Best Medicine 2017

A "year in review" of humor in the blog was started back in 2009.  We're not sure how many people enjoy it, but the farmer has fun with it - so that will be enough.  There are two categories.  Line of the Year may appear in any type of post.  Needless to say, it may actually encompass more than one sentence/line.  Hey, it's our blog, we can use whatever rules we want!  Post of the year was selected for the perceived entertainment value.  Of course, entertainment value is subjective.  And, since the farmer and his lovely bride were the only two judges, you can feel free to comment and correct our flawed insight!  

If you wish to read any of the posts that have been highlighted here, feel free to take the links provided.

Previous Best Medicine posts are linked here: 2016, 2015,  2014,  2013,  2012, 2011, 2010, 2009

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CATEGORY: Line of the Year
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Honorable Mention - Line of the Year
 "Yes, yes... we get the irony that the melon with the word "Emerald" in the name doesn't have green flesh.  Look - we doesn't names 'em, we just grows 'em."
from Heirloom Melons - 5 Years Later, December 14

"I also suspect they take great pleasure in getting the farmers to do a double take as they zip around trying to get their work done.  Maybe they are a little bit vain, laughing quietly to themselves as they notice us nearly trip as we try to get from here to there quickly while still wanting to get a second glance at what they are doing now."
from Grand Iris Tour of 2017,  June 17

"This may come as a surprise to some, but plants grow in the soil.  And, when it rains, the aforementioned soil becomes mud.  Some of that mud adheres to the fruit we harvest.  It's a thing.....Really."
from Raining Cats and Dogs, September 26

 from Humble Pie, August 27


"I still find myself stopping and being confused 25 feet SHORT of the end of the row in Valhalla because my internal measurements say I should be finished with the row by then.  It actually gets worse - I get confused in Eden now too because the rows are shorter than they should be. Ah! The life of a farmer - always confusing."
from Time Capsule, December 18

"Others who work in education can probably relate to this.  After all, the approach of the end of a term that also coincides with preparations for holidays at the end of the year is always on the edge of frantic.  We won't say WHICH side of frantic it lands on.  But, it isn't the side where sanity usually lies."
from Baby, It's Cold Outside,  December 25

"Well, I've got fence posts up for a permanent fence for the turkey pasture.  But, clearly, there is no fence there, so we're using a portable electric netting fence immediately to one side of the permanent 'not quite a fence.' "
from A Walk on the Absurd Side, September 14

Runner Up - Line of the Year

"Meanwhile, we get visits every 28 days from the Moon.  Who else can say that?  We're pretty special, huh?
What?  What do you mean the Moon visits you too?  Wha? "
from Cast of Characters, August 25

Winner - Line of the Year
 "Rob gave them a list of things to do "if it didn't rain" and "if it did rain."  He failed to give them one "if the heavens opened up and dumped never-ending buckets of water onto the farm."
from Storm Front, July 28
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CATEGORY: Post of the Year
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Honorable Mentions - Post of the Year
"Every VAP has a set of chores that are common to nearly every day of the farm.  They don't usually need to be written out much more than something that looks like this:
T, H, H, N - W F
Translation: Turks, Hens, Henlets, Nuggest - Water, Food

Why even bother writing anything?  Well, if you have to ask, you aren't a list maker."
from VAP Revisited, May 27

The saw is plugged in, right?

from Nota Conference - Seriously, January 31

"Tammy went to check the room the morning after we moved the turklets and found this rat stuck and unable to get out of its predicament.  Queen Boss Tammy's wrath resulted in the smiting of said rat and it is no more."
 from Rats in Your Room, July 15

Runner Up - Post of the Year

All I said was, "Look! A snake!"

"What would you give to get Rob to STOP writing these silly blog posts.  Perhaps we need a KickStopper campaign?"
from Better Late Than Never, April 2

Winner - Post of the Year

"It does seem to us that sports broadcasters are working way too hard to say something special about a player or team with statistics.  Things like 'this is the first time a player who went to middle school in Walla Walla, Washington swung at a third pitch in an at-bat since last week.'"
from Things Farm Records Are Made Of,

January Newsletter

New Month and a New Year to Go With It

We started the monthly "newsletter posts" in March of the prior year (yes, yes - that is how we must now refer to 2017) and had some success putting them out in a timely fashion.  We admit that December was late, and the release of the post for each month was NOT always the first of the month.  But, we feel that people were starting to pay attention to the newsletters and that they found them interesting enough to visit them.  With that in mind, we'll try trotting out a newsletter every month in 2018 as well.

I guess I never quite understood that running a small, diversified farm would require so much writing.  We write emails every week we have a CSA delivery and we write emails for each egg delivery.  We try to write about 100 blog posts every year and doesn't include countless ideas that get written partially in my head while I'm in the field - only to be forgotten by the time I sit at the computer.

