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Robin

View Robin's:homegardenprojects (15)blog (32)forum topics (3)buddies (22)favorites (13)activity logWatch

2302 posts in 411 days

Location: Central Massachusetts
Hardiness Zone: 5b
Website:

I garden because I believe growing my own food is empowering, healthy and fun. I enjoy plants for their shapes, colors and textures but I am primarily interested in growing edible plants so that I can provide fresh, healthy food for my family. I am interested in learning new ways to preserve our harvest so that we can enjoy it longer than our growing season permits. I also grow plants to feed and support our livestock, which currently consists of Nigerian dwarf dairy goats, a flock of pastured chickens and a hive of honeybees.

Our family moved to this old farmhouse four years ago. It was first built in 1738 and was run as a dairy farm into the 1970s. The farmer retired and the farm was broken up and sold. When we moved in, the yard was mostly lawn, with a large wild area in back crowded with small trees, shrubs and tall grasses. I have been trying to turn my two acres, which contains the original farmhouse and barn, back into a small farm using sustainable agricultural practices.

I am learning as I go. I was raised in the suburbs, so farming and increased self-sufficiency are things I have been learning (often the hard way) through research and then practice.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Latest Activity | view all »

commented on Our "Edibles" #66: Cabbage Rolls 13 hours ago
commented on Three New Rose of Sharon #1: Late Aug. 2010 15 hours ago
commented on New Veggie Garden ..Part #3 15 hours ago
commented on Our "Edibles" #65: The Last of the Tomatoes? 15 hours ago
replied on September 2 flowers - only a few this time. 15 hours ago
commented on Our "Edibles" #64: More Canning 1 day ago
commented on Our "Edibles" #64: More Canning 1 day ago
commented on Our "Edibles" #64: More Canning 1 day ago
commented on mac_daddy's Garden 3 days ago
commented on mac_daddy's Garden 3 days ago
replied on Butterfly Bush Hybrid Mix 3 days ago
commented on mac_daddy's Profile 4 days ago
commented on pappy's Profile 4 days ago
commented on Tweet's Profile 4 days ago
commented on The SPICES of Life #5: Emotional 4 days ago

Latest Blog Entries | view all 32 »

Latest Projects | view all 15 »

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17 comments so far

View dini's profile

dini

1503 posts in 865 days
hardiness zone 5

posted 410 days ago

Welcome!

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

View GrandmaT's profile

GrandmaT

5305 posts in 1026 days
hardiness zone 5

posted 410 days ago

Hi There and WELCOME to GT!!! :-)

Look forward to chatting more with you and hearing all about your farm and gardening.

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

View Bon's profile

Bon

5154 posts in 928 days
hardiness zone 5a

posted 410 days ago

Hello and welcome to GT.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

View jroot's profile

jroot

3198 posts in 778 days
hardiness zone 5a

posted 408 days ago

Welcome to GT. It is good to see you participating already. You’ll enjoy your stay with us.

-- jroot

View Dale & Vicki Struhar's profile

Dale & Vicki Struhar

20 posts in 303 days

posted 294 days ago

We started out boarding and raising horses but as the kids grew up they lost interest in 4H. Vicki still has her horse which she raised for a colt about 16 yrs ago. She takes dressage lessons every week. We posted more pictures to our garden. hope you enjoy.

-- Dale & Vicki, Madison, Ohio

View LadyPantheress's profile

LadyPantheress

43 posts in 207 days
hardiness zone 7

posted 202 days ago

Merry Meet-

Thank you for welcoming me to GT. I had written a reply to your post on my page explaining what I am planning to do here.

Happy Gardening
Brightest Blessings
Lady Pantheress

-- ~ Harm None ~

View LadyPantheress's profile

LadyPantheress

43 posts in 207 days
hardiness zone 7

posted 200 days ago

Thank you so much for viewing and commenting about my 1st project here at GT. I have not used the pellets before and are a little concerned but I have a good feeling this year for a better container garden then my previous.

