Shiitake Mushroom

Today sweetgum grove farm began a new path along our journey in sustainable urban farming. I took the NC A & T Shiitake Mushroom workshop @ the A&T Farm. The above photos captured some of the process of preparing, inoculating, and waxing the oak logs for the hopeful flush of Shiitake’s in October.

Wow! Where Did February GO?

Here we are March 4th 2010 and it has been awhile since I blogged. The month of February has flown by and all I can say is Snow, Snow GO AWAY! I am so ready for Spring to get her and in a mere 16 days it will arrive. Yet as anyone who was raised in NC knows we sometimes have snow into April and even as late as May so Mother Nature can and will play tricks on us. That said I wish all a wonderful snow less weekend for I must plant, plant and plant some more.

Reducing our carbon footprint is an important part of sustainable living and buying where you live is an vital step towards a greener lifestyle. Supporting your local growers is a wonderful way to reduce your carbon footprint. Thus sweetgum grove farm is proud to be apart of the growing wave of supporters of the goodness grown in NC movement. It is easy to do your part to go green one product at a time, by buying local.

The periodic table of the vegetables

The weather here in the Piedmont has been a mix of all kinds of winter precipitation. Little has been done on the farm. Most of the activities are localized to the internet and researching for the upcoming growing season. The image is of the periodic table of vegetables.

Ecopreneur

The definition of Ecopreneur (britannica.com) is one who provides environmentally friendly services, goods, and technology such as recycling, green construction, or organic food. Thus, sweetgum grove farm's, sustainable urban farming mission would fall within this definition. There is a growing movement that has gained speed in recent years for a more simple and back to basics way of life where independence is fostered through self reliance. A buzz word in the food world is organic yet, the course to this point has truly been organic in nature with every new discovery on the road to sustainable urban farming we are progressing to the next logical step in self reliance. A side note worth mentioning is, the fact that the basic principles of sustainable urban farming were common place 100 years ago yet, seem in part to have been lost in the evolution to a technologically advanced society. Ironic! n'est-ce pas?

organic signage/banner

sweetgum grove farm marketing mix

The sweetgum grove farm marketing mix was delivered yesterday and we are well on our way for branding. Our business cards also came and I am so excited about the ability to use these instead of just word of mouth advertising.

Arctic Blast of 2010 snowfall totals

The Arctic Blast of 2010 has left us seeking refuge indoors. The low tonight is predicted to be 12 degrees fahrenheit. The record low for today's date was set in 1966 at 3 degrees fahrenheit. The snowfall totals for the Arctic Blast 2010 range between 7 & 7.5 inches for sweetgum grove farm. The image to the right is of an icicle that is growing on the front porch. It looks to be about 3 feet long.

Snowfall Forecat Update 1 30 2010

Snowfall forecast has been updated and we in the Piedmont Area are going to see potentially up to 1 foot of snow. WOW! This storm is shaping up to be a winter mess!

Arctic Blast 2010

Today will be a busy day winterizing the worm beds for the balmy highs forecasted for the next few days somewhere in the mid teens to upper 20s in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Along with this Arctic blast the forecast is for 5-8 inches of snow. Well the worms did not know that they were going on an Arctic adventure thus, winterizing is a top priority today here at sweetgum grove farm. Yesterday's high was 61 degrees with springlike sunshine. Old mother nature seems to be a bit moody these days!

fruits of labor...

fruits of labor...

sweetgum grove farm vermiculture and worm castings

The photos to the right are of sweetgum grove farm vermiculture and worm castings. We started in earnest practicing vermiculture in early spring 2009 with about 2000 of Eisenia foetida or Eisenia fetida(red wiggler worms). Presently we maintain about 20000 worms and they multiply rapidly. Although the extremely cold winter of 2009-2010 has been challenging for the worms, I expect to weather the winter with only a small loss of our growing numbers!

luffas in bloom...

seen here are various stages of our 2009 luffa crop.

sweetgum grove farm business card

The business card I designed is posted to the right of this entry. This is the product of my latest efforts to prepare sweetgum grove farm for professional branding of our name and products. I am hopeful that all the years of education both real life and formal have better prepared me to start this business venture with the right footing allowing a strong foundation to quickly build the brand presence of our 100% natural products as well as to showcase the true value of sustainable urban farming. Please check back often for our progress.
Thank you
Suzette Danielle

Off and Running

Hello sweetgum grove farm is in the process of starting the growing season. This will be the second year we will farm and plant so this year we expect to truly hit the ground running!