Episode 10 is all about tools and building materials on a budget.
In this episode of The Urban Permaculture Podcast, Bob talks about tools that are really helpful around the farm. He goes into detail about sourcing the different tools discussed and some of the things to look out for when buying used tools.
Garage Sales
Auctions/Estate Sales
Pawn Shops** Be careful of pricing!
Craigslist/Marketplace/Online Garage Sales
Ask friends/barter
Make your own
Modify an existing tool
Next up, Bob talks about finding materials on a budget. From sourcing pallets, to purchasing lumber at a reduced rate, Bob gives a nice list of options to explore as you begin to build things on your homestead.
Pallets – Great to use but the wood is often splintered and/or treated so be careful of chemicals that can leach into your soil!
Hardware Stores
Farm Supply Stores
Small Businesses
Bix Box Stores
Friends
Other lumber options
Old Fencing
Demo/construction cleanup
Barn teardowns
Cull Carts/Off Cuts from your local lumber carrier
Heather then discusses some of the projects around Hogs and Hens Urban Farm that have been completed using tools and materials sourced this way. She also talks about reducing waste streams and how this can help reduce methane production from landfills.
Here at Hogs and Hens Urban Farm, one of our absolute favorite plants to grow is nasturtium. This beautiful and colorful plant is an incredible addition to any garden, and here are 13 reasons why you should be sure to include it in your garden plans this year! HERE is a link to order nasturtium seeds right now!
1- The flowers from this plant are absolutely stunning and are very easy to press and dry for use in a variety of craft and decorating projects.
2- The flowers of the nasturtium plant have a very pleasant scent both in the garden and in a vase of fresh cut flowers.
3- This plant is fantastic to feed to your poultry! Chickens especially love the taste of the entire nasturtium plant! Best of all, nasturtiums are a fantastic way to naturally deworm your chickens!
4- Nasturtiums make an incredible garnish for any meal. Not only are the plants visually appealing to your dish, but they are totally edible from the roots to the seeds!
5- Nasturtiums are delicious! They have a mildly spicy flavor and a soft texture. We love adding them to salads, soups, stews, and stir fried meals. Try our delicious recipe for Nasturtium Pesto!
Nasturtium Pesto
INGREDIENTS
1 large colander of fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers
¼ cup pistachios or cashews
½ cup olive oil (avocado oil works well too!)
½ cup fresh Parmesan cheese
½ tsp dried red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash the nasturtium leaves and flowers and lightly pat them dry. Toast the nuts – put them in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring every 30 seconds or so. Cook for 2-3 minutes – until they start to smell good. Then take them off the heat. Caution- when toasting the nuts, pay close attention and stir often as they will scorch very fast!
Fill your food processor or blender ¾ with nasturtium leaves. Blend until they are well chopped. Add more leaves and continue this until all of the leaves are blended well.
Add in the toasted nuts and blend until finely chopped.
Add in the cheese, red pepper flakes and half the oil. Blend.
Add additional oil until you get your desired consistency. This will vary depending on your texture preferences
Taste. Add salt, black pepper, more nuts or more cheese to match your tastes.
OPTIONAL – If you like traditional pesto, add a little fresh basil in your leaf mix to add a bit of traditional flavor to your pesto.
6- If you struggle with drought in your area, fear not! Nasturtium are incredibly drought resistant and do not require much water at all to thrive. No need to worry about expanding your irrigation system to the nasturtium patch, just let nature be your watering guide!
7- If you are looking for a plant that flowers for the majority of the season, look no further than the humble nasturtium! These plants grow very quickly from seeds and will bloom from early spring until late into the fall.
8- Soil thrives when it is covered, and nasturtium works great as a living cover crop and natural mulch.
9- Because it grows in nearly any soil conditions and requires little water or care, nasturtium works fantastic as a weed barrier. When planting this crop densely in a garden or flower bed, it will absorb the liquid and nutrition that is available which pulls resources away from potential weeds. As the plants grow, they will shade the soil below helping to prevent weed seeds from germinating.
10- Nasturtium are high in beneficial minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium, as well as macro elements, including zinc, copper and iron.
