23 Reasons to Join This Year's CSA Farm Share with GFF!

Contrary to the word on the street, our CSA farm share program is not full for the season.  We can take more reservations.  In fact, we'd like to hear from you now so we don't have to work so hard on the billing cycle.

What do I mean by that?  Well, if I go through the billing process with the CSA 60% full, that means I have to spend extra time on each person that joins after that.  It is much more efficient for me if I wait until we're closer to full so I can make the whole process faster for me!

So... here we go!  Reasons to join our CSA farm share program in COLOR!  Technicolor if you would prefer!

If you haven't tried a Boothby's Blonde cucumber yet, then you really should.  They are quite mild and have a tender skin that removes the need to do any peeling.  And, if you like the texture of spinach, Amish Deer Tongue lettuce is one of the nine varieties of lettuce that we grow.  Deer Tongue has a sturdier texture that is reminiscent of spinach and has a very nice taste.

We realize that not all greens are for everybody, but we grow enough variety that most people can find a green or combination of greens that works for them.  Rainbow Chard is one such item we grow on the farm and provide as a choice, often with kale as the other option.  And despite all of the Upper Midwest jokes about not leaving your car window open or else you will be given zucchini, we happen to grow four to six varieties of zucchini, including Cocazelle, a lovely striped zuke.  We do our best not to overwhelm with one type of veg, but we also try to give you enough to be getting on with... so to speak.

Many people enjoy our CSA simply because they will get to pick from over thirty heirloom tomato varieties once we get into August and September.  German Pink is often a favorite for both the farmers and the members.  Then again, maybe your mouth waters for some green beans?  We know ours does!

We've worked hard to extend the season for popular vegetables, such as broccoli.  Last season we were able to harvest over 600 pounds of broccoli for our CSA share holders.  And, we grow interesting varieties of melons - such as Ha-ogen, a green fleshed melon that has an incredible, different taste that will convert you soon after you figure out what it was that just hit you.

If you didn't believe me that we grow different varieties of things, consider Ice Queen lettuce.  We target varieties that allow us to extend the season.  In the past, we've been able to have lettuce available to our members for as many as 17 of the 20 weeks in a season.  And, we also grow items that might not be as well known to people who grew up in Iowa (like Rob).  Pok Choi normally makes an early and a late appearance during the growing season.

Kohlrabi is becoming much more popular as people figure out how good this is as a snack with a dip of choice.  And, if you are wondering if we only grow 'WEIRD' stuff - here are some Marketmore cucumbers.  Why yes, they do look like normal cucumbers, don't they?

Eggplant not your thing?  Well, maybe you've never had them cut into rings and put in a grilled stir fry or shish-kabobs?  Pintung Long eggplant are perfect for this.  And, we mentioned kale, but did we mention that we grow several varieties of this as well?  For example, Red Russian in the picture above.  We also grow Blue Scotch, Vates and Lacinato.

Some of the things we grow have good years and bad years.  For example, cauliflower is one of those on again/off again types of veg on the farm.  Sometimes this is because we're trying to find varieties that work well for us.  In the case of cauliflower, the varieties we liked were discontinued and we had to work and find new ones.  Amazing is shown above and should do well for us in 2015.  Carrots, on the other hand are difficult for us to grow consistently well for many reasons.  This is why Jeff Sage works with us - he's a wizard with carrots!  As a result, our members have had plenty of carrots for the past four seasons, without fail.

Other vegetables show up every year in some quantity.  Last year the summer squash and basil were a bit less prevalent than in some years because it was a cooler growing season.  Both of these like warmth.  But, we still got a fair amount to our members.  Why?  It's because we have some experience under our belts and have identified many ways to coax a crop even during difficult conditions.

We are not afraid to do research and trials in an effort to find vegetables that grow well AND are liked by people who join our CSA farm share program.  As a rule, if the variety we try doesn't taste good to at least a significant portion of our membership, we don't grow it.  For example, we do grow acorn squash because many people tell us they like them.  We grow the standard green acorn squash, but we also grow Thelma Sanders because we think it has a better texture and taste.  Most people who can get past the idea of a tan colored acorn squash tend to agree with us!  But, we still grow the green ones in case someone is a bit phobic about color differences in their veg.  And, romanesco - talk about odd looking.  But, it sure does taste good.  It has rapidly become a favorite in our house.

We hope we can tempt you to join us in 2015 so you can try our delicious Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes.  We often have a tray of snack sized tomatoes as a part of your share from late July through September.  We like to say that the person who picks up has the right to eat these before they even get to the car.  The rest of the family is just going to have to help pick the share up if they want some!  Although, we suspect there are many very nice CSA shareholders who do bring these beauties home to the rest of the family.  And, we try to have a watermelon treat for everyone at least once per year.  Of course - you can't expect them to be one type, can you?  It's us!  Variety is the spice of life!

