Farm Report

It's been a while since we posted and it is time to update everyone on the farm. We will try to take some pictures this weekend to illustrate what we write today.

• We are holding a Tom Sawyer Day this Saturday from 1pm to 5pm. Please contact us if you wish to come out and join us. NOTE: it helps us immensely to know who will be there so we can plan.
• A week from this Saturday is our Summer Festival, starting at 4pm. This is a potluck with an available grill.
  
• Tomatoes are starting to peak. This usually means that we have excess tomatoes beyond CSA needs. Those who wish to can or freeze tomatoes should contact us and we can arrange to get you some of our yummy heirlooms! It doesn't look like a record year, but it looks like a decent year for them. A bit more cracking due to extreme changes in water levels. BUT, the taste is excellent this year since it did stop raining at the point of ripening. A little stress at the finishing point from lack of water is good for the taste.
• Turkeys have their new pasture behind the palace all fenced in, so they are getting used to running around outside. Normally, we'd like them out earlier, but circumstances being what they are... They had a regular feast with the excess of past peak cucumbers.
• Peppers and eggplant? Yes, that is the question. The eggplant are 1/3 to 1/2 the size they should be right now. But, they look reasonably healthy. We'll see if they ever really get going. The peppers, on the other hand, are just struggling to live. The water and ensuing disease pressures may well have doomed this crop. We've kept them weeded, planted them on time, etc etc. In fact, we've done as much and as well as last season (when we set records for peppers and eggplant) with our work pertaining to the plants.
• Summer squash and zucchini. Plantings 1-3 are producing at levels lower than usually expected, but enough to give everyone in the CSA some without overwhelming. Planting 4, however, looks fabulous and is getting weeded and mulched this week/weekend. It has the potential to do what these plants are supposed to do! We *dare* them!
• Cucumber planting 2 is less vigorous, but healthy. We should see them start giving us some fair crops next week. We shouldn't hit the high levels of cucumbers we have had in recent weeks, but they won't go away either (that's good news since the season for them is relatively short).
• Basil - needs a little time to grow after the cuttings of the last few weeks, but look fine.
• Onions - we need to find them again - then we'll tell you about them.
• Broccoli, cabbage - plantings 1-3 of these have failed. But, we keep trying to put more plantings in. A batch just went in about 10 days ago. Another will soon be going in. Really, we are trying to get them to go this year.
• Kale - planting 1 survived the water at about 35% of the plants. Those that are left are beginning to give us leaves to harvest (next week's CSA). Planting 2 needs to be weeded, then we'll judge. Planting 3 needs to go into the ground.
  
• Cauliflower - sorry. You can only get three successions in of these or it gets too late. These successions all drowned.
• Kohlrabi - yes, we are planting fall crops. Here's hoping!
• Peas - fall peas - the soil temp needs to be low enough to germinate - but we're really pushing the envelope on these now. We'll see.
• Green beans - we are hoping for the typical 'back to school' peak. They KNOW Tammy goes back to teaching about this time - and they KNOW she is the primary bean picker. So, they like to rub it in. Hopefully, the fact that they know of the inconvenience will be motivation enough.
• Potatoes - we dug a few plants that had died off - not much there. Many others have rotted away. Not a complete failure, but not a bumper crop. We'll be digging in September and hope to have enough to give everyone a nice little batch.
  
• Winter squash, watermelons - sorry. Watermelons are kind of a bonus if they work, so we aren't happy, but won't take it too personally when they fail. Winter squash, on the other hand...
• Lettuce - we're still waiting for one of our successions to give us excellent lettuce. We continue to start seed and plant transplants. Our latest transplant set went in and a few days later got thoroughly soaked by the last set of rain. A section was under water and many of those plants died. But, 2/3 - 3/4 of them are fine. The earlier plantings are bolting or have been harvested just before they bolted.
  
• We'll be planting fall successions of arugula, spinach, radish, beets and some other things.
  

We are hoping for a long fall to help us make a better year out of it. But, we know we can't count on that. Part of us wishes the season would just end right now so we could put it all behind us and start over. We remember feeling like this in 2008 - and the season was redeemed by a late harvest deep into October. And, we left that year tired, but ready to make 2009 a better year. 2009 was, in fact, a better season. But, it did have a few issues with its cool temps. So, it was a slightly below average harvest year - but nothing to make us feel like complete failures.