11- If you are looking for a plant to attract beneficial insects, nasturtium is the right plant for the job. Nasturtium is fantastic for attracting aphids and other garden pests. When planting it in a garden, be sure to plant it away from brassicas and other edible plants, as it WILL attract pests. This is a great way to distract the pests from your veggies and sacrifice the nasturtiums in their place. Check out The Urban Permaculture Podcast to learn about adding this plant to your integrated pest management system!
12- Nasturtiums will self seed! While they are an annual flowering plant, nasturtium will drop seeds if you don’t collect them to eat first. This means that when soil conditions become right to germinate, the seeds will begin to sprout all on their own, making them a very easy crop to sow that will come back for many seasons if allowed to drop their seeds.
13- But best of all… every part of the nasturtium is edible! That’s right, not only are the leaves delicious in things like pesto, and salads, but the flowers are entirely edible and look stunning mixed into a salad, and the seeds are slightly sweet and peppery and can be ground in a pepper grinder to add a complex flavor to your favorite dish!
After learning all of the ways nasturtium can be beneficial to you and your garden, what is holding you back from planting these incredible plants today?!
Episode 8 of The Urban Permaculture Podcast takes listeners on a deep dive into the world of Integrated Pest Management. Learn about the 5 tiers of Integrated Pest Management, and pick up a few tips for practicing each method. For additional assistance with identifying or mitigating pests, reach out to your local extension office. Find information, programs and services that are offered from your local extension service HERE.
The Pyramid of Integrated Pest Management
Beneficial Insects Discussed:
Lacewings, Parasitic Wasps, Lady Bugs (Lady Birds for those in the UK), Parasitic Mites, Hover Flies
Episode 6 focuses on growing food year round. Learn how Heather and Bob are able to eat produce they grow year round even throughout winter!
Hogs and Hens Urban Farm is an Ohio farm located in a zone 6A USDA hardiness zone. Times and dates mentioned in this episode are for that zone. Please check your hardiness zone HERE and adjust dates accordingly.
For information on Canning as a preservation method click HERE.
The food dehydrator that we love can be found HERE. Another great option that is less expensive is THIS dehydrator.
On Episode 5, Heather is joined by special guest Lori Osterloh-Hagaman from The Herb Chick LLC. The Herb Chick LLC is a small business focused on helping clients set up their own path to natural health; handcrafts low impact bath & body items; educates on alternative and wholistic topics; and is an advocate for the health and wellbeing of all.
Shop her Bad and Boujee Box subscription service HERE.
If you are wanting to get started growing your own food, this is the episode for you! Heather covers a variety of methods that can be used to save money in the garden. From recycling and upcycling items in your home, to making your own compost, Heather discusses tons of ways to save you tons of money!
Episode 2 of The Urban Permaculture Podcast focuses directly on permaculture. Learn the differences between planting an annual vegetable garden and growing a food forest. Listen along as Heather discusses the ways Hogs and Hens Urban Farm incorporates both to maximize harvests!
In Episode 3 of The Urban Permaculture Podcast, Heather discusses the reasons why soil is one of the most important parts of growing successfully in a garden. Tune in to hear about this important topic.
If you are wanting to test your own soil, HERE is a kit that will give you all of the recommendations for how to improve your soil health! Soil improvement is key for gardeners wanting to maximize harvests!
Welcome to our very firsts episode of The Urban Permaculture Podcast! You can find The Urban Permaculture Podcast on all major podcasting platforms such as Spotify. To listen on Spotify click HERE.
In this episode, Heather talks about all of the things we are currently doing and currently have planned for Hogs and Hens Urban Farm.
Currently, Hogs and Hens Urban Farm raises a huge variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. In addition to that, we currently have a worm farm set up to make our own organic compost through vermicomposting. We are adding a flock of laying hens to our farm in the spring of 2023, as well as expanding to include an apiary where we will be raising honey bees. In addition to these, we have a small ornamental pond on the property with a variety of comets living inside it to help prevent mosquito breeding.
We recently purchased two vacant lots that are connected to our current property and we are beginning our very own permaculture food forest on that property that will include fruit and nut trees, expand our berry patches, and have large areas of perennial edible plants. We will also be adding a pond to this property at a later date.