Please consider making us your personal farmers.  Send us an email and reserve a spot today.

What Is It About Tractors?

When people visit the farm, there are just certain things that seem to attract them more than others.  Things such as... kittens.

Well, ok, we don't always have kittens on the farm and people seem to be attracted to kittens anywhere.  So, never mind.

But, seriously, people love to see baby chicks, they like to see the turkeys, they'd love it if our cats didn't run away from them and...  they love to see Durnik the tractor.

Tractor lover at the wheel

We suspect that Rosie (our newer tractor) might be interesting as well.  But, there is something about older tractors that we all love. 

Not quite a hay ride, but they liked it.

I suppose part of the attraction is that it is something different than most people who live in town will see.  And, the other part is that when you go to a farm - you're supposed to see a tractor.  What's a farm without one?

Those of you who have a bit longer history with us will realize that we have been on the farm since the summer of 2004 and started GFF in 2005.  It wasn't until 2010 that we added anything bigger than a lawn tractor to our farm tool list.  And, it wasn't until the following year that we got any tools to go with the tractor.  Since that time, we have added a number of tools and a second, newer tractor.

We know exactly what we had to do without these tools and we are grateful that we now have tools that fit the scale of our farm much better. 

Can't Beet This

Over the past few years, we have not done much with beets on the farm.  The primary reason would have to be a guy named Jeff Sage.  Jeff partners with us by growing carrots, beets, parsnips and sweet potatoes that go into our CSA farm shares.  And, has gotten particularly good at growing these crops consistently well, much to our members' happiness!

Chioggia, Touchstone Gold and Bull's Blood beets

I suppose an explanation is in order.  Why don't we grow these on our farm?

The short answer is that we DO grow these on our farm.  But, our soils and conditions, along with our other growing responsibilities make it a bit more difficult for us to grow things like carrots and beets on our farm.  Therefore, since Jeff has better soils and conditions for it AND because he likes to specialize in these items, it makes sense for him to focus on the growing.

What this does for us is it allows us to concentrate on other crops that suit us better and it gives us more time to figure out ways that these crops will grow on our farm.  That process includes identifying timing and varieties that work well for us.  All in all, this is a mutually beneficial arrangement for all concerned.  Jeff grows using organic practices that we would stack right up with our own.  We learn some things from him and he learns some things from us.  And, our members get beets and carrots.  What's not to like?

This post is supposed to focus on beets - so I'd better get to that.  Jeff grows the Detroit Dark Red or Red Ace varieties that are so well known for the rich red color that is common for a beet.  Since we trust him to get these things going for early to mid-season distributions, that allows us to concentrate on a late season crop and on varieties that are NOT the common red color.

Our favorite over the years has been the Chioggia beet.  We had several successful years for Chioggia until 2012.  Then, we hit some cool, wet Springs that caused us some fits with our normal planting schedules.  Sadly, that resulted in some aborted crops and poor germination levels.  This year, we are going to try a batch of Chioggia in the high tunnel for a an early crop.  We have called Chioggia the 'gateway' beet.  People who have had beets and not liked them all that much should try a Chioggia roasted in the oven.  They've got a taste that is a little less earthy and the red and white concentric rings make them an attractive item to put on your plate.

Chioggia beet picture courtesy of Seed Savers

We have grown Touchstone Gold beets once prior to this season.  We found them to have consistent germination and size.  The taste is mild and the beautiful golden color of the flesh is very pleasing.  Like Chioggia, we suspect people who taste these will be surprised that they are a beet.

Our goal for our early crops this year will be to combine some Gold and Chioggia beets with Jeff's red beets.  Later on, we hope to be able to provide choices to allow people to select that which fits their tastes and preparation choices best.

Grilled Veggies (YUM!) - Works for beets, turnips, summer squash, zucchini, potatoes, kohlrabi, etc - anything with some substance
Wash veg. Slice into rounds or half rounds, about 1/2 inch thick. Toss lightly with olive oil (putting slices in a bowl, sprinkling olive oil over and tossing the veg around works well) and add any desired spicing (sea salt, chopped marjoram or basil, pepper, garlic all work well).  If you like mushrooms, you can add those as well.

 Grill for about 5 or more minutes, depending on how soft you want the vegetables and the types of veg you are cooking.  Turn them once or twice - or three times if you feel that is a charm.  Just remember that the more times you open the grill, the longer it will take to cook. They are done when you can easily stick a fork in them.

