As I was outside picking raspberries today, I was thinking about the difference between gardening and farming. I usually tell people I’m going out to garden…but is that really what I’m doing?
We live on 10 acres in the Pacific Northwest. We use a little larger equipment than home gardeners and we grow a considerable amount more. The property is too large to maintain with small home equipment. We actually have to use tractors to do the minimum amount of work required this time of year. We also grow more than we consume. We’ve sold a little more produce each year since we started planting. At some point I’m going to have to start saying that I’m going out to do some farming rather than gardening.
I decided to try to take some photos to show you what I mean. I wanted to take only two photos, one of the vegetable and berry garden (top photo) and the other of the orchard and strawberry patch (above). It was difficult to get a full-view of either area in one photo.
We started planting 7 years ago and many of our plants are now producing well. Our trees are producing a variety of tree fruit including pears, plums, peaches, apples, figs and cherries. We also have a variety of trees that aren’t yet producing. For the last few years we have been getting a good quantity of raspberries, blueberries, grapes, blackberries and kiwi. Our honeyberries and thimbleberries are just starting to produce good quantities.
I’ll be making raspberry jam later today from raspberries I picked this morning. I’ll be picking some peas and blueberries later to freeze. Except for last year when we had a family crisis, I’ve kept busy canning and freezing from the end of June until the beginning of October.
I quickly learned in a Master Gardening class that gardening means very different things to different people. I still say we’re gardening, but maybe we’re gardening our land into a farm.
Update: Above is the 5 pints of jam made from 6 pints of raspberries, 8 1/2 cups sugar and pectin. I hear from the experts that it is delicious.
June 25, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Raspberry season!!
June 25, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I think it changes from gardening to farming when you sell your leftover products to another person. Of course I don’t garden OR farm, I just buy at farmers markets….LOL so what do I know….
June 26, 2009 at 7:14 am
YUM! Looks good!
June 26, 2009 at 7:53 am
You’ll need to set up a road-side stand on the weekends soon.
And there is always donating to your local Food Bank.
June 26, 2009 at 8:03 am
We do sell some locally every year. I have given to the several agency that collect food.
July 1, 2009 at 7:39 am
Do you have a pressure canner, Sue? If so…what size? 16 qt? 23 qt?
June 26, 2009 at 9:55 am
As I read your post it felt like a small farm to me – maybe smaller than the small farm that my father lived on as a child. He grew up on a small farm during the depression. His father was a country lawyer/school teacher in rural Alabama. They shared food with others, sold peanuts and they also sold cotton. Your story made me think about Clio. Your raspberries look delicious.
July 1, 2009 at 10:42 am
I thought mine was about 22 qts. I don’t use it anymore. I haven’t been able to find the dial gauge since we moved 7 years ago. I haven’t canned anything that I thought needed a pressure canner. I use a steamer canner or the water bath canner.