29 May Fri 2015
Harvesting Fresh Comfrey
The Comfrey is in bloom & the time is NOW for the harvesting of our Chemical & Pesticide free COMFREY LEAVES. We love our Comfrey. Its a companion plant to many of our tropical fruit trees. Aiding our fruit bearers with an abundance of nutrients & natural aeration. The Comfrey gives us an extra bonus with its wonderful medicinal leaves & roots. It's truly a g-d send on the farm. We will happily hand gather the leaves & hang them to air dry. When the time is right & the harvest is completely dry, we'll hand cut & prepare them all for use. We'll divvy up the bounty between our own herbal preparations like therapeutic comfrey healing salve, our beloved burn salve & solar infused comfrey oils, which by the way, goes into most every bar of soap we create. If you haven't tried these goodies. You need to, they're amazing. Healthy Healing Bubbly Cleansing. Oh yes, We do of course, set some aside for our family & friends. But it all goes real fast.. So get your natural remedy recipes ready & order early to ensure quantities needed. Back2thebeginning Farm: Growing, Gathering & Crafting since 1997
12 May Tue 2015
They've arrived!
Chicks 003.JPG
16 Feb Mon 2015
We've joined the Facebook Family
We've joined the Facebook Family.
Go ahead... See what were up to. Check out Farm Photo's & Events
Back2thebeginning creates an amazing line of FARMaceuticals!
Healthy, healing, all natural, body care preparations.
Kettle crafted in small batches right here on the farm.
Like us, Follow us on Facebook
26 Jan Mon 2015
When life gives you Papayas...
What's a farmer to do?
When life gives you Papayas... you create the most delicious jam ever!
At back2thebeginning we've been blessed. Our papaya crop is off the charts & our happy, creative artisans are having a field day so to speak, with all kinds of delicious products designed to tickle your taste buds.
Papaya Jam:
Currently in two unique & delicious flavors:
Papaya Lime & Papaya Tangerine
Try some today, Only available while supplies last.
04 Oct Sat 2014
Get ready for Guacomole!
Our orchard is just about ready to welcome avocado season. Those large ole branches are hanging low, heavy with this years bounty.
The crop is considerably smaller this year, so make sure your on our preferred customer waiting list. You'll get notified via email.
As always we wish you all a fruitful day!
21 Oct Mon 2013
Avocado season in full swing
Harvest Sale
While the harvest is good ~ Enjoy a box of our Farm fresh Pesticide free Avocados.
5 & 10 LB boxes available.
14 Aug Wed 2013
Slow & easy in the Sub-tropics
The heat of the summer slows down our production & our personal tempo here in the sub-tropics. Avocados are just about ready for picking & will be available for sale in just a couple weeks.
Most fresh herbs & other naturally grown goodies are at a minimum temporarily. We have to allow our soil time to rest & replenish.
Having said that, we do have a nice reserve of chemical & pesticide free seeds for our fellow organic gardeners & naturally dried & cut Comfrey. So check us out now & again.We'd love to share our bounty with you.
We’ll be back into full swing with culinary & medicinal herbs as well as a variety of homegrown & farm crafted goods in no time at all.
* Handcrafted, completely made from scratch, good for your skin healthy soaps & herbal shampoo bars available too. For current list & prices, email us @ greenlivingmiami@gmail.com We're sure, once you've tried our farm fresh creations, you'll be back for more, back2thebeginning.
06 Jul Sat 2013
Oh so good for your Soil...
Back2thebeginning is multitasking our way to a greener, healthier environment. We're a no chemical, no pesticide living venture. We work hand in hand with mother nature. She, so generously provides gifts, we most appreciatively use them & then give back to her.
Here's a green gift she's provided & we'd like to share our bounty & knowledge with you. Comfrey, a multipurpose herbaceous plant, used as a fertilizer and as an herbal medicine.
We take full advantage of the Comfrey we grow, cultivate & harvest right here, at the back2thebeginning homestead by fertilizing all our land. We do so by making a wonderfully nutritious tea for all the greenery, Then we use the spent herb to compost back into the soil.
Comfrey attracts beneficial insects. Yet another way it brings goodness naturally to our land.
A true beneficial permaculture plant feeding the soil naturally.
Why not add some goodness to your surroundings.
Dried or fresh Comfrey leaves have the following percentages of NPK:
|
Nitrogen: 0.75% |
Phosphorous: 0.25% | Potash: 0.2% |
27 Jun Thu 2013
Farm update
Our dedicated homesteaders here at back2thebeginning have been actively working on constructing the new shade house.
We've converted salvageable' s from what was left of an old stable from years ago. Rather than completely demolishing the remains, we re-purposed them, using old fencing & other materials around our butterfly gardens.
Our efforts seem to be paying off, most apparently by the abundance of happy swooping visitors & new life in the gardens. Our Milkweed plants seem to be hosting an array critters in various stages of life & the fresh viable seeds encourage continued harmony for years to come.
We used the remains of the standing structure as support for our always popular prolific crop of loofah cleansing pads, so prized by our friends, family & customers alike. Looks like this years crop is gonna inspire "happy hour" in the bath & showers. Scrub a dub dub.
The concrete pad left in tact, now provides a sturdy platform for our soon to be rows of medicinal, & culinary herbs seedlings, The re-potting of fruit saplings has already begun, & thoughtful preparations for our permaculture plantings & irrigation are underway.
We 'll keep you posted.
