2016 Scavenger Hunt

The 2016 Scavenger Hunt at our Summer Festival was enjoyed by many people.  We've also had a tradition of posting some or all of the pictures on to the blog so those who did not attend could enjoy them and maybe make some guesses as to what these things might be (and where they are on the farm).

Didn't make the 'cut'

When we go out and take pictures for the Scavenger Hunt, we do so the same day of the event.  Why?  Well, things move around a good deal on the farm and we don't want to have something that requires people climbing around where it isn't safe, etc.

We have a certain number of slots to fill, so some of the pictures don't make it for one reason or another.  For example, the picture above is a small solar panel for some decorative lights on our front porch.  It didn't make it partly because there was another item that was pictured nearby that we thought was a better choice.  Plus, the camera focused on the reflection in this picture rather than the item.  Kind of neat, but not what we were aiming for.

Yes, it's a wheel.  The kicker was - could you find the RIGHT wheel?	We've got a little green trailer on the farm.  It has this keylock - so there.
Sometimes, a thing stands out because it shouldn't be there.  This is a tangle of Hortnova fencing hanging from the side of the high tunnel.	We have a trailer that has been used as a grass catcher.  This is the receiver for the discharge tube.
Some of the side roll-up mechanism on the Southeast corner of the Poultry Pavilion.  You'd have to look up.	An okra flower.  No, we didn't require that you find the exact okra flower.
Gate latch to the duck area.  We don't really use this anymore, but it's good fodder for Scavenger hunts.

High Tunnels R Us? (Gang of Four)

Every time I talk about the high tunnels on our farm with someone who is not a grower, I have this little voice in my head saying, "Who named these things 'high tunnels' anyway?  Everyone is thinking it's a hole in the ground and they just can't quite fathom why I would be so happy to be growing produce in one of them."

In any event, it seems as if high tunnel repair and construction have been a thing this Fall with us.  First, we received all kinds of wonderful help to put new plastic on our older building.  Among those helping were some of our Gang of Four friends along with CSA members, Wartburg College students and others interested in our farm.

On September 25, we rolled on down to Blue Gate Farm to help them with their new high tunnel building.  The short story - they had another one, but the wind huffed and it puffed and it blew it down.

the vertical poles were already in place when we arrived

There are always parts to jobs like this where just having enough willing people is what is needed for some success.  The ribs of the building come in three parts that needed to be put together.  Once they were together, we could move them into position so they were lined up with corresponding verticals.

They be strong people!  Nice work Jennie and Jill.

Like many things, it took a bit for us to figure it all out.  But, once we did, things started moving fairly quickly.  Most of us have been involved in building/repairing this sort of thing before, so we aren't clueless.  On the other hand, we don't put these things up EVERY day, so there is always a little bit of a "re-learning/re-discovery" curve that needs to be climbed.

Oh, maybe they aren't so heavy - Rob's helping to carry one.

We put up four ribs first just to get the process down.  After that, we just got the ribs constructed and moved them all into place. 

Put the tall guy on the ladder.  Good idea.

Sometimes, it the rib didn't want to settle into the vertical.  As a result, Tammy was able to get an interesting series of pictures.

Right side is in, now for the left.

Jill is amazed.  Rob's feet are actually OFF the ground.

Mark says, "I bet I can get my feet further off of the ground!"

Hey!  Bending your knees is CHEATING!  No fair!

After struggling a bit with the third rib, things got progressively easier as we figured out tricks to make things go smoother.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see that Jill is holding a three-pound hammer.  It can be a pretty good persuader.  That, and Rob learned how to throw his weight around with a bit more authority?  Whatever, it worked out pretty well.

Look Jill, I don't think bent knees should count against me.  I clearly got further off the ground.

Hey Sean, did you see Mark?  He cheated to show Rob he could get his feet further off the ground.

Apparently, Sean did not care too much about that drama.

Once the ribs were in place, we needed to start attaching purlins and bracing for the ribs.  Happily, GFF had some scaffolding that they could bring down, which helped at least a little bit as we started work on that. 

The hardest part with all of this is the distance we all have to travel in order to do these projects.  We made excellent headway, but we all wish we could have gotten further on the project.  Nonetheless, we also know from experience that every little bit of help gets you closer to your goal.

