Farmers' blog

Earth Harmony Organics September Update

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:34:52 +0000

We have been planning to install our solar and wind power system at EHO. We have researched many different structures and even considered building one from scratch. After many hours of research and planning, we decided to use a 40 foot steel shipping container to install our system. Half of the container will be used for the solar system and the other half will be used to store other farm equipment. The container was sanded, primed, and painted. A wall and door was built inside the container. R-insulation was used on the walls of the solar system’ s side to keep the room cool with an AC unit. We used uni-struts to build platforms for the charger, inverter and service panel.

Also we have over 25 fruiting Black Walnut trees on the farm. We have been clearing all the areas around the trees. Nuts are starting to fall and we are harvesting small groups of nuts for the hulls and the nuts. Once the hulls are dried and ran through the herb grinding machine, they are shipped to Global Healing Center. The nuts are cured and stored.

Pecan trees and Fig trees are fruiting and we are harvesting them for food storage.

August was extremely hot and we had to be careful working outside. There was not much animal activity this month. We saw, Hawks, Cranes, Crows, Blue Jays, Cardinals, White Birds, Baby copper heads and Deer.

Dr. G

Earth Harmony Organics

admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:37:02 +0000

Its been a busy couple weeks for us out at the EHO farm. Here is a summary of what has happened. We cleared some downed trees from the pond and identified over 50 Black walnut trees along the creek line which we did not even know were there. So we will be harvesting these this year. We also purchased over 20 different earth tone and harmonic wind chimes and strategically placed them around the farm to enhance the energy of the land and plants. Then we planted the following trees: 2 – Li jujubees, 1-Tigertooth jujubee, 3-Red barron peach, 1-Rebeccas gold pawpaw, 1-Sunflower pawpaw, 1-Pawpaw wells, 1- Seto satsuma mandarin, 1-Owari satsuma orange, 1- Miho satsuma mandarin, 3-Fuyu persimmons, 6-Kiowa blackberry and 6-oachi blackberry. The Animals that we saw over the last 2 weeks on the farm were: 1-copperhead, 12+ carps in creek, greater sirens, 1-cotton mouth, 7 baby ducks, multiple deer, fawn, 2 red-tail hawks, black crane, land turtle, beaver, 3-foot alligator and raccoon. We do not harm the natural state of the animals on our farm.

Thats it for now, have a happy month,

EHO

Earth Harmony Organics

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:58:55 +0000

This past couple of weeks we have been going through our annual CCOF
and USDA organic inspection which we passed again with flying colors.
We are still preparing the land for planting and have planted some
organic castor beans for castor oil production. We also planted male
fern root which we use as an anti-parasitic herb. We are also in the
process of researching a complete off the grid solar and wind power
system which we hope to have delivered and installed in the next month
or two. We have also been identifying and marking seasonal herbs and
trees growing naturally on the farm such as horesetail, mullein,
hawthorne berry, toothache tree, southernwood and sassafrass. We
harvested about 20 pounds of organic dewberries which were delicious.
We are also getting the supplies for setting up a few pyramid
greenhouses using quartz filled copper tubing and earthbags to
increase the energy and production yield when we start growing in
them. We just received more equipment for our herb drying and
processing room including a stainless steel herb grinder, far infrared
drying lamps and dehumidifiers.. Everything is going as planned and we
hope to soon offer some local tours of our facility.

JD Organic Farms

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:10:58 +0000

WOW! Talk about a busy past couple of weeks! We have been hard at work out at the farm preparing for those berries!! They are starting to come in and boy are they delicious! I was out picking the other day and I caught myself eating most of what I was picking – just too good to pass up! The berries are slowly coming in and we are about to hit the big boom probably within the next 2 weeks. The rain was VERY MUCH needed and the sun following the rain is just going to plump those berries right up!

On another note, Jackie is doing pretty well. The doctors have finally released him from the hospital and he is back home. However, he will not be able to come out to the farm probably at all this season. If you know Jackie, then you know that he lives for that farm!! He is still barking out orders to me (Courtney, his oldest daughter) and I am trying my hardest to make things work. It’s a HUGE transition for me from the life of a workin’ gal to a full time farmer! I love a challenge though and am dedicated to making this a successful year! So please be patient with me since I am still learning A LOT of new things!!

We are going to be attending Urban Harvest and Highland Village Markets this Saturday. Please keep an eye on our website www.jdorganicfarms.com and our facebook and twitter pages for daily updates!

Richard Smith

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:18:42 +0000

Good Morning to all!

It is going to be a good year for our vegetables. The recent rains have come at a crucial time for production. It never ceases to amaze me how fast things can grow. Last Friday I walked through the Zucchini plants and picked a few, many were just fingerlings, I didn’t get back until Sunday and many were 10 to 12 inches long in just two days.

Whats with the Green Beans this year? they are over 7 feet tall and still growing, Lots of blossoms coming.

Well that’s a little info from the Partybarn Farm. Have a great week.

