The Latest NewsProvidence Farm Food MarketApril 5, 2021Food / Food NetworkProvidence Gardens of Hope has their Online Farm Food Market OPEN with our early spring selection of local fresh farm products. Spring is sprung and our gardens are going in! Full Farm Activation time! Stay tuned for lots of great fresh farm food becoming available throughout the seasons. Check us out on the Open Food Network Also check out our Farm Champion Program and our Monthly Farm Raffle.... Indian Warrior- (Pedicularis densiflora)March 16, 2021Plant ProfilesIndian warrior is one of my favorite plants to find. It is a gorgeous wispy little bud of magenta red goodness. The dark green leaves almost remind me of ferns because of their feathery texture. Sometimes there are streaks of dark purple in the leaves, which make them very unique. This flower can be found from March until April growing in clusters in wooded areas. I’ve mostly seen them growing out west from Redding to Humboldt. They are partially parasitic plants and have been known to get nutrients by tapping into roots of other plants nearby. This is a good medicine for people who need to relax a bit. The flower buds hold most of the medicine. I have usually made the buds into tea, but I’ve heard of people drying and smoking them as well. Of course, you can also make a tincture with them. When harvesting, be sure to leave an abundant supply behind to go to seed, so that you can come back year after year without ever exhausting the supply. If you decide to make tea with them, you will notice something very interesting. During the process of brewing, the magenta color is drawn out of the flower buds and into the tea. The tea becomes a beautiful rose color, and the flower buds are left dull and colorless. This color is the medicinal part of the plant. I usually drink this tea in the evening after a hard day of work to unwind and relax. It can be used to help calm anxieties, induce sleep, or relax sore muscles. The tea has very pleasantly distinct earthy flavors.... Giant Food basket raffleMarch 5, 2021Food / Food Network / SubscriptionsGiant Food Basket Raffle CALL 215-1032 for Giant Food Basket Raffle to benefit www.providencegardensofhope.org that helps build healthy people, plants, and planet through regenerative agriculture and job placement for at-risk people. Raffle tickets are $5 per or 5 for $20. Winners will be drawn via FB live on at 3:00 PMBreakfast Basket includes-(1) Smoked Ham-(2) Pork Loin Chops-(2) Smoked Bacon-(1) Dozen Farm Fresh Eggs-(1) Box/Bag Pancake Mix-(1) Glory Bee Raw Local Honey-(1) $20.00 Gift Certificate to our Spring Plant Sale-(6) pounds of premium local brown and white rice.$150 total retail valueAll pork products were smoked and seasoned by Kent’s Meats. We grew the pig on our farm, all veggie fed and raised with care. The eggs are organic and come from our farm raised chickens... Western Redbud- (Cercis occidentalis)March 2, 2021Plant ProfilesWestern Redbud is a small tree or shrub native to the western U.S. It can easily be identified in the early spring by its bright violet red blooms. Now is the perfect time to see the splashes of color in the landscape. These blooms are edible and can be added to a salad to give it just a hint of citrus flavoring. Western Redbud is a member of the pea family (Fabaceae), and that is demonstrated by the pods that appear on the plant after flowering. All members of the pea family are known as nitrogen fixing plants, meaning they add nitrogen to the soil via the aid of bacteria attached to their roots. Many indigenous groups in California still use the twigs of this plant to make baskets, and even prune them to encourage new growth. Western Redbud is a wonderful addition to any landscape for native wildlife habitat, edible food, and drought tolerant gardening.... Providence is farming smart with Open TeamFebruary 25, 2021UncategorizedProvidence Smart Farms uses farmOS to operate and manage all of its farms operations, seed to harvest tracking, animals, machinery and so much more. We also use CircuitTree IoT smart agricultural technology to help us operate and manage our watering, crops, soils and environmental conditions. Open Team is the next level of Regenerative Open AgTech professionals working together to help develop the next level of open source technologies to assist us in our ability to work close with our planet and help regenerate our living ecosystems to help heal the planet and assist us to thrive in our nature.... Buckbrush- (Ceanothus cuneatus)February 16, 2021Plant ProfilesBuckbrush is a real scraggly looking mass of tangled sticks and branches. The leaves of this plant can be used to make a mildly stimulating tea. The first pioneers in this area would actually make tea from this plant to substitute for green tea. There are many species of Ceanothus, but the most common species that grows near us is called Ceanothus cuneatus. This species prefers a chaparral environment and can be found in open grasslands growing alongside oaks and manzanita. In the early season this plant will bloom with hundreds of little clusters of white pleasant smelling flowers. The flowers are high in saponins (soap-like particles). You can use these flowers as a kind of soap to wash dirt and grime off your hands or body. They produce suds when scrubbed in water.... Pip the Farm Pup’s FamilyFebruary 9, 2021Pip the Farm PupPip is a lucky pup because he still gets to see his siblings and parents on a regular basis. This is a video with Pip, his mom Patches, and his brother and sister.... All Natural Chew ToysFebruary 3, 2021Pip the Farm PupNothing goes to waste around the farm. That means even bones we find in the woods around Riverland get put to good use. Our Riverland location borders next to around 100 acres of Bureau of Land Management land. This is a great place to get to know our native flora and fauna, and also find deer bones. Pip’s natural instinct of course is to chew on those bones. His wolf ancestors would be so proud... Grey Pine- (Pinus sabiniana)February 2, 2021Plant ProfilesEasily the most common pine growing in the valley near Redding is the grey pine. It is recognized by its greyish blue green needles and awkward shape. This pine does not grow in a conical shape like your typical pine tree. Its branches split and extend out all sorts of ways. It also is the pine which can grow at the lowest elevation. Its cones can grow larger than the size of your head, and have curved points coming off the scales of the cone. If these cones don’t fall on your head and kill you when they fall, they can provide a tasty snack. They are loaded with delicious and nutritious pine nuts. You can simply smack the cone on a rock and knock out the seeds. They will have a hard outer shell that contains a small pine nut. They are super healthy and loaded with protein. Something that is interesting about pine trees, is they produce both female and male pine cones. The female cones are the cones you would typically think of when thinking of a pine cone. They are larger and covered in woody scales. The female pine cones produce the seeds. The male pine cones are much smaller. They produce pollen. The pine pollen can also be used as a source for wild yeast (more about wild yeast in the berries section). Pine trees also have pine needles. Pine needles are great for making herbal tea or adding unique flavoring to dishes. They are also very useful in a practical sense as well. The indigenous people in California use the needles (along with willows) to make baskets.... Pip the Pup Loves PeppersJanuary 21, 2021Pip the Farm PupOne thing we’ve noticed about Pip, is he loves peppers! We first noticed when we were laying out our cayenne peppers to dry, and one of them had inadvertently fallen on the floor. No one noticed until we turned around and say Pip just chewing away on the pepper. We kept waiting for it to spice him out, but he was seemingly impervious to the fiery effects of the pepper. To this day, Pip has since chewed on cayenne peppers, poblanos, jalapeños, and, yes, even bell peppers.... Providence Farm Food Market Indian Warrior- (Pedicularis densiflora) Giant Food basket raffle Western Redbud- (Cercis occidentalis) Providence is farming smart with Open Team
