It's been a long, crazy summer

Sorry for my lack of posts, however, my summer has been one of the busiest I can remember.

My step-daughter came to live with us over the summer while she looked for work in the area. She lived in Northern Michigan and opportunities are scarce.

Her and her husband are both finishing their degrees and have the looming specter of student loans on the horizon, so she needed to make a move.

The good news is that she found a good job that has allowed her and her husband the opportunity to make a permanent move to the area. They found an apartment about 30 miles from our home and are all set up.

She stayed with us all summer during the process which left very little time for us to do lots of extras (i.e. blogging).

Add to that upheaval the fact that we sent our son away to his first year of college. Getting him ready to go and all the transitioning needed to make it happen took more time away from our already dwindling supply.


We did manage to keep up with the micro-farm and were blessed with a fantastic yield, despite the drought.

I intend to explore our harvest on the blog in the next few days.

Stay tuned....

The Bee Barn - A European style apiary

I have been wanting to learn beekeeping for some time. StonePath could really use a hive, however, I lack the necessary know-how to attempt adding one.

My best friend has a large certified organic farm down the road from me and he used to be into beekeeping but had gotten out of it as other farm duties took more of his time.

He had built a European style bee barn on the property, an octagonal hut that could house seven to eight hives securely. It has remained empty the past few years, that is until about a week ago.



My friend has a field of red clover that he really wanted pollinated. He uses the clover as animal feed, so the seed produced from this field would be a considerable savings versus buying seed locally.

I also have another friend who has had bees most of his life and needed a place for his three hives as the local food sources were getting scarce in his area.

It didn't take much convincing to get my friends together on a project that will yield pollinated clover and a load of good, quality honey.

In the process I can learn everything I need to learn from two very knowledgeable beekeepers, while also getting hands on experience.

Gary is a very innovative farmer, I suppose that comes with the territory of becoming an organic farmer in the 1970's before anyone was really considering it. He came up with the idea of the bee barn from looking at and reading about European bee houses.

The style is all Gary. He designed it to fit the land and the area he had planned for it. Octagonal just made the most sense.

The barn keeps the bees sheltered from the harshest weather, yet allows them to come and go as they please.

Each hive opening is adjacent to a large opening at the floor of the barn, and the side they face is approx. 6 feet off the ground due to the slope the house sits on.

We are starting with three hives so that Gary can ease back into the hobby, and it's simpler for me to learn to maintain them.

We are prepared to increase to seven hives next year. We have all the necessary bee boxes and materials to quickly expand the operation.

After letting the bees adjust to their new environment the past week, we decided to open the hives and check the health of the colonies.

The first hive needed another super, as the colony was really filling the space quickly. These bees were very docile and didn't seem to mind the jostling very much.

Everything went as planned and we were very pleased with the overall hive health in the three hives. One hive had swarmed recently so it was fairly empty, however, the new queen had the colony working hard, so progress was being made. It should be a solid colony by Fall.

This is a very exciting endeavor for me. I am anxious to learn as much as possible and be operating a hive at StonePath this time next year.

Some mid-June pictures

We've been busy in the garden, mostly weeding. We did remove our broccoli, as it had finished and was bolting. In the past we would have let it remain and glean from the small florette's that grow on the stalk, however, we needed the bed for bush beans.

We're also tying up the tomatoes and I'll be posting pics of that after we've finished. Everything is growing wonderfully by God's grace so I thought I'd share some pictures from this weekend.

This is front gate to the lower, main garden. I have a Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, so the hex sign is a reminder of my families past.

The former broccoli bed can be seen in the lower center of this pic. It's gone and replanted as bush beans.

We have the stakes in place for the tomato beds but are in the process of tying them all up.

Our beets have been real winners this season. They are coming along in wonderful fashion. They are in the center of this picture.

These last two are just fun pics, snapped during a break.

June lettuce bed.

I thought I'd show-off our lettuce bed. This bed has been a terrific producer in the past, however, this year it's phenominal.

The bed is roughly 4' x 8' and is not raised like most of our other beds. The lettuce seems to like the stone around it. The stone wall seems to cool in the heat.

This bed always produces for us, this year it is way ahead in terms of production.

Permaculture at StonePath

Permaculture has always been an important goal in our garden planning. The ability to depend on a variety of small fruits and berries both for fresh eating and canning appeals to us.

