The Kitchen Garden Company

Just an announcement–the website was hacked and some malicious code has been running. Hopefully, this has been corrected, and hopefully it did not effect you. It did take some time to figure out, and I am not 100% sure it is all fixed yet. Meanwhile, I have also updated the website software, so if you notice anything out of the ordinary, please let me know.

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Today dawned clear and cold. A rare day in January for around here. It is the first day in weeks where it hasn’t rained or been blowing over 20 mph. On Saturday we had winds up to 60 or 75 mph. The power went out during the night, but was back on in the morning, meaning the outage was on the mainland.

The day was so unexpected the girls, I and dogs went for a long walk before 7:30. A Realtor was showing the property and it got us away to feed the beasts and enjoy a chilly, but heartwarming sunrise. Now, it is all sniffles, mugs of tea and coffee.

There is so much to do, seeds to order, and video to edit, but I must take advantage of the weather and get outside to work in the garden. I’ve also got to clean the chicken tractor and get it ready for a breeding set of cockerel and hens. I’d be out at it now, but for the girl’s school.

Must cull some old biddies. Already reduced down to one cock from seven. Over 40 hens, but only 1 egg today. Should plant in the Polytunnel this afternoon.

Technorati Tags: weather, diary, gardening, hens

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Many of you will have noticed that you can no longer purchase Bokashi Buckets, or Bokashi Bran from this site. At first this was due to supply disruptions and difficulties in getting the products. But after a while I decided that perhaps it was best not to continue to stock these items.

Let me explain. The Kitchen Garden Company is based on a small island. At first a mail-order element to our business seemed a perfect fit. However on second thought the extra shipping and mileage placed upon the items we were distributing began to weigh on our conscience. Items come on to the island via plane or boat, once they have been picked up on the mainland. Big items such as bulk containers of Bokashi Buckets means that more trips to the island must be made increasing the overall load of distribution for everyone. Once on the island, the packages are delivered, then I have to store them in a heated building to keep them nice and reverse the procedure to send them out again.

More than once people from the local area contacted us to purchase Bokashi Buckets and we made special arrangements and went out of our way to deliver the buckets at no extra cost, without ridiculously sending them through the post. In the end it became too much. What began as a venture in bringing cool “technology” to the farmers’ markets we were attending–where, by the way we found a great resistance to the ideas of Bokashi–had become a practice with a growing and unnecessary carbon foot print.

This is not to say that we no longer support Bokashi and we are continuing to experiment with it every day. We have expanded our use of EM and Bokashi on the farm and will continue to educate and develop new ideas about their use. We will also continue to offer Bokashi Buckets and locally made Bokashi Bran at our workshops. We are also planning on expanding our video series about EM and Bokashi and their uses. We are also working with one of the UK’s bigger suppliers of Bokashi Buckets and Bran in continued development of ideas.

In the future, when we relocate to the mainland (do you know anyone who wants 34 acres on a bay on an island?) we will resume offering Bokashi Buckets and EM for sale from our retail location.

However, in the meantime, we are more than happy to recommend our wholesale supplier, who also retail their product–Sustainable Community Development. For International customers please check here. They sell everything you need and more. Thank you for continuing to read this blog and supporting The Kitchen Garden Company.

If you are looking for more information about Food, Farming or the Politics of what we eat, please consider subscribing to our free weekly podcast or check out our sister site–The Kitchen Garden Network. Thanks.

Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, bokashi, em, sustainable community development, carbon footprint, kitchen garden network, gardening, farming, agriculture, efficient microbes, effective microorganisms

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This is me, caught in the act, during the San Juan County Fair. I was cooking Paella and discussing the importance of local foods and the need to buy from Farmer’s Markets. You can hear me speaking at this event here.

Technorati Tags: podchef, gastrocast, cooking, paella, san juan county fair, cooking demonstration, podcast, teaching, culinary, local foods, farmer’s market, farming

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The Kitchen Garden Company is happy to welcome the newest member of our team–Rowan!

Rowan is an 8 Week old English Shepherd puppy who has joined us from Arkansas.

She is in training now to help round up the chickens and is busy making friends with an older brother–Barkley–and the two mousers. When she is a little bigger she will start to help with the sheep and calf.

Technorati Tags: rowan, english shepherd, puppy, dog, working dog, herding dog, farm collie, farm dog

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Gastrocast #40Originally uploaded by podchef.

A test blog using a recent Gastrocast flickr photo.

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