We have had discussions with several other regional growers and they report similar issues. Seeds that wouldn't germinate, plants rotting in the ground, disease issues, fruit that wouldn't store as long as they normally do, etc etc. It makes us feel better and worse all at the same time. Better, because we can stop telling ourselves that it must all be our fault and that we are a poor excuse for farmers. Worse, because it means there are lots of fine people who are also struggling with the season.

We'll just keep plugging on and keep trying to adjust.

• 
  

Whupped

Ok, we've done pretty well working through the heat, the humidity and the muck this week.

Until today.

A hot, humid day is one thing. But, when your feet make squish noises with every step, the black flies make dives into ears, nose and throat and mosquitoes turn you into involuntary blood donors, it kind of adds up.

At the risk of burying what I thought was a good post I composed and scheduled for today - just thought we'd tell Mother Nature that she won today.

You Were Making Progress...

.... and you knew that couldn't be allowed.

We made the mistake of beginning to feel like we were getting somewhere. Still way behind, but actually making some progress.

And, now we have heat, humidity and ... of course... rain. We like rain. But, not so much that we need to consider building an ark...or a bubble. Normal rainfall for the Waterloo area through this point of the year is somewhere around 20-24 inches. Official records show that we are a foot ahead of that amount. Consider that this is half again as much as we normally get. I guess we should not be surprised if soils are saturated and if there are issues because of this.

We don't want to complain. We don't like to complain. We know other places have much more difficulty than we have. We do have water in the fields again, but we have not had any serious wind or hail damage. We are both generally healthy, if a bit tired. We are aware of lots of people who support us. And, it looks like things may dry out and cool down next week after we get through the forecast rain around Friday.

Part of the result of these weather difficulties is that we are continuing to brainstorm ideas that can make the farm more resilient. We've taken steps in the form of a bigger tractor and a high tunnel. We have taken another step this year by continuing to try to plant more successions of crops in hopes that there is enough time this fall for them to mature. We've done more with mulch - and that seems to help in some situations. We're continuing to improve how we raise the poultry by making new shelter spaces and giving them more room on pasture.

things we are considering for the future:

• Raised Beds - no, we are not talking about wood enclosed beds, that would not be feasible. However, on our scale, we could find tools to raise and reshape the beds each spring. This will not solve everything. And, heavy downpours will degrade the beds. But, we would also consider a sturdy annual cover crop in the tire paths between each raised bed.
  
• Swales - the site we link to is more concerned with using swales to control urban runoff. However, we can consider this as well. One issue is the amount of grading necessary to make it work. Essentially, a swale is a shallow ditch. But, for it to work, we need the area we want to be less wet to be higher the swale (of course). Obviously, this should allow water to slowly soak into the ground in places that are NOT where the veg is.
  
• Tiling - we're not sure we want to dump water into the ditch so it can drain away. We would rather give it the chance to filter through naturally and replenish the underground aquifers. On the other hand, there is some potential advantage to tiling and draining into water holding tanks. We could then consider using solar powered pumps to irrigate during dry periods.
  
• Cover crops - We've been trying to add more cover crops to our operation as companions or to cover bare soil at the beginning and end of the growing season. But, we are beginning to wonder if we should reduce the amount of cash crop space and increase the amount of cover crop space. If the weather doesn't allow us to work with the field space we plan to cultivate, then perhaps we should stop trying to work it all.
  
• Reforming our field configurations on the farm - some fields are better than others with respect to water holding/shedding qualities. So, we are considering moving plots around and change things to take more advantage of natural tendencies.

We're going to have to figure all of this out quickly if we want to have a shot at doing something for next year's fields.

Regardless of what happens, we wanted everyone to know that we are considering many options - not all of them listed here - and we are hopeful that we can get a good combination figured out and done that will make us a more resilient operation with improved production consistency. All of that while still maintaining organic, sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

Let's see if we can manage it.

Additional Odd Observations on the Farm

• Cocoa, an honorary farm manager of the farm (I.E. cat who lives on the farm) has a spot where we can skritch her and her tongue sticks out involuntarily. Mildly amusing.
• During one of our rain storms we had some branches come down out of the oak trees. One hit the ground a bit like a lawn dart. We called it our "stick in the mud." Maybe a bit less amusing - especially to all of you.
  
