Small Landowners

The great gardener and visionary Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The earth is given as common stock for men to labor and live on . . . The small landowners are the most precious part of the State." It's been my dream for years to be a small farmer and my .33 acres has been a little too small. So, we are buying 4 acres of land nearby and are hoping to move there soon. Just a few thousand things to do before we move out of this house and move into a not-yet-existing house. It's seems a little overwhelming, but so does weeding a row of cucumbers that you ignored for a few too many days. And then you do it, it's done, you look back with satisfaction and wait in hope for a pile of cukes. And hope you beat the groundhogs and beetles. Our plan for next year is to turn the fenced gardens at the Heritage Center into almost entirely you-pick rows of peas, bush and pole beans, cherry and paste tomatoes, scallions, pickling cucumbers, hot peppers, flowers and a few other things that are enjoyable to pick (especially for children). We will grow a majority of the other crops on our land in Oley and bring the harvest for pick-up to the Center on harvest days. Thanks for all of your support this year and last!

Weeds

"Since the best way of weeding
Is to prevent weeds from seeding,
The least procrastination
Of any operation
To prevent the semination
Of noxious vegetation
Is a source of tribulation.
And this, in truth, a fact is
Which gardeners ought to practice,
And tillers should remember,
From April to December."

New England Farmer, 1829.

Note, "ought" and "should."