Papa's Urban Farm

26/03/2021

Garden beds have been refreshed for the Spring.

15/03/2021

When you have chickens, you let them clean out unwanted weeds

16/08/2020

31/07/2020

Busy 2020 Summer

31/07/2020

New addition to the homestead. Silver Fox bunnies. Doe is white. Buck is obviously the other one. We haven't settled on names. Any suggestions for name? (We prefer pair or couple-like names.)

30/04/2020

Got a lot done today. Washed the outside of greenhouse... prepared plants for tomorrow's sidewalk sale... and planted a bed of tomatoes and peppers.

07/04/2020

Even though we are "safe-at-home", a lot is happening on the homestead!

Zeb (bluish-gray buck) and Esther (doe) are expecting a litter by month end! They are both Silver Fox, an American heritage breed and rare in this area. No idea how many Esther will have, although her breed is known to have large litters, like 8 to 10. They come from a registered line. Also, there could be chocolate browns in the litter as Esther has that color on her line. Their offspring will be open for adoption after 8 weeks (end of June).

PM if you would like to get on our adoption list, deposit required.

02/04/2020

Building raised beds with compost from Bill at Happy Daze Worm Farm. He mixes in about 10 gallons of worm castings per cubic yard... "black gold" my friends, "black gold"!

27/03/2020

Hens receive "chicken tunnel" as part of our egg-laying stimulus package. Breakfast plans hope for delivery within two weeks.

26/03/2020

Hens are enjoying a spring excursion. Letting them enjoy all the greenery. Should start laying eggs soon!

24/02/2020

Better late than never. Just getting started indoor with planting spring peppers, celery, onions, rosemary, thyme, and echinacea.

Not too early to pre-order from my limited quantity.

11/01/2020

What type of vegetable plants do you like to buy at the big-box stores for your spring gardens?

I will be starting some from seed soon to sell in the Spring!

20/12/2019

We enjoy fresh eggs! When our laying hens stop laying or dont lay consistently, it's time for replacements.

Well, today was moving day for the new hens. They moved from their brooder to the hen house. I think they like their new home!

20/12/2019

Dinner is a great time to be creative with microgreens. Thanks to Amanda Gurley, one of my product testers, for sharing pics of tonight's dinner! Yum. Yum.

"Tonight I'm having a Mediterranean inspired roasted sweet potato/chickpea meal. I didn't have any Italian parsley so I chopped up some of the sweet pea shoots and garnished with the red cabbage. It was great!... The chopped green pea shoots added a nice green crunch--it was a good sub for the Italian parsley."

18/12/2019

Harvest day!

13/12/2019

Many thanks to Amanda Gurley, Stacey Pitman, Melissa Schon, and Susan Rubio for taking samples and giving feedback on my last crop of microgreens!!

13/12/2019

Crop 3. Slow start as the humidity dropped unexpectedly in my grow room to around 20%. Had to water stacked trays on the 2nd day. Peas and beet will need extra day. Brought in a humidifier to try and get humidity up to 35% at least.

This crop has the sunflower, pea shoots, beet, radish, salad mix, PLUS broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, and red russian kale.

Looking for 2 new people to sample and give feedback!

11/12/2019

Merry Christmas!

-- Be sure to eat your veggies!

10/12/2019

Making Zeb and Esther hay feeders. Feeding them from cage floor may perpetuate parasites. Made from old license plate, hardware cloth, and telephone wire.

08/12/2019

DIY Mouse Mansion w 4 beds. Available 1 night at a time. Checkout upon homeowner's demand.

07/12/2019

Chickens for Everybody!

30/11/2019

Expecting red wiggler worms in the next week. They will be put to bed under the rabbit cages where they will convert rabbit poo into black gold. Woo hoo!

30/11/2019

Just arrived... seeds for broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, and kale microgreens... can't wait to sow first crop!

29/11/2019

Advice from An Old Farmer

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered… not yelled.
Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life… Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Don ‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around..
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

28/11/2019

What local friends would like some FREE microgreens? I have sunflowers, peas, beet, radish, and salad mix. Limited time offer.

I will offer fresh microgreens each week to 5 new people for the month of December.

To qualify,
1. "Like" our page and this post,
2. "Share" this post,
3. Be the first five people to "comment" on Friday for the next week's crop.

If you have questions about microgreens, let me know.

26/11/2019

Thanks to The Bee Cause in Drummonds for originally posting this! Good stuff!

To survive the cold winter months, honeybees do something unusual: they hug.

23/11/2019

Our first crop of microgreens... sunflowers, peas, salad mix, radish, and beets. The beets are still germinating but the others were put under grow lights this morning. Looking forward to watch them grow

20/11/2019

The beginning of a life-giving garden. God's creation and wisdom of our food-cycle... He created food with the ability to reproduce and He gave us the ability to take seed from it in order to plant and harvest. Wow!

I hope to teach my grandsons this simple truth.

This is the beginning of something great. Tarping for the Winter. Raised beds in the early Spring. Joy in the journey!

20/11/2019

There are always things to do around the homestead, especially ahead of rain. Sherry and I shredded enough leaves to probably fill 20 leaf bags this morning. Why waste bags and fill the landfills with such?? Shredded leaves are better mulch than hardwood, especially here in the South. We first lined the shrub beds with reclaimed burlap coffee bags.

19/11/2019

I am planting my first batch of microgreens... sunnies, peas, beets, radish, and basic salad mix... 2 trays of each. Keep your eyes open for them in the 8 to 10 days. **beets - 14 to 18 days

17/11/2019

Sifting dirt... a fine task for the day...

16/11/2019

Be sure to wash these ...

12/11/2019

What Memphis restaurants do you like that offer chef-unique dishes?

08/11/2019

Listen to the Trees...

https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/57DB7D1B44E01FD82540EF23F30FEDED/7CBAB63E937F1325C45D7BC1A387288D

I’ve always had a special affection for trees, especially the centenarian cottonwood tree at the Center for Action and Contemplation here in Albuquerque. Science is discovering that trees have much to teach us. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer—a botanist, professor, and membe...

31/10/2019

What is your favorite "greens" recipe?

29/10/2019

Papa likes J Brook Coffee because its roach-free.

Did you know that it’s so common for roaches and other insects to be ground into bulk coffee production, that the FDA has approved that up to 10% of that coffee can be insect infested or damaged?
At J. Brooks, we GUARANTEE that won’t be an issue - you can enjoy your coffee, ground or whole bean, insect free! That’s one of the perks of buying local, small-batch roasted coffee. We make sure it’s top notch!
Article is below, if you’d like to read for yourself!

https://sprudge.com/dont-worry-there-are-acceptable-levels-of-ground-up-cockroaches-in-coffee-tins-152088.html?utm_campaign=Sprudge&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter

26/10/2019

We need our butterflies and bees!

The latest Monarch butterfly census from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation shows a devastating decline in the population of of Western monarch...