I really hate weeding. There are days it requires all the strength I have to get out there and pull these tough tufts of green from between my rows of carefully tended beans and peas. But there are reasons to like weeds, or at least respect them.
Read MoreWhen I moved to the Pacific Northwest eight years ago to start a market farm, it was my first experience growing food on a large scale. My focus was on planting organic crops and finding enough customers to eat them. It took only a couple of years to add a new farm priority: managing the area’s extreme weather challenges.
Read MoreWhen I got out of bed this morning I checked the weather report. It’s the first thing I do every day. When you grow food, the weather assumes a make-or-break urgency that defines your life. It also forever changes the way you relate to a forecast. I never hear “early frost” without worrying it could interrupt my ripening tomatoes, or “heat spike” without fretting over wilting spinach.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up I often spent muggy afternoons with my grandmother after school tucked away in the back of her garden, cutting twigs into small pieces for the compost pile. I never grasped the importance of what we were doing as a kid but loved chatting with her until the sun dipped below the horizon. As I grew older, I grew to appreciate my grandmother's productive garden. Her hydrangeas always bloomed, her plump tomatoes grew on sturdy vines, and weeds were never a problem. The secret to her success was the compost we made from those twigs, plus garden clippings, leaves and food scraps.
Read More
