Meet the Baby!

Today Brian and I went to Crowley Manor to meet the newest member of our farm family -- our baby Nigerian Dwarf goat. She was born at 2:00am on Saturday morning, so she was about 32 hours old when we saw her.

She is strawberry-blonde with blue eyes, just like the papa goat. We're going to name her Peaberry.











She already knows how to pose for the camera. She's a natural!

I wonder if we'll have any trouble bonding?

She's still got a little amniotic fluid on her forehead. Her momma has cleaned her, but whenever she nurses she gets a little more on her head. It's no problem - just a little post-birth stuff!

Lilly Blue (who's due to have babies in April) and Coco check us out.

She likes to cuddle close, and cuddling inside a shirt is even better!

Look at those blue eyes!

She has something to say!!

On your mark, get set...

And she's off!

Right now she's just a tad bigger than Lucy, but she's got looong legs!

Some gorgeous goat milk soaps made by the goat owner/breeder, Patricia from Crowley Manor. Patricia treated us to a couple of bars - Monaco Lavendar & Peaches and Pink Grapefruit Lemon Balm. These are just wonderful soaps, made by hand. You can contact Patricia at (303) 668-3892 or www.crowleymanor.com if you'd like more information.

In the News - North Denver Tribune

(click on the article once to view, and then a second time to make it bigger)

Launching our CSA - Sharing Vegetables with the Community!

We've built the greenhouse, started over 3,000 seeds so far, and are getting ready to break ground on 6 new city gardens. I'm excited to announce that we've decided to offer a limited number of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares for the 2009 harvest season.

The Heirloom Gardens season runs for 20 weeks, from May 28th - October 8th. We specialize in heirloom varieties and will be planting vegetables, herbs, and a few edible flowers. Imagine receiving a weekly supply of items like Cherokee Purple tomatoes, Chinese Five Color peppers, White Wonder cucumbers, and Chiogga beets!

Our CSA members are always our priority when we harvest, receiving the best the farm produces each week. You can click here to view a full list of the crops and varieties we will be planting in 2009. Eating locally is, by definition, eating seasonally, so we will only produce food in time with nature's calendar.

CSA provides consumers with a direct connection to the farm that produces their food. The Heirloom Gardens CSA produces food grown within Northwest Denver, so the harvest travels just a few miles (or a few blocks!) to reach the members.

If you're interested in learning more about our CSA program, please visit our website. We have a Registration Agreement for those that would like to become members and receive a weekly share of veggies. Our shares will be distributed from the Highland MiMa (Micro Market) at 32nd Ave. & Newton St. on Thursdays from 2:00 - 6:30. Even if you feel you don't live close enough to participate in the CSA, please share this info on to anyone who may be interested!

Wishing you a bountiful summer full of wonderful food.

Seed Starting Extravaganza!

Today is a special day, because the seedlings have started to emerge! I'm so grateful for the Heirloom Gardens members, who have already stepped in to help create our wonderful urban farm.

On Sunday Heirloom Gardens had its second seed starting meetup event. We had a great team of 5 people, and were able to start over 2,000 seeds!

Getting the seed trays ready for filling.

The whole crew - Sundari, Tom, Lee, Paula and Anne.

Tom filling the trays with our custom seed starting mixture (actually, it's the recipe from Square Foot Gardening).

Paula fills a tray while Tom does some watering.

Anne is holding down the fort in the greenhouse.

Our organizational chart set up on top of the recycling bin. The calculator came in handy --- 216 seeds need to be planted, we can do 72 seeds to a tray....

Sundari filling a tray while Lee works with the seeds.

Our photographer (my husband, Brian) peering through the greenhouse window at Anne, Tom and Lee as they work.

Sundari modeling the farm-chic wardrobe, complete with knee patches!

Some of the afternoon's work.

Happy times.



Lee takes a minute to play catch with Lucy.

Our HG members left with lots of energy, but Lucy was pooped!

Building the Greenhouse

Building a greenhouse is an essential part of our urban, multi-plot gardening plan. It allows us to give seedlings a headstart and make more efficient use of the available garden space.

Our starting supplies. We're doing our part to support Lowe's and Home Depot!

The footprint. There's a concrete RV parking space on the south side of our house - a perfect spot for the greenhouse!

The long view.

Next we built the door and window.


Our own custom (aka improvised) peak roof design. Our original plan called for a hoophouse, but we couldn't get pipe that was long enough. So, we adapted and asked for Dad's help (the high school math teacher) to try and get the angles and lengths correct. Thanks, Dad!

It was a cold day!

Wrapping everything in 6mm plastic.

My favorite part of the back is the window, which flips down. A big help when the greenhouse gets cookin' mid-day!

And now for the tables. We decided that stacking tables were our best shelving option....


...so we made a LOT of them. 4' x 2', and both 4' and 2' high versions. The shorter tables are a little less wide, so they can slide under the taller tables.

Ta-da!!!

During the day the short tables can be pulled into the aisles to get more sun. The greenhouse is 11' long and 12' deep, and it can hold 61 planting trays with the current setup.

Artie is checking it out.

How Veggies Have Changed

I came across an interesting article that details the changes in veggies over the last few decades. Not only are the store-bought vegetables that most of us consume less tasty than what our grandparents ate, but they also contain fewer nutrients. This is due to a number of factors, including the pesticides and chemicals used in industrial agriculture, breeding produce for easy shipping and large size rather than taste, and the 1,500 miles (on average) that our jet-lagged veggies travel in order to reach us.

You can click here to check out the article and read more!

What We're Growing!

Much of the fun of heirloom vegetables comes from the wonderful variety of colors and shapes from these old plants ---- tomatoes that are red, pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, white, and even striped! There are also plants with great names, and great stories. Like the Mortgage Lifter tomato, which got its name back in the 1930's when it was developed by a radiator repairman who sold the seedlings for $1 each and managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in just 6 years!

I've posted a list of the seeds we'll be starting in 2009 on my website. You can check it out by going to:

http://www.eatwhereUlive.com/whatwegrow.htm