It Must Be All About Me

I do not particularly care much for spending time on Facebook or other social media sites.  It's not that I don't understand why people might enjoy them.  But, it just isn't my thing.  I suppose a big part of it is the fact that I am a bit of an analytic.  I prefer to think on things a bit more and I don't like to flit around too much.  So, it feels like that's what's happening on social media sites all the time.  It's just not me.

And yet, I have seen this photo/meme several times now and I actually have read it a couple of times.

"The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us to become the best version of ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help to make them great.

We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves."

from the Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly

I am often bothered by the lack of citation given by many who put these things on Facebook, so I hunted it down. 

Mr. Kelly has an agenda in his writing here, of course.  And, I don't necessarily disagree with what this implies.  Evidence in my own life has shown me that others certainly have influence over what I do and how well I do it.  In fact, I readily give credit to many, MANY other people for giving me a boost when I needed it and/or provided me with a model to follow.  And, yes, it certainly is easier to reach goals with positive people around you to challenge you to do your best in everything you do.

But, the negative implications here are threefold:
1. You should exclude those who will not be a benefit to you.  Unless, of course, you want to be a failure.
2. It's all about ME.  There is no reason to concern yourself with supporting someone else.
3. I should not concern myself with being an agent for change in others unless that change is to collect the proper friends and discard the improper ones.

I suspect Mr. Kelly doesn't want people to come to those conclusions.  After all, any time we try to boil wisdom down into a paragraph or two (or a sentence... or two words) we are encouraging conclusions that may not be consistent with what we were hoping to lead to.  Perhaps if we read all of his book, we might find a balance to this - some sort of discussion about our role and responsibility in and for the lives of others.

But, since we don't have that here, I will leave you with an addendum of my own.

Help those around you to become the best version of themselves that they can be.  Help them to raise their standards.  Help them to remember their essential purposes in life.  Positively challenge them to do and be their best.  And, in so doing, you will have achieved.  And perhaps, so will they.

2015 Look in the Mirror

In prior years we have done a Top Ten Events for the prior year.  After all, January is the month for 'top ten' lists and that sort of thing.  So, of course, we started it in January and didn't finish.  Since I am needing some new material on the blog, what better way to accomplish this sooner than to finish something I've already started?

In keeping with a recent series of "Look in the Mirror" posts, like this one for 2012, we were feeling more like writing that way rather than trying to rank things.  And, after all.  I never did get this done in January - July (and then September) seems like a good time to do things differently anyway!

All in all, 2015 was a pretty good year for us at the farm.  Of course there were problems.  There are always things that don't go quite right.  But, for the most part, we did just fine.

Early Season Events and Decisions Set the Tone
It is hard to believe that some of these things just happened in 2015 as it feels like they occurred a long, long time ago.  For example, we finally received a settlement for the 2012 spraying incident in February.   And, in late July, we finally regained organic certification for the west fields and old high tunnel that were in the spray zone (three year anniversary).  It is hard to explain exactly how different we feel about things on the farm now that these two milestones have been reached.  Suffice it to say that we both feel like we have some extra energy for the farm.

We also made the decision to not do an extended Spring share this year.  Instead, we figured we'd make sure the regular season CSA started strong and rely on direct sales for early Spring for whatever crops we got going.  This allowed us to use the high tunnel a little bit differently in the Spring.

So, we used the high tunnel to start plants during the early months

Perhaps the Spring share will return in future years.  But, for 2015, it was exactly what we needed to be doing.

Truly Weather Wythards

A weather station for the farm

We've talked about getting a weather station on the farm for a few years, but the time/energy to explore options just never showed up... until this year.  We picked up a decent station and set it up in the high tunnel early in the year to get used to it AND see how things worked in a somewhat controlled environment.  I think we are most amused (by it, not the weather) when it tells us it is "raining cats and dogs."  If Rob were programming it, he might have added things like "hold on to your hat" and "your neighbor's cow just flew by."

Equipment Changes and Additions (Again!)
Every year, we add, modify and delete tools and equipment on the farm.  It's just part of the way things are.  If you really use something, it tends to break.  Or, if you use something often, you begin to see how it can be improved.  And, sometimes, you pick something out because you think it will solve a problem - and it doesn't.  It's all a part of what we do.

The orange running gear at the left has turned out to be the most used tool purchase of the year.  It now has a flat deck on it and, unlike our other hayrack, it can turn without a good deal of force.  Ya, something about needing to turn on a fifteen acre farm....

