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Half Moon? What!? Why? So many others do bimonthly newsletters on the Full and New Moon. They always get the attention. They always get the fandom. They always get the importance. The Half Moon, also called quarter moon, but when you look at it with your actual eyeballs it isn’t quarter, its half! (it’s a celestial pet peeve of mine) Half Dark. Half Light. And each switching sides every time. One time growing in light, the other time growing in dark. It isn’t the pause between the inhale and the exhale, it *is* the inhale and the exhale. It is the middle road. It has been a long wait for the snow to leave but the wait is over! And now it's time to transform the anxiety into action. Repairing fences, moving trellises, finishing the high tunnel, seeding, moving seed flats, repairing the greenhouse, and a lot of heavy lifting. It's go time now! As the sap keeps rising, the leaves begin to unfurl, and the first flowers of the season spring up, the farmer dusts off their muscles and begins to harden their hands. And if you want to learn more about our plant friends, be sure to check out the class availability below and on the website  Finally! The snow is cleared and the perennials are in the sun after hiding under their icy cover.
 I was worried the spring bulbs would be super late coming up because of the late snow cover, but they came up even as the snow lingered!
Future Learning OpportunitiesAre you ready to step into the wilderness? Tuesdays in May: Troy Adult Education Program I'll be teaching a Spring Wildflower & Native Plant ID class on Tuesday evenings in May and early June. Two indoor classes to cover the basics and two outings to meet all the wonderful spring plants around Troy. Sign-up here! Seasonal On-Farm Foraging Classes: Dragon's Breath Farm Come learn about commonly available seasonal edible plants in our region. We'll meet the plants, learn about their edible and also medicinal qualities, proper foraging etiquette, and taste the wonders of the wilds. Join me on the farm on the afternoon of Sunday, May 14th for our Early Spring Foraging to see what the wilds can provide! Sign up here!What's available this week?We are preparing for the upcoming market season, so look for everything to be available at our tent this season! Where to find it all?
Select flower seed varieties saved right here on the farm are available at Homesteaders in Libby! The Farmers Markets start the first week in May. Find me and all the spring farm goodies both Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursdays from 3-630pm at The Farmers Market at Libby & Saturdays from 9-1230pm at the Kalispell Farmers Market
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This is the end...thursday, march 30th that is... until the big full Farmers Market at Libby starts up May 4th! I'll be back this year with a full booth of microgreens, salad mix, greens, and the first flowers of spring! Until then, the seed starts that will grow up to be the flowers of summer need all the growing space under lights and in the greenhouse, so the microgreens will have to wait a little while. The break from routine also gives me a chance to switch things up, dust everything off from winter's slumber, and prepare for the busy growing season of tending plants, selling at market, and sharing all my gleaned plant knowledge with you fine folk! But if you want some tasty greens right now, stop by Thursday March 30th from 12-1pm at the Chamber!  I'll be working on more great microgreen recipes and tips for the year, like tacos! Who doesn't like tacos! What are Microgreens?
 Cottonwood buds are known for their sticky, rich resin this time of year and you might just see me out and about putting some into a jar. Add oil. wait. then strain and add beeswax. and presto! you have an amazing salve that is great for achy joint or muscles, a closed throat, and some headaches. Things were the tissues are tight and constricted but need to soften, flow, and unfurl. Kinda like how the resinous sap pumping into these buds helps the leaves to form and open. I'll have some available this spring right along with my Dragon's Scale Salve. What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course Thursday from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* Select flower seed varieties saved right here on the farm are available at Homesteaders in Libby! As winter keeps its hold on the field and forest, my heart and head holds fast to the promises of spring. I talk a lot here about the inherent tensions of being a land tender: you walk with one foot in the civilized world of clocks and static calendars and the other on the sometimes fast and sometimes slow pace of nature. Everything happens in it's own time, yet civilization follows a steady forward marching beat. Most of our neighbors and ourselves live outside of 'natural time'. Our global infrastructure supplies us with all things at all times: bananas in winter, citrus in summer, apples in spring, and strawberries in fall. Whatever we want, when we want it. Because we can source it from somewhere else, somewhere far away. Somewhere where it is spring during our fall, summer during our winter. Few of us know the patience of watching an apple ripen, waiting to pluck it until it is the sweetest. Or even planting an apple seed, watering it, nurturing it, caring for it for years before it in turn nurtures us. Why would we when we can go to the store, trusting that someone else planted that seed years earlier. In this time of lingering winter, when tasks and chores (which all equal time) are compressed and the anxiety grows before you are able to plant any seeds, I remind myself, repeat to myself, almost as a mantra that the fruit still ripens, the seed still grows, the flowers still bloom, and the sap still rises. For everything happens in it's own time. The sweetness of fruit doesn't care about our clock or our calendar, but about the sunshine, the rains, and the bees to pollinate it. The seed doesn't care about our clock or calendar, but about the soil warmth, moisture, and microbes. The flowers don't care about our clock or calendar, but about the summer heat, the butterflies, and spring rains. The tree does not care about our clock or calendar, but about the temperature between night and day, the years of shed leaves that decay at it's feet to feed it today, and the child that climbs its boughs and calls it friend. If none of them that feed us, clothe us, shelter us, care about our clock and calendar, then why do we? We made it, that clock and calendar. To keep us civilized, 'on time', and on schedule. Does it feed us anymore or does it eat away?  I can finally see the soil! Spreading the wood ashes has helped clear path.