Remember that some vegetables are harder than others and will take longer to cook.  So, you may choose to start things like beets and turnips before you add something that has more water content, such as zucchini.
Recommended by Rob and Tammy.

How A Blog Keeps GFF Healthy

Rob has been asked more than once why he maintains a blog for the farm.

Ok, ok.  Rob has asked himself more than once why he maintains a blog for the farm.  As far as we can remember, no one else has asked why we do this.  But, if you are looking at it from a business perspective, you probably can't ignore the amount of time and effort that goes into the components that make up a decent blog.  At least, we hope this is a decent blog.  I guess that's for you to say.

So, if everything is about returns on investment, then let's think about it for a bit.  What does this blog do for us?

1. It encourages us to look at our farm in ways others might see it.
Look at the picture below and tell us what you see?  What stands out for you?

What I see when I look at this is a great deal of effort to try and make an old building work for us.  Please note the metal box at the bottom right of the building.  We added an improved electrical service just prior to this picture.  If you look closely at the side that is facing to the picture's right, you might notice the new siding as well.  You might even notice the home made cold frame at the lower left.  Surely there are some plants in there when the picture was taken.

But, what really stands out in the picture?  The ugly door with the loose siding.

Well, that's true - it does stand out.  And I bet most of you discounted the metal box and its significance and you probably didn't give the new siding and attention either.

2. It provides us a forum to explain to others how WE see the farm.
In short, our blog gives us a chance to share what we see AND it encourages us to view it as others might see it without some guidance.  We appreciate the opportunity to show you what we see and what we hope to do.  This blog gives us a tool to do just that.

3. It's a reminder to us that we are progressing.
I think we are safe in saying that very few people want to keep reading a farm blog that is all gloom and doom.  And yet, our human tendency is to remember the single negative event in a day and dismiss ten positive things - leaving them floundering in the wake of that one negative thing.

We can barely believe that this roof went up in 2011.

While we do use the blog to share issues and problems we are having at the farm, we also use it to share successes and progress.  Sometimes, when we are very tired and feeling like we aren't getting anywhere, it does us great good to consider the positive aspects and share them with others. It's amazing how reframing events can improve our point of view.  And, an improved point of view makes it easier to deal with the problems.  And, if you that isn't enough return on investment for you, consider this:

Would you rather pick up your veggies, eggs and poultry from someone who appears to be content with who they are and what they are doing or from someone who is full of angst?  If you answered that you would prefer the angsty guy, I am sure I can find a way to help you if you want.  But, seriously, when we patronize a business, we want a positive experience.  And a positive experience is easier to get when the people providing the service are happy with who they are and with what they are doing.

4. It's all about the chance to teach and learn.
We both love to help others to learn.  And, one of our farm missions is to help others to learn how food is raised.  We want people to think harder about where their food comes from.  We want you to consider how our food decisions affect our environment, how it impacts or society and our economy.  We want people to see that growing food the way we do has numerous trade offs and that the decisions we make are not taken lightly.

And, while we are at it - we believe that the best way to learn is to set yourself in a position where you are responsible for helping others to learn.  There is a great deal of learning that comes from taking the time to maintain this blog.  And, if you've read our blog for sometime, you have seen some blog posts that are more technical than others.  These represent attempts on our part to learn with an audience.  Some of those blogs have actually helped us to reach a decision or two as it pertains to our farm.

5.  Reflection and remembrance help us to remember our focus.
I'm not entirely sure I need to say much more about this one.  But, maybe I should.  Work on the farm during the growing season can be all-consuming for us.  There are challenges every day and the to do list only grows, it does not shrink.  One of the first things to go would be taking moments in time to reflect and think about what is going on and how things are going with a balanced view.  After all, those darned carrots still aren't weeded!

But, that's the point.  If we aren't inclined to take the moment to reflect, then the personal value of each day is diminished.  And, if the value of each day we live is diminished by our unwillingness to process what has happened and seek out the good and the bad, then the value of our entire life is diminished.  Ok, so I've taken a turn to the philosophical here.  But, it is true.  The blog is a tool that allows us to re-balance and refocus.  Just as it is a tool to simply record what has happened on our farm so that we can reflect and refocus once again.

Hopefully, the result is that we build up our strength for the season so that we can pursue things that are important, such as growing good food for others and being as friendly to the environment as we can in the process.

And, before you discount the value of using this blog to reflect and re-frame how we feel about things.. please consider the picture below.

