Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Blue Hill Farm

Blue Hill Farm, below.
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What a pic.  Full monty, sustainable agriculture & ornamental horticulture.  Can you label what you're looking at, below?  Can you discuss, cocktail chatter, what it takes to put this garden together, how it lives as part of your life, how it is sustainable, what the ornamental horticulture does to the agriculture, why it has a civic duty component, how it can lower HVAC expenses, how it can raise residential property value?
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In USA, colleges have 2 degree tracks.  Horticulture vs. Agriculture.
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Enough, won't go full monty now.  Just enough for your cocktail chatter.
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Maximum pollinator habitat is high density next to low density, meadow beside woodland.  Another validation, as if needed, life happens most richly in the margins.
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But why?  What am I nattering about?
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When crops are grown with maximum pollinator habitat, production yields rise by 80%.  Do the math.  Instead of getting 1,000 pounds of produce, you're getting 1,800 pounds with the same amount of effort.
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There is more, but for now, a little cocktail chatter is fine.  Pic, below, is an entire class, about living within an agricultural landscape married to its ornamental horticulture.  


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Pic, above, here.
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This pic has a great story, it's not from a 'gardener', but a fashion/luxury branding personality, Habitually Chic.
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Think you can't have, above, don't own farmland?  Happily you're wrong.  My 30 year garden had every layer, above, and clocked in at less than 8,500sf, in a subdivision.
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If you have time, take the Blue Hill Farm link, scroll to the bottom, enjoy their month/month listing of their crops, livestock, cellar & more.  Exactly the type of stuff I'm wanting to know for my own ca. 1900 American farmhouse.  And that information does not exist yet.  Within the realm of how I'm wanting it.  Life is good, a well trod learning curve.  Personalized.  For me to discover.
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Garden & Be Well,    XOT

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Not sure this posted... Love your line about "life happens most richly in the margins." We need to stitch that on a pillow or print it on cocktail napkins. xoxox, Brenda

Unknown said...

Not sure my comments are posting, Tara. xoxo, Brenda

La Contessa said...

Been cleaning up and came across NOTES I took whilst reading YOUR BOOKS!!!!!!!
ENFILADE, etc..................I love this WORD and what it means!
HAPPY SUMMER TO YOU.......I am behind in my BLOGS but AFTER tomorrow I will play CATCH UP!
XO

Rachael said...

I'd like to know your expanded thoughts on ag v horticulture - my daughter is considering veterinary school, on a non-traditional ag track (as opposed to biology, animal science, etc). I think that is a brilliant plan, but would like for her to maximize the ag part for its own sake - is there a way to merge ag and horticulture, that you're aware of?

La Petite Gallery said...

Tara, we had a farm 113 acres. Best day of my life when we sold it and the Beltie cattle. TOOO much for us. Great photo's I see that damn clover in the lawn, can't get rid of it. It's everywhere this year. I think they bring it in on blades of lawn mowers. I pay for Snow plow $400-800 every winter it cost 150 to repair the lawn. I pay $75 a cut for grass cutting and they infect the lawn so I spend a ton on weed killer and labor. Can't win today..
yvonne

Penelope Bianchi said...

I love clover in the lawn!! In fact, I love lawn with clover and even more stuff in it! No weed killer! Birds, bees and butterflies love clover!