"For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned it is the season of the harvest."

This timeless Talmud quote has dual wisdom: foremost, cherish and learn from those with experience. If you are fortunate enough to have a good relationship with a seasoned adult, ask them about the Great Depression and what a real economic crisis was like. Their descriptions will likely make our current situation seem laughable. Learning from the past can help us better shape the future.

Second, this ancient tenet holds wisdom about living sustainably, particularly about establishing a sustainable farm. The summer harvest truly begins in winter.

During our first year here in Bosque Farms, our approach toward winter has changed tremendously. Last winter, we stored ourselves in boxes for the season, like summer clothes stashed away for warmer weather. This year, we exercise different muscles -- mental and planning muscles--to get to work.

Our winter "down time" will be spent disassembling the garden tent and digging a communal fire pit around which to start warming fires, reflect, chat, roast sundry treats, and come back into the house with plans to build our sustainable farm.

A well-thought-out plan can guide any endeavor into reality. We've outlined our plan -- or list of winter activities -- on a dry-erase whiteboard in our office. The projects appropriately lack low-hanging fruit, so we have no delusions of ticking our accomplishments off quickly. Each activity on our winter list challenges our developing skills and demands consultation with experts as well as testing our tolerance for the cold. This winter is dedicated to scaling up (production) and out (away from our living quarters). Most activities are outside, but on very cold days we will devote indoor time to organizing our education and business plans -- while enjoying a little spiced cider from local apples.

Below are some highlights for our Winter 2008 Sustainable Farming Plan.

Greenhouse Construction

I must confess that I immediately saw the greatest potential on our property in a lean-to shed. Forget about the living quarters or our three-source water supply. I saw our success in a shed. My Italian farmer grandfather had a shed on his property that served as his retreat from an enormous, vivacious Italian family, and as a place to invent new efficiencies for his home and farm.  Carrying his example with me, I always wanted a shed to disappear into, too.

The 20'x30' frame south-facing shed is ideal for a greenhouse as the spring sun fills the area with warmth and light. With the frame intact, half the project is complete for us. We now need to select the appropriate materials to create translucent walls and install an entrance. We must also decide if the solid metal roof should be replaced with clear materials or if we only need to cut out a few sunlights.

The basic objective for this makeshift greenhouse is to house seeds to become seedlings for planting season. We plan to move our 1650-gallon water tank just outside the greenhouse to supply water for the seedling operation. We also plan to experiment with various smaller cold frames to grow cold-weather crops such as lettuces, tomatoes, and asparagus.

Raised Garden Beds

As it's time to scale up, we must first break down. Adjacent to the future greenhouse were three cement slabs that were foundations of old out buildings and a crude basketball court. Last winter I demolished the basketball court and removed the hoop to make more room for planting. This winter, I'll remove the two remaining slabs. We'll attempt to make use of the jagged cement blocks in an effort to recycle materials around the farm.

Raised gardening beds will replace this roughly 70'x30' area of cement and decorative rocks.  The new beds will be our growing locus for next season. This area will be approximately twice the size of our experimental tent and the next step in our learning process. The 4'x15' beds will be oriented north-south and filled with a mix of organic certified compost from our local supplier, Soilutions, and our own native soil. They will become experimental areas for sustainable techniques in pest management and growing a variety of herbs and produce.

The beds will be dug 3'-4' deep and lined with animal barriers and cardboard. The frame will consist of stacked and secured 2"x6" wood planks treated with natural resin such as Rainforest Sealer from Earthpaint. I used this product on our porch posts and feel comfortable with its low impact on the environment, both in non-toxicity and distance traveled.

Water Catchment Plan

We are moving to version 2.0 of our water catchment plan. The water plan seems to be naturally growing outward at the same rate as our growing locations. For the first step, we are expanding coverage from the back porch to the greenhouse area. As I mentioned, the 1650-gallon water tank will be moved to cover our new growing area. We will also install a gutter on the greenhouse to feed directly into this tank. Moving the tank, the black tent, and the raised beds will also improve our yard's aesthetic significantly, a nice, but not necessary, benefit.

We plan to purchase four 300-gallon water tanks that will be placed at the corners of the porches on our home and install gutters on those porch overhangs to feed the tanks. This water supply will feed the garden areas and our trees adjacent to the main house. If we are blessed with another abundant monsoon season next spring and summer, the excess water will be transferred to the 1650-gallon tank for use in our raised beds.

Getting Back to the Well

In case we are not graced with abundant rain, we will rely on our well water to feed the aforementioned garden, trees, and raised bed areas. We already have a Monarch SPHE-S200 Type A (with a Type B conversion kit) two-HP well pump that can be used until the solar powered pump becomes a reality. The Monarch pump is mainly used for sprinkler systems, but we will adapt it for a targeted drip irrigation system.