This beautiful picture was taken in July of 2010.  We had rains for most of June and early July.  Our fields were under water.  Plants were dead and dying.  Some of our CSA customers were very disappointed and unhappy with the amount and types of produce they were receiving from us.  We had just sunk a huge chunk of money into a new high tunnel building and a tractor but the poor growing season was putting the whole farm health picture into question.  We were tired, overwhelmed and depressed.  We wondered if we were just too stupid to figure out how to handle things.  We were one more bad day away from deciding to call 2010 our final season.  In short, this was possibly the lowest point in our career as farmers at GFF.

And we get a picture like that.

We might have just viewed it once if it was just for ourselves.  But, we shared it and others like it on our blog.  Our attitudes improved.  And so did the season.

Of course, part of it was the break in the weather pattern that allowed things to dry up.  But, if our attitudes didn't get this adjustment, we would not have been ready or able to take advantage of the change in the weather.

And now you know!  Have a good Easter everyone!

Matters of Perspective

We've lived on our farm now since the Summer of 2004.  And, anytime you become familiar with a place there is a tendency to miss certain perspectives that might be seen by those who visit.  Or, in this case, sometimes a camera can encourage you to see things in a different way.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to use a decent digital camera on our farm and we now have a pretty good bank of pictures to view when we wish.  We are also graced with the presence of others on our farm throughout the year.  And, we do listen to what you all say to us about our farm.  We learn from your perspectives and what you are seeing.  Sometimes, it opens our eyes to something new.  Other times, it re opens our eyes to see things again as we once did, before we let ourselves become jaded.  Or, if it is not a case of being jaded, it might be as much a case of being lazy.  If you live in a place, you don't always stop and really look.

Looking out from the old barn

Our old barn didn't start out as a favorite place on our farm.  In fact, it was a bit intimidating.  Part of the intimidation factor was the sheer size of the place.   The other part was the amount of repair that was going to be necessary if we wanted to continue to have it as a part of our farm.  It was a place of raccoons, rotting hay and unmarked jars with unknown liquids.  But, over time, we began seeing other views of this building.  For example, it was remarkably cool on a hot summer day.  No wonder many of the chickens would choose to come in here in July.

If you were in a part of the barn that we had cleaned out the old hay/straw then it wasn't as oppressive as other parts of the barn.  In fact, you could begin to understand why the barn was a place where children might play. 

But, this is where the perspective of the owner versus the perspective of a visitor often parts.  People would come to the farm and instantly be attracted by the old barn.  It was interesting.  It is rustic.  A joy to walk around and take in the natural beauty of aged wood and old white oak beams put together by wooden pegs.  Oh look!  There is an old hay fork!  That rope is as thick as my twelve year old's arm!  Neat.

But, what did I often see when I walked into the building?  Another broken glass pane from the windows we just can't seem to find time to fix or take out.  We'd better clean that up.  That corner over there has shifted some more, I'm not sure we can keep using this building much longer.  We'd better patch that hole or the raccoons will get to the chickens.

The good news?  When reminded, I could (and still do) stop and view the building from the perspective of a person who just sees it as a neat thing worthy of being.  And, I'm sure that if I really needed to, I could share some of the daily thoughts I have with others - just as I am doing now.  In my opinion, it's healthy as long as I let myself see both perspectives and don't let one completely obscure the other.

Sproing!

If you frame a picture just right, you can make it look like our farm is much more isolated than it really is.  In fact, the picture above makes it seem as if our house and the surrounding trees just sprang out of the prairie, with nothing else around for miles.  You can't really see the road if you don't know it is there.  It is too early to see the corn field in the background and it feels like you are much further from the house than you actually are for some reason.

It is a reminder to me that our farm is both bigger and smaller than you think.  There is plenty of room for us to do all kinds of good things at our farm.  There are places where, believe it or not, Tammy and I rarely go, though there aren't many of those.  And, there are many places where we walk frequently, but we often do not take note of a different viewpoint as we walk them.  So, every once in a while, I drag the camera along and try to take note of places on the farm where I can look in a different direction than I usually do, just to see what things look like from that perspective.

On a recent sunny day, I actually walked around our farm.  And, I mean I literally walked AROUND it.  I started on the road and walked to our Southwest border, then I walked the West line.  It was actually an odd experience.  We normally only see our farm from the outside perspective when we are on the road.  It is not often that we will view it from the North (for example).  It's simply amazing some of the ideas that can be jump started by a different viewpoint.

High Tunnel Take Two

Here we are in the lovely month of April.  At least it has been pretty nice thus far.  And, today, Rob harvested spinach from the high tunnel and a number of lucky people were able to purchase bags of our super tasty spinach.  Tammy and I are looking forward to diving into our own 'custom picked' bag of spinach as well.  There just isn't anything quite like our over-Wintered spinach for flavor and texture - we'll stack it up against any other spinach you can find.

