I'M BACK (@ least a part of me is) ...

Wow almost 10 months ago I last posted to the blog... Why? The list is to large and to sad to even begin to explain... This will be my 3rd year starting this journey to self-sufficiency and hopefully the 3rd time will be the charm... I have come to a place in my life that I am tired of being used, abused and taken advantage of and I will no longer allow others to suppress my spirit. So perhaps through the journey of growing seeds in God's backyard I too can grow myself into the person I use to know and into the person I am suppose to be. Merry New Years y'all!

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?

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