I was born in 1974 and grew up on a farm in Norway. I took over the farm after my father in 2021, where I live with my husband and son. I'm certified as a dietitian and holds a degree in pedagogy. I work in a kindergarten besides farming.
Nancy Reading wrote:I'm doing a little landscaping around the solar aspect beds and am wondering if this is the annual rye grass finally showing some good growth on the first sown bed:
Rye grass seeding
The question is whether I should cut this back now before it sets seed. Theoretically the grass is mostly annual, so will die back after flowering, however I guess I don't want the seeds of this now, when I'm hoping to start planting these beds 'for real' next spring. Should I try trampling the beds to break the grass stems, or would cutting them back be better?
What did you end up doing with your ryegrass? I had ryegrass this year also and was wondering like you what I should do. I had three beds with it, so I guess I will see next spring what happens. My first bed went into seed before I cut it down for the first time the second and third beds also went into seed but I took it down earlier so the seeds were not ripe. I cut all the beds a second time some weeks ago with a scythe, but when I was about to cover the beds for winter, I regret that I didn't cut it back with the tractor mower instead, as I hadn't cut the grass short enough. I guess I'm not so good with the scythe yet.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. I liked how you stripped down the interior so that the room looked bigger.
I think that choosing other furniture than I normally would have done will solve much, and using the corners was also a good idea. The right kind of furniture can go under the windows and what floor one chooses also has a lot to say, I think.
Well, there are so many things I don't want to part with. I don't think I am collecting all kinds of stuff, but I love history, and furniture after my grandparents (on both sides) is something that I can't give away or throw away. Or old kitchen tools that no one knows what is any longer and, and, and... Well, you are right, I can't get rid of things, although I threw away a whole bedroom when we moved in here, and I regret. We were thinking of rebuilding the entire house because of this, but now I believe it will be wiser to just change my perspective.
One of my challenges is the living room. A small room with windows taking up one wall, the fireplace another and the third wall has a door. Where to put the tv and sofa? Haha. I must admit that I struggle.
I've heard of FlyLady before and will check it out. Decluttering is probably the way to go, or at least a part of the way, a nice place to start.
Thanks for the links.
We moved into our house almost two years ago. A house that needs a little makeover. Our house is not really a tiny house, but it is not very big either. It has several small rooms and I find it difficult to furnish them. Where to put everything? I guess this is all about psychology. Being used to a totally different space with a big living room containing all the stuff (some of it crap) you get used to, and then, suddenly things change. But, I do believe it all has to do with getting used to it. It is difficult to throw away things that you love and think that you need. I guess I can get some inspiration from tiny house owners, and transfer it to my tiny rooms.
Oh, so lovely to read your stories. It is also very nice to understand that not everyone is an expert from the beginning, but they will have to try and fail and try again.
My soil is also clay, so I really understand the challenges those of you meet when it comes to "sticky soil" and "concrete"
I started up my forest garden this year, and I hope that it one day will become a forest garden. I started by setting aside an acre last fall and I planted eight fruit trees and six berry bushes this year. Because this acre is part of a bigger field, the food forest can be expanded and maybe be run professionally one day. I, therefore, planned for "guilds" that can be expanded in rows. I sowed annual grass in between the guilds in stripes to prepare the soil and to create green manure for next year's annual vegetable crop. I plan on growing annuals there until the guilds with perennials have grown bigger and taken over the area. This I do instead of letting weed rule my land
I do this with just hand tools and I must say that it takes a long time and I wonder how I am supposed to get through everything. I was also wondering why I didn't just buy myself a tiller. Because I really had to beat up the soil really hard with my hand tools to make it ready for sowing anyway. But maybe this is just something that must be like that regarding annuals? And I do want those annuals meanwhile. Half of the acre wasn't planted on this year because I just couldn't get more done during spring, and I have to learn everything from scratch so it takes some time to do research and to learn all the new stuff.
But it is fun, it is so health-bringing and lovely to be out in the garden all of the time and doing this work. It feels great. I hope we can get this thread up and running and that we can post about what we are doing in our food forests at any time. That would be nice.
Hege Fossum
Post Yesterday 11:23:09 PM Subject: How do you document your gardening? Farm journal, garden diary, smartphone app...
I've been thinking a lot about this journalling thing lately. I haven't found any good solutions, but I think I will try out Google Keep. It has categorizing functions, easy to take pictures and make notes while working on the farm. It is free and compatible with my calendar. Has anyone tried Keep for their farms and gardens? Pros and cons?
I've been thinking a lot about this journalling thing lately. I haven't found any good solutions, but I think I will try out Google Keep. It has categorizing functions, easy to take pictures and make notes while working on the farm. It is free and compatible with my calendar. Has anyone tried Keep for their farms and gardens? Pros and cons?
Tom Hooper wrote:Never posted here but... just fyi almost the best tool for seeding grass in all those little out of the way places is a manually operated handled tool called a "Garden Weasel" cultivator. And we use handtools almost exclusively for our woodwork and boatbuilding. Be well.
Thanks! I'll go get myself a garden weasel cultivator for the sowing. I hope to get started this weekend, and I feel like a kid in a candy store
Hege Fossum wrote:I took over the family farm in February last year, and am trying to find my own farming style. I had my moments last summer, watching the fields and thinking of my great grandfather who came here in the late 1800s and probably did most of his work with hand tools and a horse. Then I was thinking that the old ways are getting lost. Most people around here don't know any longer how to use the tools and do stuff manually, and I decided to learn the old ways of farming. It seems to be a hard task, as there are no teachers around.
This spring I will try to sow by hand an acre with rye and red clover. I don't really know how to do this without machines. Any tips are welcomed.
BBC did a whole series on farming/farmlife in different time periods. A whole farm year per period. Victorian farm, Edwardian farm, wartime farm, Tudor farm and tales of the green valley. Amazon has them, but so does Youtube. Archeologists doing practical archeology makes for interesting watching.
The Book of the Farm, written by the 19th-century farming expert Henry Stephens may help too. They used it for plenty, although it is leading towards mechanization.
Wow! Thanks! I'll check this out. Seems very interesting.
Hege Fossum wrote:I took over the family farm in February last year, and am trying to find my own farming style. I had my moments last summer, watching the fields and thinking of my great grandfather who came here in the late 1800s and probably did most of his work with hand tools and a horse. Then I was thinking that the old ways are getting lost. Most people around here don't know any longer how to use the tools and do stuff manually, and I decided to learn the old ways of farming.
Welcome aboard, Hege! Excellent first post. I think you will fit in very well here.