Our winter project is to reconnect the well pump and build insulating housing around the outdoor pump. Within a month of moving in last year, the well pump broke (hence the conversion to a stronger Type B) and we removed the impractical housing while trying to fix the pump. It was challenging to wrestle with this house built large enough to accommodate a horse, but with so much poorly installed reinforcement and stucco could only fit a Chihuahua. We will build a little more of a basic insulating cover this time.

Most likely, we will hire an expert to reconnect the pump and advise us on where and how to lay the drip lines. We simply haven't achieved a sufficient level of expertise to work with water and electricity simultaneously. 

Whither Organic?

We must review and assess a lot of material prior to making a decision about our organic plan. This includes the decision to pursue certification or not. As we have learned in our brief journey to building a sustainable farm, "organic" does not always equal "sustainable" or "fair." We will update you on our organic certification process and deliberations in a future installment.

Worming Our Way into Composting

This task is exactly as it sounds. We will build a box and throw some worms in to eat our trash. We have an ideal south-facing location on our property that is protected by a fence and horse stalls on the back side, complete with awning to shade the fragile process of vermiculture. We will construct the approximately 3'x20' bin the same as our raised garden beds, so the project will most likely follow along our progress with the beds.

Once we have built the bin, we will begin to throw our scraps into it and then add redworms supplied from -- guess who? -- Soilutions.

In Pursuit of Education

We are firm believers of solidifying hands-on experience and intuition with an educational foundation. This winter we plan to join our county Master Gardener program to learn more about local plants and environment. I am also looking into degree programs in environmental science and hydrology to increase my knowledge, our credibility, and our chances for success as a sustainable farm.

Farm Plan Bailout

While our primary focus in building our farm is to be able to feed ourselves, our goal is to feed our local community as well. This project is to visit with our local Small Business Administration (SBA) office for assistance in writing out our business plan, grant and loan applications, and organize progress reports. The SBA could also be a resource for funding if we decide to accelerate the process. Other loan sources could be the USDA and even Whole Foods Markets and other small local or regional grocery stores.

Building this business plan together is another project to mull over spiced cider by the firepit.

Mobile Chickens

For those readers wondering how animals would play a part in all of this, we plan to design and build a mobile chicken coop as early as next springtime. Why portable? The mobility will help spread their fertilizer and assist in clearing areas of unwanted vegetation and pests (e.g. grasshoppers).

We plan to use the same wood-and-sealant approach for the coop as planned for the raised beds and vermicompast bins. And this will be our first time to actually use chicken wire for its original purpose: to corral chickens. We are excited not only about the fresh, beta-carotene-rich eggs we'll receive from these chickens, but also about their pest control qualities and fertilizer opportunities.

Curb Appeal

I mowed the front property of dead weeds and dry ground the other day. The weed patch formerly known as the lawn has been in a tailspin since its glory days as a acre of pampered, manicured grass. It's reminiscent of the "before-and-after" pictures of methamphetamine users posted in liquor stores and police departments. While I feel terrible for letting the aesthetic deteriorate in my stubborn disdain for grass, I feel worse for the people that let themselves deteriorate in their stubborn disdain for life. I figure a little temporarily dead grass won't ruin anyone's life.

This winter project is more about masking the fallow ground as we prepare it for use in the next couple of seasons. The plan is to surround the perimeter with the same shade cloth we used on the garden tent. This will also protect the land from our spring winds while I begin to work the dirt and connect to the water system next season.

Back Property Irrigation Plan

To begin the water and tree line design from our irrigation plan, our winter project is to seal up our north and south acequia openings and begin digging a grid of trenches. This will be the last of our outdoor winter projects as it depends on our budget to purchase all matter of trees in the spring. We may also postpone this project until the start of monsoon season next year because of the disruption in using the river water while we dig the trenches. We recently seeded a legume called hairy vetch to grow through the late winter and early spring to supplement the fallow soil with nitrogen, so water supply will be critical during those dry months.

As always, Mother Nature may play a role in derailing our intentions. We recently overheard two resolute predictions of a cold and wet winter: one from a dairy goat farmer chatting with a cashier at the feed store, the other from the village barber as he snipped away at my hair. Oddly enough, we're more likely to trust these predictions than those of a meteorologist reporting out of headquarters on the East Coast. Truly, "For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned it is the season of the harvest."

Disasters aside, weather is a lot of fun. It offers all of the speculation and surprise of national elections. Only, it happens every day of every year.

Our ambitious list may prove to be another lesson in inexperience, but we look forward to the challenge.

As American citizens prepare to cast their votes for the country's 44th president, we also welcome readers to cast their bets on our odds of conquering all of these winter plans. You'll read whether we were over- or under-achievers in subsequent updates through the winter months. Until then, take pleasure in your local harvest.

Related articles:
The Experimental Garden Tent
Hipsters Turn to Harvesting
Flooding the Farm
Reining In the Rain
Free Water Doesn't Come Cheap
Farming: It Takes a Community