Ya'll come back now, Back2thebeginning
19 Jun Wed 2013
Bravo Conneticut... GMO Labeling
Labels sought for genetically modified food
(Photo: Dan D'Ambrosio, Gannett)
Story Highlights
- More states taking on the issue
- Vermont, Connecticut, Washington have advanced legislation
- Agriculture increasingly turning to genetically altered crops
From Maine to Washington, a growing number of states are taking on the issue of genetically engineered foods, fanning the flames of a decades-old debate about whether the products are dangerous to human health.
This month, Connecticut became the first state to pass a law requiring the labeling of food made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In May, the Vermont House passed a similar bill, which will now be taken up by the Senate. Right to Know GMO , a self-described grass-roots coalition with members in 37 states, counts 26 states that have introduced labeling bills.
In Washington state, a referendum on GMO labeling is scheduled for November. by Deal Boat" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/12/labels-being-sought-for-genetically-modified-food/2417459/#" rel="nofollow">Last November, a referendum in California failed 53-47 after the biotech industry spent nearly $45 million on opposition ads.
At the federal level, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced a bill in April – separate from the farm bill – that would direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to "clearly label" genetically engineered foods. Boxer notes she has 11 co-sponsors of the bill, which she first introduced in 2000. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., introduced the House version.
Boxer also attached two amendments to the farm bill, one saying that the United States should join the 64 other nations, including those in the European Union, that have labeling requirements for genetically engineered foods. The other amendment requires a report in six months from several federal agency heads reviewing the labeling methods used internationally, and the "probable impacts" of having differing labeling requirements passed by states rather than a federal standard.
"As more and more states take action, I believe lawmakers in Washington will realize that Congress and the FDA must ensure that all Americans know what's in the food they're eating," Boxer said in an e-mail.
"The companies have such by Deal Boat" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/12/labels-being-sought-for-genetically-modified-food/2417459/#" rel="nofollow">complete control over who can do independent research into the nature of these things and their impact that we really don't know very much," said Andrea Stander, executive director of Rural Vermont, a non-profit farm advocacy group. "We don't know nearly as much as we should."
The FDA ruled in 1992 that genetically engineered foods are not "materially different" from their traditional counterparts and therefore do not have to be labeled, a ruling opponents of GMOs won't accept.
Monsanto, based in St. Louis, Mo., is a leading supplier of seeds for genetically engineered crops to farmers in the United States and around the world, and a frequent target of protests against GMOs. The company has clearly stated why it is opposed to labeling, saying mandatory labeling "could imply that food products containing these ingredients are somehow inferior to their conventional or organic counterparts."
About 90% of the corn, cotton, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically engineered, according to BIO, the trade group representing Monsanto, Bayer, by Deal Boat" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/12/labels-being-sought-for-genetically-modified-food/2417459/#" rel="nofollow">Dow, DuPont and other giant firms that dominate the industry.
The modifications to the DNA of seeds, which started in the mid-1990s, fall into two categories: seeds that have built-in genetic resistance to insects, forgoing the need for insecticides, and seeds that tolerate herbicides, making it possible to spray crops, such as soy beans, that are prone to weeds.
Genetic engineering is the fastest growing technology in the history of agriculture, with upward of 17 million farmers around the world using genetically altered seeds, BIO spokeswoman Karen Batra said.
The problem with requiring labels on genetically engineered foods, Batra said, is that they would imply those foods are unsafe.
"In the United States, food packaging labels are reserved to convey food safety information about allergens that might be in a food or to convey nutritional composition," she said. "If the federal government were to mandate by law that a particular food product needed to be labeled that would infer it would be for a safety reason."
D'Ambrosio also reports for The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press
12 Jun Wed 2013
Full Moon Calender
Ute York, in her book "Living by the Moon" says
Plants sown in the correct combination of the best lunar phase and sign show increased vigor, due to having all the best influences. They are growing at an optimum rate and are not as prone to setbacks that would affect less healthy plants. Harvests are often quicker, larger and crops don't go to seed as fast.“The old-time gardeners say, "With the waxing of the moon, the earth exhales. " When the sap in the plants rise, the force first goes into the growth above ground. Thus, you should do all activities with plants that bear fruit above ground during a waxing moon. With the waning of the moon, the earth inhales. Then, the sap primarily goes down toward the roots. Thus, the waning moon is a good time for pruning, multiplying, fertilizing, watering, harvesting, and controlling parasites and weeds” (5)
Shine On Harvest Moon
By Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth (1903)
Shine on, shine on harvest moon
Up in the sky,
I ain’t had no lovin’
Since January, February, June or July
Snow time ain’t no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon,
So shine on, shine on harvest moon,
For me and my gal
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Full Moon Calendar 2013 |
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|---|---|---|
| January 26th | Full Wolf Moon | 11:38 pm |
| February 25th | Full Snow Moon | 3:26 pm |
| March 27th | Full Worm Moon | 5:27 am |
| April 25th | Full Pink Moon | 3:57 pm |
| May 25th | Full Flower Moon | 12:25 am |
| June 23rd | Full Strawberry Moon | 7:32 am |
| July 22nd | Full Thunder Moon | 2:16 pm |
| August 20th | Full Sturgeon Moon | 9:45 pm |
| September 19th | Full Harvest Moon | 7:13 am |
| October 18th | Full Hunter's Moon | 7:38 pm |
| November 17th | Full Beaver Moon | 10:16 am |
| December 17th | Full Cold Moon |
4:28 |