But, that's not exactly what the subject of this post is about.  Many of you might recall our high tunnel build that occurred in 2010.  And, if you don't recall that event - or you are newer to our farm and our blog - here is a picture.

We put up the high tunnel in a just a few days as part of an extended field day.  Adam Montri, Mike Bollinger and Greg Garbos were all in attendance and gave presentations on the topic of using a high tunnel for season extension.  All in all, it was a positive experience.  But, let's be honest... we were the field day hosts.  I'm not sure how much of it we remember since we were run pretty ragged by the end.

But, on the plus side, this building has helped us provide good produce to people now every since 2010.  It is often our 'happy place' to go if there are issues with some of the field crops.  It was well worth the investment for our farm at the time we made it, even if it required some stretching and discomfort in the process.

High Tunnel Number Two on its way in 2015!

So, here we are in 2015.  And, we have written a check for a second high tunnel to be put up on the farm this Spring.

The new building will go up in a different location on the farm.  We've learned our lesson from prior events and will not put all of our eggs in one basket by clustering our high tunnel buildings in one place.  But, the building itself will come from Four Seasons Tools and will also be a movable (2 position) high tunnel like the first.  The other difference?  The new building will be 96 feet long as opposed to 72 feet.  I suspect we'll be surprised by what a few extra feet inside the building will do for us.

Four Seasons has learned a few things and so have we, so we anticipate an easier build and a simpler integration into our farm operation this time around.  Once we know when the high tunnel will be delivered, we will make more announcements regarding the build.  But, if you have interest in helping at some point in the process, please let us know.

No Spring Extended Season CSA in 2015
Other than the fact that we'll need to take the time to get the building put up, we are making one major change to the 2015 season.  We will not be offering a Spring extension this season.  We will have some produce for sale, including asparagus, lettuce and spinach.  But, we wanted to allow ourselves to focus on getting a strong start to the regular season CSA and we didn't want to have the added pressure of putting up this building AND maintaining a Spring CSA at the same time.

What's the logic of adding a second high tunnel?
Removing the Spring CSA allows us to begin setting up the rotation that a two high tunnel system will provide for us.  Our intent is to have one building (the older one) move in the Fall and the newer one will move in the Spring.  One tunnel can focus on the early side of Spring, Summer and Fall while the other focuses on extending growing in the other direction (to the late side).  One building left us with tension between starting a new crop and wanting to let the current crop keep producing.  Two building should alleviate the problem.

A simplified version of the plan is as follows:

The current high tunnel will be used to get an early start on Summer crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, carrots, beets, etc.  It will also be used heavily for the Fall extended season by planting the Fall crops in August in the uncovered location and then we will move the building over those crops in mid to late October.  Since the Summer crops were started early, they should be well past peak and we won't cry if we move the high tunnel off of them.

The new high tunnel will allow us to start Spring crops early under cover.  As April heats up, we will move the building off of these plants so they don't bolt and we can continue to harvest the colder season crops well into June.  The Summer crops in this building will be started later and will therefore be used to extend our Fall harvest of these sorts of veggies.  We can also focus more on some late started crops intended for overwintering in place (such as spinach or lettuce).

Things Worth Observing

The month of April will see us kicking off our 2015 CSA membership drive.  As part of that drive, we have a goal of putting out a blog post each day of the month.  We hope you enjoy them! 

Please feel free to comment.  And, if the comment box fails to work, feel free to share with us via email.  

If you haven't noticed by now, I like to write blog posts that work in tandem with some of the pictures we have taken on the farm (or pictures others have taken and shared with us).  Sometimes, the picture inspires the writing.  Other times, I have something I want to write and I find pictures that go with it.  Today, I noticed this picture as I was previewing a batch of photos we have on file.

I do not know if the two young ladies in this picture remember when this picture was taken, but it was at one of the several events that are held each year at our farm.  But, they are doing something I, myself, love to do when I have a chance.  Taking a moment and watching a butterfly up close and personal.

If you are able to do so at some point this summer, give yourself the time to patiently wait for one of these creatures to land where you can see it.  Then watch while they fold and unfold their wings for you.  Consider how delicate they look and how tough they have to be to navigate a windy day successfully.

And maybe, just maybe, one will do you the honor of landing on you.

The farm can be a very busy place and there is a never ending list of things to do.  We do not sit down much from April to November and it can get pretty easy to be overwhelmed by the work.  Surely, we cannot spend time watching butterflies!  It isn't an efficient use of time and resources.

Or is it?