There you go parents!  Tell your children that they need to practice their writing if they want to be a farmer!

Picture of the Month
It's a throwback to 2013.  We knew this was a good picture the moment we took it - and it really fits the current environment on the farm.

Interestingly enough, this wooden flair box is no longer what you see in this picture.  The running gear now has a portable hen building on it.  The wooden frame is now sitting next to the blue Harvestore, waiting to see if we can think of a use for it.  Got ideas?  Give us some in our comments below!

Farm News Shorts and Announcements

• 2018 CSA Sign up will begin January 15.  Watch email, Facebook, our website and our blog for details.
• Rob will co-present at the Practical Farmers of Iowa conference with Carmen Black regarding on-farm research.
• It is now official that there was chemical drift on the northeast corner of the farm this year.  The plot impacted by this drift had no crops harvested in 2017 and is not going to be placed in production for 2018.

January Calendar
This calendar is subject to change as we let ourselves not think about farm sales duties, etc during the Holidays.  Yes, we did feed the birds.  Yes, they got water too.  And, we did collect eggs.

• January 3 (Wed) - Egg sales Waverly and Cedar Falls
• January 4 - Best Medicine Post for 2017 on the blog.
• January 8 - Best Picture Candidates for 2017 on the blog and Facebook
• January 10 - Real Medicine Post for 2017 on the blog
• January 12 - Voting for Best Picture Ends
• January 13 - Best Picture Revealed
• January 15 - The 2018 CSA Program is announced and signups begin
• January 16 (Tue) - Egg sales Waverly and Cedar Falls
• January 17 - Look in the Mirror 2017 on the blog
• January 19 and 20 - Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference
• January 30 (Tue) - Egg sales Waverly and Cedar Falls

Weather Wythards
We are adding a new section to the newsletter called Weather Wythards so you can get some farm weather statistics and commentary.  Why?  Well, why not?  It could be fun right?

2017 Summary
High Temperature: 95 F
Highest Heat Index: 111 F
Highest Barometer Reading: 30.85
Highest Recorded Wind Gust: 56 mph out of W
     (remember, these smaller stations don't record the highest winds terribly accurately, we estimate it at 70 mph)
Rainfall for 2017: 40.58 inches
Low Temperature: -17 F (as of 10pm on Dec 31)
Lowest Windchill: -32 F (ditto)
Lowest Barometer Reading: 29.18

December Summary
High Temp: 65 F
Low Temp: -17 F
Rainfall: 0.02 inches
Barometer Range: 29.25 to 30.85
Highest Wind Gust: 38 mph from NW

January after One Day?
High Temp -4 F
Low Temp -20 F (lower than any reading in 2017)
Barometer: 30.89 (higher than any reading in 2017)
Windchill: -34 F (lower than any reading in 2017)
Relative Humidity: 83%
It's not the heat - it's the humidity.

Song of the Month
Music is a big part of our lives, so we give a nod to that fact by including a song of the month.  These are songs we have enjoyed recently.  Sometimes it's because there is a message in the song that applies to us and sometimes, it's just because we like the darn song.  Here is our January 2018 selection - Let it Fall by Over the Rhine:

Recipe of the Month
We will take a break from the recipe of the month to let Tammy have a chance to select some recipes for the rest of the year.  Though we just had pasties today and they were VERY good.  Maybe we'll add that in its own post later.

Time to Have Pun
So, it is pretty cold outside and it makes it very difficult for your farmers to do much more than trudge out to deal with the chickens every couple of hours.  We've got to make sure the water doesn't freeze and we have to collect eggs regularly since they will also freeze if left too long.

After taking the time to bundle up (which can really take a while this time of year) I braved the cold earlier today to do the chores.  As I was walking out, I noticed a large number of rabbits hopping away from me, each following the same path through the snow.

Yes, my friends, it was a receding hare line.

A Return to the Hobby

Winter is here and the farmer gets to spend some time on his postal history hobby.  I enjoy finding interesting items that might have a story to tell.  I also like to uncover the details that pertain to the workings of the mail system that had to do with each item getting to its destination.  After the story is uncovered to a level that will allow me to feel comfortable that I have a decent understanding, I work on designing a page on which the item will reside.

In short, the hobby allows me to exercise a need to learn new things in a topic area I enjoy and it provides an opportunity create something interesting as a result.

The final step is to enjoy the page that is created and to share it with others.  This blog post highlights a few pages I finished at the end of last Winter and was part of a small exhibit of early French postal history that I put into the Cedar Rapids Stamp Show (where it won the Grand Award!).  While I am not in it for awards, it is nice to get some recognition.  An earlier blog post from September called Stories of a Moment in Time has a couple of other pages from that exhibit along with an Italy page that I like.

