Reflections

Once we reach the end of the traditional school "Summer Vacation" months, the farmer gets a bit more contemplative regarding the ongoing growing season, looking at what has gone wrong and (hopefully) what has gone right.  There is typically a whole host of things that we won't share on the blog either because there is only so much time and motivation to write it up or the thoughts were too transitory in nature (or the thoughts were really no one else's business anyway!).

This year's late August into September thought process may have a bit more significance than other years because we did enter this season with some particular BIG goals in mind.  Our relative success or failure in reaching those goals were going to be our signposts for determining how the farm and the farmers were going to progress from this point going forward.  The path of least resistance is usually to just stay the course and not make changes.  But, when have you all known us to take that particular path?  We, of course, know we often fall back to what we know - even if it doesn't look like it to everyone else.    So, trust us, we are just like most people, we struggle with taking new directions, even when it is obvious that a living farm is one that is rife with change.

This season, perhaps more than others, I have been even more aware of how we adapt to the variability that the farm provides even on a day by day and hour by hour basis.

All it takes is a little storm to roll through and alter our landscape a bit and viola!  We have to adapt.  The season progresses and the crops that are ready change and the needs of the remaining crops change.  Last week's need to have a certain space open for traffic becomes the need to get that onion crop under cover and never mind the traffic.  Every year, I catch myself saying that we'll get better at being more consistent and efficient on our farm.  And, every year, I remind myself that much of the farm is variable by nature, which means certain types of consistency are actually not virtues and efficiency at the highest level is rarely possible.

One way to illustrate this is to show an early May partial 'chalk door list' of things that needed to be done.  From day to day, the list content varies.  Of course, every day has a list of 'chores' that have to be done every morning or every evening.  But, those usually just reside on the "mental chalk door list."  Some days, the written list is quite granular (sometimes including some chores), with the smallest tasks listed just to be sure we don't forget any of them (and the workers like to cross things off).  Other days, the list is something along the lines of "WEED!"  Yes, you could split that into smaller chunks.  But, why?  Other than giving everyone a starting point for weeding, there really isn't much need to say more.

The take-away for us on this particular set of reflections is that we can certainly optimize certain tasks, but our diverse farm will, by its very nature, prevent us from getting too comfortable with any particular set of conditions and processes.  We can successfully implement a process for harvesting garlic and getting it hung up to cure.  In fact, we have done so, seeing the time it takes to do that task decrease each year for several years in a row.  But, we just need to accept that every day is different and it will require an approach that is adapted to that particular day's traits.

Other reflections on this season follow a particular pattern.  For example, I walk by this patch of chleome every day.  I keep expecting that they will fade, but they appear to just be getting bigger and brighter!  The first thought is usually, "Wow!  Look at that!" The second thought is "Why didn't we plant more of those?  I wish we had.  How is it that we planted two trays of those and we only have that patch?"  But, the next one is, "But, you haven't planted them most years and here they are now.  How cool is that?  Let's plan on more next year."

The bigger issues are always underlying the smaller issues.  The smaller than planned number of chleome came about in part because of the late start the weather forced on us in 2019.  The other reason had to do with issues with our starting facilities - some of which we have addressed at some level already.  Other parts of the farm can follow similar patterns.  The picture above shows our portable feed bin that we take to the Canfield Family Farm to fill with the 3000 lbs of feed each time we go there.  The small issue is figuring out what to do when there is a couple hundred pounds of feed still in the bin, but we are scheduled to go down and pick up another 3000 pounds.  The bigger issue is that feed management is not as simple as finding a temporary home for a few hundred pounds of food.  But, that might be good enough for another post in the future.

The point is that the farmer brain is always part on the current problem "How do I deal with the old feed so I can go get the new feed?"  Meanwhile, it also has the larger issue running in the background, "Is there a better way I can manage our poultry feed?"  And, just to make it more interesting, there are also many related things running around in the farmer brain too!