I love watching the fast and furious glow up that the microgreens go through
These are just some of the plants that we might see in our outing for the Spring Wildflower & Native Plant ID Class in Troy this May. Sign up at the link below to learn all about the little and big plants we share this land with. Two indoor classes will focus on terminology about how we describe the shapes and patterns of plants, plant families, and how different field guides are laid out. Then we'll spend two evenings walking among our new plant friends putting what you learned into action: identifying, observing, and marveling at these little beauties. Future Learning OpportunitiesAre you ready to step into the wilderness? Tuesdays in May: Troy Adult Education Program I'll be teaching a Spring Wildflower & Native Plant ID class on Tuesday evenings in May and early June. Two indoor classes to cover the basics and two outings to meet all the wonderful spring plants around Troy. Sign-up here! Seasonal On-Farm Foraging Classes: Dragon's Breath Farm Come learn about commonly available seasonal edible plants in our region. We'll meet the plants, learn about their edible and also medicinal qualities, proper foraging etiquette, and taste the wonders of the wilds. Join me on the farm on the afternoon of May 14th to see what the wilds can provide! Sign ups available soon! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
This week is the LAST Mini Microgreen Market! of the winter Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* Select flower seed varieties saved right here on the farm are available at Homesteaders in Libby! The Farmers Markets start the first week in May. Find me and all the spring farm goodies both Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursdays from 3-630pm at The Farmers Market at Libby & Saturdays from 9-1230pm at the Kalispell Farmers Market The greens are growing gorgeously again as all they start to share their space with all the germinating flats of flowers and veggies for the coming season (spring is coming right? like I know it 'spring' and others have snow-free soil and are planting but, it's easy to have momentary doubts when you've still got a lot left to melt 😩) Snow, rain, or shine the freshly harvested microgreens will be coming to town tomorrow! Joined by their farm-saved flower seeds, dried flower bouquets, and more. And this farmer has her fingers crossed for more sun, warm rain, and melting snow  Even while the snow lingers outside, there is all this green growing inside! What are Microgreens?
To help the snow melt along, I sprinkled some wood ash cleaned out from my stove along it's surface. The darkness helps absorb more warmth from the sun, create more edges in the snow pack, and it's good for the soil. All good things to get the garden growing!
I know who to put on the nice list and who is the naughty one 😼  An afternoon nap in the warm sunshine is a welcome spring hobby What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* Select flower seed varieties saved right here on the farm are available at Homesteaders in Libby! Is the sun finally here to stay? I sure hope so, cause my fields are still buried under a bit of snow, though fast melting. Farming and gardening have few guarantees, especially when it comes to weather. When tending the land within our modern landscape you are constantly torn between 'land time' (which is based upon weather, climate, soil moisture, winds, the seasons, and neighboring wildlife) and the modern human schedule of appointments, errands, and following a clock that doesn't care when the sun comes up or goes down. Spend too long deep in one set of time and it can be hard to adjust back to the other. But watching seeds you put into soil with your own hands, eating food you grew from those seeds, and watching flowers bloom on their own schedule helps ease us back into 'land time'. There's a fresh batch of microgreens for this week so you can feed yourself from your local land and, if you are looking to plant some seeds of your own, there'll be a restock of seeds heading to Homesteaders by the end of the week!  Microgreens aren't only for salads! Add them into your next taco night for an extra dose of healthy and yummy. Featured is the Mild Mix with broccoli, kale, cabbage, and choy. Pick up some each Thursday from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber! What are Microgreens?
Yes, that is the gate to my main growing field. and yes, that is still a good bit of snow. But, the sun is out and daytime temps are in the 40s so the melt is fast! If my impatience lingers I may just use an old trick of sprinkling a little wood ash onto the snow to help it along ;)
What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* These days I feel as busy as a bee even if there is nothing to plant or pollinate yet! Each week my list of seeds to sow is longer and ever growing, but if you've found some seeds you no longer want or have questions about how to save those varieties you love, come to the Seed Swap this Saturday, March 11th from 12-2pm at the Amish Farm to Market Store in Libby, MT. I'll be there with some farm-saved seeds to swap and share as well as giving an Introduction to Seed Saving and answering your burning questions. Don't let the name fool you, the Mild Mix is the wildest blend kale, cabbage, and broccoli □. It's just a mild kinda wild! What are Microgreens?
