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Bring soil back to life to grow nutrient dense fruits and veg's for superior health. Share that knowledge about soil and nutrition with others.

08/03/2023

Not feeling well this winter? Here are some of the superfoods that will help you get well and keep you well. You can buy powdered forms or whole berry form. When purchasing powdered you do lose some nutrients or purchase whole form and make powder just before you use it.

Aronia berries
Elderberry berries
Cranberry berries
Blueberries

To stay healthy this winter try some of the above. Some have pucker power so we add them to our shakes each day which help.

Good health allows you to do more and have more fun and less doctor visits!

04/03/2023

It is almost time to start to get ready for potting up your seeds for your garden. Start with seeds that are slower to germinate and wait for a bit on the fast growing seeds.
Basic Recipe for a seed starting mix only, not for transplants:
> 4 parts compost
> 1 part perlite
> 1 part vermiculite
> 2 parts peat moss

To complete the mix, add some ground up worm castings, and leaf mold if you have some.
* Is leaf mold good for plants? Research has shown that leaf mold and other composts can increase crop yield, improve plant health and even enhance a plants resistance to disease. As a mulch, leaf mold moderates soil temperature and reduces evaporation. If I have enough leaf mold I spread it on my beds. The worms come up and take it down into the garden soil and the process continues to feed the plants! I don't know about you but to me GOD has this all worked out for us!
Hope you try leaf mold:
Maple leaves are the best. Gather them in fall, take them home and place them in leaf wire rounds with access to the ground, or in a pile. To keep the leaf pile from blowing away by putting netting over the leaves.
Your plants will love it!

25/02/2023

Seed starting will be starting soon! How fun is that! I assume more people are starting to garden to help hedge agains't inflation at the grocery store. Plus your homegrown veg's will be easier to access and healthier for you. Most vegetables travel to our region from far way...loosing nutrients as soon as they are picked.
Be sure to pick up packets of seeds soon so you can get started when it's time. If you want to avoid pesticides then purchase organic packets. When pesticides are used and the plant starts to die for the season it pulls all it can into the seed for the next year. This includes pesticides. If you can purchase organic seed. Have a great new garden year!

24/02/2023

Garden Series: Growing healthy nutrient dense food.

1) How wonderful would it be to just step out of your home and shop in your garden. Being able to be more self sufficient and cost effective.
2) Home grown food from your garden has so many advantages for your health. Much better than long distance food that loses the majority of it's nutrients by the time it gets to the destination.
3) Why have a garden? Better nutrition, save money, know what is in your food, get fit, protect and promote biodiversity in the soil.
4) Learn how to make your soil microbes happy which in turn creates nutrient dense food for you and your family!
5) Learn amendments that will help feed your soil microbes.
6) You can save money by going to the doctors less.

22/02/2023

Do you understand what soil food web can do for you? It works with plants to produce a number of benefits which include:
1) Increased yields
2) Protection from pests and diseases
3) Reduced irrigation requirements
4) No need for fertilizers - Unless your soil is not up to par yet
5) W**d suppression
6) Protection against soil and erosion
7) Carbon sequestration
8) Protection from insects due to stronger plants that are harder to damage when grown in great soil.

Spring is not here yet but it is time to start to look up how to grow the best nutrient dense food you can! Make sure you have great balanced soil.
I have also noticed that when I grow cover crops in small strips between vegetables that really helps the microbes and confuses pests more. Give it a try.
It's time to get your seeds and start planning!
Have fun

07/12/2022

An interesting fact: Did you know that if you eat sugar you will be attacked by mosquitoes. They are attracted to the sugar in your sweat. Well at least not in the winter months!

19/11/2022

Do you know what the soil food web is all about? If not check out the information below.

The soil food web works in harmony with plants to produce a number of benefits which include:
Note: Not if chemicals are used in your soil.