Take one minute now.  Just look at your watch or some clock for ONE MINUTE.  Don't do anything else.
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OK! Time's up!  Yes, I know, it's pretty difficult to simulate time in a blog post.  But, if you have ever done this exercise, you can appreciate exactly how long one minute can feel.  And, maybe, you can also appreciate how rewarding that single minute of time can be if you spend it observing something that has value.

One minute watching a butterfly on a flower, or your hand.  One minute looking at the leopard frog under the cucumber leaf.  One minute taking in the aroma, texture and colors of a favorite iris flower.  One minute marveling at how the garter snake moves as it moves away from you in the garlic row.  One minute being amazed by the fine veins in a maple leaf or one minute of amusement noticing the miniature rainbow created by the spray from a leak in your drip irrigation.

A minute is not an unreasonable amount of time for a break, especially when that break restores a sense of wonder or well-being.  Join me in taking one minute every so often to enjoy things that are worth observing.

Traditions Don't Die, They Just Look Different Each Year

Well, it seems like we might actually get a normal (ish) Spring this year.  Therefore, we will do something that is apparently normal for us.  We'll put a blog post out for you.

Anonymous Farmer Project Includes GFF in 2015

We have NO idea who that is.

The Genuine Faux Farm has been selected to be a participant in a new project called the Anonymous Farmer Project.  Since many people do not seem to place much importance on learning about where their food comes from, this project was created to reflect this common approach to food acquisition and consumption.  Photos were selected from those provided by participating farms and were placed on a calendar that can be found in the produce, fruit and meats section of many grocery stores throughout the nation.  In every case, the farmer's identity is obscured - providing the consumer with an excellent excuse for not knowing who grew the food they have purchased or how it was raised.

Romanesco Grows to Maturity Over Winter Months
In recent events on the farm, Rob and Tammy were treated to a fresh romanesco head from a forgotten plant in the basement of their farm.  As many of you might know, we start many of our plants in trays before transplanting them into the fields or the high tunnel.  Apparently, one of these trays was missed last fall and remained in the basement all Winter long.  As you might expect, most of the little plants simply died due to lack of water, sunlight and nutrients.  One plant was made of sterner stuff and managed to survive and even produced a head of romanesco.  We often joke that we should tell our production plants they are weeds, since weeds always seem to do so well on our farm.  Amazing what a little neglect can do.

We've got some swampland to sell you too!

Wild Turkey Infiltrates GFF Chicken Yard
Recent egg collection duties have resulted in finding some extremely large eggs in the hen area during the past couple of weeks.  The picture below shows a carton with mainly Xtra Large to Jumbo rated eggs.  The two eggs on the left go off the scale.

Now, those are some eggs!

Initially, we were under the impression that there should be a couple of bow legged birds wandering around the yard.  We've had big eggs in the past for short bursts of time and we just figured these hens started laying smaller eggs or went on strike after a while.  However, a recent early morning excursion may have provided us with a better explanation as we saw wild turkeys very near the hen pasture.  They were clearly looking quite guilty and were attempting to leave unnoticed.  Wild turkeys are smart birds and may have figured out how to get into the hen room and lay an egg or two.  However, we're still not sure how they re-latch the door on the way out.
 
Inadvertent Success Leads to New GFF Project
The 2014 season was an excellent clover year at the Genuine Faux Farm and throughout Iowa.  There were many reports of clover patches simply appearing where none had been before.  Clover is great for bees and native pollinators and, if you are Irish, can result in an increase in luck - or maybe just an increase in the time spent picking four leaf clovers.

Maybe clover in the yard isn't really that hard?

In any event, the random clover patch phenomenon has encouraged us to take on a new research project tracking random clover patch migration.  Current research is limited due to the increased use of herbicides that control leguminous plants, such as clover.  It is our contention that the migration patterns of the common, random clover patch may have something to do with the reduced Winter habitat for Monarchs in Mexico.  But, we're having trouble finding appropriate tranquilizer darts for clover so we can tag them properly.

Glowstick Art Ban Ignored on the Farm
Bremer County has recently had a number of incidents where persons wielding glow sticks have entered agricultural fields.  After talking to county officials, we learned that this activity has been banned.  Apparently, there were numerous reports of crop circles from local farmers that were traced back to these "Glowstick Events."

After noticing just such an event in a field less than a mile away from our farm, we decided to investigate and found out that participants were mostly starving artists looking for things to eat. One person, who wished to remain anonymous, bemoaned the fact that they had yet to find a field that contained anything that resembled food.  However, she did state that there were some really beautiful glow stick events that had been performed in a soybean field by Janesville.

