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Hello seed friends! We've been fairly quiet on Instagram and social media lately, but we've slowly been making plans for the coming growing season at the farm, and we're focusing on how to go about it sustainably. We always prioritize being kind to the land and water we're growing on, and this summer we are also prioritizing our time and expectations.
What does that look like? A big one for us is direct seeded varieties! 2023 was admittedly a very rough growing season for us -- I attribute a lot of our challenges to drought, deer, and smoke, but there are uncertainties there, too. I do know that we got a lot of well-loved seeds in the ground in a very reasonable amount of time. I was actually thinking it was going to be a banner growing year. After talking with many local growers, it seems like we were not the only ones that struggled with fruit set and stunted plants.
We're planning to go the same route this year, but with some additional protections for our plants (that don't take a bunch of time on our end).
Things I've learned: we don't grow ginger well. 😂 No surprise there for most, but it can be done in the UP with TLC and I just didn't have the time to make it happen. My starter rhizomes were far larger than what we were able to grow. Sunchokes, on the other hand, are happy to take over (and if there are opportunities to trade seeds for tubers, please feel free to reach out). I have no problem inviting sunchokes to displace the Phalaris that is a bit pushy (and has been abundant at the farm spot far longer than we've been growing there). And, of course, we'll still be growing our usual favorites -- the three sisters mandaamin, mashkodesiminag, okosimaan. <3
If I've told you that I'll send seeds, I plan to get caught up on that this week. Miigwech, thanks for your patience.