The middle photo shows off Jeff Sage's wonderful work in repairing the back doors on our chicken nugget trailer.  Yes, we know it's an old horse trailer.  But, it is now used to be the portable home for our meat chickens - usually referred to as "nuggets" when they are smaller.

On the right is a nice flair box that, shall we say, has yet to find it's real niche on the farm.  Ah, such is life.

The SNORT Returns

The last time we heard about the Snort, it was a situation that we hadn't planned on.  This time around, we actually invited the Snort to come dig our own personal "Grand Canyon."  Rather than say much more, we'll just go to the next item.

Valhalla at GFF

We started the process of pursuing the building of a second high tunnel in 2013.  And, as part of the process, we entered the Dream Big, Grow Here contest and won the local competition.  It took us until 2015 to get everything together and to gather the rest of the necessary funds (no small project in itself).  The SNORT was used to dig a trench for a frost free water line to serve the new building.  All I can say at this point is that we're glad we did it.  And, for those who care, we named our first high tunnel "Eden."  Hey!  It's better than the "Old" high tunnel and "new" high tunnel.

Well, I'm Bushed.
I'm beginning to understand why we were so tired at the end of the season last year.  The sheer number of additional projects in addition to the normal growing season and poultry raising is a bit surprising when you look at it in the rear-view mirror.

Laying fabric to help the new bushes survive.

We've had bush lines established in parts of the farm since 2005, but are really trying to establish lines on all edges of the farm.  Our hope is that this does several things for us.  First, it will provide habitat for all kinds of useful critters on our farm.  And second, we hope it helps protect us a little bit from spray drift form neighboring farm land.  Already, many of these bushes are putting on some size in 2016. 

The Carrot/Beet Experiment
Carrots and beets have been difficult for us to grow in the field for various reasons that we have outlined in other blog posts.  So, we thought we'd see what would happen if we grew a row of each right next to each other in the high tunnel.

middle row, carrots on the left, beets on the right

The net result?  109 pounds of carrots and 107 pounds of beets.  We'll consider that a success and work to expand on it.

Valhalla's First Crop
The new high tunnel didn't go up until June, which was NOT our original plan.  But, that's when it happened.

Then, we had to change our plans as far as the timing of crops were concerned for the building.  We gave some late tomatoes and peppers a try, as well as a row of green beans and... some sweet potatoes and late melons.  The last two - not a good idea.  The others, however, did pretty well for us.  Getting some fresh Black Krim tomatoes on Tammy's birthday in November - priceless.

We Just Like This Picture

Weeded and the plants look good. 'Nuff said.

Treating Flowers as a Crop
Sometimes things work.  This year, we finally executed the plan we've wanted to with respect to flowers and melons.  We treated the flowers with the same emphasis in growing as we did the melons.  We reduced the number of melon plants by about 1/3 - net result, we got about 1/3 more melons this year than prior years. 

We might be on to something here.

Ducklings!
We decided to over-Winter some ducks for the first time ever.  The hope?  We wanted to raise our own ducklings. 

It worked this time around!

It actually was fun seeing those little yellow fluff balls following mama around.  We're not calling it an unqualified success, but it gave us some hope for the future.

Summer Festival Takes Precedence
We decided to target our energy a bit more and have one large festival in August rather than trying to hold three festivals per year.  The result was a Summer Festival with music and a scavenger hunt, among other things.

oh, and painting!

And A Field Day?  Really?!?

We even helped host a field day with IOA (Iowa Organic Association) and NCAT (National Center for Appropriate Technology) on a new crop insurance program.  Part of the session was held at the Tripoli Extension Office building and it was followed by a farm tour at GFF.

Yep, I like this tool

Still Green In November

We still had some green and growing things in the field right up until mid-November.  But, when it decided to turn cold, it did it right quick!

Spinach, daikon radish, fall radish, napa cabbage and pok choi!

Rob spent a couple of frantic days trying to bring in everything he could prior to the deep freeze. And, since we didn't have a place to keep things from freezing other than our basement, he hauled several thousand pounds of produce to the basement.  Ugh.

Poultry Clean Up Crew
We decided to have a later Fall batch of broiler chickens so we could use them to clean up some of our field and, in the process, they could spread manure for us.

This field HAD green things in it a day or so ago.

Drift Catchers Are Us
And, we participated in a drift catching project that required some set up and consistent data collection.  We were ready to do this again in 2016, but they are looking at changing things so they can collect and test for more things.

We did receive results from this project and it opens up a whole host of questions that should be discussed.  We'll save that for another time.

