New Organic Garden Gives Saltwater Pool Run For Its Money

Until recently the Lee family’s swimming pool was the unchallenged star of their backyard. They did have a garden, and although functional, the simple keyhole design looked tired sitting next to the travertine tiled, saltwater masterpiece.

What they needed a place to grow organic produce that also added to the aesthetic beauty of the landscape.

Our answer was a design that featured four 4’x6’ raised beds for vegetables, and a 3’x17’ bed at the back of the garden for herbs. The four raised beds were made using Western Red Cedar 4”x4” timbers and filled with an organic blend of pine fines, mushroom compost and PermaTill. 

Carole Lee's Organic Garden from Microfarm Organic Gardens on Vimeo.

A dry stacked stone wall was built around the perimeter of the garden using the Mojave stone variety, and to thwart weeds, walkways were covered with landscape fabric topped with 2” of 3/8” brown pea gravel.

The result? An elegant, functional garden design that just may give the swimming pool a run for it’s money.

Colored Tanks Make Rain Harvesting More Fun

During the hot summer months, as much as 60% of the average US household’s water consumption will be used on the lawn & garden.  Gardeners already know that the pH levels in harvested rain water make it MUCH more beneficial for plants than chemically treated municipal water, but the idea of harvesting a free resource is cool even if you’re just using it to wash your car or water the lawn.

After all, it’s free water, and what could be better than free water?

Free water in a premium quality, high capacity, colored storage tank.

Polymart has a series of sturdy rain tanks that can store anywhere from 100 to 2500 gallons of rain water, and unlike other tanks, come in up to 11 colors.  So whether you have an army green Polymart rain water storage tank flies under the radar or a canary yellow tank that’s a conversation piece for airline passengers, you’ll be saving free rainwater for drier times ahead.

Poly-Mart tanks come with all the fittings you need to start collecting the rain, including a 16″ stainless steel strainer basket installed on the top of the tank, a stainless steel screened over flow assembly, outlet bulkhead fitting w/ plug & a 3/4″ bulkhead fitting for installing water hose spigot.  The strainer basket keeps out large debris when the rainwater is entering the tank, and the overflow assembly is designed for ease in directing overflowed water during large rain storms.  A 3/4″ bulkhead fitting is placed at a height that allows room for a watering can underneath. 

Already dreaming about what size and color Polymart rainwater storage tank you want? Visit our partner - North American Rain Systems’ showroom in the Greenville, SC area, and see rain tanks, as well as diverters, pumps, and other rain harvesting supplies up close. If you’re  not up for the drive, you can always shop their selection of rain harvesting supplies online at raincollectionsupplies.com

Want your rain harvesting system designed and installed by a Microfarm pro? You’re in the right place. Click Here to get started.

Create Unique Curb Appeal with Native Plants

While urban farming has certainly become popular, not everyone is ready to scrape their entire property and devote every square inch to growing garden produce, grains, and livestock. The kids still need a place to kick the soccer ball, and home values must still be maintained. But just because the curb appeal of the front of your home are as much of a priority as the goat milk, blueberries, and and sweet potatoes in the backyard,  doesn’t mean your yard has to be an artificial triumph of modern technology over nature like some of your neighbors.

Instead of using sketchy chemicals and wasteful and expensive irrigation to try and grow ornamental plants and grasses that look nice but aren’t well suited for your area, consider using native flowers, groundcovers, trees, and shrubs to create a memorable landscape that can thrive with much less cost and intervention, and really set your home apart from the crowd.

Consider the benefits of native plants as explained by Carolina Native Nursery in Burnsville, NC…

Native plants have evolved in place over geologic time. Their distribution across the natural landscape is due largely to adaptation to local and regional site and climatic conditions. The benefits of using native plants are varied and numerous.

Native plants are environmentally friendly. They require less maintenance and are cost effective, both in the nursery and in the landscape. In other words, they require less pesticides and fertilizer treatments and they conserve water. Once established, native plants will not require an irrigation system for their survival. This can be a very substantial cost savings in the long run. It can be especially important for folks who have vacation homes.

Native plants are hardy. They have adapted and evolved through the ages to local soil types and climate therefore withstanding winter cold and dieback as well as drought conditions. You may lose less plants that are expensive to replace in cost not to mention the time and labor.

Native plants promote biodiversity, provide food and shelter for native wildlife, and restore regional landscapes. A native landscape can blend effortlessly with the surrounding natural landscape.

Native plants prevent future exotic and invasive plant introductions. Although many exotic, or non-native, plants are not invasive, some are. Invasive exotic plant material escapes, naturalizes, spreads, and replaces the native plant communities. These exotics can be vectors of disease and insects. Kudzu, privette, and bittersweet are examples of exotics gone awry.