"I've got to remember to do X,Y and Z for the birds today."
"What do we have to do to sell all of these chickens?"
"Is our sale price covering our costs?"
"Should we do this many birds again or do we need to change that?"
"Do we even want to keep raising broiler chickens?"
"How do I change things to help the pastures recover?"
"Should I spend time putting in a new access into the turkey room?"
"Oh yeah!  That hose is still leaking over by the hen pasture, I should fix that."

Safety tip:  It's okay to have all of this stuff running around in the background.  But, you should always be present with whatever you are doing.  Tractors can be dangerous.  A few thousand pounds of feed can shift and can be dangerous.  There - public safety message complete.  And, no, I am fine, I did not just have a recent experience that reminded me of this because one of the things always running through my head is "Pay attention to what you are doing!"

When I have no more workers on the farm, Tammy is at school and the weather is nice and there is plenty to do I often wish I could sit down next to Inspector and just have a nice session of thinking and reflecting (and perhaps napping too).  And, once in a while, I actually let myself have that sit down - for as long as my brain lets me.

But, the reflections often get drowned out by the "chalk door list" that resides in my head for the given day.  So, I put the reflections into the background where they churn around while I pay attention to what I am doing.

Perhaps I'll just have to go weed something.  That is one thing I can do AND I can reflect at that same time.

There's a thought.

Onions, High Tunnels and Choices

 We made the choice to expand our onion production in 2019 with the understanding that there was the likelihood that we would have some bulk orders for onions if we could successfully grow them.  After all, we have had pretty good success for each of the past several years, it seemed like a good bet.  Now, here we are in August after planting 10,000-12,000 onion plants this Spring and we're starting to bring in the onions. 

Ailsa Craig Exhibition sweet onions

 The first thing everyone should understand is that when we plant 10,000 onions, we do NOT expect to harvest 10,000 onions.  Some plants will not survive the cultivation process and some just won't produce a good onion.  We also realize that some of the varieties we choose will not provide us with consistent sizes or shapes.  This has not been a big deal because our CSA customers often have different ideas about what an optimal size for an onion should be.  The range in production doesn't hurt when your customer base likes some of the size options.
 

White Wing onions

This season saw a very difficult planting period with mucky soil conditions.  The difficulty is that if you want good onions in Iowa, you need to get them in early.  Our region tends to grow long-day length type onions better than short-day or day length neutral onions.  Essentially, long day onions are triggered to bulb by daylight periods of 14 to 15 hours.  So, we need to get onions in the ground in time so they can establish a healthy plant BEFORE they worry about bulbing out.  Typically, the more established the plants are prior to reaching the daylight threshold, the better the onion crop is going to be for consistent and larger sized onions.

So, what happened this year?  We got onions in at different points in time depending on when we were able to 'mud them in.'  The poor early soil conditions have led to inconsistent production.  We've got lots of onions, but the sizes are all over the map.  The taste has been good and we'll see how they store.  We certainly can't say that we are disappointed because there is some good onion production here.  But, it's not the picture of perfection we had in our heads.  Even so, it is marketable - so now we need to sell it all.  The whole plan falls to the ground if we can't move them!

Valhalla in late July

 The high tunnels, once again, were indirectly impacted by the early season weather.  The best laid plans for planting order and location never seem to be implemented because we are always making adjustments for the weather - even when we are inside buildings!

How does that work, you ask?  Well...  if you can't get a crop in the ground outside, you might press some of the inside space into service for something you were not planning.  And, if you were planning on moving a building, but it is too wet or windy to do so, you have to delay that move.  It is what it is and we go through this at some level every season.

If you look at the picture of Valhalla above, you will see a good deal of open space.  That is not the way it was supposed to be at this point, but, we've moved a few things around and they are now slotted for some late Summer plantings to fill in some of our Fall - early winter crop needs.  The trick is that we want the tomatoes, peppers and other crops already in there to stretch their production into late October (and maybe early November) so we have to select compatible crops that will germinate in the conditions found in the building in August.  It's a giant jigsaw puzzle.  Good thing we like puzzles.