1) Increased yields
2) Protection from pests and diseases: However do realize that if your soil doesn't have everything the plant needs, pests and disease can still cause an issue. Get a soil test if needed.
3) Reduced irrigation needed. Don't overwater which can cause some nutrient loss and some diseases.
4) If you have proper soil microbes, no need for fertilizer, unless you need to balance your soil. Get a soil test to confirm what you need.
5) W**d suppression
6) Protection from soil erosion
7) Carbon sequestration
8) Protection from most insects. Even more if you keep mulch on top of the soil. The best mulch is shredded maple leaves. Put leaves on only after the soil as started to warm up.

This is the time of the year to plan your garden and what you want to plant or try new varieties. More people are gardening so don't wait too long to get what vegetables you want.
You can never stop learning about your garden and the wonderful life below in the soil. Continue to learn and you will reward yourself with superior health! How cool is that!!
Remember don't add fertilizer unless you know what is needed for soil balance. Most of the time plants are best if left to fend for themselves because they actually will work hard to find what they need which gives you much stronger plants that make you stronger in nutrition! Don't spoon feed them.
Have a great garden this up coming year. It feels great to feed yourself and family with great nutrient dense foods from your garden!
Enjoy!!!

16/11/2022

Do organic crops have higher nutritional value than conventional crops. Hard question due to how the farmer takes care of their soil.
Recorded differences between organic and conventional by Rodale Institute:

Organic vs Conventional

!) Lower pesticide residues
2) Higher concentrations of antioxidants because the plant has to use it's defenses more
3) Lower cadmium concentrations
4) Higher Vit C
5) Lower nitrate
6) Higher quality protein = meaning higher concentrations of essential amino acids

Great reason to farm organically!

During this winter, check out as many books as you can and keep learning about soil and your health. New information is coming out each year about soil.

17/05/2022

Tomatoes continued
Amendments you may want to try:

Aspirin extract: Unlikely as this may sound, a spritz of a diluted aspirin can increase the sugar concentration by over 1 1/2 times and boosts Vit C by 50%, extra resistance to drought and cold as well.
To make the aspirin spray: Dilute a quarter of an aspirin in 1 3/4 pints of water. You can spray once a season or once a month. Spray the underside of the leaves.
Trials have shown that this can also improve the tomatoes ability to fight off early blight, fusarium wilt and adds all the micronutrients needed.
Also provides some resistance to pests and diseases and reduction of blight by 47%.

Seaweed extract: Is a great amendment. The one I use is called SeaCrop. I have used it for years. It is made here in Washington. It lasts a long time because you dilute the product as instructed.
Add your diluted seaweed to the aspirin water. When you spray on your tomatoes always spray on the underside of the leaves and spray lightly.

Have a great tomato season!

16/05/2022

Spray on the love!

Tomatoes: How to grow nutrient dense tomatoes with fantastic flavor.

This is the first of a 3 part series on how to plant, feed and take care of your tomatoes for the most flavor which ups the nutrient density and flavor.

1) Don't plant in a greenhouse unless you have to. Tomatoes grown in a greenhouse have about 40% less nutrition and flavor.
2) Plant in a sunny sheltered spot from high winds. That will give you a spike in sweetness.
3) Tomatoes grown in pots or grow bags give you inferior tasting tomatoes.
4) Planted in the ground they have access to a broader range of natural soil minerals, including micronutrients not found in most tomato fertilizers. This results in richer flavor. The tomato plant, if planted in the ground, will form a relationship with the microbes around it's roots. The plant and microbes work together to give what the tomato asks for. Nature is smarter than we are!
5) Slight nitrogen deficiency has been shown to produce far better quality tomatoes up 17%.
6) Watering to much also dilutes the sugar and vitamins resulting in poor flavor and nutrition. Don't water until you just start to see wilting in the leaves.
7) Feed your tomatoes molasses. Very high in potassium which as been proven to improve flavor, yield and boost lycopene content. This also helps tomatoes to ripen quicker. The microbes in the soil also love molasses. The sugar helps boost the growth of friendly bacteria and fungi in the soil.
Feeding mix to make:
1 pound of molasses to 2 gallons of water and sprinkle this mix over your soil every 2 weeks from when the flowers first appear.

