full moon farms journal

full moon farms, the umbrella organization that our farm, the backyard moon, operates under, is also the name of our mother farm over at the bent spade in watkinsville, ga.  farmer jack, hired this season to knock the hide off the ball as our vegetable farmer at bent spade, has begun keeping a journal in the dirt on the full moon farms' website.  here is his first post, with hopefully a lot more to come throughout the season. 

it's a good start

written back on march seventh by farmer jack

It’s almost Spring and it feels like farming out there.  The past few weeks outside at Full Moon make you wonder why everyone doesn’t do this.  We are working to transition the farm from winter rest to a good grow.  Motivation is high and seeds are germinating.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon seeding the third succession of greens in the hoophouse, and I feel like we have a pretty good early season crop established.  Multiple varieties of beautiful greens, red beets, and carrots have provided a lot to look at in a house of plastic.  In fact, the first of the tender greens are ready for harvest tomorrow morning. Woo Woo!

As for the fields, bed prep for our first spring transplanting has involved a couple weeks of patient process.  Back in the fall, a rich cover crop of winter rye and clover was established to benefit and overwinter the tillable dirt.  Once January turned to February, a mow and disc of this cover incorporated all the organic matter into the earth, and the last month has given time for that matter to decompose down.  Now the raised beds are ready to be made and the plants to be sown in them.  Oh the beauty of ecological transition.

I leave you with a little ‘Tractor Gospel’…

One Mother told me

not always in clover is a right man rich,

as I have been warned by ants.

Your farmer, Jack Matthews



plants in the ground

so, it happened.  our first plants are in the ground--about four hundred onions and four hundred leeks.  long day in the field, but a monumental day in our personal histories—first plants for our first farm.  we weren't sure if the occasion called for some sort of religious sermon, a hallucinogenic journey, or some sort of live sacrifice--so we just went with all three.  

despite working so hard this week, and accomplishing every single goal we had on the to-do list, the background noise circling in my head has been one of uncertainty. 

am I doing this right?  do I know that answer?  will this work?  what tool do I need to fix that?  how do these two pipes attach?  that’s leaking.  and so is this, this, that, and the other thing .  what gear should the tractor be in? 

as the half dozen plates spinning on the tips of my circus sticks wobble and teeter on their centers, I find solace in a foot rest and a cold brew after a physically, mentally, and emotionally dynamic day. 

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state of the farm

the farm we rented this week has been a highly successful vegetable operation for the last fifteen years--well known by the name backyard harvest.  boo, the landowner, and farmer in mention, was the first grower in town to plant the seeds towards developing what is today a bustling farmer’s market scene in athens. 

for family reasons, backyard harvest was abandoned just after the climax of this past summer.  all the crops, on the entire farm, were left in place, grown to maturity, and died where they stood.  nothing was cleared.  no plants were pulled.  no cover crops were sown to protect the earth from the winter’s cold breath.

weeds grew to maturity, spewing their seeds across our canvas, and choking the top layer of our soil into a dense weedy web.  today began the healing process.  today was a new beginning for what was once backyard harvest.

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