I thought I'd showcase our efforts to this point, we are far from finished but definitely on the "path".

We have a lovely blueberry patch in the main garden. This is the second year for these bushes. They were purchased from Raintree Nursery in Morton, Wa. The young bushes transplanted well, and survived the winter in fine shape.

We have a total of eight plants that should provide a good harvest in the next few years.

For Mother's Day this year, my wife received a Sour Cherry from our children. This was a locally purchased tree in wonderful shape.

It was bought both as a celebration of Mother's Day and a memorial to her Dad who passed away last summer.

I am planning to add a second cherry near this one next month.

Last year we added an elderberry bush that was also purchased locally. Elderberry's have a long mythical history with Celtic peoples, and since my grandparents were Irish I thought it would be a fitting tribute to my ancestors to have an elderberry at StonePath.

Elderberry's were sacred in Saxony and much of the rest of the Celtic world. Their fruit have many uses beyond wine and jam, to include medicinal uses.

Grapes have long been the staple, permaculture kings at StonePath. Our vines are all Concord grapes, which are native to Ohio and thus very hearty.

Last year we made wine for the first time. It was a fun experiment but we're going to stick with jelly.

Frost hit the vines hard this year and I worried we would lose them, however, they came back with gusto.

This is the current state of affairs, however, we have plans that might include a dwarf apple orchard, more small fruits (perhaps raspberries), and an asparagus bed.

New cedar planting beds

 Another project we tackled this past weekend was the addition of three raised planting beds outside the main garden.

The area selected had been the site of a large Maple that we removed two years ago and had the stump taken out last summer.

The ground was pretty poor due to the amount of sawdust and debris from the stump removal. I decided that rather then spend time and money amending the soil for grass, I would build planting beds instead.

The bed frames are built from Michigan cedar that my wife's father had harvested and milled from the cedar swamps in Northern Michigan. Since he passed away, we have been thinking of how best to use some of the wonderful wood that we got from him.

Part of the materials we did receive consisted of 1" x 4" x 50" planks. They are a touch to small for the shed we intend to build, but perfect for this application.

The beds were simple to assemble and place. I added some good amended topsoil with additional compost from our bin and now we have added an additional 48 sq.ft. of planting area at StonePath.

The cedar should resist rot for many years to come, and are a wonderful reminder of Shelley's dad every time we work in them.

Planting StonePath

This is traditionally our official planting weekend at StonePath. It has revolved around a vegetable flat sale that our local garden center has every year at this time. 

They have a 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. sale with steep discounts on the flats. Since we have increased our seed starting every year, our flat purchases have declined, however, we still needed a few items for this year.

We purchased all our peppers - a flat of King Arthur (a sweet green pepper), a flat of sweet banana peppers, and our hot pepper of the season a hybrid Hungarian wax pepper.

We also picked up some herbs; more basil (we did start quite a bit ourselves), two thyme varieties, rosemary, and oregano.

The driveway side of the house has been a very fruitful tomato bed. This year we have two varieties planted here, both of them heirlooms; Thessaloniki, and Tiffin Mennonite.

This is the completed hot pepper bed and herb garden. Last year our hot peppers made all of our peppers a bit to warm. This year we have separated them as far apart as possible.

Next year, this will probably be just our herb garden.

Since we utilize individual raised beds, we can pack a greater amount of vegetables per planting area. One of our beds will more then accommodate a full flat of peppers or tomatoes.

We finished planting with a tally of 92 tomatoes of three varieties; Thessoloniki, Tiffin Mennonite, and a hybrid Celebrity. 73 peppers, three beds of zucchini, a bed of acorn squash, three beds of pickling cucumbers, a bed of 36 broccoli, plus our lettuce bed and herb garden.

Path through the blueberries

We love the look of stone, hence the name StonePath Farm.  Our goal is to have permanent stone paths throughout our garden and at other areas on the farm.

Stone brings with it a sense of permanence and instant age. The look and feel of real stone under our feet makes us feel connected to the earth.

We decided, this spring, to put a path down through our blueberry patch.  Before we had lots of empty space that was a constant weeding opportunity, so we needed to do something. A stone path was just the ticket.

We use a blue flagstone as the stone choice here at StonePath. It's easy to work with, relatively inexpensive, and very durable.