Continued tomorrow.......

05/05/2022

Shallots - Grow your own-why?
They can be expensive in stores but you can grow your own. If you haven't experienced shallots you are missing out. The ones in the store many times have been taken out of cold storage and actually can be sharp tasting but homegrown shallots are incredible.
A little known fact is that shallots are superstars of nutrition. Ounce for ounce they have six times more phytonutrients than the typical onion. They are second only too garlic in their ability to the destroy cancer cells. Part of the reason for so much nutrition is they are still considered close to the wild ones as you can get. Ounce for ounce, shallots have twice as much quercetin as a cultivated onions and they have the nutritional bounty to prove it!
Try one and see if you want to grow your own!

29/04/2022

Garlic,
It is considered medicine. It's very good at keeping cancer at bay. Garlic studies have shown that it blocked 100% of the growth of human cancers of the stomach, pancreas, breast, prostate, lungs, kidney and brain.
Garlic cloves hold 2 different substances in their cloves. Each substance is contained apart from each other. That is until you press or smash the cloves together then they combine and make medicine that you eat in your food. You get more benefits if you use the garlic press. If you are going to cook pressed garlic than wait 10 mins and you will not lose the majority of the medical benefits of garlic. Grocery stores mostly have only california silverskin because it can be harvested by machines. They are considered softneck garlic. You see no stem coming out of the middle of the whole clove. Fairly mild. You can also grow your own softneck garlic.
I think the best garlic is hardneck. You can grow your own for the fraction of the cost of the store. There are hundreds of types of hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic has incredible flavors, all the way from very mild to blazing hot! They are easy to tell apart from the soft neck because they do have a hard stem coming out of the middle of the garlic.
If you want to grow your own, you plant in fall. Take the head of garlic and remove each clove from the head. Do not plant any piece of garlic that has skin missing for planting. Plant it with the bottom down and the pointy end up into the soil about 2" down. Put mulch on top, shredded leaves are the best! They will start to come up early spring.
Hardneck will send out a stem in the middle of the clove that will have a curl toward the top. These have a wonderful slight taste of garlic. Many people love them for fresh eating or cooking with. Soft neck will not have any stem come out.
Once hardneck gets the stem you will be close to harvest. Carefully look for the head of garlic to see if it appears to be large enough to pick. Generally around June - July. You can check and if they are starting to open up the cloves from the head you are late pulling the garlic.
Try both types of garlic to see what you like.
We went to a garlic festival and they had over 200 different types of garlic. We tried most of them. We were in our camper. We got up and took the dogs for a walk and came back, opened the door and couldn't believe how the WHOLE camper smelled of very strong garlic! No vampires that night...

22/04/2022

How to encourage beneficial microorganisms into your garden
1) Add compost because carbon is the primary energy source for microorganisms. They need lots of organic matter to thrive.
2) Plant cover crops. Prior or after crops are done. I like to plant a thin row of cover crops on each side of the garden bed with the vegetables in the middle.
3) Keep your soil correctly watered. Never too much or too little - mouth full...microorganisms need water, too much they drown, too little they die.
4) Avoid physical disturbances in the soil once your plants are in the ground.
5) Mulch your beds....this is a must. However you can wait until the soil starts to warm up.
6) Avoid pesticides.

Your soil microorganisms will take care of your plants better than you can if you keep them happy. Your plant roots will tell the microorganisms what they need using exudates, which is plant sugar. The microbes will then source that product and provide the plant with what they asked for.The process doesn't work well if you fertilize with soluble fertilizer. Plants are very lazy and will choose the easiest way to uptake nutrients. What people don't know is that if you don't feed soluble fertilizer they must work with the microbes and you will have a lot more nutrition in your food product.The microorganisms will also help fight off diseases and infections if you don't fertilize.
Have a great gardening season this year!