Culinary Corner
Last but not least, we were able to debut the Culinary Corner post series on our blog to feature one of our workers, Elizabeth, and her culinary knowledge.  We saved one of the posts for this year and we try to link people to these periodically.  Thanks again Elizabeth for your work on these posts!

Belated Thanks
Again, this post was slated for January.  But, things happened and then other things.  And, we all know what happens after that... MORE things!  Still, our gratitude for everyone who helped us through 2015 is no less strong than it was when this post was begun.  In some ways, it might be stronger because we can see how things have proceeded since last year.

Here's to a timely 2016 post!  But, let's enjoy 2016 before we even begin to worry about that.

Kids on the Frontline

We heard from a person who reported driving down a country road when a plane flew over their vehicle and droplets from the plane landed on them as they drove by.  She was indignant that this happened and upset when she told us about it.  But, she didn't feel there was much that could be done about it.  "And," she said, "I suppose no one was really hurt by it anyway."

Another individual told us about the time he was riding on a bike trail on a windy day.  As he rode by a field, a rig was applying some sort of chemical and the wind blew it towards him.  He tried to hold his breath as he went by and was upset by the experience.  He had some headaches afterwards, but figured it could be for any particular reason.  Maybe he pushed too hard and didn't stay hydrated.  No one was really hurt by it, so maybe he should just let it pass.

After all.

You live in Iowa, so deal with it.

It's time to get over that attitude.  It is becoming clear that our continuing OVERUSE and MISUSE of chemicals for horticulture, agriculture and for our own 'lawn vanity' has costs that we should be unwilling to pay.  

On May 10 of this year, the Pesticide Action Network held a press conference announcing the release of their report on pesticides and their impacts on children.  If you would like to read about this press conference, you can go here: https://iowaenvironmentalfocus.org/tag/pesticide-action-network/

Carmen Black and Mark Quee

You will see that our good friend, Mark Quee was one of the speakers at this event.  Mark has an innate ability to take a report with all kinds of factual details and turn it into something that is personal - something we should have feelings about and something we need to take action on.  He, in particular, spoke about his personal worry about how his actions and inactions, in addition to our collective action/inaction, are effecting his child.  In short, this isn't about someone you don't know.  This is about the children in YOUR life.  What you do with this information, or fail to do, can impact them.

Also at this event was Kent Boyum, who is a board member for the Iowa Organic Association with Rob.  IOA decided that they wanted to stand behind this report after a few of the members reviewed the document.  The research is sound and I personally feel that the authors worked very hard to say ONLY what the research is saying.  They do this even though it is so tempting to extrapolate what only seems logical beyond what the research says.

The Report is Here
http://www.panna.org/resources/kids-frontline

Of course, more research is needed and will be important.  However, there is, in my opinion, enough here that we need to be setting up to take action.  We have energy and knowledge within the scientific community to develop these chemicals.  That means we should have the same kind of energy to find ways to limit their use and better target their application.  It also means that we have the ability to work harder to be absolutely sure we have a sound knowledge of both short-term and long-term effects of chemical application.

Tammy and I are convinced that PAN is a good organization that is trying to help collect information and advocate for approaches that prevent application of chemicals that can adversely affect health.  Emily Marquez put some amazing effort into developing the most recent report.  This report is not about demonizing people who use chemicals, nor is it about making people who opt not to use them angels.

What is it about?  It's about admitting that the things we do impact those around us.  It's about realizing mistakes we make and looking for ways to correct them as we discover them.  It's about opening our eyes and forcing ourselves to stop ignoring problems that are in front of them.  We have a problem (or a set of them) and we need to address it.

Start by taking a little time and reading this report.

Playing With Your Food

If you have heard someone say that you shouldn't play with your food, then you haven't heard it from us.  As a matter of fact, we've enjoyed some of the creativity folks have shown when it comes to finding veggies of unusual shape or size.

Hey! I just picks 'em, I doesn't always check for faces!

Sam Larimer has been particularly good at finding interesting veggies and actually following through with making them into interesting characters AND taking some pictures.  We, of course, love this.  To be honest, I sometimes wish I had the time to select some of the odd fruit and accentuate the features I see in them.  But, usually, I just get a small chuckle as I place it into the bin with the rest for delivery later in the day.

Sometimes, I see it and take a picture.  Who else sees a yellow submarine?

