garden

August 8, 2013

A Perfect Cabbage

lilygpad garden cabbage, garden, solar passive, zucchini 0 Comments

So, the Dacha is working on its new garden, which is still not fully fenced in (I hope no deer are reading this). Meanwhile, the veggies are still growing and feeding us. The other day I harvested my first cabbage and couldn’t help but notice how perfectly perfect it was. Fresh cabbage is a delight, confirmed our friend Dounan who loves to cook more than most people I know.

We made a stir fry with some freshly picked zucchini and off we went to a potluck. It’s nice having these south facing windows with garden beds right outside. We notice that the plants right out there do very well, possibly because the house is bouncing back extra heat and sun. We did learn recently that it is best, for moisture issues, to keep 20 feet from the house dry and seeded with short grass or clover. we have been having some issues with all the humidity and rain, but aren’t ready to give up these primo growing areas up just yet. Choices, choices…more on that later. For now, here is Dounan being himself with zucchini.

April 3, 2013

Baby Garden Party

LeaLSF DIY, garden, video, visitors= we love you alternative baby shower, celebrating birth, dacha, garden, party, project, work 0 Comments

Have you ever been to a baby shower and thought hey aside from these cute cupcakes this has very little to do with new life? I have thought this exact thing while munching on a delicious cupcake. I won’t do it, said I to myself! Then as I was sitting around wondering how I can possibly get done all those things I want to this spring a train of thought hit me, and it went like this. I like my friends, I do want to celebrate with them, I/we can use some serious help in the garden, and my friends want to come get sweaty outside after a long winter.

After a bit of planning here at the homestead we invited framily from near and far for a Saturday of epic gardening. That day we crossed off of our list these things: prepping old garden beds, digging many a hole through tough soil, pounding black locust posts in for a new garden, clearing out trees for a baby fruit tree orchard, planting fruit trees, building trellises for peas, and planting early plants directly into the garden. We ended up getting that done and more. Other things that got done: bonding, new friend making, fixing tools, maple syruping, bon-firing and a ton of cooking.

Thank you to all who participated. It made all of us here at the DP feel so warm and fuzzy to celebrate a new life coming to the homestead with all of you. Like, Monica Fanya, one enthusiastic participant said, “It’s like planting baby food, just in the early stages.” So true!

Please enjoy some photos and videos of the event.

December 4, 2012

Hedge Fund with Carrots

LeaLSF Economics, garden carrots, economic, emotional, environmental, fund, hedge, homestead, sustainability, third planting 0 Comments

Here at the DP we believe in three sustainabilities: environmental, economic and emotional. Investing in a third planting of carrots in mid-July grows our savings, and earns us interest. Growing carrots increases soil capacity, by breaking up the soil and attracting beneficial organisms. Pulling and eating crispy and sweet carrots in December makes us giddy. Invest in a third planting of carrots next summer, it’s the responsible thing to do!

August 20, 2012

Late Summer Garden

lilygpad garden, Uncategorized 0 Comments

A summer of gardening and where are we now? The vegetables are exploding out of the beds! Hooray. Tons of kale, good broccoli, cabbages, peppers, beets, and flowers. Check out the tomatillos (we learned that we shouldn’t plant these guys too close together). More

May 22, 2012

The Garden Goes On

lilygpad DIY, garden, reclaimed materials Black Locust, garden, Garden Beds, luffa 0 Comments

So as June approaches. the Dacha continues to plant and plan. Here in our sun room we are overflowing with starts. We’ve got all your basics – tomatoes, cucumbers, beets – but also some experiments like luffa (for sponges!).

The beds in front of the house are all done and we’ve put in as much as we could cram into them.

Here are some more beds in front of the pond. I’m hoping that this stuff won’t get eaten by creatures. My dad in New Jersey is battling a groundhog that’s had a lovely dinner for the last few weeks, and I don’t want the same for us. Wish us luck.

I really like these new beds. Don’t ask about the old garden – it’s a mess of dandelions. And, yeah, we’re working on it. But having everything close by and in view is such a good idea. You are reminded that you need to water or weed these guys every time you look out the window. And the sunlight bounces off the front of the house and keeps everything extra warm.

May 12, 2012

Permaculture Plan – Our Garden Beds

lilygpad DIY, garden, Uncategorized Black Locust, building, garden, Garden Beds, permaculture 2 Comments

So recently the Dacha has been working on a new permaculture plan, thinking about our Zone 1 and how we can get food closer to the house. In the last few years we noticed that things were growing really well right in front of the windows so we made some new beds.