The first step is to lay out the path and the designe we like. I can shape the stone with a chisel if necessary, however, this path literally fell right into place.

The next step is to outline the stone with a knife, cutting into the ground about as deep as the stone. We remove the dirt, set and level the stone, and replace dirt around the edges.

I suppose most people at this point would say that we needed to add a base of crushed limestone or similar material. I understand that is the "preferred method", however, we have found that the stones stay perfectly in place using this method. Even in high traffic paths, we have very little movement or heaving.

At the bottom of this path we will have a granite bench, ready to offer a bit of rest during a warm summer.

Building garden beds

My stated goal is to be completely no-till. I am moving StonePath in that direction, however, I still am not quite there.

I thought I'd illustrate the method I use to prepare each bed for spring planting. I have developed a combination method using my broadfork and my Mantis tiller that yields very good results.

We plant in individual raised beds at StonePath. We find them much easier to use for the intensive manner in which we plant. Each bed can be maintained and tended separate from the rest which means if we have a problem, it's contained automatically, and conversely if something is working well in one bed, we can duplicate it in the others. It gives us the ability to experiment.

The beds are all roughly 4' x 8'. This size allows us to work the bed easily form each side. We do have a few larger beds which we designed for larger crops such as vining crops.

In preparing the beds, the first step is going over the bed with my broadfork. The fork loosens ands opens the winter compacted ground, and also aides in weeding. Weeds are much easier to remove when lifted in this manner.

 This is what the bed looks like after the inital use of the broadfork. The bed has already lifted itself a few inches above it's starting level. The ground is aerated and open, all the weeds have been removed.

We next bring in the soil amendments. We are totally organic at StonePath, so it's critical that we maintain our own compost bin. The compost is cow manure, leaf mold, last years, end of garden plant material, egg shells, and scraps from the kitchen (no meat or cooked items) that has aged since last year.

Once the compost has been raked over the forked bed, I bring the Mantis into play. The Mantis is a great tiller for small, raised beds. It's easy to handle and direct and does a nice job of breaking up the dirt clumps.

The only thing I don't like about this tool (and tillers in general), is the damage done to the organisms in the soil. That is why eventually, I will be excluding this step.

The other problem tillers bring is that they create "hard pan". Hard pan is a polished hard surface made just below the tiller's tines as it works the soil. This hard layer a few inches below the surface of the ground can prevent deep root growth and affect how water drains in the soil.

To alleviate this problem, I again go through the bed with the broadfork. It breaks up any hard pan, and further opens the soil.

When the bed is finally raked smooth, I have a workable garden bed that is approximately 8- 10 inces deep of nice soft loam, ready to plant.

Product report - Fisher Blacksmithing



To say that I am a fan of Tuli Fisher and his line of garden tools is an understatement. In my mind there is something awesome about using a hand forged tool, it's like reconnecting with the past.

In this day and age of throw-away junk, made in China that barely lasts a season, having something that you know will be passed down to your children and grandchildren, really brings time and generations together.

In my tool shed, I have many antique tools that still see lots of use. I have forks made over a century ago that still eagerly work StonePath as they were meant to when they were new. They were forged in an era that valued permanence, that prized toughness, and welcomed challenge.

Fisher Blacksmithing of Bozeman, Montana represents that same ethic in tool making. Mr. Fisher calls his tools "heirloom quality" because he makes them to last, forging them as tools were made in days gone by.

It is, however, one thing to make a tool by old means but Tuli Fisher brings another seemingly lost quality to his business, he stands behind his product with integrity.

My absolute favorite tool of his is the square hoe. That hoe is constantly by my side in the garden tackling a list of tasks. This past weekend I broke my square hoe. I was devastated.

I contacted Tuli and gave him pictures of the broken tool. He quickly deduced a  rivet hole may have been drilled a touch off center leaving an area thin and causing the break. He never made excuses, and quickly asked my shipping info so that he could get a replacement out immediately.

That type of business ethic added to a wonderful tool makes me a fan for life. I highly recommend these tools and give a call to Mr. Fisher, he's a gentleman worth getting to know.

Tidings from StonePath

I've been slow to post because we have been very busy around StonePath. Getting the beds ready to plant, along with a couple projects we've added have left little time for other things.

