The new buzzword that’s been floating around the ag industry over the last few years has been biodynamic farming. We all know organic farming has been the big push over the last 10 years, but what’s Biodynamic farming all about? To tell you the truth I didn’t really know and this is what I found out.
In the early 1920s a group of practicing farmers were concerned about the degradation of soil quality and contacted Dr. Rudolf Steiner who had conducted a series of lectures about soils in Koberwitz, Germany. Thereafter, in June of 1924 the fundamental principals of biodynamic farming emerged.
The basic principle is a unified approach to agriculture that related the ecology of the earth-organism to that of the entire cosmos. From this was the establishment of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association in 1938.
Essentially Biodynamics looks upon the soil and the farm as living organisms. Soil life is the basic necessity of all farm organisms. The farm is a self-contained entity. The maintenance of soil life is vital to protect the soil from erosion and to create, improve, and augment the humus content. Farm manures and composts are the most valuable fertilizers. Proper crop rotation is a vital part of the program.
Biodynamic farming and gardening combines common-sense agriculture, the understanding of ecology and the specific environment of a given place with a new spiritual scientific approach to agriculture. For more information go to info@biodynamics.com
Stone Fruits: Summer is the season for Stone fruits. There is nothing like a 3-year-old wearing more cherries on her mouth than what she ate, or having a juicy peach run down your chin staining your favorite white shirt that you shouldn’t have worn to the farmers market.
In botany, Stone Fruits are classified as a drupe. A drupe contains an outer fleshy part, or skin, that surrounds a pit, or stone, which contains a seed inside. Prunus is the main genus of stone fruits and includes plums, peaches, apricots, cherries and almonds. Stone fruits are known as ‘freestone‘ or ‘cling,’ in which the stone separates itself from the flesh or ‘clings-on.’ Most white peaches, cherries and plums are cling, while most yellow peaches and apricots are freestone.
A popular stone fruit found at farmers markets are pluots. They are a cross-hybrid between a plum and an apricot. They are not a GMO crop. They are made up about 70 percent plum and 30 percent apricot. There are about 25 varieties of pluots, but the most popular varieties are: Dapple Dandy, Flavorglo, Candy Stripe, Flavor Heart and Last Chance. Most look like a purplish plum with color variations, and are sometimes nicknamed ‘Dinosaur Eggs’ because of their unique colors.
Pluots were cross-bread in 1989 by Floyd Zaiger, and most are grown in the Central Valley and Foothills of California, from late May through September.
What You Will See Coming To The Truckee/Tahoe Area
Vegetables and Fruits: Berries are the hot item in June-July, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries from the Foothills. Load up on your blueberries because they will be done by the end of July. All your stone fruits are in as is that great white corn from Brentwood, California. Look for those ‘Romano’ beans, Kentucky Wonder, long beans and bush beans. A real treat is lemon cucumbers: when they are in, you can eat them like apples! There will also be plenty of zucchini and squash blossoms. After the Fourth of July summer tomatoes should show up, with heirlooms appearing toward the end of July. Watermelons and specialty melons should appear toward the end of the month if the Valley temperature stays above 90 in July.
Sierra Valley Farms: Don’t forget our Friday Farmers Market. Free chef cooking demo’s from noon to 1 p.m., with a special Local Artisan’s Market once a month. Look for our ‘Dinner in the Barn’ Summer series with Moody’s, a monthly catered masterpiece here on the Farm! You can find us at Farmers Markets in Tahoe City, Truckee, Reno and Quincy. If you want to help out at the farm, sign up at New Moon Natural Foods. There are weekly crews coming out to the farm. Please contact me at 530-832-0114 or romano@psln.com.
Greenhouse/ Cold Frames In Truckee/Tahoe: Getting a little toasty in your greenhouses? Time to put a little shade cloth over your greenhouse and make sure you have plenty of afternoon ventilation. You can actually leave your vents open for 24 hours now that frost danger is over. Remember if your greenhouse is over 90 degrees during the day your vegetables will shut down to conserve water and especially tomatoes will not produce fruit over 100 degrees. Small misters are also a good addition to add humidity in our dry climate.
Let me leave you with this thoughfor July: ‘Treat your guests as a guest for two days, on the third day hand them a hoe.’
~ Swahili proverb
~ Gary Romano owns Sierra Valley Farms, which sits on some of his family’s original 3,600-acre ranch in Beckwourth. sierravalleyfarms.com.
