Going Local-Kasper Creek Farm

A couple of weeks ago,
several Master Gardeners were invited
to the homestead of a fellow gardener in Huntersville, NC.

This is Kasper Creek Farm.
I had the pleasure of working with Ranelle Kasper
during the plant sale hosted by Lincoln County Extension.
We met one early winter morning to dole out trees, bushes
and other plants that folks had pre-ordered.
It was a wonderful experience and time spent with Ranelle was fascinating.
She was kind enough to offer us a tour of her amazing farm.

Ranelle grew up on a family farm in Virginia,
and was blessed with a fortune of knowledge
that she still uses today when raising her well-known heirloom tomatoes
and other crops.
Her mother, especially, was influential in her current path.
Not only was she an avid gardener,
she also passed on the skills of preserving food,
and properly saving seeds for subsequent plantings.

No doubt her mother would be duly proud of her accomplishments.

Ranelle's booth at the Davidson Farmers' Market

often sells out well before the end of the day.

She must be doing something right!

This new irrigation system allows for consistent watering
and gives her more time to tend to other things.
These tomato plants used to be hand watered,
sometimes more than once a day during the heat of summer.

Ranelle has a passion for raising quality produce,
which she offers up at the local farmers' market.
Along with her tomatoes,
she also sells beans, squash, and a variety of preserves,
fashioned from her very own orchards.

Along with grapevines,
Ranelle also raises blackberries and peaches for preserves,
utilizing her mother's recipes.

On another part of the property,
we were shown the large vegetable garden,
although being so early in the spring,
there is not a lot going on just yet.
There is ample space for the beans, cucumbers, peppers and squash
to share space and spread out.

The garden is at the base of a sloped area,
and The Kaspers have put in substantial efforts
to get the expanse to work for their purposes.

The greenhouse is one of the keys to the farm's success.
Seedlings are started well before the season,
which ensures there will plenty to harvest for market.

The indoor watering system was absolutely brilliant.
The water is pumped through tubing
into the countertops, which have a lip to hold water.
Plants get watered from below, which is best for the health of young seedlings.
Once the irrigation is complete, the water drains back into these tubs.

As if all of this splendor wasn't enough,
Ranelle let us take a gander at her root cellar,
built right into the side of the house.
Rocky leads the way...

During peak season, this gem houses so many tasty delights.
Ranelle and her husband live off the land
as much as possible,
and so fill this room with canned, pickled and preserved
treats of their own making.
Her mother's lessons have stayed with her.

On a designated shelf,
heirloom seeds wait for planting.
Ranelle is an avid seed saver,
and deems it her responsibility to keep these safe.

Spending an afternoon with someone 
who so passionately follows her path,
is truly inspirational.


"The only durable sense of success
is if you've followed your calling."
~Jim Harrison


More Going Local posts:
Grace Tree Farm 
Faith Family Farm 
Davidson Farmers' Market 
Mount Holly Farmers' Market 
Cobblestone Farmers' Market

Garden Friday

Welcome back to Garden Friday!

Things are hoppin' in the garden.

Let's see what's going on this week...

 Lettuce is still doing well

and will hopefully continue.

Our temperatures during the day have been in the 80's,

with overnights in the 60's,

so I'm hoping it continues so that I can keep on pickin'!

 This Red Planet variety has been grown strictly for baby greens.

They will soon be big enough to add to my daily salad.

This is the first year I have grown mixed lettuces,

and the diversity of colors is quite appealing.

The buttercrunch (seen here) and the green oakleaf

have been favorites up to now.

What a blessing to have such an assortment to grow.

Three red cabbages are holding their own.

This is the first year I've tried growing cabbage,

and I think I will grow more next year.

They store well and I just love adding it raw to salads

or roasting it on a sheet pan as a side.

 This green cabbage is hiding underneath a giant kale plant.

Although the kale has had cabbage worms on it,

so far, this cabbage has stayed clean.

Hope I don't jinx it!

Here's the giant Premier kale plant I was talking about.

It's been harvested for a couple of months now,

but it's finally bolting.

I left it where it is as a trap crop,

to keep the cabbage worms off other things in the raised bed. 

(Did you notice the flowers on the peas behind it?

Whoo-hoo!)

The leeks are planted all around the perimeter on this side of the trellis.

