In June I attended my first-ever Chestnut Growers of America annual convention. This year it was hosted by Richard Teague of High Rock Farm in Gibsonville, North Carolina. Richard has a gorgeous operation where he has 500, 13-year-old chestnut trees that produced 20,000 pounds last year. His orchard is what…
Quick flight around the farm
Take a peek at what the farm looks like from the air. In the foreground you’ll see strips of dirt with tiny green plants in the middle. Those are the pumpkins. We’re growing jack-o-laterns, green pumpkins, white pumpkins, pink pumpkins and some giant pumpkins. Notice the beehive were using to…
Alpine Update: Water, Goats, Pumpkins, Chestnuts & Bees
It has been a while since my last post. Spring has come and gone. When I bought the farm, the seller said he was thrilled to be finished cutting grass. Little did I appreciate what he was talking about. Once the grass started growing (exploding might be a better word),…
How to install a package of bees, on a roof, in vestavia hills (video).
As some of you may have known, I’ve been taking a beeping class put on by the Jefferson County Beekeepers Association. The class is 8 weeks long and is taught by the most knowledgeable bee folks in Alabama. Incredible class. The main reason we are raising bees, aside from the…
When it looks like a squirrel’s ear
It doesn’t take long for a ‘farmer in training’ to learn that your ‘how-to guide’ is as close as a fellow farmer. THE riddle I am trying to solve for our chestnut orchard is this: -which type(s) of chestnut trees will: 1. Grow best in our Alabama climate 2. Produce…
Tied to the lichen post
So God decided to make little red ‘flowers’ bloom in late winter on whatever type of lichen/fungus this is. How insignificant is fungus in the grand scheme of life? Let alone what it looks like. And why spend the extra time to decorate it? I don’t know, but God did….
You’re Gonna Grow What??? how chestnuts chose us
I wasn’t expecting to join an American agricultural renaissance. But in looking back, this tree seemed to choose me. crazy talk, I know, let me explain.. As a new “learning-as-I go” farmer, I wanted to find a high-value crop that didn’t require specialized implements or a tremendous amount of acreage to be…
You Talk Too fast
As I was researching options of things to grow and understanding what exactly the USDA does and can do for me (subsidies anyone?), I reached out to my County Director, Bill Browning. When I sat down with the Bill, I had two pages of handwritten questions. Finally taking a pause in…
I’ve always wanted to be a farmer
Ever since I planted my first radish seeds when I was 6, I was hooked. When the clover-like leaves poked out of the soil, I tore into the house yelling for mama to come see! It seemed like magic. So, yes, I’ve always wanted to be a farmer, ever since my…