What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* We humans are fickle things. In October and November I'm eager for the snow to return. Running outside at it's first sign in a tshirt and relishing the feeling of blistering cold. In March I'm begging it to leave. Pleading. Cajoling. Giving Promises. If only it would go and the warmth and sun and green and growing return. I've forgotten what it was like to feel comfortable in a tshirt and sandals outside, to not have frozen fingers and feet stuffed into boots. I've forgotten the ease of not needing to plan extra time to scrape ice off my windshield or carry water to the hens. I've forgotten what summer feels like and, even though I know better, a part of me almost wonders if it will ever return. And, usually, in this deepest place of despair and grumpiness and cabin fever, the Sun suddenly shines. Almost as if she wants to ensure the grandest entrance, the greatest appreciation for her shine, and the biggest welcome for her return. So I make sure I run outside in a tshirt and feel the warmth of her shine, turn my face to her face, and smile and laugh and give her the greatest, most ebullient standing ovation possible, for she is what helps the green things to grow  If you've never grown them, you rarely get to see the glow up the micros go through! In a few hours, they go from barely germinating to full on reaching for the sun What are Microgreens?
 The cats have been enjoying the odd day of sunshine here and there, but not so much the other days of wind and cold and snow. And, honestly, neither does this farmer. Sheesh! Doesn't the weather know I've got projects to get done in the field before too long that can't be done with a foot of icy snowpack in the way!
What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* These days I feel as busy as a bee even if there is nothing to plant or pollinate yet! Each week my list of seeds to sow is longer and ever growing, but if you've found some seeds you no longer want or have questions about how to save those varieties you love, come to the Seed Swap this Saturday, March 11th from 12-2pm at the Amish Farm to Market Store in Libby, MT. I'll be there with some farm-saved seeds to swap and share as well as giving an Introduction to Seed Saving and answering your burning questions. Don't let the name fool you, the Mild Mix is the wildest blend kale, cabbage, and broccoli □. It's just a mild kinda wild! What are Microgreens?
What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* Half Moon? What!? Why? So many others do bimonthly newsletters on the Full and New Moon. They always get the attention. They always get the fandom. They always get the importance. The Half Moon, also called quarter moon, but when you look at it with your actual eyeballs it isn’t quarter, its half! (it’s a celestial pet peeve of mine) Half Dark. Half Light. And each switching sides every time. One time growing in light, the other time growing in dark. It isn’t the pause between the inhale and the exhale, it *is* the inhale and the exhale. It is the middle road. The wait is nearly over! Free the Seeds in Kalispell is this Saturday, March 4th. It's one of my favorite events for meeting old and finding new plant people. There are workshops, presentations, booths, and, of course, a whole lot of FREE seeds! Check out their website for details on all the fun stuff, including a presentation by me, Megan of Dragon's Breath Farm, on Edible Garden Weeds.  As the moisture and the microbes break down the protective coating on the seeds (allowing them to wait until their environment is best for their thriving) they begin to germinate and grow forth to the light, whether that be the grow lights for now or the eventual sunlight
 Without the proper balance, they might not grow or they will abort in the most common fashion called 'dampening off' where a healthy seedling gets too wet, bogged down and dies.
Sometimes the first stage of growth happens outside of our vision. It happens in the dark, warm, wet soil where the seed sheds its coat.
Future Learning OpportunitiesAre you ready to step into the wilderness? Saturday, March 4th: Free the Seeds in Kalispell I'll be giving a presentation on Edible Garden Weeds: The Accidental Harvest. Stop by for all the free presentations, info booths, and, of course, free seeds! Tuesdays in May: Troy Adult Education Program I'll be teaching a Spring Wildflower & Native Plant ID class on Tuesday evenings in May and early June. Two indoor classes to cover the basics and two outings to meet all the wonderful spring plants around Troy. Sign-ups to be announced later. Seasonal On-Farm Foraging Classes: Dragon's Breath Farm Come learn about commonly available seasonal edible plants in our region. We'll meet the plants, learn about their edible and also medicinal qualities, proper foraging etiquette, and taste the wonders of the wilds. I'll be updating the schedule as we get closer to spring. What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* Since the weather seems determined to scarper my best laid plans for outside work, I've turned my attention to fixing the inventory problem on the online store. The best solution, if not the easiest or quickest, is to rebuild the store on my regular webpage. This is working well since I'm adding new products anyways so being able to format it from the ground up again is nice. It does mean it will take me a few weeks to get everything transferred and formatted. So, don't hold your breath just yet, but the new store is coming! And, of course, this newsletter is the best way to hear about it once it's here. Until then, stay warm and keep dreaming of the inevitable spring! Almost forgot to mention that you can now get a selection of flower seeds from the farm at Homesteaders in Libby! Look for my little display of local, farm-saved seeds to add a bit of color to your world  Microgreens are a great way to chase away the cabin fever blues and give hints of all the good green things to come! What are Microgreens?
 My sister gifted the hens and I an automatic feeder that opens up to reveal the food when they stand on the pedal! They are in training mode right now so it is locked open but they flocked (□) to it right away. It keeps their food dry and locked up from varmints (you must read that with an old timey accent lol) so that I don't have to be out their with their food first thing! It gives me a chance to focus on other tasks in the morning knowing they aren't gasping for grub The kittens are almost as grumpy as me about the renewed cold and snow  When it's cold outside what better place to snuggle than on a warm blanket that may have a heated blanket underneath ;)
Where to find it all?
The Mini Microgreen Market of course, running all winter! Thursdays from 12-1pm at the Libby Chamber of Commerce *come inside where it's warm & toasty while the micros are chill in their mini cooler* |
AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
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