Since GFF is about raising good, edible food, we arranged to have these starving artists visit our farm.  In return for some good food, they allowed us to take a photo or two of their performance.

Purrrrrdy!

Florist Invasion

If you have visited the farm, you might recall that there is a wooded area about three quarters of a mile from our property.  There is also an access road that goes around our property, then straight back to the woods in the North.  We often see people go back that way to hunt, but we have been seeing alot of traffic recently.  And, we don't believe there is an active hunting season at the moment.

Our curiosity was peaked when we noticed that the people driving the vehicles were wearing cowled robes.  Of course, we had to find out what a bunch of monks were doing, so we snuck back there and found that they have a small greenhouse and are growing flowers, cutting them and packaging them for sale.  This would explain the delivery vans going back and forth on the access road.

We do not own that land, but we know who does.  We didn't think they would like someone using the land without permission.  So, we contacted the owners.  Apparently, they tried to talk to the monks, but got no satisfaction.  The traffic to the woods continued.  Finally, our neighbors called Hugh, our local sheriff.  He's a very nice guy, but he can get people's attention when he needs to.  All it took was one visit from Hugh and the monks packed up and left.

Of course, you know what this means.  (wait for it)

Hugh and ONLY Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

Oooooooh.  You just HAD to, didn't you?

Is it REALLY APRIL FIRST?!?

Wow!  Imagine that. 
If you'd like to see prior year installments, here they are!

2014 April Fool Post
2013 April Fool Post
2012 April Fool Post

Poultry Slam

Since we are approaching the date when we will have hen chicks on the farm once again, we thought we'd do a Poultry "Slam" and answer some questions about the hens on our farm that people have asked us.  Some of these have been posed over time and others have come in via email.  We will focus on our laying flock in this one. So, without further ado...

Do you raise your own hen chicks at Genuine Faux Farm?
The most accurate answer to your questions is that we HAVE raised some chicks on our farm that were from our farm.  But, this has only occurred ONCE so far.  We bought a small incubator in 2012 when we were unable to sell any of our eggs for eating after the chemical spray incident on our farm.  We were successful in hatching a couple dozen birds.  More than half were roosters.  Hm.  Last we checked, roosters don't lay eggs, so that isn't helpful.

Hatching in our incubator.

We may try this again, but for the most part, we are content to purchase day old checks from Hoover Hatchery to replenish our flock.  All of our turkeys and broilers are purchased as chicks.  Maybe, someday, we'll do more with this.

A few of our chicks soon after hatching.

What are the most eggs you have collected in a day and what is your average number of eggs in a day?
The most eggs we have collected in a day (all laid that day) is 87.  But, it is quite rare to cross the 70 egg mark.  We use a pretty safe estimate of 4 dozen eggs a day as an average collection for the entire year.  Our birds tend to cycle through high and low egg laying periods.  The hens are especially sensitive to very cold and very warm weather.  When we have conditions like that, their egg production usually drops.  So far in 2015 (as of Mar 23) we have collected an average of 52.7 eggs per day.  But, we just went through a peak period with several 70+ egg days, so it is a bit higher now.

One of the egg boxes is to the left of the door.

Where do chickens lay their eggs?
 Believe it or not, it is true that hens prefer a slightly confined space to lay their eggs.  A nest box that is about 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot and enclosed on all but one side works well.  It is very rare that we will find an egg that is not in one of these spots.  Occasionally, birds will determine some other enclosed space (like behind a nest box) will work.  When that happens, the humans sometimes miss eggs for a period of time.

The hen room in the middle of a nice day

Do you have to herd the entire flock back into their room every night?
Thank goodness, we do not.  We do, however, need to go out every night once the sun sets and close the doors to their room.  If we fail to close the doors, predators can get in and kill chickens.  Of course, the birds go in at their own pace.  They do not care if you actually want to go inside a bit earlier on a given day, nor do they care if you want to go see a movie or meet someone elsewhere at the end of the day.  Only rarely do we try to herd them into their room before they are ready.  But, when we do, we have to stay patient and calm or they will make it more difficult.

We have found that the trick to getting them to go back to their 'room' is to put them into their quarters for the first time at the beginning of the night.  After they spend a night there, they will tend to come back to it as their 'home base.'  If you want to be more certain that they will imprint on that space, keep them locked in for the first day.  And, we have learned to "hide" their prior home form their line of sight (see below).

How do you introduce new hens to the flock?

Hen chicks getting their first taste of pasture.

We do not introduce the new, young hens to the flock until they are close to the point of laying eggs.  Since we get chicks in April, integration usually occurs in September (approximately).  So, as you can see, we have a different home that is surrounded by electric fence for the young birds.  We have learned that the young birds may try to go back to their old home if they can see it.  So we make sure the portable building is out of their line of sight once we move them.

We introduce the young hens at night (after dark) and we put them all in at once.  The older hens will try to establish dominance on the younger birds, but a larger number of young birds spreads out the picking that is bound to occur.  There is something to be said about safety in numbers.

If you have to move birds, how do you do it?
 This depends on how many we intend to move, how far they have to move and what the purpose is for the move.  For example, if we are transporting birds some distance (for example, taking young birds to another farm), we put them in cages such as the one shown below.

Ok, there are ducks in there, but you get the point.

If we are moving young birds into the main room with the laying flock, we will carry them from one place to the other.  It's just as efficient as any other method given the layout of our farm and the number of birds.  Before you get any ideas, we don't carry them one at a time and we don't take time to scratch each one behind the ears...

We move them at night, typically, when they are asleep.  It is far easier to catch and move them at this point.  We grab them by their feet and carry them upside down.  They squawk just a little bit and calm down not long after.  If they are not upside down, they tend to struggle longer and the whole event is actually more traumatic for all involved.  As long as they are all facing the same way, Tammy and I can carry three per hand this way (though one of us has to be able to open or hold open a door).  If they are all facing the same way, it is easy to lay them back down on their belly/breast, which makes it easy for them to orient and figure out their surroundings.

We've seen pictures of your chicks with a metal wall. Where is that?

Oh, like this picture?

When we first receive chicks, we need to find a safe, enclosed space for them to live.  This space has to maintain an appropriate temperature and it needs to be able to keep critters out, such as rats, cats and ummm... well, not bats, but it rhymes.  We also need to keep the baby birds from jumping out of their safe space.  After a period of time, they are capable of jumping out, but they don't have the body weight or feathers to maintain the body temperature and they will die if we don't notice it in time.  This picture shows the bird in a stock tank we use to start our chicks.  We put old screen windows on the top and we have polycarbonate plastic to put over that if the weather is cooler.   The nice thing about the stock tanks is that we can put them wherever we need to that has access to electricity for the heat lamp.

Are your birds always on pasture?

Hens in the front, turkeys in the back

You certainly know how to ask a question that isn't as easy as it sounds, don't you?
The birds are always inside at night to protect them from raccoons, owls, foxes, coyote and other predators.  They are outside during the day most of the time UNLESS it is Winter.  Our hens do not like to walk on snow and simply will not go out - even if the food is only ten feet away from the door.  Ok, some of them will fly to the feeder.  But, we've had birds land in the snow and just sit there until we went and got them.

Also, we want our birds to have some of their adult feathers in before we start letting them outside.  Of course, on nice days they would do fine, but there are other issues with keeping them safe.  And, it is not like we have the time to stand around and baby sit them all day.

One of the downsides can be seen in the picture above.  During a drought period, the pasture can look pretty rough. We do various things to try to move them around.  But, with our small farm, there are some limits.  We do our best to give them quality pasture, keep the pasture healthy and maintain security for the flock.

Tarp can provide good wind protection

 Sometimes, we will split the flock - taking some of the older birds out to their own pasture.  We use a portable building with electric fencing surrounding their pasture area.  This allows us to move them to different areas of ground and relieve some of the stress on the main pasture areas.  In fact, we can put them on areas that are in our vegetable plots that are not scheduled for veg until the next season.  That way, we get manure spread without having to shovel.  We like that.

What the pasture looks like late in the year.

While the picture above shows the turkey pasture after they've been taken to the park, you can see that the plants are pretty short.  The birds do like to forage and the hens like to scratch.

What do you feed the birds?

Feed us!  Tuppence a bag!

We do have a grain based feed that is put together by a local feed producer that comprises the bulk of what our birds eat.  However, people notice that our eggs have more yellow and more substance than most grocery store eggs.  This is a direct reflection of the health of the birds.  They are healthy because they are active and they have a diverse diet that includes insects in the Spring/Summer and Fall as well as clover and other plants they find in their pastures.  We also provide them with vegetables that are not suitable for sale/CSA and scraps from our kitchen.  They LOVE bread that Tammy and I have decided has gone stale.

People who visit will notice that the birds will come to the edge of the pasture when humans approach.  It's not so much that they think you are all great (of course you are), it's more the fact that an approaching human on the farm often means treats of some kind that fly over the fence for their approval (and consumption).

Thanks for asking - do you have more questions?  
We would love to do more postings on our blog of this sort.  Do you have additional questions about our hen flock?  If so, please comment here or send us an email!  We'll "make you famous" and put your question on our blog with the best answer we can come up with (without making it up!).