The lights in my green house were just on for taking the photos. I am using a heating mat under the trays and will not be using them till after the germination is complete and will remove them from the heating mat and place the growing lights about 1-2 inches above the new plants. This will help them stay a little shorter, sturdy, hardy and fuller plants for transplanting

Looks like you have many successful projects yourself. :-)
I love flowers too. Will be sowing Morning Glory’s, Moon Flowers and Nasturtiums soon.

I will be watching your progress as well.

LP

-- ~ Harm None ~

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

8102 posts in 1148 days
hardiness zone 5b

posted 180 days ago

you’ve changed your “name” identity.
Interesting :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

View LadyPantheress's profile

LadyPantheress

43 posts in 207 days
hardiness zone 7

posted 179 days ago

I will be sowing more seeds of what I lost for sure. Tomatoes are going to be very expensive this season according to the news. Bad crops due to bad weather where most tomatoes come from stores. I am very excited.

My peppers are doing fine so far and so is my oregano and marjoram.

Thank you again for your reply and encouraging words:-)

Hugs
LP

-- ~ Harm None ~

View daltxguy's profile

daltxguy

98 posts in 246 days
hardiness zone 9

posted 179 days ago

Welcome Robin, formerly Radicalfarmergal :)

-- Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. - Thoreau

View Bon's profile

Bon

5154 posts in 928 days
hardiness zone 5a

posted 178 days ago

Does this mean your not radical anymore? (lol) Just kidding.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

View Ron's profile

Ron

15 posts in 178 days
hardiness zone 5b

posted 178 days ago

Thanks Robin for the Welcome.

-- Ronm

View galetonco's profile

galetonco

16 posts in 170 days
hardiness zone 4b

posted 167 days ago

Hi Robin,thanks for the welcome.My sister raises a few dairy goats,I get milk from her whenever I can,love to play with the baby goats they are all ways so happy,want to bring them home with me but I’m not ready for them yet. I don’t think I will plant gourds this year,have a bunch from last year drying and I need to get creative and do something with them. I’m not to computer smart,going to take me forever to figure this blog thing out. regards, Mark in Co

-- mark nickerson in Colorado

View Ron's profile

Ron

15 posts in 178 days
hardiness zone 5b

posted 167 days ago

Hey Robin thanks for the pointer on the strawberries. Seems simple but I wasn’t sure what to do.

-- Ronm

View galetonco's profile

galetonco

16 posts in 170 days
hardiness zone 4b

posted 160 days ago

thank you Robin for the information on garlic,I will try that.Currently I’m adding chopped garlic to apple cider vineger and giving them about a tablespoon to a gallon of water a couple of times a week,but other options are great. My projects this spring are planting more herbs for them to eat,I want to try some peppermint,they love the shew mosquito geranium,have to keep a fence around it,and I planted a hobs vine by there run last fall can’t wait to see how it does,and they can eat the hops,plus it will give them some shade,allready have grapes growing around one of the chicken yards.Sorry I’m having a bit of a problem with the blog,going to have to get some one how is smarter than me on the computer to show me. Mark

-- mark nickerson in Colorado

View Weedwacker's profile

Weedwacker

68 posts in 75 days

posted 73 days ago

Morning Robin, you are an early riser. That’s the way to learn how to garden, trial and error. After a couple of decades you start to get the hang of it. Out here in Oregon the weather this year is so fickle that what ever tricks a guy has up his sleeve needs to be pulled out. Where I am the ground is just too wet and cold to till. I’ve never seen such a wet spring. Thanks for asking about the pastel art. I’ll put some pictures up on my home page. Bet the goats get in some comical situations. They’d make a fun picture.

View Weedwacker's profile

Weedwacker

68 posts in 75 days

posted 73 days ago

It’s me again , Margaret, just call me computer challenged, I can’t figure out how to tap into the pictures in my computer and put them on this site. So if you want to see them, email me at JustChalk@hotmail.com. and I can fire you off some flowers, birds, a frog and tell you more about what I do.

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