Interested in ditching the fescue for something much more adapted to our area? Want to use native plants to add loads of memorable curb appeal and charm to your property, save a ton on watering and plant replacement costs, and ditch the toxic chemical fertilizers? We can help. Call 704.568.8841 or write hello@microfarmgardens.com  

Healthy Milk and More : Backyard Goats

Why keep goats? Although their most popular uses range from high quality milk and lean meat, to fiber for spinning textiles, to clearing brush, goats can even be used as pack animals on hiking trips, or even hitched up for light duty tasks around the homestead.  They’re easy to transport and handle, inexpensive to maintain, and don’t take up a lot of space.

There are 200+ breeds of goat in the world, each with its own useful traits. Some are more productive  for meat, while others make better milk or hair fiber for spinning.

Goats are most commonly used for milk in the urban backyard setting. In the US there are six main dairy breeds ; Alpine, Lamancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, and Toggenburg. A full sized doe weighs between 120-135 lbs, and can produce up to 90 quarts of fresh milk every month that you can drink or use to make yogurt, cheese, ice cream, or even soap. 

While cow milk is more popular in the US, goat milk is more widely consumed in the rest of the world. Like all milk, goat milk is made up of about 87% water, and 13% solids including lactose, milk fat, proteins, and minerals.

Not ready for a couple of 135 lb. dairy goats in your backyard? Miniature goat varieties are about a third the size of full sized goats, and thus eat less and require less space and a smaller housing structure.  Of course, smaller size means less milk, but the milk that miniature goats produce is higher in fat and therefore tastes sweeter.  The two miniature goat breeds are African Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf.

In terms of shelter, goats are pretty low maintenance, requiring only a well ventilated shelter that offers protection from rain, sun, wind and snow. Each full sized goat requires 15 square feet of covered area and 200 square feet outdoors, while miniature goats only need 10 square feet of covered shelter and 130 square feet outdoors. Goats are social animals, so you’ll need at least two, and remember that you’ll need a sturdy fence as they’re prone to escaping under, over, or through inadequate fencing.

Goats are ruminants  - hoofed animals with four part stomachs -  and belong to the same Bovidae family that includes cattle, buffalo, and sheep.  They’re opportunistic eaters, meaning they graze pasture and also browse woodland.  If your goat can at least harvest some of its own food by grazing or browsing, it’ll cost less to feed in hay and ration.

Live in the Carolinas and need a high quality backyard goat shelter? You’re in the right place.  Call 704.568.8841 or write hello@microfarmgardens.com to get started.

Grow Your Own Brew

Sure, the local homebrew store has everything you need to make your own beer at home, but if you have a sunny backyard or even a decent sized porch, you can grow at least a portion of the hops, barley, herbs, etc. to really enhance the aroma, flavor, and unique quality of your homebrew.

While growing enough barley in a backyard setting to make malt for beer might seem unrealistic, consider that you can yield a bushel (47 pounds) from an 800 square foot garden plot, which is enough for five batches of all grain beer, or 30 batches of extract or partial mash. On a smaller scale, even a 100 square foot garden can yield up to 15 lbs with ideal growing conditions.  Barley is by far the most used grain in beer making and a third of the barley grown in the US is used for malting.

Harvest barley when the stalks are golden, the ears are bent over and the grains are pale yellow and pull easily from the head.  The stalks must be threshed and winnowed before they can be used for malting. Store the finished grain in burlap sacks in a cool dry place until ready for use.

Ready to buy seeds for your own backyard barley crop? Check out  bountifulgardens.org 

While hops aren’t technically grains, they are a major component of beer making. Hops are also attractive looking vine plants that look great on arbors, trellises, etc.  The advantage to growing your own hops is freshness ; you can pick them at their peak, maintaining the essential oils crucial for optimum flavor and aroma. Commercial whole hops have been harvested, packed, dried, baled, shipped, repackaged, and shipped again before they reach your local homebrew supply store.  Inevitably,  some of the hops’ bitter resins and essential oils will be lost during this process. Your own home grown hops will bypass this process, and be more aromatic and flavorful than any you could buy.

Harvest hop cones at their peak of readiness ; when there are an abundance of the small yellow lupulin grains  clinging to the base of the bract. Inspect a ripe cone by breaking it open and checking for the dark gold color and strong hop aroma. To preserve the essential oils, dry your crop immediately after harvest, in a warm, dark place with good air circulation. Never place your dry hops in direct sunlight or artificial light because it will give your beer a skunky flavor.  Seal dried hops in plastic bags, removing as much air as possible, and freeze whatever you won’t be using right away.

Want to grow your own hop vines and have the freshest tasting home brew on the block?  Visit seedrack.com