The leek on the left have some smaller crops around them,

while the leek on the right are covered by that same kale plant.

It's easy to see that they are not getting enough sun,

as all other variables are the same.

Lesson learned for next time.

 The potatoes are growing by leaps and bounds!

I just hilled them on Tuesday with more straw,

and they need to be banked again.

Strawberries were transplanted into two straw bales.

I've never had much success with strawberries,

so I'm curious to see how they do.

The blueberries are a new crop too,

and they are doing great.

What an easy plant to grow!

I can't wait to have the first taste.

I see bowls-o-berries in my future!

 Last weekend was a planting marathon!

I got our cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, bush and pole beans,

melon and watermelon all planted.
I had planned where everything would go
and tweaked it as I went along.

 To each new planting hole,
whether in the ground or containerized,
I added these three ingredients:
eggshells, coffee grounds, and worm castings.
The secret's in the sauce.

This is where the melons and runner beans will grow up the arches.

They are in pots and I plan to add flower seeds between them.

I'm so glad we added the arches and I can't wait to see them

with crops covering them to create a food tunnel!

This little corner of our property is right next to the veggie garden.

It's so peaceful to go out there and listen to all of the birds singing.

The assortment of trees we have is wonderful,

as they each attract and house different species.

Our yard is full of clover and I love that the pollinators

have an ample supply of what they need.

More clover, less lawn!

The parsley that made it through the winter with no problem

is finally getting ready to flower.

Plants are so amazing, they are all so different,

but equally beautiful, in all stages of development.

The mailbox bed is framed with iris,

which are getting closer to flowering.

A couple of weeks ago I seeded this bed

with daisies, rudbekia, echinacea, alyssum, sunflowers and zinnias.

Things are slowly popping up.

Spring is such an exciting time!

 I guess this sunflower is a late bloomer like me.

It came up before I planted the front porch bed,

so it must have been dormant all winter.

Better late than never!

Here's a cute lil' fella that seems to have taken up residence

under our outdoor garbage can.
The bonus?
Brown snakes eat slugs!
Yeah, have at it, bud!

What a fun time to be out in the garden.

Food is making its way to the table,

seedlings are showing themselves

and so many flowers are about to bloom

and grace us with untold beauty.

Every day is filled with abundance.

Community Garden Workday for April (2019)

 This past Saturday was a beautiful day 
to be out in the Community Garden.
As a volunteer, I get to participate in an array of activities
and work side-by-side with some mighty fine folks.

 Last month, these stones were relocated to the outside perimeter of the garden,
and they seem better suited here.

 The weather was spot on,
with a gorgeous azure sky enveloping us as we worked through the morning hours.

One of the chores on the day's list
was to add mulch to all of the walkways.
Thankfully, we had a couple of folks who worked tirelessly
to get the job done.
What a difference it made.

The garlic bed that was planted in the fall is looking healthy and strong.
It is scheduled to be harvested next month.

 Some beds were fairly full,
bursting with greens and herbs.

This bed of lettuce had me wishing for some salad dressing.
Slurp!

 These peas filled out the corner of another bed
and look to be getting close to flowering.
They are probably a dwarf variety that gets to be only 3 or 4 feet tall.

 In a nearby bed, 
some lucky soul will soon be sampling their goodies.

 This lovely head of broccoli was looking ready to be picked.

 

 And talk about mouth-watering,
just look at this stunning red lettuce.

The irrigation system has been recently changed over
from soaker hoses to PVC pipe.
It was being tested to see how well it was working.
It's been a slow process,
but with the help of some dedicated gardeners,
it seems to be doing its job.

 This workday was mostly about planting.
We were able to get some spring crops in.
A bed of tomatoes will no doubt fill out this bed nicely.
Some of the beds are "leased" by local residents,
while others are reserved for growing for the neighborhood food bank.

 In one of the perimeter beds,
an entire row of aromatic lavender was planted.
In just a few short weeks,
this place should smell amazing!
We also planted eggplant, herbs, okra, peppers and squash
in the community garden beds.

 Helpers of all sizes worked to get everything planted
and had some fun creating family memories to boot.

It's wonderful to be a part of such a worthwhile organization.
Giving back feels so good.

Counting my blessings
to have met these kind-hearted souls.