Jaklamas Farm

Last summer at a farm market, someone asked me what chemicals we used for weed control...all I could do was laugh. I grow the best weeds in the area! Because we still do most of this by hand, and refuse to use chemicals, we invested in breathable mats. They let the earth breathe, the water permeate and they save us a lot of work. We still spend hours weeding every week, but they sure help. Where the mats won't work with the plants we mulch and hand weed more...dirt under our nails.

We grow all of our vegetables from seed every year. I do not buy someone else's seedlings and plant them. Dozens of flats of tiny little plants are nurtured and then transplanted. I use an organic starting mix too. Our garlic, potatoes, onions, asparagus are all are from organic cuttings or starts. Our fruits have been growing organically here for a number of years but the original plant may or may not have had an organic start. 

We use only organic materials for fertilizing our gardens. Let's all give a hand to those cows, chickens, turkeys, sheep and the llama. Everything gets composted that is available.

Just as manure and bacteria are part of my garden so are the bugs. Good and bad. SInce we have bees, we have to be very careful about what we spray and when. I only use pyrethrin and other natural repellents. We have lost entire plantings because of squash bugs or cucumber beetles...but if I had used the pesticide to control them - I wouldn't eat the harvest...so bugs we have. 

Three oreganos, chives, parsley, thyme, cilantro, a few basils, garlic scapes, rosemary, a couple of sages, bay laurel, a lot of mints, marjoram, lavendar, scalion, and a few flowers thrown in for good measure.