Richard Smith

JD Organic Farms: Bassman Blues

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:55:18 +0000

Happy May to all! We are so excited to have the opportunity to be on this site and be able to share what’s going on at the farm. As of May 1^st we are slowly beginning to see some BLUEberries! It truly is only a couple, but still very exciting to see! We are aiming to have berries by the middle of May but it’s up to Mother Nature and we will be patient in the mean time.

On another note, Jackie is currently in the hospital undergoing brain and spinal surgery. We are very confident in the team of doctors caring for him and know if anyone can handle it, it’s Jackie! We continue to ask for prayers of strength and a speedy recovery.

We have full intentions of keeping this blog updates on at least a weekly basis! Thank you for taking the time to checking us out and hopefully you can come out to the farm and meet us soon!

Joan Gundermann and Family

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:09:00 +0000

For this coming week, we are growing growing growing! We are still picking some greens, but we won’t have them much longer due to the heat. We are still picking cabbages, lettuces, swiss chard, cucumbers, kale, and onions. Stay tuned for some great surprises in the next two weeks!

Our Farmer’s Blog Page!

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:19:41 +0000

Rawfully Organic loves our local farmers! For that reason, we have given them their very own blog pages so that they can let us all know what they are doing from week to week or from time to time. We always want to keep up with what our farmers are planting, growing, and picking! This web page allows all of our co-operators to follow the farmers as they “lettuce” know about what is going down on the farms. Please feel free to subscribe to this page so that you can get a glimpse as to what may be coming in your box!

Earth Harmony Organics

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:13:01 +0000

Earth Harmony Organics Farm is the outgrowth of Global Healing Center’s commitment to ecological, organic, and sustainable cultivation and living practices. In short, it is our attempt to practice what we have taught and exemplify how to work with the land in a harmonious fashion. Our recently-purchased property in southeast Texas is in the process of transformation from rich, fallow earth into an organic medicinal herb farm and educational center. We will be intimately involved in the growth of our premium grade, organic, all-natural herbs, able to delicately nurture them from planting all the way through harvesting.

Our master herbalist, Dr. Edward Group, incorporates ancient cultivation principles honoring the sun and moon cycles. He hand picks the seeds to infuse them with maximum energetic and therapeutic value, an essential part of producing an extremely powerful herbal product that will maintain consistent potency throughout its lifetime. Earth Harmony Organics is destined to produce the finest quality biodynamic, organic medicinal herbs combining earth based agriculture with contemporary and advanced growing techniques. Of course, our adherence to organic principals means we will strive to use GREEN technologies that reduce our carbon footprint and strain on the local and global environment. We purpose to create a model for future farms and green projects not only by demonstrating sound practices but by instilling love and health in every seed planted and every herb picked.
Our Plans for the Next 5 Years

* Organic certification through CCOF
* No GMO or Hybrid seeds
* No animals will be intentionally harmed or killed on our property
* Use of paramagnetic principles to enhance the soil
* Irrigation using restructured water from two of our on-site wells (visitwww.ultimatebalancedwater.com for details)
* Permaculture-based techniques
* True recycling, using mulch and compost from organic debris which falls on the land
* No toxic chemicals allowed
* Electric vehicles or conversion of existing vehicles to new non-petroleum-based technologies
* Eco-friendly structures that contain no harmful by-products
* Use of solar, wind and hydropower to slowly eliminate conventionally-purchased electricity
* Ethanol fuel production from plants grown on the land
* Eco-friendly well casings to preserve integrity of irrigation and drinking water
* Earth Bag Building techniques using the sand and clay from our own land
* Installation of compost toilets and a gray-water system (read Greywater Oasis for details)
* Rain collection systems for our green house and other uses
* Special wind chimes to generate beneficial harmonic frequencies for plants, animals, birds and soil
* Neutralize negative geopathic stress from the ground using advanced techniques
* Advanced air drying methods for collected herbs
* Clay paints for structures free from VOCs and other harmful chemicals
* NSF-certified HDPE containers and cisterns for safe water storage to prevent leaching of BPA (Bisphenol A) and other harmful toxins
* Special crystals and stones for energetic enhancement

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/ehogallery

Richard Smith

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:12:32 +0000

My name is Richard Smith. Me and my wife of 50 years, Laura Jo, live on 20 acres shared with my son. We have been operating a small truck farm for several years here in Hockley, growing a wide verity of fruits and vegetables. Our friends and neighbors claim we grow the best sweet corn and tomatoes around. Our Irish potatoes and squash come close behind in quality.

The former owners of our property operated a large dairy farm and as a result the soil is very conducive to producing excellent vegetable crops. Our orchard consists of peaches, plums, apples, lemons, oranges, nectarines and we are giving apricots a try.

We, however, do not have our organic certification although we grow everything organically. With the funds donated, we will be able to get our organic certification, and we will be able to grow more abundance for the Houston community and the Rawfully Organic Co-op. We are very willing to try to grow anything that is produced here in Harris County, and your suggestions are welcome.

Sincerely.

Richard and Laura Jo Smith