More often than not, someone will notice the odd veggie in our CSA trays and will just have to take a picture.  Occasionally, a parent will groan as a child picks the carrot with lots of fingers because they KNOW who will have to CLEAN that carrot.  But, even they get a little bit of a smile from the odd shapes that sometimes grow in the field.

Which is Shannon's hand and which is the carrot?

Every once in a while we even get a photo from a person who is really happy to be getting a particular type of veg.

Tiger Eye dry beans anyone?  Thanks Mary!

And, at other times, the picture gets taken right at the CSA distribution.

Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat!

Mr. Aubergine knows that there are more like him out there.  Can you be creative and come up with a new veggie character for the Genuine Faux Farm?

Mr Aubergine always wants to know.  He's a curious fellow.

Sometimes, we create the characters in the field.  Picking veggies that keep growing can lead to some interesting veggie sculptures.

Pippi Kalestocking

This brings us back to Sam's creations.  We're beginning to wonder if we need to create a story line for Carrotman and his new nemesis.  Hmmmmm.

What shall we name this one?

Carrotman is unable to save his veggie friends from the fry pan.

What does the CSA distribution look like?

We are in the home stretch of our 2016 regular season CSA Farm Share program at the Genuine Faux Farm.  And, really, that just seems a bit wrong to us.  Didn't the season just start?  But, seasons are cyclic and we are entering the part of the cycle where growing things are slowing down.

So, we are beginning to get serious about having people sign up for our Fall Extended Season shares that start at the end of October and go into December.  You want some fresh produce for Thanksgiving?  Well, this is a good opportunity for you.


We are also beginning to take reservations for 2017 shares.  We start this process in September of the prior year in hopes that we can get the lion's share of our customers lined up.  The better our recruiting goes, the more successful the following growing season is.  

Why is that?  Simply put, we can plan and we can spend our energy in the Spring on getting it all to grow for you.

Here is what a farm share CSA distribution looks like outside Hansen's Outlet. Each tray or station has a sign telling you what you're getting. If you get five tomatoes, you pick your tomatoes... Come join us this Fall and next season!  We would love to be your personal farmers.

The farmers' job (at left)? Keep those trays filled and answer questions. Red hat, mandatory. Bag hanging out of the back pocket, frequent. Tell him to get a haircut, not likely.

Tater digger

 We are setting up to dig potatoes as soon as the soil dries up from the recent rain.  So, the tater digger will come out to play yet again this season.  A few years ago, we posted the picture on Facebook and asked people to be creative and come up with uses for it.  We thought we might share them again here!

The original post: Soon, this will be put to use. So, how shall we use it? Be creative!
Nancy D -  Some kind of chipmunk torture device?
Jeff C -  Picking pea pods, before they break the surface?
Keith K - I used one identical to this, as a kid, on my parents farm for digging potatos. It's an old potato plow (meant to be pulled by a horse), modified for a tractor. Maybe you know this. I just got excited when I saw the picture.
GFF's Response to Keith: 
Keith...you're not supposed to be accurate, just creative.
Everyone ignore Keith! Keep being creative.

Keith K - Crab grass filtration device. Dress it up into a scarecrow for Fall. Cloths drying rack on top, boot dryer on bottom. I'm done. (that's the spirit Keith! We know Keith and realized he could take a nice chiding.)
Susan C - a device for slinging turkey manure into your neighbors fields...
Theri V -  It looks like it could be a big, scoop-billed bird with big whacky eyes!
Keith K -  hook it to a zip-line, and provide rides at the farm. (Boy, I tell ya, get the guy started....)
GFF - Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Now we're having fun! If the zip line was lined up with a row of potatoes.....
Glen E -  A gold finder
Michael P - It should definitely involve a cello bow, an amplifier, and a full moon. (how'd he know we both played cello?)

Melissa J - Looks like a catapult. Aren't the turkeys getting to the obnoxious teen phase? Threaten to launch them into the corn fields! (no animals were harmed in the making of this comment)
Ryan D -  we all know plants grow better with music, it is an oversized thumb harp called a Hypogaea Harp. Best played in the fall to get the one last upward spurt out of the plants before harvest.
Theri V - How about a giant robot head to go up against your new pergola?  Like the "Bad Robot" at the end of some of the TV shows, like Lost.

We're glad so many people had some fun with this and we hope others enjoy the responses as well.  

Do you have other ideas?  Respond to this post and share them.  Or, if you can't get the comment feature to work and still want to share, send us your idea and we'll add it to this list!