• I-rony on the I-pod: having it randomly select "This is How the Work Gets Done" (Charlie Peacock) and "Progress" (AD) as the crew put down grass mulch to finish off a weeded row of beans. But, when it hit "We Are the Champions" (Queen), I felt that was a bit much.
• At least the ducks like the extra rain. One mini pond is currently encompassed by the electric fence we use to keep 'enemies of the duck' out. This was, in their opinion, a good thing.
  

Farm Report

Farm Report (written 7/28)

• The cucumbers are happy. It's nice that something is happy!
• Most peppers are still with us. However, the first batch of fruit have problems, so we have removed most from the plants. We are hopeful that they will recover and produce again. At this point, we don't see much coming for peppers until mid August or later. Maybe we'll be surprised as we continue to cultivate and weed those plants.
• Summer squash and zucchini just keep teasing us. But, they also haven't enjoyed sitting in water, so we can't really blame them. some nice sunshine and drier weather may give us a big push here in a week or two. Or...it will just keep trickling in until the next planting catches up (they are looking good).
• Green beans gave us a picking, now they are trying to recover from wet feet (etc). Plants generally look fine and we continue to free more of each row by weeding and mulching.
• Tomatoes generally look good - they continue to give us scouts. They look to be in line for the typical peak starting in mid/late August and lasting to mid/late September.
• Kale is struggling to make a comeback. Planting #2 may have a better shot at getting harvested sooner than #1 returns to form. About 1/4 of the plants have been removed from planting #1.
• The white onions have been picked in their entirety, so Thus distribution is the last time you will see them this year. The count should be somewhere in the 800-1000 area.
• The time between batches of meat chickens is actually a somewhat pleasant period of time on the farm. But, we'll exit that time period this Friday when chicks arrive.
• The spring peas couldn't stand the heat after all that wet - so we'll give fall peas a shot again this year.
• chard, beet and turnip seedlings have sprouted.
• Some of the lettuce is maturing as expected. Some isn't as happy as we are used to seeing it. Looks like Bronze Arrowhead or Australian Yellow Leaf may make an appearance in shares next week.
• We took advantage of the availability of a small tractor at an auction close to home. It is a Ford 8-N. We will talk of it at some later point in more detail. For now, suffice it to say that we have it on our farm, in part, to honor Kent Harms. We'll keep the organic growing fires burning for you, Kent.

Rain Update

We were asked to update this post on rain here.

We received an additional 1.4 " of rain after that post over one night. It wasn't horrible. But, it was more than we needed. So, once again, things were a bit damp. Still, we remain grateful since we know other areas nearby received two and three times as much rain.

this post was written on Tuesday 7/27 - so, if it doesn't seem quite congruous with current events - you know why.

Update 7/28 - another .6" overnight last night. Good for weeding at least.

Update 7/30 - and another .5" in the AM. Once again, we are fortunate that, while it rained - it rained gently. If we can get a few dry days in a row, we can get back out there.

Them's Tall Weeds You Grow There

In order to get the turkeys out in their new pasture, we needed to remove the giant ragweed from the back of the newly named/modified Poultry Palace.

Here you can see part of the crack team of Anden, Tammy and Rob taking on weeds a bit taller than they are.

And here is what it looks like now.

Just one thing we can do when things are a bit on the wet side.

A Good Reason to Live Here

'nuff said

Lucky So Far

Rainfall amounts on the farm for the latest series have been manageable.

.9" Thursday AM and another half inch in the evening.
1.3" inches over night into the early morning hours today.
So - 2.7" and counting - since the forecast calls for more heavy rains tonight.

We understand that Denver, IA had 7" over a similar 24 hour period. So, we are reminded how bad this could have been.

There is some standing water in a few places in our veg fields, but nothing terrible at this time. We are hopeful that tonight's rains are more moderate than forecast.

On the positive side - the early Thus rains were gentle and actually quite useful. the slower rate allowed the soil to take in most of the moisture. We'd have been thrilled if it had stopped there for the week.

What did you do today?

I was asked recently by a person who does not know me all that well...

What have you been up to today?

As most people who DO know the two of us, you know this is a DANGEROUS QUESTION!

And this got me to thinking... which is a DANGEROUS PASTIME!

So, what did we do today? This is, of course, the 'royal we' that includes Tammy, myself, Denis, Anden, Dad Faux and Sally. Yep, had a crew for parts of the day!

We....

• weeded 150 feet of beans and 200 feet of potatoes
• weeded 250 feet of lettuce
• weeded 300 feet of peppers
• cultivated all of the above
• hay mulched 120 feet of space between tomatoes
• hay mulched some potatoes
  
• mowed down areas between tomatoes
• mowed large areas of ground to gather mulch so we could
• mulch beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers
• picked up 135 processed chickens from Martzahn's in Greene
• moved items from one freezer to another so we could put the chickens in a freezer
• washed all the coolers and containers used for yesterdays CSA and the chickens
• weed whipped an area around wood we need to clean up
• put a door knob on the door to the poultry palace
• cut a new hole for turkeys to leave the poultry palace and go to their pasture
• picked 29 lbs of beans
• picked 276 onions
• planted 60 feet of Brussels, 360 feet of broccoli, 60 feet of cauliflower and 120 feet of cabbage
• watered trays of seedlings
• did a couple loads of laundry because
• Rob went through three shirts today
• moved exclusion cages...ups... we forgot to put them back. Looks like a task to do in the rain tomorrow.
• Fed and watered critters.
• Closed doors on critters before dark.
• Opened up/Closed up the high tunnel & cold frames
  
• Made lunch for 5 people
• Sent out a CSA email
• Made a quick seed order
• Made a quick seed tray order
• Began balancing the checkbook
• typed a blog post and...

Ran out of steam.

See you all tomorrow!

Just for Fun

A few short things that may amuse.... ok, they amused me.

• The turkeys are still fairly small, but getting some size on them now. One of them decided to fluff out and fan at me this morning when I fed the flock. My response? I said, "You've got to be kidding." The bird's response? It immediately unfluffed and unfanned. We are now wondering if we need to get this bird counseling since I have likely given it problems with self-esteem.
• The bees have liked the sun the last couple of days and were VERY busy today. It's a good thing to see them zipping around the cucumbers. Although, it is odd seeing one looking at you from its perch on the underside of the bill of your hat.
• We hand planted summer squash and zucchini a couple weeks ago. Of course, some germinated, some did not. Odd how you drop outside of the row and the germination rate goes way up. So, are they weeds or part of the crop now?

Quick Farm Report

A very quick farm report for those who are interested:

High Tunnel: The high tunnel has had a few more bits of work done to it, but there is still a nice list to finish up. We have tilled the area west of the high tunnel and have planted melons, some tomatoes and peppers. We will move the tunnel over these crops this coming weekend and secure it until late September. The plot the tunnel is currently over has also been tilled, but will be worked and planted after the tunnel is moved off. That crop will feature things like lettuce, spinach and other fall crops.

Farm Organization: Events, such as a field day, tend to make organization on the farm a bit of a challenge. But, of course, the event was worth it. However, we realized that we never did get a picture of the shelves Dad Faux put up for us last summer. They are in full use right now!



You might notice twine hanging form the rafters. That is where we are hanging our garlic for curing. If I took a picture now, you would find many bunches hanging there. But, we're only 1/5 of the way through the harvest!

Crops:
We are in the process of pulling many of the crops that died from root rot and other complications form standing water. We are also in process of planting MANY new crops for fall consumption. Some are a stretch - others are normal for planting at this point. We are overplanting for some things as well. Recently planted items include: summer squash, zucchini, dry beans, sweet corn, cucumbers, peas, beets, turnips, rutabaga, chard. Going in soon include broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, onions, green beans, collards and more.

Summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers are just now getting started. We are hopeful that they give us a fair amount this week and whole bunch next week!

Catching a Break

The weather forecasters had identified Wednesday night as very likely to have severe weather with heavy rains. And, in fact, a band of heavy rain formed across the entire state again last night. I have yet to learn if heavy rains hit other parts of Iowa. But...

I can tell you that the winds and lightning were manageable (only one close strike of lightning) and we only received a couple tenths of an inch of rain. The fields were just getting workable again yesterday and we pushed to get things done. With only a couple tenths of an inch, we can go right back out today and weed, till, pick and plant.

Now, just so Mother Nature doesn't take this wrong. We don't mind rains that can soak into the ground - it's the ones that land on fully saturated soil and stand there.

