Olsen Farm

Tag: herbs

Our Mom, Susan, had a real gift for gardening. She loved birds, butterflies and beneficial insects and planted acres of beautiful gardens around the property at Olsen Farm.

We are very lucky to still have detailed plans and photos of her gardens through the years, so we can look back and see the incredible growth and spread her green thumb has had over the past three decades.

IMG_5443Dad, (Tommy) getting new beds dug and laid out in 1993. Those tiny spruce trees in the center are taller than the house now!

IMG_5445The first flowers were thoughtfully planted with stone paths between. We are still working to reclaim these stone paths from the hearty perennials that have happily spread over the years. 

IMG_5444Olsen Farm farmer, Chris, showing off Mom’s new garden bed layout (and his Little League pride!) in 1993

IMG_5441The farm house in the back was built in the 1790’s and is where our great grandparents lived back in the 1930’s when they immigrated from Norway and founded Olsen Farm

IMG_5440Stunning close-up of rudbeckia and cone flowers- some of Susan’s (and our) favorites! 

IMG_5448Full bloom, Summer at Olsen Farm 1996

Olsen Farm holds so much history for our family. Susan’s amazing gardens are a very important piece of what makes this land such a special place. We have been working to uncover some of the overgrown gardens and bring them back to their glory.

The impact of a well thought out pollinator garden is so much greater than can be expressed through words and photos. Susan really had a gift for color, planting bright flowers to bloom in each season. We know our honey bees (and native pollinators) are thoroughly enjoying all the delicious flowers Susan planted!

 

 

We recently registered Susan’s Gardens on the National Pollinator Garden Network, a part of the Million Pollinator Garden challenge. Please check out their project and register your gardens: http://millionpollinatorgardens.org

We are always looking for ways to save money, and to live more sustainably. One small step we took this year is to start our seeds using homemade paper pots, rather than buying plastic or peat pots. We purchased a wooden PotMaker from Lehman’s- and used the tag paper our Lehman’s order was shipped in for our first pots! Take a look at our first DIY seed starting experiment:

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The PotMaker is a clever two piece wooden mold that allows you to repurpose newspaper or newsprint and turn it into biodegradable starting pots that can be popped right in the ground. 

Here is how it works:

1. Cut your paper into strips 3.5 inches wide by about 16 inches long. Line one edge of the long side your strip up with the lip of the cylindrical part of your PotMaker, as shown below. FullSizeRender

2. Gently wrap your paper strip around the cylindrical part of the PotMaker until your strip is completely wrapped. Overlapping layers will make your paper pot stronger. At first I wrapped my paper too tightly and the finished pot would not slide off the PotMaker- luckily, you can learn from my mistake! FullSizeRender_1

3. The bottom of your pot should have about an inch of paper overlapping- and should look like this:FullSizeRender

4. Start folding in the bottom paper overlap. I found my pots stayed together best when I made the first fold-in to the left of the seam where the paper roll finishes wrapping around the cylinder, so that the second fold-in would hold in the seam itself. FullSizeRender_1

5. Continue folding in the overlapping paper all the way around the base of your PotMaker.FullSizeRender_2

6. Now comes the fun part! Take your paper wrapped and folded cylindrical handle and press, twist and turn it into the fitted wooden base. Use your muscles! I found pots hold a better and stronger shape when you place the base on a hard surface and press the paper-wrapped top down into it. Unlike what I have shown in the photos below…FullSizeRender_5FullSizeRender_3

7. Gently slide your newly formed paper pot off the cylinder and repeat as many times as pots you desire! FullSizeRenderFullSizeRender_1

 

Congratulations! Your new, biodegradable, FREE paper pots are done- now it is time to plant!

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1. Take your favorite potting soil and fill each paper pot. Gently press soil down to about 1/4 inch from the top of your pot. With the money we saved from not buying plastic or peat pots we were able to invest in better soil for our starters. Today we used 100% Organic VermiSoil and it smelled delightful!IMG_2971

2. Generously pop in you choice of seeds (I always plant 3-5 seeds per starting pot, it is easy to separate later on when they sprout)- today we started sweet and hot peppers, two types of onions and an array of herbs. IMG_2972

4. Cover seeds with 1/4 of soil and gently press down. Add some labels, so you can remember what you have planted! IMG_2835

Don’t forget to water in your freshly planted seeds and set them in a sunny spot to sprout.

The PotMaker has proven to be a great investment so far this year. They are available at Lehman’s if you are feeling inspired to try one out yourself. We will check back in with seed starting updates as our PotMaker paper pots start to sprout!

 

                           

Hello all, Chris and Kristen from Olsen Farm in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, here (along with some of our fine feathered friends).

At Olsen Farm we currently raise chickens and guinea fowl, as well as bees. We are working to reclaim old orchards and both graft and plant new apple, pear, peach and nut trees. We also grow fruits, herbs and veggies in our garden using sustainable and biodynamic gardening techniques and NO pesticides.

We are looking forward to sharing updates, farm tips and news from our farm with you in weeks and months to come!