Heidi

11/04/2022

Blackberries and your Health

They contain a wide variety of macronutrients also high in dietary fiber and polyunsaturated fat that make blackberries heart friendly. Exceptionally high in antioxidants such as tannin, phytoestrogens, lycopene, ellagic acids, and fiber.
Cooking or freezing has very little affect on nutrient loss.
A cup of fresh blackberries give you:
Fiber - 31%,
Vit K - 36%
Vit C - 50%
Omega-3 -10%
Manganese- 47%
Vit A -6%
Vit E - 8% not found in most fruits
Calcium -4%
Iron - 5%
Magnesium - 7%
Phosphorus - 3%
Zinc - 5%
Copper - 12%
Selenium - 1%
Folate - 9%
Glycemic index only 4 (which is great)!

Antioxidants in BB are among the highest in nutrients of all fruit. They are believed to help fight, cancer, especially breast, cervical, colon, oral and esophageal. Fights oxidative damage which is related to the development of many diseases. BB also help damaged DNA and oxidize LDL cholesterol. Helps prevent cancer, heart disease, lung inflammation, stroke and possibly Alzheimer's and other chronic diseases. The tannin may also have some anti-tumor properties. Seeds in BB are a good source of soluble fiber such as pectin which helps maintain digestive health, helps control blood sugar and weight loss and lower cholesterol levels, reduces the risk of developing diabetes.

Phytoestrogens are also in BB. They help with brain health, immune functioning and heart health.
Blackberry tea is good for reducing blood sugar levels.
Vit C & E and selenium which helps fight free radicals, which are a big deal....

There are more reasons to consume Blackberries but you get the why you should.

We have a row of blackberries that are thornless and give us an abundance of berries.
Grow your self and family healthy and happy.
PS....what kid doesn't like blackberries!
Heidi

09/04/2022

Find out what are the most nutritious carrots. You may be surprised about the difference in nutrients.
The original carrot was a wild purple carrot, which hunter gatherers ate. Eventually in the sixteenth century they started to cultivate red, yellow and white. Orange carrots were cultivated only 400 years ago.
How do the different carrots rate in nutrition? Let's find out.
The main nutrient in carrots is Phenolics, very good for you. The highest nutrition in the carrot is the skin so wash your carrots but keep the skin on.
See the difference in nutrition.
#1) Purple & Yellow: Have a nutrition value of 38
#2) Red, orange and white: Have a nutrition value of 3

Never choose baby carrots, they are old carrots that have been whittled down so hopefully people will buy them because they are cute.
The freshest and sweetest flavor are carrots that have the tops still on. Any carrot's without tops are generally storage carrots.
Carrots have the most nutrition when eaten cooked with a small amount of oil such as olive oil and the skin on. Cooked carrots release 3 quarters more nutrients than non-cooked carrots. However it matters how you cook them, sauteed or steamed carrots retain more of their nutritional value. Boiling carrots loses most of the nutrients. Cooking them whole and cutting them when done also retains most of the nutrients.
Eating cooked carrots contain a strong cancer-fighting compound called falcarinol.

I hope you find this helpful to keep you in great health. Remember when younger you won't see the effects of your poor eating. Your body can fight it off for some time. However as you age is when it will catch up to you. So eat right so you can continue to have fun when you're older instead of spending all your hard earned money on medical treatments!

Have a great day,
Heidi
Wedge Mountain Organic Farm

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Grown Right; Living Right

Wedge Mountain Farm is an organic farm and training center located in the Icicle Valley near spectacular Leavenworth, Washington. We are dedicated to improving our world through organic food production, healthy living, and sharing our knowledge with others.

Our tiny farm produces vegetables, fruits, culinary & medicinal herbs, microgreens. We raise chickens for meat and eggs and have bees for honey, pollination and wax. We are particularly passionate about making rich and healthy live soil, and do so with vigor right on our farm. Our main goal is to produce nutrient dense foods.

Be sure to follow our class offerings as they will be updated regularly.

Thanks for your interest!