Hogs and Hens uses integrated pest management practices in addition to employing a no till method of gardening. Everything you find on our farm is organically grown, and we create our own compost to use to amend our soil.
Have you tried planting your own garden in the past but ended up with mixed results? Or maybe you didn’t have any success at all? That can be incredibly frustrating, especially after all the time and energy that you put into it, leaving you thinking that you’ll just never have what it takes to have a green thumb. Don’t give up just yet! So whether it’s your first time gardening or another attempt, these are 9 tips for gardening that every beginner needs to know about.
1.Know Your Frost Dates– When it comes to gardening, it’s crucial for you to know when the average last frost of spring is for your garden and also when the average first frost of fall is for your garden. Planting too early or too late in the season can leave you waking up one morning to a gardener’s absolute worst nightmare, frost ruined crops. Knowing these dates will give you a much better idea of when to plant and the latest that you can safely harvest your crop.
2. Discover Your Zone– While you may be hoping to plant a particular tropical plant in your garden, it may not be able to survive your area’s climate if you live in a colder region. That’s why you need to know the growing zone where you will be gardening. Purchasing the right type of plants for your garden can greatly increase your success rate! For example, tropical plants like citrus will not grow well in cool climates with short growing seasons. A great way to check your zone is the USDA website found HERE.
3.Choose the Right Plants to Grow– Once you’ve figured out what hardiness zone you live in, it will be a lot easier narrow your list to plants that will thrive in your garden. Choosing the right plants will depend on the ability to provide them with the perfect growing conditions in your garden. For example, some plants require lots of sunlight each day, while others need hardly any, so you’ll want to plant them accordingly. Vining plants such as pole beans and cucumber require a trellis to flourish.
4.Follow the Sun– You may already have a rough idea of where you want your garden planted but there’s always the possibility that it may not be the best spot for it. To ensure that you have the best success, your garden needs to be in a location that receives appropriate sunlight each day for the crops you intend to grow. To figure that out, you’ll need to keep an eye on your yard over the next couple of days and see which spots receive the correct sunlight.
5.Keep Close to Water– In addition to sunlight, your garden should also be in a location that’s not too far from a water source. You should be able to run a hose to your garden so that you don’t end up having to make endless trips carrying water across your yard every time your plants are thirsty. When you’re wondering whether it’s time to water them, the best way to tell is to stick your finger in the soil to about your knuckle. If it’s dry, you know that it’s time to water most plants.
6. Make Sure You Have Good Soil– Probably one of the best bits of advice that you need to take from here is to make sure that you have the right soil to work with. Good soil will provide your garden with the proper drainage and all the nutrients necessary for your plants. Check out local universities for testing to learn ways that you can improve your current soil condition to make sure it is the best possible soil for your garden.
7. Consider Using Containers– Don’t have much gardening space in your yard? No problem! Containers are a great option for flowers, herbs, shrubs, and vegetables, while at the same time, protecting them from under- and over-watering. Using containers also gives you the ability to move your plants around your yard when you need to. Be sure that you are using the right size container for whatever plant that you decide to plant in it. Containers with drain holes in the bottom work great for preventing overwatering!
8.Apply a Layer of Mulch– Applying a layer of mulch around your garden will help you in many different ways. Layering 4 to 6 inches of mulch around your plants will help keep weeds to a minimum that try to steal nutrients and water away from your plants. Much will also help minimize the evaporation that’s taking place in your garden, which will keep you from having to water so much. As mulch breaks down, it adds organic material to your soil helping your plants thrive. Mulch can come in many forms, dried leaves that have been shredded, organic straw, and raw untreated wood chips, are a few of our favorite options at Hogs and Hens Urban Farm.
9.Remember to Feed Your Plants Regularly- Now that you’ve made sure to have good soil for your garden, your plants may need to be fed so that they’re getting all the right nutrients for optimal growth. Wondering when to begin feeding them? You’ll want to start feeding your plants regularly about a month after you plant them. A great option to go with would be a homemade fertilizer such as compost tea.
These are several gardening tips that every beginner needs to know about. While there are several other factors to making sure your garden is the best it can be, these 9 tips are sure to get you off to a great start!
