Upcoming Workshops

Howdy Farmy Folks!! We've decided to offer a couple workshops this fall. These two workshops are hopefully the first of many workshops that will be offered through POTE farm. Please send us an email (peaceoftheearthfarm@gmail.com) if you are interested in either one of these workshops:


*Garlic Workshop- Sunday October 2nd, 2-4 PM at our "Nettles" Location

**Fiber Spinning Workshop- Sunday November 13th, from 2-4


*The Garlic Workshop will teach you everything from A-Z about growing garlic here in the northwest including hands on experience preparing garlic for planting and putting it in the earth. This workshop will also include 1 pound of locally grown, certified organic seed garlic. Cost for this workshop is $20 per student.

**The Fiber spinning workshop will cover all the basics of spinning wool with both a spindle and a spinning wheel. This workshop will also cover how to prep wool for spinning as well as how to ready the spun yarn for knitting. It will also include your very own spindle as well as a little bit of starter wool to take home for practice. Cost for this workshop is $30

We hope you can join us!

Natural Bee Keeping at POTE

One of our recent additions to POTE farm has been natural bee keeping. Since everything we do on our farm falls within organic standards it just seems to make sense that our bees would be natural too. Natural bee keeping is about learning to mimic what bees would naturally do. Natural bee keeping promotes stronger hives and healthier bees, which in turn will produce healthier and more resistant stock. This process involves changing the intent of the beekeeper from that of an exploiter and extractor, to that of a passive observer and steward.

Honey bees are used almost exclusively to pollinate some our most important crops and today's agricultural system relies heavily on honey bees and their services. In fact, honey bees are responsible for pollinating 80% of all insect pollinated plants. Honey bees are are often shipped long distances and exposed to many unnatural conditions which could lead to many serious health problems. Many people believe that these stresses have lead to severe decreases in healthy strains of honey bee populations.  A healthy honey bee hive should posses strong disease resistance and natural coping skills to deal with pathogens and parasites. However, today's honey bees are often too stressed and weak to fight off pathogens and other threats to hive health. Although no one knows for certain, many believe that these stresses could be a leading contribution to the increased incidence of "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD).

Resistant strains that are fully capable of managing their own hive and coping with disease and other issues are hard to come by. Many problems with pathogens and parasites could arise in hives simply because bee strains today are very weak. However, no better time has existed to start strengthening and selecting for strong and resistant honeybees. Natural bee keeping is one way to strengthen and build stronger strains of honey bees.

The main areas of natural beekeeping involve allowing the bees to build a natural comb instead of synthetic comb and eliminating the use of chemical treatments. Natural bee keeping also involves passive observation and reducing the amount of times the bee keeper opens the hive. Many natural bee keepers will only take honey in the spring or when there is an obvious excess in the late summer (or not at all). Feeding the bees should only be done in dire situations and natural sources of feed, such as frames of honey, is recommended. Additionally, switching to a "Warre", "Top Bar" or other natural hive instead of the Langstroth is advisable. Catching swarms, cultivating resistant stock and supporting the cultivation of untreated bees is also a big part of natural bee keeping. And finally, the natural bee keeper is always looking for ways to provide and encourage bee friendly, organic, habitat.

You might be wondering how the natural bee keeper deals with those infamous pests such as mites. Keeping the hive as healthy as possible is the first course of action because a healthy hive is less susceptible to any disease. Additionally, it is important to keep the hive properly vented and include a 1/8" screen bottom. A properly vented hive encourages healthier bees and bees will often clean each other and remove mites. If the hive has a screen bottom, the mites fall through this layer and mites can be significantly reduced in the hive. Also, essential oils such as peppermint and lavender have been shown to repel many pests including mites in bee hives. Lastly, encouraging bees to clean each other regularly by dusting the bees with organic powdered sugar is very important. One bee keeper I know dusts her bees 2 to 3 times a year with powdered sugar to help keep the bees clean and free of mites. Just like with any pest, when the mites are chemically treated, the weakest ones are quickly and easily killed off. The mites that remain to breed are those that are stronger and more resistant to the treatment. Over time, all the mites become resistant to the treatment and this leaves the bee keeper trying out newer chemicals, trying to stay one step ahead of the resistance. This is a process that makes chemical companies very rich often makes pest problems worse. Furthermore, these chemicals could be very dangerous to the bees, the bee keeper, pets, children and anyone else that might come in contact with them. We strongly discourage the use of chemical treatments for mites and encourage bee keepers everywhere to try more natural methods of treatment. 

This year we decided to go with a Warre hive for our new package of bees. One of the main benefits of the Warre hive is it allows the bees to build comb from the top down. If bees where building their colony, say in a hollow tree, they would also build their hive form the top down. This helps take advantage of the natural flow of air. Heat rises and helps the keeps air flowing and the bees warmer. Although we were unsuccessful in finding a bee package that came from local and natural sources, we're confident that our bees can thrive in natural conditions hence forth. We'll also be keeping an eye out for swarms in our areas. We've had the bees about two months and they've already filled almost two boxes full of natural comb and are laying brood like crazy. Here are a few pictures of the bee installation and their new hive. We are fairly new to bee keeping and we are very excited to be learning about honey bees on our farm.

Setting the frames in place before installation. You'll notice that we start our frames with just a small strip of organic bees wax. This helps the bees get started but does not control the size of the comb. I've always heard that a synthetic comb helps the bees pull out the comb faster. However, now that I've seen how fast they built these combs, I now know that was a myth. In fact, it seemed like the bees built their own comb faster without the synthetic frame to guide them. Go figure, nature know best, again!


Our bee package, they are so ready to get out of there!!


Setting the frames in place, after the installation of the bees:

All Done, putting the lid on!


This is the Warre Hive in it's full glory. We started off with just one box and we'll keep adding more boxes on the bottom as the hive grows. If we were going to take honey next spring, we would take the top box off.

Shiitake Mushroom Logs

Hello folks, I just thought I would post some pictures of our recent addition of Shiitake Mushroom logs. If all goes well, we should have some delicious mushrooms to eat this time next year. We purchased our plugs from Uprising Seeds. You can also find plug spawn from Fungi Perfecti. This time we used maple logs, some of which were down only about 5 weeks, others were down since last December-ish. It's important to use logs that are not too old (one to two months seems perfect), because other fungus might have already inoculated the logs from the natural environment. We took a chance with the older logs, which had been down for about 4 months or so, we'll see what happens. Just about any hard wood can be used for this purpose, as long as the logs are not too large and have not been down more than a few months. We sealed our plugs in with a cheese wax purchased from Fungi Perfecti. You can also use bees wax. Wax seals and protects the plug spawn, helping to insure that the shiitake spawn properly inoculates the log and does not get contaminated. We put these plugs in at the beginning of March. This process was beyond easy and came with detailed instructions. Happy and long lasting mushroom logs are just a few hours of easy labor away!

The Basics:


Drilling holes in the maple logs with 5/16" drill bit:


Here's Kat hammering in some plugs:


Kat sealing the logs with cheese wax (you can also use bees wax):


Presto!! Be sure to keep logs in a damp and shaded area:

A new farm season begins!

In the yonder days of February and January, Peace of the Earth Farm lie snuggled deep in the frigid earth, waiting for it's caretakers to return. Although we sowed a few seeds here and there in anticipation of warmer days, the bulk of our seeding has just begun. March saw the return of our seeding greenhouse, a wwoofer from yester-year, the smell of fresh handmade potting soil, and eager new volunteers all arriving from far off places to help us make the season the best season for POTE farm yet. This year our volunteer crew consists of Daniel, Katie, Kat, Chris and Jeff. Daniel is joining us for a second season, this year acting as our assitant manager, or he isists I call him: "the assistant to the manager". I can assure you that Daniel is so talented, he's both. Katie is Daniel's girl friend and she will be our administrative assistant, handling phone calls, research, and the newsletters (and maybe swinging a hammer from time to time when we need her to). Kat, Chris and Jeff are all new to POTE farm and came to us from the organization "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms" or WWOOF for short. We are looking forward to getting to know these generous souls as we work and learn together all season long. Here's to a fruitful season!

The Crew from Left to right: Hillary, Jeff, Brian, Daniel, Kat, Chris. Katie will be joining us soon!

Burnt Ridge: A nursery worth supporting...