O 2 B A B

Last year at this time, we were astonished by the sheer numbers of bees on our flowers in both the flower and vegetable gardens. The variety was amazing and the activity was enjoyable to watch.

Unfortunately, this sort of weather is particularly difficult for the European honey bee. And, we do have two hives on the farm this year. Short story - the bees are having a difficult year.

Even so, they were out and about this last week when we got to see the sun.

You might want to click on this picture to view a bigger version of it. The bee is just above the center of the top left flower. Not a honey bee, but a wonderful pollinator. We like seeing these little critters around.

Then there are our friends from the hives. Look at the bottom left and you can see a bee heavily laden with pollen from the hosta flowers. Again, clicking on it will increase the size of the picture for your viewing.

The honey bees belong to John Axon and he cares for the hives. We know the bees like our flowers - but we wish the year was a better one for his bees.

Exhausted doesn' t cover it

The field day is over. Sort of.

The thing that everyone, including us, tends to forget is what happens AFTER a major event concludes. The anticipation and preparation reaches a fever pitch and a person can begin to romanticize how the days following will be sane and relaxed. And, no matter HOW MUCH you tell yourself not to do this - you do.

So, here we are on the first day after the field day. Well, at the end of the first day - you'll read this post on Sunday - it is written on Saturday.

Much has been displaced and otherwise shuffled in order to accommodate the high tunnel build. So, of course, we're having a grand time putting things back and trying to find things that have moved. Things that were put on 'coast' or 'hold' are at a point where they are demanding their attention. And, all we want to do is sleep.

But, alot has been done and we got good help from many people. It's really pretty difficult to complain about that!

High Tunnel Field Day 2 (Build Day 3)

Pictures from Friday for our 2 day high tunnel build field day follow:

Friday morning focused on afixing the polycarbonate to the end walls. And adjusting the end walls as discoveries were made. Wiggle wire channel and other hardware are difficult to show here, but these also took up time and energy.

And, this is what the structure looked like at lunch time.

And now we learn why tennis balls were on the supply list.

Pulling the cover over the high tunnel.

Breeze was light - be even a light breeze requires many hands to hold the plastic down. Happily, no one became an involuntary wind surfer.

Pulling the plastic tight the long way. Apparently those who build these things are allowed to stand on the top rung!

And, here we are fluffing and pulling the skin tight on the tunnel. Light from the heavens gives us its blessing.

Putting wiggle wire in the top to hold the plastic in place.

And, wiggle wire on the sides.

With the exception of the door on the east, this is what the high tunnel looked like at the end of Friday.

Our sincere thanks to all who helped us with this project in so many ways. We'll post more pictures as the finishing touches are made.

R & T

High Tunnel Field Day 1 (Build Day 2)

Day 1 of the GFF/PFI Movable High Tunnel Build Field Day is completed. Rather than typing much, we'll give you some pictures.


The high tunnel appeared to have some assembly required. And, they informed us that just adding water would not work. (we tried that on Wednesday)

Wednesday was actually the first day for the build. Things were done to get the high tunnel started, site prepped, etc. so that we could actually complete the ambitious schedule for the 2 day field day. The south wall is partially laid out here next to the unanchored v-track on Thus morning.

Thursday AM, this is what our high tunnel looked like.

Lots of willing hands made it easier to move the bows into place.

There was a sighting of the superhero "Bandsaw Man."

And, by the end of the day on Thursday, we actually had a structure that...well, looked like a high tunnel!

We were even able to take it out for a test drive. Yes, two people CAN move this thing.

Farm News

The problem with a blog is its sequential Last In First Out nature. We have two things that are worthy of your attention right now:

1. The CSA distribution is canceled for this week. We will add a week at the end of the season. See this post for more.

2. The High Tunnel Field Day is this week. See this post for more.

Field Day

This Thursday and Friday will be our high tunnel build at the farm.

It is a field day for Practical Farmers of Iowa and will be a working field day. Persons attending are asked to pay a $25 registration fee to help defray the costs of food. An even better deal - pay $35 and become members of Practical Farmers of Iowa - that's pretty cool.

In any event, if anyone wishes to attend that has not told us so at this time - please let us know now!