The garden is about 85% ready to go. This weekend our goal is to have the entire garden planted so all our attention is focused in that direction.

We did manage to get two different zucchini varities in the ground and pole beans. We planted approx 90 runners of beans as you can see from the tripods that are pictured. We plant two heirloom varities; Kentucky Wonder, and Rattlesnake.

The picture also shows our broccoli and beet beds that are progressing very nicely.

 The lettuce bed in the kitchen garden is doing very nicely. While I crave nice neat rows, there is something wonderful about the little imperfections that come when you let your daughter plant a row or two. It kind of reminds me of how God let's us help spread His Kingdom, even though He doesn't need us and we most likely will screw something up.

 Our dragon who has been with us from the beginning is a very good garden guard.

We have somewhere in the range of 120 tomatoes, all started from seed, hardening off. My wife is very good at seed starting and next year we intend to completely plant everything from seed at StonePath.

Getting the spring beds ready with a broadfork

I had made the commitment to begin to relearn the old methods of gardening. I sold my tiller and bought a broadfork from Gulland Forge last year as a first step.

Tillers do speed up the work, however, the damage they inflict on the soil and problems created later just don't make sense to me.

As a tiller works, a number of detrimental effects occur. The first is that, as it works, it is tearing the weeds and then turning them back into the soil. In effect, you are planting weeds in your garden. A broadfork lifts the dirt and loosens the weeds as they sit for easy removal. Nothing is turned back into the soil.

The second problem a tiller creates is damage to the soil. The rototiller actually kills many of the beneficial organisms the soil contains, the very creatures that we depend on for good crops. Worms are the most obvious victims, however, fungi and microscopic organisms are also destroyed in the process. A rototiller will destroy air pockets in the soil and actually cause unnatural drying. All the creatures God,in His perfect design, need air, moisture, and food to survive in our garden. A tiller damages this ecosystem.

The final problem, that I've mentioned before, is the creation of a hardpan. Imagine the layer of the dirt just below the lowest tine setting on a tiller. As the rototiller turns it's tines, it scrapes that layer again and again. That layer is effectively "polished". It becomes a hard, solid layer that water and roots can't penetrate down, nor beneficial organisms can penetrate up from. The tiller separates the bed from the earth in effect.

Using a broadfork isn't the easiest or quickest method to garden prep. The pictures here show the course of three beds in various stages. The first picture is a fresh from winter bed that I just began to fork. The two beds pictures in the second photo are near finished. They've been forked, weeded, and raked. We are planting peas in one of them tonight.

This picture shows our small rhubarb bed. I used my broadfork in it even with a perennial like rhubarb. It's easy to maneuver around the plant, and they appreciate the aeration of the soil.

Finally, using a braodfork brings lots of good exercise (who doesn't need more of that), and most importantly peace. I love being in the garden, working hard, listening to nature, talking with my wife, or simply praying. It seems like the way God intended it.

I've provided a link to a Gulland Forge video. In the presentation Larry demonstrates spring garden bed prep.

Gulland Forge video 

Getting the spring lettuce planted

This weekend we dodged some rain and dealt with cooler, wet weather to get the kitchen garden, lettuce bed ready and planted.

This bed is right outside our back door and provides wonderful salads until about mid-late June.

I worked the bed with my braodfork to aerate the soil and lossen the compacted winter soil. Then it was raked to a nice soft loam.

I have sworn off tillers because of the damage they do to the microbes and other beneficial parts for the soil, and because of the hard pan it creates.

We planted five varieties of lettuce in this bed. We planted Ideal Cos, New Red Fire, Simpson Elite, Red Salad Bowl, and Buttercrunch.

The Ideal Cos and New Red Fire came as pelleted seeds, that really makes spacing them easy. Lettuce seed is so small that even using a hand planter, like I have pictured, it is difficult to use.

We always try and get the family involved. My daughter loves to plant (hates to weed), and my oldest boy was down in the main garden with the broadfork.

The only other big result of the weekend was getting the front bed weeded, forked, and raked. We are always trying different things in this bed. We've had luck with pumpkins, pickling cukes, and even flowers in the past. This year we considered hot peppers, but have decided to do this bed in cabbage and dill.

Dill acts as a great companion plant. The cabbage worm doesn't like dill much and it keeps them at bay.