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Makeovers (garden and energy)

Garden makeovers
At long last after years of manure, compost and wood chips, our gardens, meadows, and forests here at Mahalo Farm are flourishing!  So it's now time to share the bounty of these "beyond organic" gardens. Depending on the season, we offer perennials, trees, shrubs and some medicinals for sale. Our specialty is easy to grow, low maintenance, drought resistance plants. Our plants are available bare root to local folks for pick up here at the farm and are also available, on a limited basis, for shipping certain times of the year.

Each month, I'll post a list of plants which are available. Be sure to call first - don't just stop by, as sometimes we aren't here, though that's pretty rarely.

  • July 2009 List of Plants available for sale (most plants are $1-$2 per clump; Louisiana iris are $4 per rhizome)

  • Iris:  Louisiana iris (see photos above and below,) Siberian iris, yellow flag, some bearded iris
  • Sedums (11 different ones)
  • Hummingbird Sage (annual)
  • Monarda (three colors: red, pink/purple and pale lavender)
  • Lamb's ears

Stay tuned as we are offering tips on GARDEN MAKEOVERS!  Our first video will be available this fall.

Energy Makeovers
Mahalo Farm welcomes its first tractor - a New Idea Elec Trak electric tractor!  With 92 acres and enough rain this year to make the grass grow, I finally decided to step up from my 21" gas powered push mower to a tractor. Now it's not big (no bigger than a lawn tractor) but it's handy and doesn't need gas, diesel or oil (unless you count the transmission fluid.) With a little finesse and the right controller I hope to charge its six batteries off my underutilized solar panels.

Once that gas push mower bit the dust, I knew that I really had to go for what I wanted - so I researched the options in Mother Earth News and talked them over with Jim, the owner of www.electrictractorstore.com. who, much to my delight, just moved from NY to Charlottesville. After only a few minutes, it seemed clear that a heavy or medium weight Elec Trak, made in the 70's, would do most of the jobs I have on this farm and was priced within my budget. Then it was on to ebay to find one. Several weeks later, after consulting several times with Jim, I bought one in PA and asked Jim if he could pick it up for me on his weekly journeys from NY to VA. Sure enough, he could and eureka, sitting in my shed is a fully charged medium weight tractor. He showed me how to work it, and I drove it from the driveway to its current resting spot. I now await Jim's rebuilding of a mower deck so I can mow those pastures. Hopefully, he will find a scraper blade for me and even better would be if he can find me a front bucket! I plan to mow paddocks (I'll have to leave the big weedy fields to the likes of a stronger bush hog,) scrape manure, drag fields, pull logs, and generally use it to keep up with things.