Mother Rock Micro Farm
Want to learn and grow with us? Curious about joining us on the farm in Marshall, NC for community days and workshops? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter!
A Change in Season
Hello, Friend. This will be the last newsletter written by me (Sarah). It's been a challenging and wonderful journey with Mother Rock Farm -- Cory and I were blessed to find this property and have the opportunity to grow an abundance of food and community over the last two seasons. It was a big project for us, and we learned a ton. As much as I would like to continue the journey, circumstances have changed. Cory and I separated early in the summer; he stayed on the property, and I moved to...
You Can Eat These!
Hello, Friend! We're in the home stretch of our main gardening season. The first frost isn't in the forecast just yet, but it's coming. Tomatoes are tired, producing their last few fruits that may or may not ripen. Bell peppers are laden, but again -- will the yellows and oranges appear before the cold gets them? Okra harvests are just a handful at this point. And the rest of the farm is mostly cover crop sprouting up to regenerate the soil through the winter. Except for the sweet potatoes....
A Gift from Helene
Hello, Friend! This past Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene. How perfect that it coincided with one of our community days on the farm. Hurricane Helene -- or "the flood", as many around here refer to it -- impacted us in ways that were devastating and awful (in all senses of the word). And yet, when we discussed over snacks on Saturday what we would want to express to Mother Nature on that day, most of what came up was gratitude. Gratitude for the resilience of...
A Balancing Act
Hello, Friend! Today marks the autumn equinox. The first day of fall typically inspires thoughts of slowing down, leaves falling, and the gradual darkening of days toward winter. But today -- the equinox -- represents balance. During this time, everyone on Earth experiences roughly the same balance of dark and light in the day before the hemispheres once again head in opposite directions. It's an opportunity to pause and notice. Where are we balanced? On the farm, we see the empty rows that...
From the Pest Perspective
Hello, Friend! When you see a crop getting totally decimated by a pest, immediate thoughts are usually something like: What did I do wrong? Why, God, why?! The fight is on! None of these feel good. What if we looked at the situation from the perspective of the "pest"? In their minuscule minds, they're probably thinking: Jackpot! This is amazing! Thank you, God! I want to share this abundance with all of my friends! And produce tons of offspring to enjoy it as well! This perspective feels so...
The Best Part of What's Next
Hello, Friend! Fall is coming. Trees are slightly tinged with yellow, cool mornings and evenings call for long sleeves, and ripe figs inspire autumn-flavored desserts. The garden, while still producing plenty of certain crops (oh so many beans), is starting its slow descent toward winter's rest. We're sowing cover crop to protect and rejuvenate the soil as rows open up, and pre-ordering garlic to plant when we wrap things up for the season at the end of October. There's even thought at this...
Cool Beans
Hello, Friend! Our dragon tongue beans are coming in like gangbusters, and they are, indeed, very cool. A quick detour -- where the heck did the phrase "cool beans" come from, anyway? Though a few sources suggest it's associated with drug culture of the 1960's (some drugs resembling jellybeans), it seems more likely that it goes back much farther. The phrase "some beans" was used in the 19th century as slang for something impressive. And that phrase might have been derived from "full of...
The Key to Tackling the Big Things
Hello, Friend! We had our first community day in a while this weekend, with Ane and Joseph, first-timers at the farm. And, as always with community days, we got a lot done and had a great time doing it. But what stood out this time was the big thing that got done that wasn't planned. We had a huge weed patch in the corner of the farm. It happens -- we get focused on the beds with the crops, the perimeter gets neglected, and suddenly 8-foot tall weeds are towering over us. When we finally...
Save Caterpillars, Save Ourselves
Hello, Friend! Have you heard of "keystone plants"? Like the "key" stone in a Roman arch that holds the whole thing together, these are the native plants most important to sustaining a food web. --> Here's a very cool keystone native plant finder by zip code! We often hear how important it is to plant native plants and eliminate invasive species, but entomologist Doug Tallamy has discovered that a small subset of them are essential. 90 percent of caterpillars in the U.S. rely on just 14...
Nature Will Surprise You
Hello, Friend! Sometimes you plant things, and you know what you're planting, but Nature still surprises you. Like the flowers now towering over our heads on wispy stems, swaying in the breeze. Or the sorghum cover crop that has shot up into what looks kind of like stalks of corn. And the basil that just keeps coming, with some incredibly large leaves! We do a lot of planning at the beginning of the season, making sure we're rotating crops, planting good companions, optimizing shady and sunny...
Want to learn and grow with us? Curious about joining us on the farm in Marshall, NC for community days and workshops? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter!