprehensive strategies that were being pursued to deal with mosquito-borne diseases. He also could not refer me to any specific person who could answer these questions but he did tell me that the decision about aerial spraying was made jointly between the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. He recommended that I attempt to contact the heads of those departments with my concerns. https://www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases/0,4579,7-186-76711_77442---,00.html

Emerging Disease Issues - Eastern Equine Encephalitis

09/14/2020

Remember last year when the state wanted to spray broad spectrum insecticides across our bioregion to kill mosquitoes to try to combat EEE? Last year they offered an opt-out if you didn't want your home or land sprayed. This year there is no opt-out. Spraying starts Wednesday. Below is a letter I wrote to the state last year about this. My thoughts haven't changed. You know what's great for controlling mosquitoes? Bats. Swallows. https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/09/aerial-mosquito-spraying-planned-in-10-michigan-counties-with-no-opt-out-option.html?fbclid=IwAR1MyEyK_Rl4g_nZfZHi00wh5cesuCxwTDz62eqiBzmy8WaOHppH-_TL3tE

Ten counties that reported EEE in horses are scheduled to be sprayed Wednesday, Sept. 16.

08/27/2020

I didn't get great pollination inside my tomato blossom bags so I'm trying a new strategy . . .

08/27/2020

When your summer farm help happens to include two professionally trained culinary artists . . .

08/21/2020

Cleaning tomato seeds step 2

08/21/2020

Saving Seeds from Large Heirloom Tomatoes

08/15/2020

Dear white gardeners, please don’t be disrespectful by becoming fetishistic or causing commodification of ancient, sacred seeds of indigenous farmers. It was a painful experience for me. I fe…

08/15/2020

For those of you saving seeds in the Honeydrop cherry tomato project (or anyone else saving cherry tomato seeds). Sorry about the poor video quality--I don't know what happened there, but I think it's still watchable.

08/15/2020

Sowing buckwheat into harvested-out garden beds to protect the soil until I want to plant into them again. I love buckwheat as a fast-growing summer cover crop. (Second video in the comments--my videographer hasn't figured out the "pause" button yet.)

08/01/2020

If you are growing squash this year and are looking for fun and educational family activities, maybe this is the year to try out hand-pollinating. It's a great way to teach kids about botany, genetics, and entomology all at once!

07/13/2020

Another Honeydrop video. One of my plants is ripening red tomatoes, which is interesting since Honeydrops usually are more apricot-colored. Still tasty though!

07/13/2020

I am becoming such a huge fan of wasps as I see them feasting on my garden pests more and more each year. Potter wasps are one of my favorites. Look at the artistry on this little pot! Inside is a wasp egg (or larva depending on whether the egg has hatched) and a paralyzed caterpillar that mama wasp left for her offspring's lunch.

07/13/2020

Bathtime and mealtime are the same time if you're a duckling.

07/06/2020

Why does my heart open up when I look at this corn flower? How is there this much beauty in the world?

07/06/2020

Folks who are participating in the Honeydrop tomato seed saving project, I made this video to show you the process of blossom bagging, which is something that those of us who are growing other varieties near the Honeydrops should be doing in the next couple of weeks. I'll be sending you all some blossom bags this week or if you are at a store that has a craft or party section, you can pick up your own "favor bags" to use for this purpose. I'm using the 4 x 4 inch size here. Stay tuned for a note and package from me and if you don't hear from me, let me know! I think I wrote down the names of everyone who took Honeydrops this Spring but it was a crazy season and I might have missed someone. (Also--I'd love to see photos of your plants if you'd like to share!)