If you have perused some of my other posts on the blog related to postal history, you know that I favor the 1860's and the decades surrounding it.  In the past couple of years, I have been fortunate to be able to locate and acquire some nice items with French stamps from that period.  And before you ask - no, they didn't cost lots and lots of money.  Perhaps, $10-$30 seems like a lot to pay for some old paper to you.  But, then, I ask you - what do you do for fun and what is the cost you pay?  Do you feel you get enough enjoyment for that cost?  I feel that I am getting a good return of enjoyment for my investment, so there really isn't an issue here, is there?

The page above illustrates one of the special rates for what I would typically refer to as "printed matter."  This would include things like periodicals, sheet music and other papers that had no personal correspondence.  In this case, it seems logical that this envelope held some legal paperwork regarding real estate.

Typically, these items were sent in unsealed envelopes or in a wrapper that would allow the post office to inspect the contents to be sure the regulations were being followed.  After all, they were getting a discounted postage rate that was well short of the normal letter rate.

I do tend to favor mail that originates in one country and then travels to another.  The item above left France and went to Naples, Italy.  The inset map shows (roughly) the status of rail lines in Italy at the time this piece of mail traveled from Marseilles to Naples.  A marking on the back of the envelope says "Modane-Torino Amulante," which indicates that it crossed from France into Italy at that point.  An Italian postal official placed this mark on the back of the envelope (and all others riding with it) to provide evidence as to when and where this item traveled.  From that point, we cannot say for certain which of the train routes were taken to Naples.  However, I suspect it may be possible to find references to train schedules in Italy in papers of that time.  Unfortunately, I do not read Italian, so we may just let that detail go!
 

Perhaps it is more interesting to many who read the blog to see something that left France and came to the United States.

One of the things that makes this pair of envelopes interesting to me is that one shows correct payment that was accepted (the first one) and the other shows an item that did not have enough postage on it.  In that second case, the short payment resulted in the recipient having to pay the full amount due (30 cents in the United States, which was equal to 160 centimes).

Before you go and do other "internety" stuff, I'd like you to notice that the top letter has a docket that says "Duplicata 9 Novembre 1859" at the top of the letter.  It still was not entirely uncommon for people or businesses to send more than one copy of important business letters via different ships or mail services.  While it had become a good deal less common by this time, there were still instances of mail being lost at sea.

And now - back to your regularly scheduled farm blog!

Up for Falls

Our last post was about Winter, so we're going to balance it out with something from warmer days - even if some of those warmer days weren't exactly what one might call "warm."  Really, it doesn't take much when your high for the day is 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tammy and I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting waterfalls and we thought we'd share a few in a blog post.  It is still the Holidays and we're going to celebrate with you by showing you visits we still treasure.

South Falls (Silver Falls, Oregon)

Opaeka'a Falls (Kauai)

Waipo'o Falls - actually, a little falls just above Waipo'o

Waipo'o Falls (at left - Kauai)

Eugenia Falls (Ontario)

Bridal Veil Falls (Oregon)

Waimea Falls (Kauai)

Winter Falls (Silver Falls, Oregon)

Latourell Falls (Oregon)

Falls just off Pole Line Trail in Kauai

Unnamed falls in Kauai

Inglis Falls (Ontario)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Winter has definitely arrived on the farm.  While we don't have much for snow this year, the temperatures are currently below zero (Fahrenheit) as I write this and there isn't much relief in the ten-day forecast.  There may be some snow later in the week.  In fact, we hope it will snow, since it seems silly to be cold without the snow.


We don't have much for Winter pictures from this season so far, but we have some pretty nice ones from years past.  So, as part of our efforts to celebrate the Holiday Season, we thought we would share some of the beauty that nature brings us.  While Winter may be cold and harsh, it is not altogether devoid of kindness, joy and love.  And life is always stirring just under the surface.


Tammy and I have had the privilege to work together a good deal over the past week once she completed her grading and commitments for the Fall Semester.  It's been refreshing for me because it's been a while since I've had anyone helping on the farm.  So, there's a renewal of purpose when there is someone else involved in the farm work.

Of course, I also like her a LOT, which is part of the reason we got married in the first place.  So, it is extremely nice to get to spend more time with her over the Holidays - even if significant portions of that time is spent scooping out the hen room.

Others who work in education can probably relate to this.  After all, the approach of the end of a term that also coincides with preparations for holidays at the end of the year is always on the edge of frantic.  We won't say WHICH side of frantic it lands on.  But, it isn't the side where sanity usually lies.
We were able to make our final CSA deliveries of the year together - mostly.  We actually ran out of time trying to clean everything so I zipped into Waverly while she cleaned a few more dozen eggs.  She was able to arrive about halfway through the Waverly distribution, but she was there for the entire Cedar Falls distribution.


Tammy is important for the success of the Genuine Faux Farm, but it can get difficult for her to see that as the semester wears on and she becomes more and more removed from our operations.  While I cannot say that our frantic day of CSA prep was relaxing.  I also cannot say that every moment was enjoyable.  There are only so many carrots and eggs a person wants to wash in a given period of time.  Yet, we were able to feel the accomplishment that comes with fulfilling a contract to provide good food to people who appreciate what we do.  And, we were able to feel that accomplishment together - as the team that we are.

Once the CSA season is completed, we typically have a ridiculously long list of things that we want to do before we have to begin doing things for the new semester and new season.  We were hoping/planning to do some house repair work during the two weeks around Christmas.  Here we are with one week gone and it was spent doing all kinds of outdoors work on the farm.  The good news?  Some of that work actually forwarded the work on the house.  But, I am afraid Tammy will head back to school and we'll both feel that we didn't reach any of our goals for the break.

It is tempting to say that we will have failed.  But, the truth is that we could do nothing for the rest of this week (which we won't) and we should feel a sense of accomplishment and be at peace for what was.  We took on difficult tasks and completed them.  We enjoyed time with people we care for and reached out to others.  We dealt with commitments in a manner that hopefully left those to which they were owed feeling like they were treated kindly and well.  We even played a few board games and let the cats get some of the attention they so richly deserve.

Busy lives with heavy responsibility and daily puzzles that need solving can be a bit like the Winter.  The relentless weight of the cold can numb your senses and turn your thoughts toward negativity.  There are only so many days that a person can work long and hard to accomplish all that needs doing only to find that the effort wasn't enough.  It can just as demoralizing as the upcoming windchills we are looking at for the next few days.

But, there is still that life stirring just under the surface.  And once you open your eyes there is beauty to behold.  Even in Winter.

We hope that everyone who reads this has the opportunity to be reminded of the good things in their lives.  May you have the chance to celebrate life and love as you see fit, whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, your own birthday, a long life well-lived but now past or the latest snowfall that made everything look now once again.

May we all remember that there are many who are struggling and need help.  We wish for us all the strength to break the ice that holds our wills still so that we can act in ways that make things better.  We have the ability to bring a little warmth to others in big ways and in little ways.  Let's see what we can accomplish in the spirit of this season.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Rob & Tammy
Genuine Faux Farm

Where's Waldo?

Instead of Waldo, we're looking for pollinators.  After all, we're working hard to build a pollinator paradise on our farm and we'd like to see if it is working.

These pictures have pollinators in them, see if you can find them.  Remember, you can click on these pictures to make them bigger.

We'll start with an easy one.

Oh, yes, you are very clever.  You found the monarch.  Try the next one.

 You should be able to find a bee in the picture above.  If that was too hard, we'll go with an easier one next...

You should find a Painted Lady butterfly in the one above.

But, can you find the bee in the picture below?

How about in the picture below?

For bonus points, there are other insects in the picture above.  Can you find the grasshopper?  Maybe even a cucumber beetle?

It is possible that the resolution of photos on a blog will not allow you to find this one.  There is at least one visible insect in this picture of sweet alyssum.

And, for the final exam.....

Ok, ok.  It was a trick question.  There are no pollinators visible in this picture.  But, it's a cool picture!

Time Capsule

I remember our class trying to figure out what to put in the time capsule when our elementary school opted to create one.  I wonder now what that item was that we decided on, but I am guessing I will not find out.

But, my musings led me to consider trying a 'time capsule' of sorts with our farm pictures.  The rule was that I had to go to the picture files we have and select a random month for each year during the growing season.  Then, I had ten seconds to select a picture I could put into a blog post with similarly selected photos.  Let's see what happened, shall we?

2008 - Grandpa Admires lettuce in a cage

We didn't have a digital camera in 2008, but we do have some digital photos courtesy of Sally Worley, who took a batch of them during the first PFI field day we hosted that year.

I selected this photo because it illustrates how much things have changed and how much things have stayed the same on our farm.  The red cages have all been taken apart by now.  We still have some of the wood that has been repurposed and, of course, we do have chunks of chicken wire here and there that were probably part of these cages.  But, it is the way of a working farm.  Things get built to solve a problem or serve a purpose.  They work for a time until they wear out or the farm moves on to other approaches.  Then, they become something else.

On the other hand, you might notice that this cage in particular is covering Grandpa Admires lettuce.  We grew it back in 2008 and we still grow it to this day.  For that matter, as long as Rob is doing the growing, there is going to be some Grandpa Admires simply because he LIKES to eat this type of lettuce.  If you know anything about Rob's eating history, than you know that is really saying something. 

As I look at the picture, I realize that it may well be the very first season we used these cages.  Why?  Well, look how straight they are?  All it took was one Winter to change that.

2010 - we should have grown cranberries or rice

We have no digital pictures for 2009, but we did finally get access to a digital camera in 2010.  That was just in time so we could record what was our absolute WORST season on the farm.  And, at the same time, it was the MOST transforming season for the farm as well. 

We got rain.  And more rain.  And more rain.  If you look carefully at this picture you will see standing water next to the brassica plants.  There is tall grass in the rows because we had no way to weed.  The veggie plants in this picture are on their way to dying as can be seen by the browned leaves.  In short, we had an awful time of it until we got to mid-July, when it dried up some.

And, yet, that season saw some major changes that moved us forward dramatically.  We built Eden (our first high tunnel), we purchased our first tractor (Durnik), took a crash course in Fall and early Winter veggy growing and began finding that there were other growers in Iowa we could go to for morale support.

2011 - Eden's first Summer crop set

We were within a whisker of quitting the Genuine Faux Farm in June of 2010, but felt we'd better get through our commitments.  Some Fall success and the opportunities a new high tunnel brings encouraged us to give it a go in 2011.  And that's where we learned that green beans LOVE high tunnels.

Tomatoes love high tunnels too, I know.  But, the green beans were a revelation to us.  The rows on the right of this picture went crazy and we could barely keep them harvested.

The thing that strikes me about the 2011 picture is how different our planting methods look now as compared to what they were then.  Let's just say that we've learned a good deal and leave it at that.  But, that doesn't mean we didn't do things relatively well then.  After all, we were working with fewer tools in the tool box.

2012 - Look! Red cages again!

New tools don't always mean the old tools go away.  As you can see in the photo to the right, the red cages made a return as protection for seedlings while they were in trays. 

The backstory here is that the building that had been on the slab was blown down in some years prior.  We finally got it mostly cleaned up so we could use the area for seedling tray central.

I find this particular photo interesting because I know that there are good sized piles of ugly lumber and scrap just to the left that we were in the process of cleaning up.  But, like many things on the farm, we just couldn't get the project all the way done before we absolutely had to get seedlings outside.  The growing season always wins when the battle of priorities begins on our farm.

2013  - Raised Beds

A common theme on our farm has got to be what happens when we get too much rain.  We have flat ground and relatively heavy soil.  Too much rain is probably the worst situation for us to grow in.  As a result, the years that have seen some of the greatest innovations were those that saw the most issues with rain.

Or, perhaps I should say, the years that had the 'most' innovations were the years we had the most issues with rain.  I am not sure that all of our responses during those seasons were all that great.  The raised beds did a decent job for us and still do.  But, like the red cages, they are no longer as important as other tools on our farm.  It's just another interesting way to see how our farm has grown and changed over the years.

2014 - garlic in the rafters

And yet again, there are things that have remained fairly constant.  We still hang our garlic from the rafters in the truck barn.  It is still an impressive sight to find 3000 or so garlic hanging up to cure after a day of harvest, bundling and hanging.

We find it interesting that each of our work crews over the years think this is one of the most exciting work days of the season.  With the event of Facebook, we can tell you that other farms like ours have similar reactions.  The garlic harvest is a BIG deal.   One day, you have rows of garlic plants standing up in the field.  The next, they are all hanging up to cure.  It's a big, big change and the task has a definite beginning and end.  The farmers and the crew can actually take a moment and appreciate what has been done.

2015 - Beans and peppers South of Valhalla

We put Eden up in 2010 and told ourselves that it would be the biggest project we would undertake for our farm's infrastructure.  My how a few years can change your viewpoint. 

We completely restructured some of our fields so we could insert a new high tunnel (called Valhalla).  Like Eden, this building can also move between two growing locations.  The biggest difference is that Valhalla is about 25 feet longer.  That may not sound like much, but if you are used to working a certain row length in a high tunnel, it is surprising how it gets ingrained into your head.  I still find myself stopping and being confused 25 feet SHORT of the end of the row in Valhalla because my internal measurements say I should be finished with the row by then.  It actually gets worse - I get confused in Eden now too because the rows are shorter than they should be.

2016 - the Inspector has arrived

Ah! The life of a farmer - always confusing.

We have had kittens on the farm more than once, but Inspector is the only cat that was born on the farm.  To be honest, this wasn't actually a welcomed event.  Inspector's mother (Soup) had been dumped at our farm and we weren't entirely sure she would fit in with how things worked there.  In fact, we still have some reservations about Soup.  At least she has shown she can handle the Winters - an issue we were not at all sure about early on.

Inspector, on the other hand, has turned out to be about the friendliest feline you'll ever meet.  He's my friend.  He's your friend.  He's EVERYBODY'S friend.  He has gotten more independent as the year has gone on, which is good.  But, he still likes to hitch a ride in a farmer's arms if he can manage.  Some good skritching is always appreciated and he'll reward with a nice purr every time.

2017 - Set up to harvest

The last picture is one that is familiar to me, but it doesn't usually show up on blogs or anywhere else for that matter.  Harvest day usually means loading up the trailer with harvest totes of various sizes, the portable scale, some tunes, a towel, sometimes a coat, various harvesting knives and the record book. 

After a fairly short period of time, many of those totes will be full of produce and we'll be hauling them back to the cleaning and packing area. 

And, now that I've gotten to the 2017 picture for this post, it is time to clean and pack this blog post for your reading pleasure!

Thank you for checking out our GFF Time Capsule!

Heirloom Melons - 5 Years Later

We noticed that some of our older posts that focus on particular crops get attention every year during certain times.  This encouraged us to check out some of these posts and consider how things have changed.  Our first post in this series focused on pie pumpkins.

Our melon production has changed significantly over the past five years and yet there are still many similarities.  If you want to see how it was, go to the original Post that is here.

Carrying the Load

Minnesota Midget

We have a few varieties that have been carrying the load for us in recent years.  We decorate the 'edges' with other cultivars in hopes that we find their secrets or manage to luck out with a year that has the perfect weather for them. This is actually the philosophy we have adapted to using over the years that seems to work for us.  Clearly, we need to find varieties that are reliable so we can meet our base goals for production.  And that is exactly where Minnesota Midget comes in for us.


Minnesota Midget is grown exclusively in our high tunnels, though we have had some decent results in the field in past seasons.  These plants like to climb our trellis and seem to enjoy the environment we give them.  Because we had vines in both Eden and Valhalla this past year, we were able to handle the 'mini-disaster' that was our field melon crop in the Eastfarthing 1 plot.  We are actually considering saving seeds next year to see if we can select for plants that are particularly happy with the environment we give them.

Eden's Gem, Oka and Pride of Wisconsin

Eden's Gem and Pride of Wisconsin normally shoulder the load for our field melon production, with reasonably productive levels from 2012 to 2016.  This works well for us since Eden's Gem gets started ripening a week to ten days earlier than Pride of Wisconsin.  The picture above shows an admittedly large Eden's Gem against a relatively small Pride of Wisconsin.  Eden's Gem averages just over a pound in size for us and Pride of Wisconsin runs between three and five pounds.


The really good news here is that all of these open pollinated cultivars have good taste and texture.  So, we haven't sold out just to get some melons here.  Of the three, we might be tempted to say that Eden's Gem is the tastiest, but the reality is that Eden's Gem has the most distinct taste of the three.  Minnesota Midget has a traditional cantaloupe taste, as does Pride of Wisconsin.  All three easily outstrip most melons you will find in the store.

Decorating the Edges
You might have noticed that we did not discuss Oka in the prior section.  That's because Oka is part of our 'decorating the edges' that we mentioned at the beginning of the prior section.  Oka has a very thin skin and is prone to splitting, which makes them a bit difficult to grow for sales.  The example you see in the picture is as about as perfect as they come.  Sadly, that doesn't happen as often as we would like.  We feel like the texture of this melon is what really wins us over - being firm, yet smooth.  Some melons are a little grainy, while Oka is not.  We are hopeful that using our walk-in cooler will encourage us to harvest Oka daily to avoid the splitting they tend to do right after they hit the 'slipping' stage from the vine.

Our favorite for exotic taste is Ha'Ogen.  This melon has green flesh with a gold edge against the seed cavity.  They tend to be quite juicy and smell a little bit like a ripe banana when they are first opened.  In fact, the first taste you get reminds you a little of a banana until.... it changes.  Let's just say you want to leave this melon in your mouth for a second so you can experience the full range of its flavor.  Ha'Ogen is a Galia-type melon and it apparently caught the attention of breeders who are trying to create hybrids that maintain this taste.  Arava is one such hybrid and we will run it with Ha'Ogen this coming season to see what happens.

Ha'Ogen

Of course, this goes against much of our farming philosophy.  We would prefer to grow open-pollinated varieties and we like finding ways to identify traditional varieties that work in our system.  We would rather grow Ha'Ogen successfully.  And, of course, we will continue to work on ways to make that happen.  However, we also want to give everyone the change to taste Galia-type melons from our farm.  If Arava is as good as advertised, we can spend more time experimenting with Ha'Ogen to see what it will take to make it work and still have production to sell.  This approach has worked with our cucumbers and bell peppers in the past, so here's hoping.

Hearts of Gold is a wonderful melon that has a hint of brown sugar to the taste.  The vines seem to be healthy and they produce a fair number of fruit.  So, what's the problem?  Well, they are difficult to figure out when they are ripe.  Many melons "slip" off the vine or change color when they ripen.  Hearts of Gold?  Not so much for either.  As a result, we miss the majority of them when they ripen and then rapidly deflate in the field.  We like their taste so much that we let "Farmer Delusional Syndrome" take over every year and we VOW to figure them out EVERY year.  I know 2018 will be the year.... uh huh. 

Emerald Gem is a much easier melon to grow and harvest.  It is only a little bit bigger than Eden's Gem and it ripens about the same time.  We added it to the mix so those who didn't want a green-fleshed melon could choose the orange-fleshed Emerald Gem.  Yes, yes... we get the irony that the melon with the word "Emerald" in the name doesn't have green flesh.  Look - we doesn't names 'em, we just grows 'em.


Alas, We No Longer Grow Thee
Then there are the cultivars we have tried and no longer grow for whatever reason.  Some of the varieties we discuss below were on the 'don't grow anymore' list in 2012 and they remain there to this date.  We admit that we still read a couple of the catalog descriptions and wonder if we should try to figure them out "just one more time."  But, we've got enough on our plate with Oka, Ha'Ogen and Hearts of Gold.

Tell you what.  Find me 50 or so acres and pay me a salary to figure these things out and I'll do it!  What?  I can dream can't I? 

Boule d'Or
This is a variety we REALLY tried to make work at our farm.  We liked the idea of a melon that stores well and actually gets better tasting n storage.  The descriptions in the Seed Savers catalogue made us feel that we should like them too.  But, reality didn't keep up with the fantasy, I guess.  Seedling death rates were consistently higher than others in our growing system and production numbers just didn't get to where they needed to be for us.

It wasn't all about production either.  Sometimes a variety just doesn't fit your farm.  Boule d'Or just didn't seem to have much going for it with respect to taste when we grew it.  We are NOT telling those who love it that they are wrong to do so.  We have a number of veggie varieties we love that others claim have no taste.  It is a reminder to us that the farm environment can have a say with respect to taste and texture.  Boule just doesn't work here.

Sakata's Sweet
We tried it in the high tunnel.  It climbed the trellising well.  It produced a whole bunch of tiny fruit.  No one in the CSA liked them with the biggest complaint being that it had too many seeds and very little edible flesh.  And, we liked Minnesota Midget in the high tunnel much better.  Okay then.

Crane
Crane has received a couple additional trials at the farm and it never really showed us what it could do.  With so many other options that gave us reasons to be optimistic, Crane became a variety that we felt trying it again would be the equivalent to beating your head against a brick wall.  In fact, the last time we tried it was simply because a variety we wanted wasn't available and we still had Crane seeds from the prior season.  That's not much of an endorsement.  We suspect Crane would like a sandier soil type than our heavy loam.

Amish and Schoon's Hard Shell
Pride of Wisconsin continues to hold down the fort and we just haven't had the reason or motivation to run a comparison trial.

Canoe Creek Colossal
We enjoyed this melon when we had it and we have never seen it available since the last year we grew it.  We sincerely hope the variety is not extinct, but we have also found that Oka fills the same role - but with a more manageable size.

Petit Gris de Rennes and Prescott Fond Blanc
Dead plants grow no fruit.  Seedling survival rates of 5% means there were a good deal of dead plants.  So, never mind.

But I Don't LIKE Melons!
Tammy and I are often surprised by how many people inform us that they do NOT like melons at all.  We agree that every person has the right to determine what they do and do not like.  After all, Rob just can't handle carrots and Tammy does not like eggplant.  If the farmers can choose, so can you!

However, we have found that most people who express dislike are those who have been subjected to the dread 'shipping melon' that has been so prevalent in groceries and catered meals all over.  Melons varieties that are bred for consistency in size, days to maturity and a hard shell to allow the fruit to survive shipping rarely are selected for their taste.

To top it off, commercially grown melons are often harvested before they ripen on the vine.  Before you get too critical of this, please remember some of what I've discussed regarding some of our tasty varieties.  It doesn't take much, once they are ripe, for many melons to split or show damage to the hull.  Since consumers generally don't like to buy melons with splits - even though they will have plenty of evidence that they are very ripe and likely VERY sweet - the industry has worked hard to avoid that problem.

Add to this the fact that we seem to think we need melons at all times of year and now we have to ship melons for thousands of miles during the off-seasons.  Why should you be surprised if they were harvested unripe so they could arrive at your store in January intact and ready for sale?  

The result is that most people have not had the opportunity to taste a truly ripe melon.  When you don't get a product at its best, you can't hope to make an accurate judgement as to whether you really like it or not.  What you have determined is that you do not like unripe melons that are bred for uniformity and shipping qualities.  Well, that's certainly fair - and we agree with you!  Join us next season in August and we'll get you a ripe melon.  Then, you can decide if you like a ripe melon that was selected for taste and texture.

December Newsletter

December - You're Not Done Farming Yet?
Tammy and I start scheduling things that we normally can't get to during the growing season for late November into December.  Surely we will be able to get to those things by now - right?

It's December where I realize, yet again, that farming never shuts down completely.  Yes, there are cycles.  The pace is very different in December than it is in June.  But, how is it that we still make the mistake of assuming that things will be all under wraps by the time we get to the month of December?  It is true that there are only four CSA deliveries remaining in December.  It is also true that we have moved Eden to its spot for next year and all of the garlic for next season is in the ground.  Our first presentations of the 'off-season' were successful and are behind us as well.

On the other hand, we still need to mulch the garlic, there is still equipment to clean up and store and there is plenty of field work to do.  We would like to get the hen room mucked out soon and the turkey room still needs cleaning.  Plenty to do before we start on our Winter projects on the house.  So, no, we're not done farming for the year yet.

At least we're not frantically trying to open an access to this building this year - this was last year's project in December.

October Calendar of Events

• December 1 - 2: Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario Annual Conference
• December 5: Delivery 25 Waverly and Cedar Falls
• December 7: PFI Cooperator's Meeting
  
• December 19: Delivery 26 Waverly and Cedar Falls

2018 Shares:
It never fails.  One season ends and we have to start working on the next.  We have been keeping our current CSA members informed, but we feel like we should make sure everyone else is in the loop as well.

We are planning on offering CSA shares again in 2018.  We will begin promotion on January 15, 2018 - which is a departure from prior seasons.  We are hopeful that this will allow us the opportunity to finish this season before we start trying to juggle sign ups for next year.  The "promotion season" has just gotten too long for us and we needed to do something to bring it under control.

We felt some explanation would be appropriate:

First, we realize that many of our valued customers are in life situations that make it very difficult to make a commitment to something for the following year.  So much can happen between now and next Spring.  We have always understood that, but the idea of deposits and reservations was an attempt to reduce some of own uncertainties from year to year.  Our farm is mature enough that we can do a decent job of planning without the Fall sign up period - so we will take on some of the uncertainty in hopes that people reward us with future patronage as we offer it. 

We have found that trying to promote next year's CSA while still finishing the current year AND trying to promote turkeys, chickens, eggs AND fall season extensions seriously diluted our efforts for each.  We are also certain that we wear ourselves out in the recruitment effort that has ended up spanning the period from September to almost May.  If it stresses us out that much, we need to change.

And finally, we needed to take some time to reflect on where Tammy and I are at with respect to the Genuine Faux Farm and our lives.  Do we want to keep doing this?  Can we keep doing this?  Are there other opportunities we should look towards?  Well, it seems the answer is that we will keep doing this - making changes as we go through the planning processes for next season.

Do You Have Feedback For Us?
If you have been a customer or are a current customer OR you might be a future customer, we'd like to hear from you!  Let us know what you like about what we do and what you'd like us to improve on.  Your feedback helps us to become a better farm. 

Song of the Month
More Heart and Less Attack by NEEDTOBREATHE.  Just a reminder to myself that an angry and aggressive response is often the easy way out and perhaps the least likely to succeed.

Recipe of the Month
Just in time for the turnips that will show up in the last CSA shares in December!

Turnips (Young) Stewed in Butter
4 Servings

Take two pounds of young turnips; cut them into small squares or make them any shape that may be preferred; dissolve two ounces of fresh butter in a saucepan sufficiently large to hold the vegetables in a single layer; put in the turnips and simmer them very gently until they are tender, without being broken. A few minutes before they are finished cooking through, sprinkle a little salt and white pepper over them; put them in the center of a dish, and arrange fried or boiled cutlets neatly around them. Time: three quarters of an hour to stew turnips.


Picture of the Month
From our trip to Ontario - we give you this picture:

EFAO Conference in Ontario

Of course, Iowa weather decided to be nice while we were away.  Now that we're back...

Rob and Tammy attended the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario Annual Conference in Collingwood in late November to early December where Rob was an invited speaker.  The staff and membership of EFAO were kind, supportive and very interested in what Rob had to say about on-farm research and intercropping vegetables (two sessions).

While we were there, we were struck by both the similarities and differences of diversified farming in Ontario and Iowa.  One thing that remains the same is the fact that farmers who operate on smaller farms such as ours dedicate themselves to raising good food - and doing so in ways that try to work with, rather than against, the environment.  In Iowa and Ontario, there are issues with access to land and capital and there is tension between larger agribusiness components and these smaller farms.  And, just as is true in Iowa, each farm finds its way forward using a path that is unique to its assets and challenges - or they find no way forward at all.

But, behind it all is YOU - the people who support our farms.  We exist because of that support.  Without it, we would all go do some other thing - and perhaps we (you and the farmers) would all be lessened in some fashion.

Time to Have Pun
Courtesy of Jason Edgington.  You can only blame me for being the messenger this time:

Veteran Pillsbury spokesman Pop N. Fresh died Wednesday of a severe yeast infection. He was 71.

He was buried Friday in one of the biggest funerals in years. Dozens of celebrities turned out including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack, Betty Crocker, and the Hostess Twinkies.

The graveside was piled high with flours, as longtime friend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy, describing Fresh as a man who "never knew he was kneaded".

Fresh rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a smart cookie, and wasted much of his dough on half-baked schemes.

Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model to millions. Fresh is survived by his second wife. They had two children, and one in the oven.

The funeral was at 3:50 for 20 minutes.