The Good Earth Farm
(Page 3 of 4)
Gene is also building a new greenhouse and chicken coop
over near the pasture where the five goats romp. He's dug
an excavation in the shape of a cross approximately 50 feet
by 50 feet and plans to put the structures on top of the
site. The coop will house 100 chickens fed on organic grain
shipped from California and its floor will be layered with
hay. At regular intervals the manure-hay mixture will be
shovelled through a trap door into compost heaps under the
buildings. The heat generated from the composting should
give adequate warmth to the greenhouse and chicken coop.
RELATED CONTENT
Making compost is nothing new for the LeRoys. They used to
make tons of it when they lived in Blaine, Washington and
they even sold it commercially there. Gene now uses the
same techniques to produce humus in the same large
quantities . . . but he plows it all into the fields of the
LeRoy homestead.
Charlotte and Gene invited us into the house for a cup of
tea before we left and we found their cozy living-kitchen
to be a double room dominated by a large wood-burning cook
stove. To the sides were a weaving loom, piano, re cord
player and stacks of books . . . but the large table near
one window caught our attention.
That table held a couple dozen half-gallon milk containers
laid on their sides, split lengthwise and filled with soil.
Imbedded in the cartons were many varieties of eggplant,
grapefruit, water cress, sweet marjoram, savory, basil and
other seeds. Several avacado seeds, suspended by toothpicks
in bowls of water, sat nearby. "You can grow anything,"
Charlotte insisted. "When our greenhouse is built, we're
going to try growing oranges, figs . . . everything."
We had heard of the difficulties of finding a good soil mix
for starting seeds and we asked Charlotte what she used in
the cartons on the table.
"A mixture of humus, sand and loam topped with a sprinkling
of vermiculite," she told us. "I hike over to the woods and
dig up rich leaf mold but it's apt to be too acid so I have
to be careful and not use too much."
We mentioned that many commercial enterprises sterilize
their potting soil to prevent damping off.
"You don't need to do that," she insisted. "It's
unnecessary. Humus is light and spongy and, mixed with
loam, it's an ideal medium. I've never had trouble with
damping off."
