Varieties of Mint

It is estimated that there are over 600 varieties of mint in the world today. Listed below are some varieties and their particular attributes:

Apple Mint – Tall sturdy stems with large, fuzzy, grey-green leaves that smell slightly of apple, bears white flowers in summer. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Chocolate Mint – This herb has dark, rich foliage. It tolerates hot, dry conditions and is not as invasive as most mints. A nice desert mint! Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Curly Mint – A taller mint that sports bright green leaves that are attractively curled. The taste and smell are similar to spearmint. Curly Mint tends to be an aggressive grower. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Ginger Mint – Is an ornamental and aromatic mint, with lightly variegated leaves and a delicate hint of ginger. Performs best with protection from hot, afternoon sun. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Mint Julep – Is named after the famous beverage with Kentucky bourbon. Because of its excellent flavor, Mint Julep is one of the best mints for tea and sweet recipes. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Kentucky Colonel Mint – Kentucky Colonel Mint is the wrinkled leaf form of the variety of mints called Mentha spicata, or “spearmint”. This fragrant herb was transported by the conquistadors and is sometimes called the “conquistador’s footprint”. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Mojito Mint – Mojito Mint is a beautiful full leaved mint orginating in Cuba. Easy to grow, its spearmint scent is mild and warm – not overbearing as other mints can be. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Mountain Mint – Mountain Mint, is an easy, vigorous grower that spreads by rhizomes, established plants are very tolerant of drought like conditions. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Orange Mint – Smells of citrus and is spicier than most mints. Requires little care. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Peppermint – The most famous of all mints, it requires little care and makes excellent teas and candy. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Pineapple Mint – This one has variegated foliage and a light pineapple scent. Use with lamb, fruit salads, and teas. Works well in mixed pots with other herbs. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Spearmint – One of the most intensely fresh mints, milder than peppermint, it is used in sauces, jellies, and teas. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Variegated Peppermint – Beautiful, creamy variegation, tightly compact, highly fragrant and flavorful – what more could you want in this lovely peppermint variety. It’s hardy and easy to grow, and not too fussy about soil either. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Catnip – Cats love this euphoria-inducing herb. Makes a great filling for cat toys. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

Pennyroyal – This member of the mint family is a low, creeping, dense variety, which makes a durable groundcover. It is the most powerful insect repellent of the mint family. Place in your pet’s bedding to repel fleas and ticks. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint – Striking blue flowers are abundantly massed atop fragrant grey-green foliage. Makes a beautiful, dense mound. A magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds. Learn more about this variety including sowing information.

How to Grow Cabbage from Seed

When growing cabbages from seed you will need to sow your seed quite early on in the year – around about the beginning of February – in order to achieve a good sized cabbage in the autumn. For an earlier crop, you can start them off under protection in order to achieve a quick germination.

Fill the tray to overflowing with John Innes ‘Seed and Cutting’ compost then lift the tray up and tap it down on the bench twice to consolidate the compost.

Use a level, flat piece of wood to level off the compost by sliding it along the edges of the seed tray and finally use a flat board to lightly flatten and level the compost Do not compact the compost as this will drive all of the air out of it which in turn can reduce root growth

One seed tray will take about 25 seeds, but space the cabbage seed out individually so that each germinated seedling will have the optimum amount of space to develop. Lightly cover the seed over with the same compost, but this time pass the compost through a fine garden sieve. Sit your prepared tray into a second – slightly larger - tray holding no more than an inch or so of water.

Allow the water to be naturally absorbed into the compost until all of it is moist – you may need to add more water to the bottom tray in order to achieve this. You will know when the compost it saturated with water as the surface of the compost will change from a light brown to a dark brown colour.

After covering the seed with the fine compost give the surface a spray of water through a hand sprayer. This will ensure that the seed are not disturbed and keeps them at the same depth that you sowed them.

At this point you can cover the seed tray with glass until the first seedlings emerge or give the surface a light spray of water on a daily basis or if it looks like the surface compost is likely to dry out.

Place the seed tray in a propagator to germinate or leave on the bench if your greenhouse is heated to a minimum of 50°F.

After the cabbage seedlings have germinated and showing two strong seedling leaves, transplant the seedlings into individual small pots or modules.

Cabbages, they must be looked after in order to achieve their optimum size and quality. Right up until they are planted outside, they will need to be re-potted on to a larger sized pot on a regular basis – at least until the weather has settled sufficiently to plant them out with out the risk of damage from late frosts.

You also need to make sure that you spend adequate time in hardening off cabbage plants. Put them outside too early and you will not only risk physical damage to them but you can also cause a check to their growth.

Start off by placing them in a ventilated cold frame during the day but remember to bring them back in over night.

After a week or so - and when overnight temperature stabilize – you can eventually start to leave them out overnight in the cold frame. After another week they should be able to leave the cold frame altogether and be placed out into a sheltered area.

When it comes to planting your cabbages out into their final position, it is all about preparation Plant them in a well manured plot that ideally is free from club root disease. If you do have clubroot you can still achieve some really commendable heads by saturating the planting hole with a dilution of Armillatox made to the makers recommended strength. Before planting, liberally dust the hole with lime.

To get good heads on your cabbages you must give them ample room for development. Ideally they need to be at least a 18 inches apart to 2ft apart and likewise between the rows.