If you've been searching fruitlessly for a nursery that's worth a darn, search no more. Burnt Ridge Nursery is my pick for the best of the best for everything from blueberry bushes to strawberries to kiwis to nut trees. I had the opportunity to visit this nursery a couple years ago and get a tour by the owner Michael Dolan. This nursery, which has been in business 31 years, is both eco-friendly as well as beautiful. It is run by the thoughtful care a staff and owner that care as much about the environment and genetic diversity as they do about their customers. In fact, they have worked tirelessly to help preserve many hard to find varieties of vines, trees and shrubs that produce edible fruit and nuts. Enlist their help to add an edible landscape to your home, school or community. Their prices are affordable and their products are top notch quality. Also, their expertise about what will and what won't grow well in the Pacific Northwest is superior. Check them out online or give them a call:

www.burntridgenursery.com
360-985-2873

2010 in Pictures

Hello Folks,

Since this is the quiet season for a farmer, I finally have some time to post some of our favorite pictures from 2010. We had too many photos to share here but please enjoy this small selection:

This was one of our first trays of seedlings, Early March 2010, broccoli:


5am sunrise at the farm. Spring time saw many early days for this farmer:


Spring time 2010 in our hoophouse, lot's of seedlings


This year we decided to lease some additional land. We call our original location "Heritage" and this new plot "Nettles". Here it is in May before we tilled.


Garlic Scapes and a wee bit of basil, Early July 2010


A few members of work trade crew, from left to right, Jessica, Natasha, and Daniel. Natasha, an artist and good worker, contributed about a month to the farm in June and July. Jessica, originally from Minnesota, stayed for about 3 weeks and filled all of us with a positive attitude and a strong back to go with it (did I mention she is also probably one of the most well read people I've ever met, well, she is). Daniel, a Georgia boy, will be returning with his girlfriend for another season of farm work. This year year, Daniel will be my assistant manager of the farm.


Breezy, another member of our work trade Crew. Breezy worked with us for nearly the entire growing season and we owe her quite a bit for her tireless efforts on the farm. Here she is with some freshly harvest garlic.


Our first CSA boxes of the season, early July. In case you've forgotten, here's evidence that June 2010 was the coldest on record. Almost everything in the box should have been harvested a month prior, however due to the cold temps, rain and lack of sunshine, it was not ready for harvest until July. Likewise, all those July type vegetables were a month behind too. No squash, tomatoes, or cucumbers yet! Even flower bouquets were very challenging at this point.


Our main growing plot over at the "Nettles" location. I think this was the end of July.


A happy farmer and her harvest


Some baby squash with their blossoms, destined for Brix 25 restaurant, August 2010


"Nettles" Farm location in late August 2010


"Nettles" Farm location in late August 2010


"Nettles" Farm location in late August 2010


Tomatoes at harvest time, early September 2010


Packing CSA Boxes in September 2010, photo courtesy of Josh Sitter


A view from the perennial garden at the "Nettles" farm location, Mid September 2010. On the left you'll see feverfew (white blossoms) which is great for migraines, and a floral variety of sage (purple). There is also some evening primrose peeking (yellow flowers). Evening primrose is good for treating whooping cough. Photo courtesy of Josh Sitter


"Heritage" Farm location, Mid September 2010, photo courtesy of Josh Sitter


POTE farm, photo courtesy of Josh Sitter


This year we were fortunate enough to be honored with a "Dinner in the Field" from a local restaurant, Brix 25 in Gig Harbor. The owners Thad and Katie, have been buying fresh tomatoes, greens, potatoes and other tasty morsels from us since 2009. This year, they pulled of one of the most memorable evenings of my life by hosting a gourmet 5 course meal on the farm. The meal consisted of local ingredients including fresh produce from our own farm. About 30 guests attended and it was a delicious success.



Brian and I were able to give a quick farm tour before the "Dinner in the Field"


Josh was one of our most memorable work traders. He stayed with us only a few weeks but made quite an impression on us. Josh, a photo journalist by trade, is currently writing two travel guides, one on hitch hiking and one on WWOOF-ing (That's "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms"). We wish him the best of luck as he hitch hikes down to South America and back over the next couple years! PS- he's also a fantastic chef.


Carmit and her Son Christopher work traded with us at the end of the season. They helped put our farm to sleep and get it ready for a long winter. They are currently "WWoofing" together in Pennsylvania.


This year we opened a small weekly farm stand in Rosedale. It was never a big money generator, nor was it really supposed to be. It was simply our attempt to let let the locals know we existed and that they should start to see more of our produce in the community. We met some wonderful people, including my favorite customer, Roxi, who bought some of our giant zucchini squash for her special Zucchini bread. This is the Farm stand in Mid September 2010


Inside the tomato hoop house Late September 2010, photo courtesy of Josh Sitter


Ending on a sunny note....
This photo courtesy of Josh Sitter, September 2010