What started out looking more like Dacha graves, soon took on a better look. Here is our first bed:

Danila picked up some black locust wood – a truck full of odds and ends which made pretty sweet boxes.

Thanks to our visitors, Lauren and Brian, we took a day to cut and put it all together.

This snake was watching us lazily from the pond rocks!

Well, we were goofing off a bit…I mean, we were just measuring the beds to see how comfy they would be…yeah…

As of now, we’ve planted some broccoli, lettuce, kale, more kale, and beets into these babies. More to come as we make room for our many plants, which I can’t wait to eat.

March 30, 2012

Everybody’s working on the weekends!

LeaLSF DIY, Events, garden, support the homestead, visitors= we love you garden, plant, spring, work party 0 Comments

Hey Greater Ithaca Community, it’s mad nice out, and we’ll be working outside all weekend and today long. Come and join us today or Saturday or Sunday for getting your hands in the dirt and getting up close with squishy worms. Planting, mulching, cleaning and building. Let us know if you are thinking of coming out, by dropping a line. If enough folks wanna come out maybe we’ll bbq! Love, the Dacha.Hey Greater Ithaca Community, it’s mad nice out, and we’ll be working outside all weekend and today long. Come and join us today or Saturday or Sunday for getting your hands in the dirt and getting up close with squishy worms. Planting, mulching, cleaning and building. Let us know if you are thinking of coming out, by dropping a line. If enough folks wanna come out maybe we’ll bbq! Love, the Dacha.

November 14, 2011

Thanks Fall, for Holding Out

LeaLSF buildings, DIY, energy system, garden, heating, winter alternative building, berm, community, construction, DIY, diy house building, duckweed, earth-berm, evacuated, farm, garlic, homestead, intentional community, photos, solar, solar evacuated tubes, sun room, winterizing 1 Comment

Every extra hour that the weather holds out, is very possibly an extra hour of serious outdoor business getting done at the homestead-in-progress. Check out this photo essay of vital last minute projects, and some less vital – but still very nice projects, we’ve been up to.

We put windows in the sun room, goodbye wind-torn plastic, hello warmth and being able to see. Also, notice the sweet mortar job at the bottom;)

October 27, 2011

Hardiness of Juncos and Cabbages

LeaLSF birdwatching, garden, winter birdwatching, cabbage, fingerlakes, garden, homestead, homesteader, inspiration, ithaca, junco, ny, staying warm, upstate, winter 1 Comment

Now that I have my mornings free, I like to drink coffee early on and then wander around outside birdwatching, observing the seasons change, and last-minute gardening. It’s not the season to get excited about these particular activities, but hey, what more is there to life in pre-winter Upstate, NY than marveling at the hardiness of juncos and cabbages. This particular morning I found inspiration and instruction on how to brave the long winter coming. From the cabbage I’ve learned about dressing in layers. From the juncos, a crazy dance-move to repeat pretty much non-stop.

Harvest, muddy and cold

More

March 18, 2011

Spring 2011 Planting Calendar

LeaLSF garden customizable, dacha project, finger lakes, frost date, garden, ithaca, northeast, northern, planting calendar, sowing, vegetable garden, when to plant, zone 5b 0 Comments

Cabbages in the Dacha garden - 2010

note- this calendar is mostly thanks to Skippy’s Garden Calendar (customizable), with a number of rarer additions, such as orach and butterfly weed (thanks Sean Dembrosky!). The customizable calendar will ask you for your last frost date, which might vary from ours here in zone 5b. You won’t need to know your zone, but will have to give your last frost date. So get some seeds and get to planting! Suggestions for when to grow and how/when to grow it are encouraged to be posted in the comment section of this blog or on our Facebook page!!

Vegetable Garden (based on a last frost date 6/1/2011)

3/16 – Sow onion, celery and celeriac seeds indoors. Also- lavender & butterfly weed (indoors)

3/30- Sow broccoli, kale, cool weather lettuce, escarole, eggplant and thyme seeds indoors. Also- orach and spinach (indoors)

4/6- Sow pepper seeds indoors (keep temp above 78*F for germination). Also sow indoors marigold, parsley, basil and beet seeds. Also- kholrabi

4/18- Start watching the soil for the first direct planting! As soon as the soil can be worked its time to sow peas, fava beans, arugula and radish directly in the garden. (Note: In warmer climates, where the soil doesn’t freeze, this tool may not give an appropriate pea planting date.