Down on the farm

A guest post from my grandson Weber who is working on a farm this summer. 

Summer at Magee Farms: Part One

Hi! My name is Weber Stibolt, and I’m one of Ginny’s grandchildren. This summer I am working at a produce farm in southern Delaware, and she asked me to write a few columns for you to show you a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes. I am a rising junior and am studying Food Science at the University of Delaware. 

Although there are many paths that I can take with this degree, one of the aspects that interests me the most is food safety. With increased capability to detect foodborne pathogens and an increase in food safety regulations like the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, there is and will be an increased demand for specialists to help producers of food ensure that they are taking the necessary steps in order to reduce the risk of microbial contamination. 

A family farm

Magee Farms has been a family farm since 1865 and this is the fifth generation farming the land. 

I have been hired as a Food Safety Manager to assist the produce farm in keeping records and making sure everything is in order for the annual food safety audit. I will mainly be overseeing the packinghouse where the watermelons and sweet corn that the farm produces are packed and put onto trucks to be sold at local supermarkets. 

The picture below shows just some of the paperwork that goes in to all of this! The government agency completing the audit is the USDA. The paperwork isn't necessarily being turned in - it's being reviewed by them to make sure we are in compliance with everything that needs to be done and is just a means for collecting data like temperatures of water and proper levels of chlorination and a whole list of other things that I will cover in more detail in later posts.

More pictures and posts to come. ~Weber

  

Have you thanked your farmers today?

Green Gardening Matters,

Ginny Stibolt

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A red-bellied woodpecker

There's a male red-bellied woodpecker that's been a regular at our feeder this spring, making occasional, but not infrequent, forays to snag LOTS of seeds, presumably to cache at least some of them.

This post from a couple of years ago has better pictures, with more explanation!

Today's photo (the only one I managed to get) was quite blurry -- but it was fun to see him visiting, in any case.

a male red-bellied woodpecker at the feeder

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Nature journaling and watercolor fun

Writing a blog about nature and gardening is really nature and garden journaling, but I've always wanted to practice real-time with sketching and art, too, but found the format intimidating, even though I loved drawing and art when much younger.

So an all-day workshop around using watercolor in your nature journaling, taught by Elizabeth Ellison, a wonderful artist based in Bryson City, NC at the NC Arboretum, was a wonderful way to encourage myself towards some watercolor artistic expression.

I've never done watercolors before (aside from pen and ink colored ones), with only a dabble into watercolor pencils, but have always loved watercolor art (and wanted to do it.)

I had a totally fun day -- great to learn some techniques and play with color.  I'm signed up for another class (much longer) in a couple of weeks.  It'll be fun.

Here are some of my impressions of trees and mountains, and a container planting (our "subjects" today).

mountains, evergreen trees, and deciduous trees

evergreen and deciduous trees

inspired by a container planting!

heading off with (pristine) art supplies

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Growing peanuts

I can't claim that I've ever grown peanuts, even after living in the South for 3 decades.

I know it's possible. One of my younger colleagues grew giant Spanish peanuts with the kids in one of our after-school programs (at the botanical garden where I worked, and now volunteer) some years ago.

Peanuts need warmth and space. They flourish in the coastal plain of SC and GA.

So I found this article in the NY Times quite interesting; here's a fellow trying to grow peanuts in NYC.  Lovely!  And learning more about the history of peanuts -- fascinating.

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Penstemon digitalis "Husker Red"

Penstemon digitalis in the pocket meadow

Penstemon digitalis (in the pocket meadow) is looking lovely now, in full flower. Its lovely clear white flowers are a great addition to the mix!

Penstemon digitalis

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Neem - The organic insecticide

Neem is one of my favorite things to use when it comes to controlling disease and pests. Its Organic, and as you all know when growing your vegetables, why use anything that wasn't organic.

You want to get a 70% Neem Oil Like this one!

As Mike McGrawth, Host of "You Bet Your Garden" says,  "I like [to] use neem oil as the oil form of this plant seed is a very effective anti-fungal. (In another, harder-to-find form, neem acts as an anti-feedant; and if pest insects eat anyway, they die. You go, neem tree seed!) 

Anti-fungal! Do tell you say!

Neem oil can be used to treat a number of garden ailments, including:

• Insects: Neem oil kills or repels many harmful insects and mites, including aphids, whiteflies, snails, nematodes, mealybugs, cabbage worms, gnats, moths, cockroaches, flies, termites, mosquitoes, and scale. It kills some bugs outright, attacks the larvae of others, and repels plant munchers with its bitter taste.
• Fungus: Neem oil is also effective in preventing fungal diseases such as black spot, anthracnose, rust, and mildew.
• Disease: As if that wasn’t enough, neem oil also battles viruses that can harm plants.

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Flame azalea and Eastern hemlocks

We've gardened in our neighbor's yards on both sides of our house in the mountains (with their permission - so not guerilla gardening, but shared landscaping).

It's been fun to replace weedy things with desirable native plants, ones that restore some mountain habitat to an old urban neighborhood (and the formerly weedy woodland ravine behind the house).  This has my gardening companion's major gardening focus (and a welcome break for him). I appreciate the results!

A flame azalea and a couple of Eastern hemlocks were additions to the "blue house side"-- along with a number of other things.

flame azalea and Eastern hemlocks

The flame azalea (Rhodendron calendulaceum) is beautiful right now.

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