Starting a new year.
If you are anything like me, believing that it is 2024 already almost makes your head spin.
Where does time go? 2024 will mark our 3rd full calendar year here in North Carolina. We have made several changes to the property since we moved from Florida but the to-do list is still a long one.
We first repaired and added raised beds in the garden and added a couple of hoop houses.
Then we purchased and installed a Greenhouse. December of 2022 had a week of extremely cold temperatures in the low teens. So our first experience of these temperatures resulted in us losing everything we had in the green house.
We started to raise composting worms Eisenia Fetida (Red Wigglers) so that we could have vermicompost (Worm Poop) as a soil augmentation for our own gardens. we also made worm compost tea (not the kind of tea you would drink) as a foliar spray for our plants.
We are planning to sell Vermicompost and Worm Compost tea at the Murphy Farmers Market starting in April.
Our next addition was to add chickens. We purchased baby chicks and brooded them until they were old enough to go outside into the chicken coop and run that we built. However it was not quite predator proof and dogs belonging to one of our neighbors got into the run and killed all of the chickens. Our neighbor started keeping the dogs on their own property and kindly gave us a check to replace our flock. So we now have a second flock of 15 rhode island reds that are giving us nice brown eggs every day. Some of those eggs are even double yoke. We also raised a dozen Golden Cross hens to go into the freezer as meat birds.
Our newest adventure is into microgreens. We have had hydroponic grow towers since moving here and they produce many of our green leafy plants like romaine and head lettuce. we grow several of our herbs there as well. So we decided that we would add micro greens as another plant to augment our gardening. The Micro greens will also be something we hope to have available at the market.
Over the next 12 months I will keep you updated on the happenings here on our little piece of heaven. It is my plan to interview some people that are of interest to us and hopefully you as well.
Maggie and are members of the Cherokee/Clay Food Alliance. We are holding a community Meeting on Thursday January 18th at 6p.m.
We hope you can join us at the first general meeting of the Cherokee Clay Food Alliance in 2024. We are excited to present several opportunities for local farmers and growers, and hope to make connections between buyers and growers of local produce in our area. Plus, we will be serving dinner and creating community! Make sure to RSVP and join us!
Here is an invitation to that meeting:
