growing food in hard times . . .

My newest art venture is the barn quilt I am working on for my barn.  I have always been fascinated with quilting patterns, and have done several projects in and outside the classroom with designs notable on quilts.  This one is a 4' x 5' piece of plywood that was on the property when we moved here.  It was one of two signs that advertised the family's antique and dried flower business.  The other sign I used as a giant chalkboard in front of the farm to write notes on.  The design on this sign has a pattern on a 4' x 4' section in the middle of the board.  I added the words BARN on the top and QUILTS on the bottom 6" sections in hopes that I can conjure up some barn art business.  I am hoping that this launches a whole new idea to people of how to display art on the outside of buildings.  Barn Quilts are recognizable art for people who who want to adorn their barn with art. To me, that is just the start!

 Today we started the groundwork for two new sections for the garden.  I first started by putting some recycled concrete in places to mark out the garden spot.  Next, I mowed it down as far as could to get most of the grass and weeds clipped off.

 After the mowing was complete, I had the boys help in spreading some of the barn manure on the area; a great way to clean out the barn, and to add matter to the soil to make it more fertile.  My next step is to add some COF materials (complete organic fertilizer) and then we will be ready to plant.  It will be another few weeks before we put anything out but we are getting ready now since the weather is so nice outside.  I am currently reading "Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food In Hard Times" by Steve Solomon and am motivated to try gardening in a different way.

 

 These two new plots adds 3000 more square feet to our garden.  In total, this year we will try to keep up on 9000 square feet of garden space.