The Hungry Gap

In the Anglo-Saxon calendar Lammas Day (hlaf-maesse, or loaf-mass) was the day when the first bread using the current year’s grains could be made.  Lammas Day fell on August 1^st and the weeks preceding this day was known as the “hungry gap” – the time between the last of the stored food from the prior year and the new harvest.  Such a life is clearly unknown to us in the modern West – anxiously watching the weather and hoping the new harvest can be successfully brought in while the available food is dwindling or already exhausted.  No fast food places or supermarkets…  Just hunger.

Since Hereward Farm is located in the hot and humid southeast United States, a far cry from the cool temperate maritime climate of the British Isles, the growing season here starts sooner.   It is not yet June and already over the last few weeks the garden has been producing veggies of all types.  While it is still early days, a trip to the garden to dig up some vegetables is now more common than a trip to the grocery store. Also on the farm there are many wild fruits with the orchard just about to come online, the chickens are laying more than the Secret Service in Central America and the freezers are full of pork from the first two pigs harvested.  There was not the Lammas Day-like formality, in fact, I can’t remember the first day this happened, but during the last few weeks it is not uncommon to have entire meals that have come from the farm – including dessert! 

Photo 1.  Two carrots engaged in a tender embrace - Or is it one carrot giving us the finger?

While this is a far cry from being totally self-sufficient, it is an encouraging milestone and a welcome sign that the many hundreds of hours of hard work invested are beginning to pay off.  It is also a sign that literally anyone in this country is able to grow some of their own food with a little planning, determination and hard work.  Our modern global system has eradicated the hungry gap for much of the West, yet in the process we have now become dependent upon global supply chains, cheap fossil fuels and unsustainable farming practices to feed ourselves.  For the most part we have lost the knowledge and skills to grow our own food.  Today only a fraction of our population has the knowledge and experience of growing food by sustainable methods.  If our system goes down, even partially, expect the mother of all hungry gaps. 

The Garden

Despite all the best intentions, the early focus on the chickens, pigs, rabbits, and most recently ducks, meant the garden took a back seat.  Based on my reading, other people transitioning to a similar lifestyle have fallen into the same trap (so much for learning!).  That being said, the garden did get a good start last winter with the chickens and pigs helping out with some tilling and some garlic, onions, leeks and shallots were planted.  Since last winter a four foot tall 4x2 wire fence was put around the garden along with some barbed wire at the top and an electric wire approx. 6 inches off the ground.  When deer become a problem the electric fence can be extended up to 8 foot high. 

As winter transitioned to summer (there wasn’t really a spring) the brown turned to green and everything started growing (well, the grass and the weeds mainly). So, the last month was a hive of activity in the garden in an attempt to play catch up.  So far, no major disasters and currently growing are sweet corn, field corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes turnips, pumpkins, squash, peas, beans, lettuce, sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, stacks of tomatoes, peppers and a small patch of strawberries.  Some inherited asparagus already growing was rescued and the crowns transplanted.  Sunflowers are growing nicely too.  There is also a small herb garden near the kitchen full of the typical kitchen herbs.

The herb garden

Feeling reasonably satisfied with the progress (even if a little late getting started); so far the learning has been as follows:

As stated on an earlier post – you can never have enough compost

The areas that were tilled and built into raised beds are now full of grass and weeds requiring intense weeding.  The areas where the pigs were kept and then made into raised beds have no weeds – the pigs ate everything.  The pigs will play a greater role in the garden.

The following picture shows the extent of the weeds and grass growing in and around the cultivated areas where the preparation involved only tilling a few times. 

The garden helpers.  This is a mobile pen comprised of four 16 foot cattle panels held in place by T-posts and karabiners.  This is located inside the garden.  The small pigs are kept here and the pen is moved around.  The pigs have been in their current location for less than two weeks and already nothing much is growing.  BTW, these pigs are for hire in case anyone has an inconvenient corpse to dispose of (please remove teeth first).

Rabbit manure is a wonderful addition to the soil but the rabbits are kept a decent distance from the garden.  This requires wheel-barrowing rabbit manure across the property – a less than pleasurable experience, especially if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction.

Similarly, the garden equipment was originally stored a long walk from the garden in the workshop. Out of laziness (justified as efficiency) tools and equipment are left out overnight either unprotected or covered by the ever-versatile blue tarp.  A shed needs to be built adjacent to the garden.  This would double as a feed store for the chickens (freeing up the front porch) and possibly a home for the rabbits.  This will be the next major project.

The mulching of the winter garlic helped.  Very little weeds compared to some of the onions that were not mulched.

Copious amounts of water are needed for the garden.  Fortunately there is a faucet in the field adjacent to the garden.  Without commercially available water it could be pumped from the creek and/or pond but this would be a much more complicated and time-consuming task.

With the ultra-mild winter ticks are already a major problem.  Thirty guinea fowl are arriving the week after next.  Guinea fowl eat ticks but are supposed to leave your plants alone.  More on that in a future post.

A lot of planning went into the garden – what was growing there before, rotation, slope, sunlight, companion planting, etc.  However, little thought went into the walkways.   As a consequence there are some areas quite narrow and difficult to access with the right equipment.  Broken down cardboard boxes work well as a pathway and keep the grass/weeds from coming through.

More updates on the garden later.