When they are planted out initially this sort of spacing will look a bit ridiculous and your young plants will appear lost on the soil.

Why Use a Chicken Tractor on the Small Farm ?

A chicken tractor, also called a movable chicken coop, is just that: a chicken coop that is portable, easily moved from one spot to the next. It can be used to house a flock of laying hens or meat birds and works well for either type of chicken.

Besides being movable, the other key element of a chicken tractor design is that it is floorless. That is, the chickens have direct access to fresh grass and ground. The tractor is enclosed so that it provides protection from predators, typically being a wooden, PVC or metal frame that is covered in woven wire. The chickens can scratch the ground, graze, eat bugs and grass, and so forth. Food and water is provided inside the tractor. Often one side will provide shade and protection from rain. If the hens are layers, nest boxes can be included inside the tractor.

A chicken tractor wouldn’t be good winter quarters for laying hens, unless you live in a very temperate climate. But for spring, summer and fall, it can provide you with the ability to free-range your hens without having them tear up your garden, get chased by the dog, or get eaten by a hawk or weasel.

The benefit of a chicken tractor being movable is this: without actually letting your chickens have free run of the land, you can move them to fresh ground as soon as they’ve exhausted the grass and bugs underneath the tractor. And, their fertilizing, nitrogen-rich poop gets left behind to enrich the soil where the tractor was. To top it off, you don’t have to clean up their poop or change out bedding or deal with things getting stinky. Just move the tractor and everything’s fresh and new again.

One of the biggest questions to answer when considering your own chicken tractor design is this: how will you move the chicken tractor? If you build it small and light, you will have to move it daily, and may need many of them depending on your flock size, but you will be able to move it yourself. If you build it bigger (whether that means you want to move it less often, or you want to have fewer tractors overall for a larger flock), will you use a tractor or ATV to move it? How will it hitch up? Will it withstand being pulled by machinery repeatedly or will it come apart?

ost chicken tractors have wheels on one end, so that the front end can be picked up while the back drags. They’re also often built on skids so that they’re easier to move. One thing to consider is whether chickens can escape during the move or if they will get caught under the back edge and hurt. Keeping chickens safe during a chicken tractor move is key.

Chicken tractors are a great way to go if you’re interested in pasturing and all the benefits it provides.

Chickens eat grass, bugs, and weeds instead of just layer mash
Chickens can till garden beds
Chickens leave fertilizing poop where the tractor was
Chicken tractors are easier to maintain than a chicken coop
Protects chickens from predators while they free-range
Protects garden plants and flowers from chicken destruction
Chicken tractors are often more affordable to build than a chicken coop

Groundhog Day 2015: Six more weeks of winter

Groundhog Day - which means the only day of the year dedicated to two things that typically incite mostly loathing, rodents and cold weather, is finally here.

Punxsutawney Phil came out on Groundhog Day 2015 and saw his shadow, promising six more weeks of winter. The famous prognosticating rodent's "forecast" was announced just before 7:30 a.m. at Gobbler's Knob in Punsxutawney, Pennsylvania.

According to an old German legend, if a groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If not, spring comes early. (Of course, the calendar always puts the start of spring at March 20, the vernal equinox.)

How to Maintain Your Farm Property

Plant a Cover Crop

One simple way to keep unused pastures or garden plots healthy is by planting a cover crop. Also known as “green manure,” cover crops build fertile soil, suppress weeds, and help control pests and plant diseases.

For fall cover crops, make sure to plant them about four weeks before the first frost. Winter rye is the exception: it can be planted right up to a frost. You must make sure to mow cover crops before they set seed, let the remaining stems and leaves dry for a day or two, then turn them under by hand or with a tiller. Wait two to three weeks before planting vegetables.

How to Maintain Fencing

Intact, working fencing is critical to keeping your animals safe and your neighbors happy. Walk the fence line often, checking for damage and repairing it promptly. Replace rotten posts and reset any loose ones. Make sure gates are latching properly.

If you have an electric fence, take a voltmeter with you on your walks and test the fence for voltage drop at various points. Check the insulators and replace any that are worn, broken or missing. Adjust tension as needed. Check the ground rods to make sure they’re still making good contact.

How to Maintain Farm Buildings

Just like fencing, your barns, coops, and animals shelters will periodically need attention and repair. However, buildings are typically lower maintenance than fencing. When you make your rounds to inspect fencing, take a look at your animals’ quarters as well.

Making repairs as you go is the easiest way to keep up to date on building maintenance. However, all too often we find ourselves too busy to grab a hammer and some nails and fix something right that minute. So, carry a small notebook with you on your maintenance rounds. Make note of needed building repairs, then schedule some time to do them all at once. Of course, if something is a safety or predator issue (such as a hole in the wall where a weasel can sneak through and get your hens), it might need immediate attention.

Revisit Your Farm Plan

In all the hustle and bustle of daily farm life, don’t forget your original farm plan. Revisiting your goals and even your resources (perhaps your soil is improved, or you now have more usable pasture) regularly will help ensure you’re staying on track. And if your long-term goals and dreams have changed, taking stock of where you are and where you want to go can help you smoothly transition to your new track.

EastWorldFarms wishes you a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas !