Learning is Inefficient

I've been doing some thinking lately - which we all know is... a DANGEROUS PASTIME!

In a prior life, I spent significant time researching and developing my own philosophies of teaching and learning.  This task was a part of my doctoral program and is an exercise that I have never regretted doing.  I came to realize more fully than ever how personal learning is and that it is a continuous process.  And, I gained an appreciation for inefficiencies in learning.

Learning often is a result of struggle.  It happens when we make mistakes or when things go wrong even when we seem to have done everything correctly.  When you go through the processes of learning on a farm such as ours you can successfully argue that learning is not an efficient farming process.

I think I can also persuade you that failure to learn is far more inefficient.  And, I suspect you will also agree that learning can lead to greater efficiency on the farm once understanding is reached.

Failure Overcoming Discomfort
I am absolutely certain that most people will understand me when I say that we may resist learning something new because it is not always a comfortable process.  Learning takes effort that we may not want to expend.  Learning moves us from what we know now to something else and we don't always embrace change.  But, when failure begins to force the issue, we suddenly become much more willing to learn and perhaps reluctantly embrace the changes it might bring.

Trays ready for onion seeds

We have both the benefit and the misfortune of having years of gardening experience prior to our starting the Genuine Faux Farm.  I suspect you will understand the 'benefit' portion easily enough - but the 'misfortune?'  Maybe that's a bit harder to understand.

Growing techniques that worked for us as gardeners have rarely worked without significant modification as professional growers.  But, I have to admit it took several poor to marginal onion growing seasons before we let go of all of what we thought we knew so we could overhaul the process.  In this case, our discomfort with change might have been better classified as stubbornness.

Failure was necessary to prepare us for the learning.  It might have been much more "efficient" if we had just swallowed our pride and adopted new systems over sooner.  But, I don't necessarily think we would have learned what worked and why nearly so well if we hadn't actually had some "inefficiencies" in the process.

Experience and Reflection Take Time

Constructivism is the view that each person's understanding and knowledge of the world comes through experience and the reflection on those experiences.  An important point here is that there MUST be reflection on the experience for there to be learning.

Ready for potatoes in late April

Our potato field might be a good example that we can use to clarify what I mean.  There are certainly many well-documented processes and sets of tools that exist out there to successfully grow potatoes.  We could certainly take one outlined method and gather the tools and follow instructions.  We might have success doing that, or we might not.  If we immediately have success, you could say that we were efficient and we learned.  But, do we have any idea as to why the system worked?  What happens when conditions change and the process you blindly adopted no longer works?

Exposure over time provides a person with more circumstances that require actions or reactions to adjust if there is going to be continued success.  The time spent considering the why and how things work or fail help us to prepare options for the future. If it weren't for the 'inefficiency' of the experience/reflection cycle, we don't learn to adapt to a changing world and changing seasons.

Treasuring Those Preconceived Notions
I admit it.  There have been (and still are) numerous ideas in my head that I just can't let go of - even if the experience and reflection periods I have had since I started the farm all point to them being wrong.

We like dandelions - now.

Case in point?  The dandelion.  Most of us were taught that the dandelion was a noxious weed.  How many of us spent hours as a kid with the dandelion fork yanking them out of our family's yard?  Or did you grow up in a home where you had to stay off the lawn after it was sprayed?  I remember diligently pulling dandelions in our gardens and the tendency to want to keep them out of our fields was still there when we started the farm.

Over time, I've observed the pollinator activity on dandelions.  I've noticed how easy it is to remove them from areas in our fields when we need to remove them.  This is especially true when I compare them to other weeds we have problems with.  Have you noticed how much more earthworm activity there is in an area where there have been dandelions?  I have a new understanding of dandelions that has led me to appreciation, rather than irritation.

Learning Is Often Courtesy of a Negative Event
If learning were 'efficient' in terms of our farm's progress and well-being, then we wouldn't learn so often as a result of a problem.  However, if you think about the times in your life when you made the biggest strides in your own understanding it is typically as a result of the reflections you have with respect to an event that you would not characterize as a good one.

Fence those peppers!

A few years ago, we lost nearly all of our outdoor pepper crop (the indoor crop did fine).  Apparently, we put them in a field that was a favorite for the rabbits, woodchucks and deer.  Inside of 48 hours of transplant, 85% of the plants were gone.  That's a bitter pill to swallow after you and your crew spent time prepping the beds, putting transplants in and setting up the drip irrigation. 

This did lead us to some new preventative measures with portable electric fencing and other things.  In short, we learned some new techniques to deal with young plants and the critters that might find them tasty.  Clearly, we weren't doing enough to learn these lessons when there wasn't enough pressure to get our notice.  So, this event taught us to be more pro-active for possible predation problems in addition to being better prepared to react when pressures increase. 

Incremental Progress is Not a Bad Thing
Every farm is different.  You can not just 'cookie cutter' a successful farm onto another one because there are too many variables.  When you have a farm like ours, the variables are greater because we grow so many crops.

Love those collapsible cages!

But, let's pretend it would be more 'efficient' to just copy someone else's techniques, tools (and whatever else) onto one of our crops.  Let's say we do that for... oh... tomatoes.  And then, our crop fails.  Now what?

We have no experience to make adjustments.  If we've grown any tomatoes before in our lives we likely forsook all of those processes for this new 'fool-proof' method.  We've changed so much, there will be no way to isolate any one thing that might need changing.  Because we had little or no experience in the implementation of the new method, we can not even determine if the crop failure was user error or system error (or some of each).'

In other words, sometimes the best way to learn is by working things out in steps until our understanding is sufficient to take bigger leaps.

Learning How to Learn from Others
I suppose some of you might be wondering at this point if I am really as foolish as to say that prior knowledge and understanding collected by others is not useful if you really want to learn.  In fact, I would say just the opposite.  You can make your learning more efficient if you DO look at how others have done what you want to do. 

A mat of cucumber vines

Except the learner rarely starts at the same place of understanding as the teacher/expert/professional who has a system you might want to use.  Sometimes, the answer lies in knowledge that has been around for decades or centuries, but we have somehow managed to set that knowledge aside collectively.  In other situations, the answer is a variation on a well-known theme. 

The hard part isn't in seeing that something works or could be made to work.  It isn't in the understanding how it might work either.  The difficulty is in integrating this knowledge into what we already understand.

Transport yourself back to the last time you were in a classroom.  Pick a subject that wasn't inherently easy for you, but not necessarily impossible.  Do you remember the instructor giving you an example of how to do something (like solving an algebraic equation) and it seemed to make sense?
 "Yes, I think I could do that," you say. 
And then, the teacher gives you another problem and tells you to use that process.
And you struggle.

Assuming you do not give up after one try, you get several opportunities to try again.  After a while, you are able to use that technique to solve a certain type of problem.  And then, the teacher tells you to use the same technique for a different sort of problem.
And you struggle again.
But the struggles begin to lessen as you gain experience and you think about why things are working or not working.
And suddenly, you are helping others to learn.

Maybe learning isn't inefficient.

Maybe it's just necessary.

November Beans and Other Good Things

Way back in 2010...

Ok, that's not really 'way back' in the grand scheme of things.  But, 2010 - in terms of our farm seems like a very long time ago.

That was the year we came within a whisker of pulling the plug on the Genuine Faux Farm.  In fact, this post titled "Whupped" pretty much summed up how we were both feeling for much of that season.  It was more than difficult - it was completely demoralizing.

But, in that same season, some very important events occurred to counter the negative things.

We built a high tunnel.
And we learned the value of meeting with valued peers in farming.

Of course, the 2010 story is even more complex than I'm making it sound.  Clearly, we survived.  But, more importantly, some of the struggles of that season led us to doing some things that bring us to this.

Green beans and tomatoes on November 11

The struggles during the main part of the growing season in 2010 encouraged us to push the Fall season as deep as we were able at the time.  The high tunnel provided us with another tool in our arsenal and it gave us the motivation we needed to see if we could still make things work.

Here we are in 2016 and we harvested a tote full of green beans on November 11.  The green beans were NOT grown in a high tunnel, but we did use a remay cover to keep them going until we had a harvest.  The great thing about this?  Green beans are one of our favorite veggies.  We didn't really have enough to share with our Fall CSA members.  But, sometimes, keeping the farmers happy with a veggie treat is going to actually result in more good things for the CSA.

Speaking of good things - how about some tasty Black Krim and Italian Heirloom tomatoes on November 11?  These ARE courtesy of our high tunnels and it is a wonderful treat to be able to offer fresh, quality tomatoes this late in the season.

There is no way we could have known in 2010 how some of these things would have progressed, we could only guess that our perseverance would pay off.  And this is why I share this particular post.  It is a reminder to me and to others that some struggles actually help us to become better at what we do.  I am certainly not anxious to repeat 2010 ever again.  But, I can sincerely say that we wouldn't have advanced to where we are now without those struggles.

Cooler Than You?

The Sandman has a superiority complex, as you have all figured out by now.  Of course, he IS superior to everyone else, so we figure it is well-earned.  So, it should be no surprise when he says,

"I, the Sandman, am cooler than you."

What Could Possibly Rival the Sandman for Cool?

We will abstain from even bothering the Sandman for his opinion on this subject.  We already know his response.  Instead, we will focus on something on the farm that is SUPPOSED to be cool (except when it isn't supposed to be). 

We begin with exhibit A.

Exhibit A: Lotsa garlic in the truck barn

This picture comes courtesy of the 2014 growing season with some very nice garlic freshly hung in the rafters.  After we pull the garlic in mid-July, we will let it dry a little on hayracks for a couple of days (unless it rains) and then we hang them in bundles of 25 from the rafters to cure.  After two to three weeks, we start cutting them down so we can include them in CSA shares.

But, that's not actually why I put this picture in this blog post.  I put it here because things are VERY different in this building right now.  If you focus on the right side of the picture, you might see some white panels towards the back of the building.  That, my friends, is what our walk-in cooler looked like right up until this Fall.

Exhibit B(efore)
As I was typing the paragraph prior to this one, I remembered that we took a picture of the walk-in cooler panels soon after we unloaded them a couple of years ago.  These panels were salvaged from a Hy-Vee cooler that was being deconstructed in Ames.  Our friend, Jeff Sage, had a contact who let him know that we could take what we wanted and this is part of what we picked up.

Exhibit B - panels for a walk-in cooler.

I think the scariest thing about this picture (other than the fact that it was taken in 2013) is how clean this building looks at this point.  I just don't recall it ever being quite that empty.  On the other hand, I also know how easy it is to make things look cleaner by carefully selecting the camera angle.  I distinctly remember how much stuff I had to move in order to get this hayrack in far enough so the truck could also get into the building.  What you do NOT see is the pile of stuff just to the left of the trash can.

Perhaps Bryan is as Cool as the Sandman?
I can't tell you how many times we moved things around and started to consider what it would take to put the walk-in cooler up in the following months.  Starting in 2013, "Put Up Walk-in Cooler" was a high priority for major farm projects every season - right up until this year.  It went something like this:

2013 - Wow, we have walk-in cooler panels, we should put them up.
2014 - No, really.  A walk-in cooler would be a very useful thing, we really should put them up.
2015 - Look.  We need this walk-in cooler thing to be a go.  It's going to happen this year. Seriously.
2016 - We're too embarrassed to put this on the list.  We both KNOW it's on the MUST DO list anyway.

We won't bore you with all of the things that happened each season instead of the walk-in cooler construction.  Suffice it to say, the cooler delay wasn't because we were sitting on our hands.  Just, other things always seemed to sneak their way ahead of it.  Honestly, some of it was because neither of us had any experience with this sort of construction.

Enter Bryan Golay...

Would You Like to Build a Walk-in?
It is only mildly tempting to grab the lyrics from a song with a similar title from Frozen and adapt them.  But, I think I'll leave that for someone else. 

After moving to the area, Bryan was looking for some things to do and had some background with growers in other areas.  In specific, he had knowledge of walk-in coolers.

And.. Look what happened!

Yes, that's the same corner that had a hayrack of panels in it during the Spring of 2013.  And, yes, there is garlic hanging to its left.  No - that is not garlic from 2014.  That's 2016 garlic, thank you!  And, yes, it is down now.  Sheeesh.  Tell you about one project that took longer than we wanted and you make assumptions!

Inside the Walk-in 2016

The great thing about this project is that Bryan enjoys doing this sort of work and liked having autonomy for the project.  Rob, on the other hand, had a full schedule just doing the harvest and everything else on the farm.  It was just darned nice to know this project was moving forward without sacrificing anything from our growing season to do it.  After all, the only other option was to wait until everything was harvested in... um... December.  When the temps went below zero...

Welcome to Our Walk-In Warmer
Once the walk-in was done, we were actually at a point in time where we were wanting a place to keep things ABOVE freezing without taking them into the house.  Last year, Rob carried a couple of tons of produce down to our basement.  And, no, the stairs to the basement in our old house are NOT intended for a person to carry that much produce up and down it.  They are sturdy enough, but the stair is an uncomfortable width and the steps tend to get slippery.

The irony of all of this is that we actually run a space heater in this room right now to keep temps above freezing.  In fact, Rob has been working INSIDE the cooler because it is warmer there than most anywhere else on the farm (except the house).  Who knew?

A Hot Time in Tripoli

We look at the weather sites on the internet frequently.  It's just part of our job to try to get some idea as to what might be coming in terms of the weather.  So, we rely on sites like Wunderground and NOAA to give us information and we hope that what we see has a certain level of accuracy.

We looked at Wunderground on November 27 of this past year and we saw this....  Do you see why I might have been a bit concerned?

If you have not seen it yet, look down in this area.

I think I would have remembered November 26 as an exceptional day if that high temperature were accurate.

A Choice of Litany

Miriam Webster's Definitions of "litany"  a resonant or repetitive chant

What is the litany you recite to yourself on a daily basis?  Is it a litany of doubt?  A litany of friendship?  A litany of fear?  A litany of success?

Perhaps the litany you sing or chant to yourself changes from moment to moment.  Maybe you are someone who doesn't recognize that you do this.  Perhaps you don't do this at all?   

"Why do you ask?" says the peanut gallery.

What do YOU see here?

I'll start with this picture from our farm.  We all can make a choice on what we focus on in a picture like this and I'm curious what others might see at first glance.  Do you see the Fall colors in some of the trees in the background?  What about that roll of drip tape next to the fence posts?  The clover in the path in the foreground?  The fence posts themselves?  How about the shells of cucumbers behind those posts?  Maybe you see the dead foxtail grasses or the green of broccoli plants a little further back.  Perhaps you see the blue sky or the brown corn stubble in the field beyond our property.

You see, you can make a choice on what you put your focus on as you look at this picture, as can I.  But, because I live in this world, my choice of what I see at any given time is a reflection of the many litanies that are going on in my head as I walk that field.

Valhalla in October this year - what song is it singing?

There are many moments on the farm where a 'fly on the wall' (or on the bill of my cap) would hear me talking to myself.   

"You can do this.  Keep moving.  You can get this done.  It's ok.  Just keep getting things done and it will be fine." 

In fact, this has been happening frequently over the last few weeks.  When it is clear the weather is finally going to turn, a very long list of things need to get done to prepare for Winter and the white stuff.  Some of these things happen every year.  Some of them are unique to a given season.  And, some of them are simply things that just keep falling off of each daily list until finally... yes finally... we realize that there is no longer a choice.  It has to get done NOW or it will not get done at all.

The daylight hours have grown terribly short.  The weather isn't as friendly for working outside as it was just a week ago.  It would be so much nicer to go indoors and read a book.  But, things need to get done.  So, I chant the litany of determination.  A litany that reminds me that I can accomplish those things that need doing.  A litany of encouragement to myself that these are things that are worth doing and I will be the one who will do them.

"You can do this.  Keep moving.  You can get this done.  It's ok.  Just keep getting things done and it will be fine."

And it works for me.  Even when the wind is blowing, temperatures are just above freezing and there is a light rain hitting me in the face as I do what needs to be done.

But, there are other choices of litany that are echoing in my brain, trying to get my attention.  One of them sounds like this:

"There is too much to do.  There is always too much to do.  You can not catch up.  You can't get it all done.  There is too much.  Why do you even try?  Too much.  Too much... "

And another one says:

"Stop.  Listen to the rain.  Feel the wind.  Observe.  Watch.  Feel.  See.  Be still.  You're moving too much.  You need to listen.  You need to feel.  Stop."

And yet another:

"You messed that up.  Why didn't you do that earlier?  That's not the way that should have been.  That's not right.  You need to fix it.  It's wrong.  It's all wrong..."

And one more (of so many other themes and counter themes, along with all of their variations):

"Oh, look at that, we could do more of that!  And, that looks good, we can do that over here too.  Just a little bit more of this.  A little more of that.  Maybe we should do that as well?  A little more... Just a little more..."

I work very hard to avoid letting the litanies with the overpowering negative vibes take the center stage.   Which is why I often revert to the theme that has the driving rhythm:

"You can do this.  Keep moving.  You can get this done.  It's ok."

And I live for the days when these litanies actually work together to form a song that has balance and meaning for me - and maybe for others I can share it with.

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Here is the first picture again.

What do I see here?

"There is too much to do.  There is always too much to do."

I've got to get those fences and poles down.  The drip tape needs to be gathered.  I need to be sure to get that broccoli harvested on time.  It would be best if I cleaned up the cucumber residue and got the foxtail out of there.  How can I get all of this done before the soil freezes?  And that's only one field!

"You can do this.  Keep moving.  You can get this done.  It's ok."

Pulling drip tape isn't hard, it just takes some time and energy.  If you keep moving, the fences will be down before you know it....

"That's not right.  You need to fix it.  It's wrong."

Just a bit more time a few months ago and there wouldn't be so many cucumbers that went bad in the field.  We could have run that field one more time to get those weeds out.  You promised yourself you'd get the cover crops into that rotation this time, so much for that promise.

"Just a little bit more of this.  A little more of that."

This is where we grew those Gold of Bacau romano beans, we certainly could do more of those.  And there are a couple of great opportunities for more flowers in that plot's plan for next year! Why not an annual climbing flower to divide the bean types?  Wouldn't that be neat?

"Observe.  Watch.  Feel.  See.  Be still."

There is a beautiful blue sky with the sun highlighting the colors in the landscape.  The dry grasses make a gentle, relaxing sound in a light breeze.  The four-leaf clovers in the path are calling my name.  The soil is ever so slightly warmer in the top inch as it absorbs the light and it is mellow.  I pick up a fist full of dirt and it crumbles easily in my hand.  I let it filter through my fingers as I listen to the song sparrow tell me about the day as it sits on a fence post.

This last melody wins for a moment in time.  It pushes the others down until they are quiet harmonies and counterpoints.  And it reminds me that I can choose which litanies I will give voice to.  And it reminds me that the whole song just might require that I acknowledge each one of them as the music unfolds.

Variety Show - Marketmore 76

Every year, we put out a top veggie variety list and give some reasons why that variety is in our top 15 (previously top 10).  Sometimes we are asked for more detail on these varieties, so we thought we'd put some short blog posts out during the Winter months.  Eventually, these details will go onto our website as an update to what is found there.

Marketmore 76 

Marketmore is an excellent market gardener's slicing cucumber.  Marketmore has been a part of our operation longer than any other cucumber and we don't foresee removing it in the future.  During excellent growing years, you could be overwhelmed by the production levels. Large fruit at 8-10 inches (and sometimes larger) are still excellent quality.  Our average harvest size is around 3/4 pound and we expect no less than 4 marketable fruit per row foot, usually get much more (9 to 12).  We realize our plants produce more prolifically than we report, but we usually fall behind on keeping cukes picked as other veggies clamor for our attention.

A late May planting typically takes 59 days to reach the peak harvest with first fruits trickling in as early as two weeks prior.  Pushing the planting back to early June shortens days to peak harvest to 51 days, with first fruits often hard to distinguish from the peak harvest.  We like to grow two (sometimes three) successions of cucumbers and still find ourselves getting caught planting the later succession too close to the first succession.  The net result is that we have far too many cucumbers at one point in time for our business model.

We try to wait to pick fruit until they have "filled out." You might notice that many cucumbers are a bit more ridged when they are smaller. If you have a Marketmore fruit that has deeper ridging and is on the smaller side, you should let them go a bit more if you are looking to eat it fresh. Their flavor is better after that point.  On the other hand, we have had good reports from those who like to pickle Marketmore 76 when they are smaller.

In 2012, we opted to plant one succession as transplants and the other as a direct seeding. The results of this trial alone illustrated for us the benefits of starting the plants in trays and then transplanting it. Production in the direct seed rows was less than half that of the transplant rows. This does not indicate lower production from surviving plants, but it does reflect a smaller number of plants due to early seedling death (cucumber beetle girdling typically).  At this point, we transplant all of our cucumbers.

There are three or more releases of Marketmore that we have seen and we have found Marketmore 76 to be reliable, disease resistent and productive.  This variety outperformed Marketmore 98 on our farm several years ago and we don't see 98 offered in any of the seed catalogs we receive at this time.   Essentially, that tells us that we are not the only ones who favor Marketmore 76.  We find the strain that High Mowing maintains shows consistently superior qualities over seed we have purchased from other suppliers.

Around the World

The month of December makes it official, Rob is allowed to revisit his postal history hobby at least a little bit.  I realize many people who do read this blog have very little interest in this topic - but I do try to keep it light.  And, after all, this is a reminder to me and to everyone who reads this blog that each of us is more complex than the box we are normally placed into.  Many of you know me as "Farmer Rob," but the farmer does have other things he likes to do other than farm!

I enjoy postal history that illustrates mail in the 1800's that crosses national borders. It's a combination of the use of postage stamps, the markings placed on the envelopes, the modes and routes of transportation, the agreements between countries and sometimes, the content and addressees of the mail.

We start our journey in Austria.  No reason why, other than the fact that I have this item from Graz in the southern part of the country.  Graz is currently the second largest city in Austria after Vienna and has Slovene origins.  Sadly, whoever sent this item to the United States didn't put enough postage on it!

Austria to the U.S. 1884

Since I focus more on items that originate in the United States, it is easier for me to find something from here that goes elsewhere.  Perhaps we should go visit the scene of Romeo and Juliet in Verona?  This letter was sent 'Registered' which increased the tracking of the mail's progress.  It cost 15 cents at the time, so this must have been important!

U.S. to Italy 1889

While in Italy, we can run on down to Tuscany and visit the city of Firenze (Florence to you and me).  While we are there, we could look at works by Botticelli, da Vinci and Michelangelo.  Next stop, Amsterdam!

Italy to the Netherlands 1868

For some reason, I've always enjoyed the stamps of the Netherlands.  And, I have a fondness for postal history in the 1860's.   So, of course, I was more than pleased when this item came my way.  You might notice that many of these letters have private company markings (see bottom left on this one).  Much of the postal history people like me collect have survived because of company archives that were eventually released for sale to collectors.

the Netherlands to England 1865

Cross the channel going North and now we go back across the Channel to the South.  It is possible that the highest volumes of mail on the planet at this time crossed the channel at some point between England and France.

England to France 1868

Part of my motivation for doing this was a recent trip to Chicago for Chicagopex, which gave me opportunities to find and purchase a few items of interest to me.  I do not get to do this very often, so I was very pleased to have the opportunity.  A couple of these items were purchased there.  None of them are incredibly rare or expensive, but I enjoy them - and that is enough.

So, we return across the Atlantic on a French ship that leaves from the French port of St Nazaire, arriving eventually in Mexico.  We'll just have to find a way to cross the border on our own since I do not have anything that goes from Mexico to the United States right now.

France to Mexico 1869

I hope you enjoyed this quick trip around the world.

Veg Variety Winners for 2016

Every year we attempt to identify the top varieties that were grown on the farm during the year.  Criteria include production, quality of fruit, taste and plant health.  Additional factors that may increase the rating for a variety might be performance as compared other varieties of the same type or one that surprised us by doing far better than anticipated.  You might also note that we will give a tie break to a variety that has not been awarded a top slot over one that has.

 For those who want to see what has gone before:

• 2015 Winners
• 2014 Winners
• 2013 Winners
• 2012 Winners
• 2011 Winners
• 2010 Winners
• A review of 2007-2009

About 2016's Growing Season
We had a reasonably good start to our growing season, but wetter than usual conditions starting in late July, through August and into the Fall challenged many of our crops.  If you spent much time outdoors this year, you might have noticed that a high percentage of mornings during this period had foggy conditions and nearly all of them had a heavy dew on the ground.  This situation was perfect for a number of blights and fungal conditions that limited production for a wide range of things.  The weather conditions also promoted heavier weed pressures that needed attention - preempting some of our normal late Summer/early Fall planting.  Add to it some suspicions about other factors and our final result is that our overall production was about 2/3 of what we had last year at this time.

In the end, we had a very diverse set of crops do well enough that we were able to provide yet another fine CSA season for our customers.  This could be our most balanced shares to date, giving our customers the appearance of a year of bounty.  And, for their part, it was that - and we are pleased by this.  On the other hand, the ability to sell surplus was down this season, though we do still have garlic, onions and potatoes that will help us at the tail end of the year.

But, even if the over-all production levels were down, there were still outstanding producers on the farm - and that is what we want to focus on - the stars of the 2016 GFF growing season!

15. Komatsuna
There probably hasn't been a season where we haven't tried something new to us.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  This is one of the years where the trial worked out pretty darned well.  We liked how komatsuna did in the Fall a bit better than the Spring, but I don't think it will stop us from doing a bit more with it during either period.  We are thinking we might do a bit more of the komatsuna and a bit less of the pok choi in the future, especially in the high tunnels.  This isn't a knock on the choi mind you.  It's just that these are a bit less bulky, a little sweeter and people are reporting that they have been able to eat these up a bit better than some of the nice big choi we grow.

photo from Evergreen Seeds

14. Thelma Sanders Acorn Squash
We have been telling people about Thelma for many years (both growers and consumers).  In our opinion, we think the quality of this tan acorn squash is better than most green acorns and Tammy and I prefer the less stringy texture.  Even better, the production numbers are quite favorable.  This past season we had 285 marketable fruit from 120 row feet of plants (approx one plant per row foot at transplant).  This happened even though we were late getting them in this season.  What's not to like about that?

Thelma Sanders is showing up in more seed catalogs!

We have had a difficult time having consistent winter squash production on our farm over the years.  The two most prominent issues have been excessive moisture in the Spring preventing us from getting the plants in the ground and excessive moisture later in the year preventing us from cultivating and keeping weeds down.  This year, the excess came late and we were able to address issues to give Thelma a pretty good situation for 2016.  But, even in the difficult years, Thelma gives us some production.

13. Pride of Wisconsin
This wasn't the melon year that last year was.  We can link it to the field, to the time of planting and to the timing of the wet weather in late July through August.  On the other hand, production levels for all melons were actually reasonably good.  It's just that you can't help but compare the current year against the record setting season that came just prior.

Pride of Wisconsin landed at #15 in 2015

It is interesting to note that Pride of Wisconsin was on our list last year as well, something that actually doesn't happen all that often.  That's likely in part to some handicapping that occurs since we don't want to give you the same top varieties every season.  But, it is also a testament to how different every year is for us as growers of produce.  Pride of Wisconsin's main competitors on our farm for melon superiority are Minnesota Midget and Eden's Gem.  The former produced at half the levels we saw last season and Eden's Gem was similar to last year, just not enough to dethrone Pride.

12. Marconi Red
This is a variety that we have been growing since our first years in Tripoli as the Genuine Faux Farm.  Early on, we only got a few peppers off of our Marconi plants - proof positive that sometimes you need to learn your variety in order to get production out of it. 

A Marconi plant before the fruit is um... red.

Marconi Red reminds me of a stretched out bell pepper in shape since it does have lobes, unlike some of our other sweet peppers (see Chervena Chushka later in this list).  You can certainly eat them green, but if you do, I might suggest that you are missing out on a real treat since the taste matures when they are red.  Great taste and excellent texture are the norm and we have had consistent production since 2012.  But, this year, Marconi set a record for it's best production levels on the farm.  That's enough for us to give it a GFF Veg Variety Winner showing in 2016.

11. White Wing
Once again, it was hard to feel great about the onion production because our expectations have increased dramatically over the last three years.

Early onions in your shares courtesy of White Wing

White Wing showed up in the end of year awards in 2014 and did equally well in 2015.  This year, they continued to be consistent, earning a slot here.  We don't know how well these onions store because they never stick around all that long.  We've found them to be a good addition to the high tunnel as well as in the field.

10. Bronze Arrowhead
I tell you we tend to favor veg varieties that haven't appeared here before and now I show you Bronze Arrowhead.  It has been at the top of the list in 2010, in the top five the year after that and in the top ten in 2013 with an 'Honorable Mention' in 2014.

One of our favorite varieties to grow - period.

Well, we had better have a good reason then, hadn't we?  First, we can grow Bronze Arrowhead very early, very late and in the middle of Summer.  We can pick them small and we can pick them at full size.  They are easier than many lettuces to clean when you do full head harvest like we do.  We like the taste and texture and our CSA members agree.  Over the last five seasons, we have harvested twice as many of the Bronze Arrowhead as any other lettuce variety we favor at the Genuine Faux Farm.  Reason enough to be in the top ten.

9. Helios
Helios is a new entry into the list even though we have grown it for many years.  A quick look shows it on our grow list in 2009, but I seem to recall we might have had it even earlier than that. 

A handful of Helios is a radish lover's delight.

Helios can be picked at normal radish size, but we tend to favor letting them get a little bigger.  They can hold a bit longer in the field than most radish and they don't get pithy.  Helios can handle warmer weather when most other short season radish quit and Tammy favors them for taste over French Breakfast.  We got a nice batch in the last Spring and in the Fall this year.

8. Touchstone Gold
This is another repeat from 2015.  But, unlike Pride of Wisconsin and White Wing, Touchstone Gold exceeded last year's production.  In a year where most crops ran at levels under prior year production numbers, a crop that exceeds the prior year needs to be rewarded by showing up on the list.

Last year's photo, but better results in 2016.

We had a similar root count for our high tunnel production of Touchstone gold this year, but the harvest weight (without greens) nearly doubled.  We attribute this to how we harvested this time around, but you still can't help but be impressed with these great tasting beets.  A great treat this summer was sauteed golden beets with the greens added at the end.  That meal included some steamed green beans, so the farmers were pretty darned happy.

7. Black Cherry
We will grant that our Black Cherry production per plant this year did NOT match last year.  On the other hand, we had more plants and production amounts were double last year.

There are no Black Cherry tomatoes here, the taste testers ate them all!

As a result, they appeared as an option for our CSA members frequently - which meant we had some pretty happy people.  We really can't argue about the health of the plants and the production levels were just fine.  But, with Black Cherry it is really only about the taste.  And, for our farm, it is about the ability to pick them fairly quickly without a significant number of split fruit.  Black Cherry is a winner at GFF.

6. Chervena Chushka
Chervena was number five last year and takes a tiny step back to number six this season.  Production numbers were down a tiny bit, but it seemed to us that the taste was actually better.  There isn't much we can do to verify our taste perception from year to year, but we can say that Chervena Chushka got more positive reviews from our CSA members this year than most of our peppers.

One of our prettiest peppers too!

We are wondering if some of this season's growing conditions led to higher sugar content for many of our crops even if it reduced production levels and storage times.  Whatever the case may be, this pepper has been solid since we gave it full production status in 2014.

5. Marketmore 76
What more can we say about this vegetable variety?  It is a consistent producer on the farm each season.  We normally harvest them when they are 3/4lb to 1 lb in size.  They typically have a nice straight barrel shape that is attractive on the table.  The spines are easy to rub off and the quality remains good even if the fruit exceeds a pound in size.

I should have picked one more for an even 1000 this season.

I am actually shocked that Marketmore has never cracked our top five.  Perhaps I just haven't wanted to 'jinx it' by putting it here?  No, I think it will do just fine next year, even after it's appearance at number five.

4.  Bunte Forellenschus
Larger quantities of seed for Bunte Forellenschus other than gardener packets have not been consistently available, so it should not be a surprise that it hasn't made our list before.  Add to that the slightly limited peak production window and you don't typically have a recipe for a top veggie variety on our farm.

I'm ready for a BLT right now!

But, what happens when you hit the production window perfectly?  Well, then you harvest beautiful heads of lettuce that you almost feel you want to play a fanfare for as you set it out for your CSA customers.  It is no secret by now that I favor some of the smoother/softer textures for lettuce and this one fits the bill.  But, feedback from all lovers of lettuce was positive for Bunte this season.

3. Rio Grande
It has been FAR too long since a potato made it to our top vegetable variety list (2012).  We like our taters and it is always disappointing when they don't do as well as we would like.  We tend to set our goals pretty high, which often means we are disappointed - even if the yields were reasonable.

Rio Grande in the center

Rio Grande was not available in 2015, much to our dismay since it has been a consistent producer of Russet potatoes on our farm.  It returned to the seed availability list this season and we immediately reinserted it into the lineup.  Production exceeded any prior year (458 lbs) for Rio Grande on our farm and the taste/texture combination was fantastic.  Tammy tends to favor the Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty and Carola, but she has also been enjoying Rio Grande this year.  We did note some issues with hollow heart in the very large tubers, but it really isn't hard to deal with, so we didn't hold it against it.

2. Waltham Butternut
We realize many growers are turning their heads for some newer butternut cultivars, but we are happy to stick with Waltham.  This year, we had over one fruit per row foot of production and an average size around three pounds.

Waltham Butternut

The solid vine of a c.moschata squash, of which butternuts are one, helps these vines to survive vine borer attacks far better than many other winter squash.  Hence the reason organic producers find it easier to produce them than other cultivars of winter squash.  This season, the taste of our butternuts have been sweeter than we've ever encountered - just amazing eating!  On the other hand, the high sugar levels are reducing the storability of the crop.  I guess that's not a horrible issue because people are going to want to east them up as fast as they are able anyway!

1. Gold of Bacau romano bean
One would think that the farmer would manage to get a picture of the number one crop for the season.  He didn't, so you all have to deal with a field picture that has the bean plants in it.

Gold of Bacau beans climbing the fence on the right.

We tried Gold of Bacau in the past on a trial basis and we (and others we got to try it) enjoyed the taste of these romanos very much.  We put the production at 90 feet last year and failed to get them weeded.  Not to be daunted by failure, we tried 90 feet of production this year and got 130 pounds of beans for our efforts.  Everyone in the CSA was given a nice batch of them to try and we have to admit we had to do a fair amount of encouraging.  After all, Gold of Bacau is... gold colored.  And, the beans are harvested fairly large, with the beans clearly showing in the pod.  If you are looking at green beans this size, you typically say they are past peak.

We were persuasive enough to get people to try them and now we have a large number of fans for Gold of Bacau in our CSA.

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We hope you enjoyed our 2016 Veg Variety Winner blog post.  Please feel free to ask questions or make comments regarding these varieties in the comment section and we will happily engage you in discussion if you wish.

Trials, Tribulations and Thanks

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and our wish is that you may all celebrate the holiday season in a way that seems right to you and helps you to see the good things around you.

Tammy and I agree that Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. To us, Thanksgiving is actually a 'literal' holiday.  We believe that we should spend some time giving thanks, even when it feels difficult and, perhaps, even impossible.  This Fall has been harder than usual for us.  Some of the issues might be of our own doing, some might be as a result of other forces and some just simply happened.  We are aware that everyone has their issues and we know our problems are nothing compared to so many other people out there who struggle just to get through each day.  I do not say this to belittle how we (or you) feel when we're down.  Instead, it is a reminder to me that I am not unique to having periods of difficulty and that I am blessed to be able to do something about so much of what faces me.

One of my traditions for Thanksgiving is to write statements of gratitude and I thought I would share some of them with you.

- I am frequently humbled by the many people who trust us to provide them with vegetables, poultry and eggs for their consumption.  In fact, we sometimes work so hard at trying to do the things we think are right and necessary to fulfill that trust that we may not be transmitting to you how honored we are to be able to work for you.  We give thanks for all of the fine people who support our farm by buying our products.  Thank you for being understanding when things don't go quite as we planned and thank you for telling us when you are pleased.  Those little nuggets are fuel that burns for days, weeks, months and years on our farm.

- Neither Tammy nor I are terribly comfortable with self-promotion - even though we find ourselves in a situation where we have to promote what we do in order to make sales for the farm or to advocate for other things that matter.  But, that's not going to stop me from saying good things about my spouse.  I know she doesn't think some of these things are a big deal - but I do.  We actually braved some of the Friday shopping madness in order to acquire some fleece that will be made into fleece blankets for the Wartburg Social Work Holiday Shoppe (local families with financial challenges are able to get gifts for their children at Christmas through this program).  Each year since she started at Wartburg, she and her students have tied several blankets to be given away.  This year, Tammy made sure to invite some students who were remaining on campus to join us for a full Thanksgiving dinner.  In addition to that, she cooked up a ham to take to a community dinner and made pumpkin muffins for students in her Wednesday classes.  This isn't a contest, she's not trying to win a prize.  She does this out of kindness and a desire to help make things better where she can.  I am proud of her and I am eternally grateful that she is willing to be my friend.

- Sometimes, we have the good fortune to get help on the farm.  Sometimes it is negotiated and sometimes it is offered with no strings attached.  Suffice it to say, there is a list of fine people for whom we give thanks on a regular basis.  Rather than list people and risk omission, I'll give a couple of examples without names.  When I walk by our Northeast asparagus patch, I remember help received to plant the crowns out there several years ago.  Each time I enter the new walk-in cooler, I think of the persons who worked hard to make that construction project happen.  I see the new plastic on our smaller high tunnel building and I am reminded of all of the great folks who came early in the morning to help.  I remember the time our old truck was crushed under a building and someone immediately loaned us a truck so we could make deliveries.  We cannot repay, we can only give thanks.

I am hopeful that you will all receive this email.  Recent email issues have made communication difficult with many emails sent to me apparently lost permanently in the ether.  Even so, I am grateful that we do have access to electronic communication.  And, I am also thankful that I have the ability to address problems we might be having.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Rob & Tammy Faux
Genuine Faux Farm

Half Full / Half Empty

What do you see when you look at a list of your accomplishments for a period of time?
a) a bunch of things you did that you feel pretty good about
b) a bunch of things you still need to do and you regret not getting them done too
c) a bunch of things that are "done enough" so you can continue with other tasks
d) all of the above

Well, if you run a diversified small farm such as ours, I will make a wager that your answer is going to be d) every time.

New Perennial Fruit/Veggie Area
When Valhalla (our new high tunnel) went up last year, we made sure to leave some space between it and the bush line to its North.  The main issue we were trying to avoid was the possibility of drifts accumulating and pressing on the North wall of the building.  We managed to handle that - but we were left with this odd sized area and we trying to figure out the best things we could do with it.

We got most of the rhubarb transplanted!

Our intended solution was to expand our asparagus bed in that area and add some rhubarb and grapes to our production.  Of course, we intended to 'get right to it' last year.  But, when push came to shove, it just didn't hit the top of the priority list.  This year, we spent time working to discourage the Canadian Thistle in that area.  Then, we actually managed to hill out two areas and transplant our year-old rhubarb starts, using some of our nice compost to encourage them to do well.

Now, as long as we only look at the South bed, we're good.  But, sadly, the North bed is still awaiting it's asparagus and grapes.  Alas!

Valhalla at Work
The new high tunnel did reasonably well for us this season.  We are still fighting some soil compaction issues that were a result of the build last year, but we figure that will work out over time.

Do I see lima beans?!?

Lima beans have long been one of Rob's favorite veggies that he gets only rarely.  So, we thought we'd do a trial of some limas in the high tunnel.  After all, they like warmer seasons and they need a bit more time than many crops.  The results were positive from our perspective.  But, they are not likely going to be expanded to production levels that will allow us to have limas for our CSA or for sale.  The returns just don't seem to be that great.  But, it sure was nice to have some fresh limas this Fall!

Taking a Moment to Appreciate Fall Color
I even managed to enforce a ten minute break when the sun was showing off the Fall colors in the tree lines to our North and East.  I'll take that as an accomplishment as well.  Of course, I wish I could have done this more often over the past year, but I'll admit that I did this enough so that I could continue to do what I needed to do!

Keep On Keeping On

I have been in need of some humor lately and I am guessing others might as well.

Please check your worries at the door and set aside sorrow, anger and fear.  If only for a few moments, let yourself chuckle... or groan at the puns if that's your style.  In a future post, I'll take on weightier things.  For now, I give you this:

The Computer Scientist Strikes!
Many of you might know (or maybe you don't) that I actually have a degree in Computer Science.  In fact, I am fond of pointing out that I have a PhD in Computer Science and Adult Education - therefore I farm.  For a short time, I worked for Rockwell International in Cedar Rapids and had a phone conversation with a guy in a Rockwell office located in Australia.  He told me about their Local Area Network setup that he was in charge of.  Of course, they called it the LAN down under.

For the Birds
The chickens were really active today on the farm.  It wasn't too windy and the temperature was pretty nice.  I guess I encouraged it a bit when I gave them some veggie scraps.  That's me, I enjoy all kinds of art - including poultry in motion.

So, You Want a Salad?
I give you Baxter Black and his Vegetarian's Nightmare as presented on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  You just have to appreciate the twinkle in his eye as he does this one.

Star Trek II?
So, when we lived in Madison, Wisconsin, we would often drive by this small 'hole-in-the-wall' business by lake Monona that advertised palm reading and other such stuff.  The owner, a short, slightly built fellow, had no employees and it was hard to see how he could possibly be making a go of it.  Some time ago, we heard that the proprietor had been arrested for some "improper business practices" and had been found guilty and sent to a minimum security prison.  More recently, we read an article that said he had managed to escape from prison.  The headline read:
"Short Fortuneteller Escapes Prison: Small Medium At-Large!"

I wondered if any of the people who had put him in prison were worried about the "wrath of con?"  No?  Ok, that was stretching a bit.

Ah, Tim Conway, You Make Me Cry

The Carol Burnett Show has so many wonderful nuggets like this.  Is it what he says, or is it the fact that no one can stop laughing to continue with their skit?  I don't care - when I need a laugh, this always gets me.

Music Festival
Tammy and I used to go to a music festival in the Summer.  Needless to say, the farm put a stop to that.  Well, actually, we moved so far away from the music festival it became a non-issue, then the festival ceased to be - which made it more of a non-issue.  In any event, it was a festival that included a campground area, so thousands of people would pitch tents and go to various concerts held throughout the grounds.

What struck me about the whole thing is that people would sang whenever they wanted, but they never did sing.  Kids ran all over the place, but they would never run.  People would spoke with each other, but they never did speak.  After all any where people went in the camping area, it was past tents.

String You Along?
Haven't laughed enough? - time for Monty Python. 

Some day we'll tell you about the "hosettes" we now have at our farm.

In Closing
Well, I suppose I must be going now.  You know what "they" say.  Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana.

Chickens, Dry Beans and Fall Crops, Oh My!

Here we are, in the month of November and it feels like September.  I won't complain too much since this weather is giving me many more opportunities than usual to get things done without wearing as many layers of clothing as has often been the case in the past.  Besides, I am positive I will still have plenty to do once Mother Nature decides to turn on the A/C unit and I am also quite sure I'll be frantically trying to do a large number of things on the day(s) just prior to the "big freeze" that typically comes right before Thanksgiving every year.

Portable Fertilizer Units
Once again, we are making use of our portable fertilizer units who double up as a clean up crew.  Our third (and final) batch of broiler chickens for the year are cleaning up the Western 2/3 of our tomato/basil plot this year.  They've done a nice job kicking the straw mulch around and exposing the drip tape so it will be easier to remove.

These boys go to the park on Sunday!  Who wants some chicken on Monday?

We will be taking the broilers to the park on Sunday night and we would love it if a bunch of people told us they wanted some unfrozen chickens for eating.  We will arrange delivery points in both Waverly and Cedar Falls if we can get enough orders.

Four Leaf Clovers Are In There!
Take note of the nice clover in the path by the bush line.

I know the 4 leaf clovers are there - they told me so.

Beans, Beans, the Miracle Fruit
The dry bean harvest is one of those that always gets put off.  And put off.  And put off.  We grow bush dry beans and pole dry beans.  The bush dry beans are much harder to pick usually.  At least this year, we kept them weeded so it won't be a treasure hunt in addition to a harvest task.

Ok, I took a picture of the wrong section of fence....

The pole beans on the other hand, haven't been a consistent success for us because we don't always get the fencing up in time.  It's a time thing and just the way things go.  This year, we had a wonderful crew of Wartburg students come out for a "Work for your Supper" event today and we got all of the dry pole beans done.  Looking forward to some excellent eating with the True Red Cranberry and Cherokee Trail of Tears we grew this season.  The vines weren't as heavy as they have been some years, but I would call it at least an average harvest - which is fine with me.

Bucket List
My bucket list is different than most peoples' bucket list.

Give me some nice paint buckets and the bucket on the tractor.

Hey, I TRY to Tell You We're Still Growing Crops
This time of year I get the comment from numerous people that goes something like this:  "Well, I guess you're winding down now.  Surely everything must be in by now."

Nope.  And, the deer know it.

The deer were giving our daikon radish too much TLC, so we thought we'd make it much less of a positive experience.  Also in the picture are watermelon radish, mustard greens, arugula, spinach, turnips and short season radish.  We may need to add some row cover in a bit, but here's hoping we can get what we want out of most of this before that point.