Do you like tomatoes, Reader? Tomatoes from Alix's VA Garden a few years back Or peppers, potatoes or eggplants?Well, these plants all happen to be part of the Solanacea plant family.And where we live in Virginia, these family members are growing in ground for us. But how do we ensure we actually get a successful harvest of tomatoes, peppers, potatoes or eggplants? Join us tonight at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET. Dave and I are hosting a live webinar focusing on the Solanaceae...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, There's a log cabin on the back of our property that brings me so much joy. Now, the truth is, it has seen better days. It's rickety. There are gaps in the eaves. The red cedar is showing its age and the chinking is falling apart. We don't have the budget to do what it needs right now. But this week, I walked in with a broom, a vision, and printed art by Scottish artist Anne Thubron, and I thought: what if I just start here? Anne, by the way, illustrated much of the botanical art...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader,Just wanted to celebrate Wilma from Washington, a member of our GIY Community. Just look at her beautiful lettuce bed! Wilma's transplanted lettuces growing beautifully with rosemary! Meanwhile, at Bethany Farm, every day has been planting day for our family. As soon as the kids get off school, we do a nature walk/run at a nearby trail. My PlantNet app ID-ed this as "Dames rocket" a beautiful purple brassica that peppers the trail we run. And then head home where I unplug the wifi...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Just a quick heads-up — we're going live tonight at 7:30 PM ET for Starting Your Summer Beds, and I wanted to make sure you saw this because we are so excited to show you how to plan your summer beds while also showing off our SAGE App's Crop Planner and Guild Builder! Here are a few sneak peak screenshots into how it (and this webinar) can help you select the plants that go into your summer beds) If you've been looking at your garden and thinking "I missed the window," you...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey, Reader!I finally planted the remaining potatoes this week! Rows of them, in what we in permaculture call Zone 1, the area closest to your home, the kitchen garden. And every time we put something in the ground in April, I think about the invisible work happening beneath the surface, the thing no one talks about at the garden center, the thing that determines whether your plants thrive or just survive. The life in the soil. Unbeknownst to me for many years, the life in the soil actually...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, This time of year, Bethany Farm is loud. A truck is dropping off mulch for our muddy paths. Dave is hauling fencing materials up the steep slope. The boys are catching the baby chickens who don't want to go back into their coop. I'm somewhere in the middle of double-digging a bed I've been trying to finish for two weeks, getting interrupted every twenty minutes by dinner, something wonderful or urgent Not so tidy in April but very much alive! And on May 16th and 17th, we're...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader!Our garden beds are not done. I'll just say that up front. I had grand plans for this week: Double-digging the Zone 1 beds so I could finally get my edible flowers in the ground. And every single day, something intervened. Real life, doing what real life does. But here's what I did finish: I purged my home office. And I cleaned out the seed shop. If you've ever done a proper purge, you know it's not really about the stuff. It's about the clarity. It's a little bit like the...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28 March just flew by, Reader. How was it for you? Were you busy outdoors, hands in the soil, preparing for new beginnings? For me, March taught me a few things about both my soil and my soul. I want to share them with you this Holy Week. What the soil taught me This month, under the guidance of my garden Yoda (aka John Jeavons, author of Grow More Vegetables) I did something I never thought I’d do. I...
2 months ago • 2 min read
They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. Jeremiah 17:7-8 (on one who trusts and confides in the Lord) Trees dunked in mycorrhizal fungal water that will help roots grow Hello there, Reader! This week, 240 trees went into the ground at Bethany Farm. It happened because of a grant from ContourLines.org, an organization founded by Thomas Leonard, who believes deeply in something that is...
3 months ago • 2 min read