======================
News Release

For Immediate Release

June 23, 2010

Contact: Sally Worley, Practical Farmers of Iowa, (515)232-5661, sally@practicalfarmers.org
Field Day Contact: Rob & Tammy Faux, Genuine Faux Farm, (319) 610-9201, gff@genuinefauxfarm.com

PFI Announces “Construct a Moveable High Tunnel” Field Day

Tripoli, Iowa—Farmers from all over the country are using passive solar greenhouses called high tunnels to extend their growing season and improve profitability. Did you know that you can build your own high tunnel? Learn how hands-on during a two-day training build at the Genuine Faux Farm near Tripoli on July 8 and 9, during which a Four Seasons Tools moveable high tunnel will be constructed.

The training build lasts from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Thursday, July 8, and from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on Friday July 9. Breakfast and lunch will be provided both days. Dinner will be provided on Thursday.

Adam Montri of Michigan State University will lead the training. Montri is the Outreach Coordinator for the University’s Student Organic Farm. Montri will teach participants how to construct a moveable high tunnel that can be used year-round without supplemental light or heat. Representatives from Four Season Tools will be on hand to help with the construction as well as answer questions about their moveable tunnels.

Tammy and Rob Faux have operated Genuine Faux Farm since 2004 raising vegetables, herbs, chickens, and turkeys. They market their products through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, farmer’s market, local stores, and institutions.

The field day is free for members, $25 for non-members. Please RSVP to Sally Worley, (515) 419-9551 or sally@practicalfarmers.org by July 2.

Thank you to the Ceres Foundation for sponsoring this event.

Directions: From Highway 63 (8 miles north of Hwy 3, 10 miles south of Highway 18) turn east on 150^th Street and go 2.5 miles.

Thank you to the following2010 field day sponsors: Sysco, Albert Lea Seed House, Iowa State University, American Natural Soy, Seed Savers Exchange, Leopold Center, Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), Iowa Forage and Grassland Council, Organic Valley & Organic Prairie CROPP Cooperative, Featherman, Blue River Hybrids, Iowa Farmers Union, Wheatsfield Cooperative, Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, and ATTRA.

Practical Farmers of Iowa includes a diverse group of farmers and nonfarmers. Corn, soybeans, beef cattle, and hay are the top enterprises for PFI farmers, although many have a variety of other operations, including fruits and vegetables. PFI’s programming stresses farmer-to-farmer networking through research and demonstration, field days, conferences, and more. For more information, call 515-232-5661 or visit www.practicalfarmers.org.

Slogging

We are no longer blogging at Genuinely Faux, we have begun to slog. As in 'slogging through the mud.' As a result of this and other circumstances - there will be NO CSA deliveries this week (July 5,6 & 8). We will tack on a week at the end of the season as long as monsoon weather doesn't last into October as it did last year.

Above is the pepper patch as of about 8:30 this morning. Some of the hot peppers have suffered root rot and died from prior wet conditions. Let's hope we don't have standing water for too long.

Then there is the kale. It's been doing well for us and tasting good. But, it's very hard to pick when it is this wet. And - it could use a little more time to rejuvenate after a heavy pick last week. But, the biggest problem? If we wade in and pick when it is this wet, we make a whole row of ankle-turning ugliness out of the surrounding soil for the rest of the season. And since I intend to pick this kale for several weeks....

We had some wonderful helpers at the Saturday Tom Sawyer Day. You can see the little lettuce plants that have desperately wanted to go into the ground. I'm not sure they wanted to be watered in quite this much though.

They say "no man is an island." But, clearly the summer squash and garlic are. Good thing we hilled these plants (the summer squash).

In any event, the soil was - and is even more - saturated. We did manage to get a fair amount of work done over the past week (but especially the last couple of days). We planted carrots, basil, peppers, eggplant, summer squash, zucchini, lettuce, cucumber, peas and beans. We ran out of time and did not get several other things in that needed to go in. But, time is time and that's the way it is.

Sleep Deprived

I am a light sleeper. T is generally a heavier sleeper. so, you know things are getting pretty raucous when the weather wakes BOTH of us up.

Tuesday night was the 2am storm that included a tornado touch down 2.5 miles south of us. I got to see that wall cloud and can tell you that it certainly looked dangerous. A few homesteads on highway 93 took some direct hit damage, but it seems that most of the houses survived well enough. Lots of damage to outbuildings. Our only damage was the lack of electricity, combined with water in the well 'room' that covered all of the electrical components. So, they all needed replacing, of course.

