The Luna Acres Homestead: June 2013

Saturday, June 15, 2013

mushroom harvesting and more basket making

We harvested our first phoenix oyster mushrooms this week, and this weekend we inoculated five more straw baskets which will fruit in a few weeks. A big thanks to Chris and Eli from Fantastic Fungi for their great spawn! Now we just have to fight off the beetles that are attacking them! I have been researching and so far it seems the best options are bug juice (made from smooshed beetles and water) and Neem (a natural plant oil that deters and kills pests.) We worked super hard today, and tomorrow we will be taking a little time off to visit with both of our dad's for Father's Day.

We hope you have a great weekend, make time for your dad's too!

fruiting baskets

lighter shelf

underside ^_^

new greenhouse setup

the baskets are growing and growing

Live simply,

Angela and Jonathan

Sunday, June 2, 2013

watching the fungus grow

We did our first round of full size straw baskets last weekend, and today we unwrapped them and the mycelium has taken off quite nicely. We are slowly but surely getting there!

full size baskets

close up of the fungus

mini baskets are still a going

Live simply,

Angela and Jonathan

hello there

We are Angela Kelly Jones and Jonathan Taylor, the farmers, if you will. We have been a couple for five years, and sharing our love of farming and animals for two. We were lucky enough to spend eight months on a working livestock farm outside of Richmond, where we learned the skills to raise animals ethically and naturally. The focus is on grass-feeding and pasture management, and while we don't have much pasture land ourselves, the techniques and benefits are still incredible. We also learned tons about gardening and growing mushrooms. We just returned home in early winter and are setting up to produce several varieties of mushrooms, and raise several different animals. Please support our homestead so we can continue to grow!

behind the name

I struggled for months trying to decide what to name the farm. I wanted it to be something creative, that caught your attention, that was interesting. Something meaningful. I wanted a name that could express our dreams, ideals, love for nature and animals, and commitment to sustainability and quality of life- all in one word. The name Luna seemed stuck in my head for weeks in the end of summer, and one day I was jotting down ideas on paper when it came to me. Luna Acres. I played around with the letters, trying to think of an underlying message I could convey within the name itself, this is where I thought, "life's unexpected natural abundance." Our society is so fast paced and materialistic, it's hard to see the amazing abundance that's all around us. We had been discussing the terminology of our business for several weeks as well, and we decided that homestead most accurately described what we are doing. We want to create a home where we can provide for ourselves as much as possible, that we can leave behind. The Luna Acres Homestead.