Book review - Vegetable Gardening the Williamsburg Way

The other day I purchased the book Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way, and I have to report it is a very fun, useful book. The photography is gorgeous and the information provided is both interesting and helpful.

The book begins with some background information on the gardens at Williamsburg, then dives right in to the material.

The focus of the book is on the vegetables grown during the Colonial period, giving historical info and background, followed by an explanation of the methods used at Williamsburg to grow them. You won't find any information on corn, Asian vegetables, or the like in this book, they simply weren't common or available to the colonies.

One of the fun features is the addition of historical quotes from period journals and diaries about the vegetables. I loved reading about a bet Thomas Jefferson and his neighbor had regarding the growing of peas. Jefferson only the bet once, however, you'll have to read the book to find the whole story.

I love to garden using old fashioned methods and this book does not disappoint in that area. It is going to provide me with a ton of useful ideas.

I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in organic gardening/farming.

Book of Revelation Bible Study

I realize this topic has little to do with gardening. You won't find any tidbits about planting, pruning or the like. I wanted to showcase the Bible study I am leading.

I've talked in other posts about The Resistance, which is a ministry based in Northeast Ohio. I am one of the Directors of the ministry, I head up the teaching teams and studies.

I've been hosting an in depth study of the Book of Revelation for a couple months and thought maybe others would be interested in following along.

We post each weeks notes and audio podcasts of the meeting on our web-site. You can view the notes at Resistance - Revelation Bible Study . Just click the link and it will take you to the page.

This is the core of our ministry, spreading the kingdom through non-traditional means. We have not been called to start a new church, rather, we follow the example of the Acts church.

I hope you will be challenged and encouraged by this study. It is a broad study covering lots of scripture, such study is necessary to understand the eschatology of Revelation.

Pruning - just in time

 This weekend was pruning time at StonePath. My main target was the grape vines, although I needed to check the blueberries and gooseberries.

Due to the unusually warm temperatures the past couple weeks, I nearly was too late for the grapes. The blueberries and gooseberries were past time. The blueberries are only second year plants and it wasn't critical to get them this year.

Getting the grapes pruned, however, is very important. Grapes need a lot of air flow to keep them healthy. If you struggle with powdery mildew on your grapes you may want to check if the grapes can breathe.

Keeping the vines pruned and high grass below them knocked down is the most important thing you can do to your vines to keep them healthy and productive.

I look at each vine to determine the best place to prune. I remove dead vines and any stragglers by pruning back to the nearest healthy bud. Sometimes I can get fairly brutal in my pruning, and as you do prune you may hesitate thinking you are hurting the vine.

Remember, the vines will produce new growth at any cut. Keeping this in mind you can plan future growth by selective pruning.

The other thing to keep in mind is sharp shears. You can damage the plant with blunt pruners.



Another heirloom tool added to the collection

When it comes to gardening, I am always in search of traditional methods and quality tools. Often, I have to purchase my tools from yard sales, antique stores, or estate sales so that I can find a quality tool that will last for generations.

Other then books, collecting and using old garden/farm tools is my passion.

In my searches I stumbled upon Fisher Blacksmithing in Bozeman, Montana. Tuli Fisher, the owner, is a craftsman from the old school. He has a line of garden tools that he markets as "heirloom quality". Needless to say, my interest was piqued.

I purchased a hand hoe last winter from Fisher because I was in desperate need of a quality hoe. I was blown away by the quality, the look, the feel, and especially the usefulness.

His tools have weight, and make short work of whatever job is required. I soon purchased a square hoe and was equally pleased.

Last week I decided to expand my collection and order a hand trowel. Trowels, to me, are a difficult tool to purchase. None of the store bought, massed produced trowels seem to "cut the mustard". I usually end up discarding the Chinese made garbage and it's back to the drawing board.

I ordered the trowel from Tuli and it was in my hands in 2 days!! The trowel is fantastic. The picture above truly doesn't do the tool justice. It is hand hammered and a thing of beauty. On his website he talks about how each tool is made:

"Each tool is individually built using traditional blacksmithing techniques. Steel is heated to a red glow in the forge and then shaped over the anvil with a hammer. All joinery is done using solid steel rivets. And, while each tool is hot it is burned into the handle creating a long-lasting garden tool with no welds. Black Walnut is used for handles. The tight grain of this strong hardwood makes it very durable. Best of all, it just feels good in your hand."

I'm here to say every word is true. They aren't cheap, however, these tools will last a lifetime and see many years of good service in my garden.

Spring is in the air

Well it's been a long, non-posting winter for me. The Lord has called me into a ministry that has been taking a lot of my time. However, I miss posting thoughts here and interacting with a few friends I've made, so hopefully I'll be able to juggle them.

Some catching up:

1) I am one of the directors of The Resistance - http://www.resistancenet.org/. We are a truly non-traditional ministry. Our goal is to be a mission to the churches in our area. A lot of them are small rural churches with declining membership. We hope to bring them support in the form of teaching and preaching (I spoke last Sunday evening at a Lenten service), youth conferences, Bible studies, online support, etc...

We also have the broader goal of creating disciples as Christ commanded. This we are doing by creating Risley U at Camp Risley. It will be a place to teach others a multitude of things. We will have various Bible studies, classes on quilting, sewing, woodworking, farming, gardening, etc... It should be a great challenge.

2) The garden is a major priority this year. I am really pushing to have large amounts of produce grown in a few areas. We were fortunate to share an extra acre with a friend last year. That made up for my squash losses from the stink bugs.

Looks like I'm going to also partner in a bee/honey enterprise. More to come later.

3) My oldest boy graduates High School this year and is heading off to college in the Fall. My middle son is about to become an Eagle Scout and has been nominated for National Honor Society. My darling little girl continues to be the light of my life.

Those are the things on my plate for now. I hope to be back to posting regular from today on.