In early July we plowed a portion of our back lawn and planted a cover crop of buckwheat. It grew magnificently, making a nice canopy over the ground crowding out most of the weeds (with the exception of persistent purslane…argh). Last weekend it started to flower, so we tilled it under. In another week we […]
If you’ve been reading along, you have noticed that our backyard is a giant lawn. Well, no longer…at least one portion of grass (~2000 sq ft) will not need to be mowed any more. Phase 1 of our backyard transformation is underway as Spink spent the weekend doing some primary tillage, putting Bertha back to […]
On April 2nd, the temperature reached 87 degrees, a new record. Time to get out in the dirt and start planting! Since this is our first year growing for market, we’ve scaled our growing capacity quite a bit and purchased tools to make the transition a bit easier. This post outlines what we are doing to prepare […]
Bay Branch Farm recently registered to attend the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) annual conference, Growing with Integrity, Eating with Intention. The conference features Joel Salatin as keynote…we’ve read about him (even read some of his books), seen him in several movies about sustainable farming and now we are going to see him […]
In an attempt to capitalize on our new tractor and help other urban growers get started, we did another backyard project. Read about the results below. Below is a brief video of the Grillo Tractor with Berta Rotary Plow attachment used on a backyard in Northeast Ohio. The yard had several large roots from trees […]
Since we purchased the Grillo Tractor with the Berta Rotary Plow attachment (now affectionately known as Bertha), we’ve been contemplating how we can use this to help other small farmers, while at the same time generating income for our farm venture to keep it sustainable. One idea is to turn the plow into a service […]
This post is dedicated to what we have done to date to prepare the land we hope to farm next spring…we highly encourage you to do your own research, but this is a quick and dirty walk through. What to do first do an honest assessment of whether farming is really what you want to […]
above is a video of the tool we are using to dig up all the rocks! the first video is the initial run through with the tractor. the second video is the second pass. still some rocks, but most of the big ones are out and the dirt is smooth….like butter!
Yesterday, we awoke at 4 am to drive to Earth Tools in Kentucky and pick up a Grillo Tractor (similar to a BCS 2-wheeled tractor) with Berta Rotary Plow attachment….yes, we might be crazy….big kudos to spinkbickle for tirelessly researching the internet, blogs and calling Joel – the man behind Earth Tools and the true […]