This Week at Ramsey Farms

Seed - from which all life comes - are wondrous tiny little things!!  

Sunday morning I took some time separating the seed from the leaves and stems of lettuce flowers I'd been drying for a few weeks and finally made time to glean the sweet & cinnamon basil seeds from their dried stalks.  It continually amazes me that food can be grown simply by putting these minuscule objects into some soil and providing a little sun & water!  It also smelled so nice and Christmas-like too as the cinnamon basil is so deliciously aromatic! My hands, my clothes, and the entire kitchen was filled with a warm cinnamony scent.

In order to become more self-sustaining as a "farm", we gather, dry, save, and use seeds from our best produce each year.  I have also collected seed from other local farms and growers as well.  Next spring, I hope to be able to give away and sell lots of aromatic basil and lemon thyme plants to friends, neighbors, family members, and herb lovers!   Seed is much cheaper than buying seedlings so our goal for the spring garden in 2014 is a minimum of 50% seed growth with the idea to continue to increase that each season to nearly 100%.

Aloe Babies

The massive aloe plants I so luckily inherited from my mom when she moved, are all doing well indoors for the winter and in fact have so many "aloe babies" (or pups) popping up in their pots and even from their long, old stem that I've decided to have a baby aloe sale in early spring!! (My mind continuously wanders to the spring!)  So far I've counted about 20 aloe pups so I'm quite thrilled about that.  I am so fascinated by reproduction this week - that's weird. I have no idea how the first aloe was born and if aloe has seeds, I've never seen them.  The only way I am aware that the aloe can reproduce is by sprouting little aloe pups from stems that come off the main plant or by cutting a leaf and rooting it.  It's always a proud moment when I find a new aloe baby has near-magically appeared alongside the mother plant!!

I use aloe in many of my homemade bath & beauty products including bar soap, body wash, liquid hand soap, body lotion, and deodorant - which I am now referring to as "underarm conditioner" which is a whole 'nother story for another day. :)

Great Outdoor Playground

We took our four year old son on a four-hour hike up the mountain Sunday. The weather was perfect for it - sunny with deep blue skies and no breeze and cool.  He loved it and stood on top of the pinnacle with his arms in the air yelling, "I'm the king of the mountain!"  I think it's more important for all of us to be outside than play with any toy they have available on the market.

Other News from the Field

Just a side note - Monday's high temp in my backyard was 60 degrees! Last week we had frost and freezing temps down to 20 and by Friday it's supposed to be 76.  North Carolina weather has got to be the most fickle in the world! Based on the forecast, I don't have to worry about covering the garden at all for the next ten days!!

This week I spoke with the president of my local farmer's market association.  I'm excited to learn more on this farm journey and he is full of knowledge.  I will be doing more research for kitchen inspection and permits to produce and sell my homemade jams, jellies, and preserves as well as my line of personal bath and beauty items.  One big highlight - February 18, I will be attending the farmer's market association board meeting!

Oh my gosh, have you ever tried garden planning software?! I know I am such a nerd, I stayed up until 1:30 Tuesday morning playing with the software I found online.  I do have my 2014 garden all planned out and ready to go though!!  Very exciting stuff!