We've had two nights in a row with some significant thunder, lightning, rain and wind. And, I think you can forgive people in the area if such weather makes us a little skittish. But, they are all happening at night - makes it very difficult to get some good sleep.

And, once again, the rain gauge had 2 inches of water in it. Looks like we have until Wednesday before we can till and plant. We'd just started to be able to do that sort of work Friday. And, unfortunately, the weather is making the weed situation difficult as well.

Must be a farmer - just can't be happy with anything!

so, to end on a positive note. The baseball game was rained out. The fields were too wet. We were very tired. We took a nap. A long nap. In the middle of the day.

Ha!

Eeek!

Well, we started to be able to work the field today. And look at the radar at this moment.

Sigh.

Yet Another Quick Farm Report

So you all know what is going on:

- Jeff S was kind enough to come out and help take down the flexible auger in the soon to be Fowl Palace (or whatever we decide to name it)
- Dad F is working on a room for the turkeys. They're going to love it. they'll have a huge pasture to themselves!
- A batch of Auracana chicks (they lay the green/blue eggs) just arrived at the farm
- Fields are just NOW beginning to be workable - and guess what is forecast for tonight?
- The kale looks great.
- Tomatoes look good.
- Much more progress on the clean up of the downed building. Most of the salvaged lumber is now under cover for later use (much in the Den of Fowl Inventions)
- Finally was able to go out and cut down the fallow plot in the east rotation. Just beat the thistles to flowering!
- Mudded in five rows of lettuce. for the unitiated that's 200 plants in a row. So 1000 plants are in.
- Finally was able to get the hot peppers and rest of the eggplant in. As with the lettuce, it was slow and difficult going. The amount of mud on our jeans made it difficult to walk afterwords.
- The tiller attachment on the tiller broke again - this time it is the OTHER spring that is constantly under tension. And...when it's not...the tiller no spin. Sigh.
- The walk behind tiller is still faithful - so we were able to cultivate the peppers and eggplant this PM.
- And, of course, the weeds are flourishing and we're fighting to get them "to leave town."
- We still have not been able to seed out two plots and are behind in three others. This does not make us happy.
- Most of the area for the high tunnel is now cleared for construction - we still need to move a few more plants and level the area.
- We may need to consider an industrial use washer given the amount of clothing we go through in a week (and the amount of mud and sweat on our clothing - ugh).
- The garlic scapes are being harvested and the plants generally look very good. This is the cleanest we've ever had them (in terms of weeds) and should make harvest much more pleasant - and therefore - timely.
- if your personal farmers seem a bit edgy, it's because they are not as happy with the early season crops as they wanted to be. And, it's because there is so much that was supposed to be done during the last three weeks that *could not be done*. We'll get there. Have to accept that we cannot go back in time - and even if we did, we couldn't fix it.

Absitively Posolutely

Sometimes you just have to think about good stuff to bring yourself out of a funk. And, I'll admit, the extra doses of rain and the wet fields are stressing us out a bit. So....

• Dad F has put in some wonderful work in preparing a new place to house turkeys. And, the tractors have all gotten a much needed maintenance. Thanks Dad and Happy Father's Day!
• We're still appreciating the fact that some scrub trees that were in the wrong spot have been removed and the wild plums were tamed (as much as wild plums can be tamed). Thanks Dad Z and Happy Father's Day!
• D.D. & A.D. come out to the farm four days a week and put forth excellent effort to help us get things done on the farm. They do their best to help us do our best. Thanks to both of you!
• S & J have also been out once a week and each has diligently done what they could to help! The weeding has been a good thing, well done and thank you!
• I've had the privilege to pitch on a ball team that in each of the last two games I've thrown have done an excellent job of catching the ball and making me look good. Thanks Cards!

I'm feeling better already.

Rain Rain Go Away....

We're getting a bit annoyed with the persistent rain on the farm right now. so many things were supposed to go in the ground and have not been able to.

And the forecast calls for a chance of rain almost continuously.

Unfortunately, in terms of crops for the season - this is getting more than just annoying. Remember, it takes several hours for the soil to dry out enough to be workable - so a sunny day is nice, but that doesn't mean we can till - or plant.

Don't know what else to say - just what's on my mind right now.