Doug Powell's Page

Historically, I've done things the hard way. It's my nature. I joined the Marine Corps my junior year of high school because it was the "hardest" of the armed forces. After 4 years of struggle and stories upon stories to tell my grandchildren some day I got out of the Marines and plunged right into a career as a stand-up comic. That's harder than being a Marine, take my word for it. And after a decade in the performing arts, I decide to be a farmer?! What the hell is wrong with me? I could…

It has been a long time since I've added a post to this blog or even checked in on this page. As last season ended I believed that I would no longer be gardening our beautiful plot of land at Virgate Farm in Mt. Airy, Maryland. With a move to Baltimore and a new job I had put the garden behind me a blazed ahead as I always do. Last week I made a pit stop into my old stomping grounds at Cafe Nola to see some familiar faces and enjoy a delicious cup of Illy coffee. While I was there, I heard…

I've been hanging out with our chickens a lot more these past couple weeks and I've noticed a number of things that both delight and concern me. The roosters don't get along with each other. If that weren't bad enough, I believe each of them want me dead. I've never had a pet who wanted to kill before. I've also never had a pet that, if time's got tough,  I could legally eat before. Try explaining that to a rooster though. Roosters don't care about reason... they're not trying to understand…

As our first full season of running our own farm comes to a close, there is so much to reflect on. Where did we succeed? Where did we fall short and what can we do to adjust those efforts and improve for next season? What lessons did we learn through our trial and error approach to small-scale organic gardening? I love this time of year. The feeling of completion of something grand and the hopeful forward glance at what may be possible in the next season. I think that might be the most…