Eden in late July

Eden is much more crowded than Valhalla for a couple of reasons.  First, we will move the building to the West position in October - we think.  Remember the adjustments and conditions issues that occur in the Spring?  Well, Fall has been an adventure the last couple of years.  Remember the continuous rain last September, for example?

We made a choice this year to hill up the planting space in Eden to deal with the issue of torrential rains flooding out crops in this building.  You might be able to see what I mean if you click on the picture to make a larger version.  The good news is that the couple of heavy rains that got Eden wet inside the building this year did not impact the crops.  The bad news?  Well, things in hilled beds dry out faster.  And, during normal weather, high tunnels are DRY areas that require irrigation.  Every choice has its consequences.

Regardless of the issues, we can say that our efforts have led to success.  The early Summer lettuce crop (that grows up in the shade of the young tomatoes) was great - except we couldn't sell it all when it was ready.  The birds were happy.  The tomatoes are looking very good, the peppers have already produced above prior year levels and beans are doing well.  The melons are about on par for a normal season and the basil looks great.  We do feel as if we lost some flexibility with this model as it doesn't really support some of the crops we traditionally have grown in Eden.  But, it all worked well enough that we can make adjustments rather than abandoning the whole thing.

And there you have it... onions, high tunnels and choices.

Crazy Maurice Talks About Neighbors

Crazy Maurice is our farm's local creature correspondent for the blog and we felt it was about time that he give us a report on some of the natural neighbors we've seen recently.  For those who do not know, Crazy Maurice is the resident Weeping Willow tree on the northwest corner of the Genuine Faux Farm.  He first appeared on our blog when he gave his two cents worth last Fall.

Crazy Maurice

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 The Pretty Lady and the Fuzzy Guy with the Red Top have not been out to see me nearly as much this Summer as they did last Fall.  I have to admit that I have been a little disappointed by this as I find their company agreeable.  However, they assured me at our last visit (when they asked me to write this post) that we would be seeing each other much more in coming days!  They also assured me that I would not have to deal with those silly chickens again this year.  If you'll recall, I found them amusing, but they can get on your nerves with all of the talking:

"That's my spot, get out of my spot!  That's MY spot! Get OUT of my spot!"
"I'm laying an egg!  I'm laying an EGG! I'm laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaying an EGGGGGG!"
"Give me food!  I want more food! You call that food?!?  I want food!"

I was able to observe the turkeys last year and found them to be a bit less vocal and Pretty Lady told me I would get to see them a bit closer this year.  I think that will be ok, but I am learning that you don't really know someone until you live with them for a while.

 Once we got past June, things on the farm have gotten much dryer.  I realize the farmers are happy about it, but I don't wind the wet so much.  Still, I have to agree with them - the last year through early Summer was too wet for our farm.  Some of my tree friends failed to survive the Winter and the Fuzzy Guy was saying he thought it was because they were in some the areas that didn't dry out.  It was hard for me to watch while the farmer took out the remains of one of the 'Bristle Brothers,'  but it wasn't pleasant looking that spruce's remains every day either.

On the other hand, the wet weather has encouraged an increase in the number of frogs we have had this year.  I've had more tree frogs hanging around in my branches than I ever remember.  I admit that they tickle a little bit, but generally I like having them around.

Most of the frogs aren't looking for much attention, but we have a couple that are looking for notoriety.  Russell, the Cucumber Frog, has been in the cucumber patch most of the Summer.  Unlike past cucumber frogs, Russell doesn't like to jump out at the farmer much.  Instead, he'll just move a bit out of the way and observe as the farmer harvests.  Bob, on the other hand, likes to hang out in the tub that catches the water from the veggie cleaning station.  It seems like all he does is float around in the water, though I heard him singing the other day.

It is my understanding that the 'henlets' are on the other side of the Poultry Pavillion right now.

Pretty Lady collecting eggs.

Pretty Lady told me they were going to move the young chickens into the flock with the older chickens soon.  The next day is always quite an event.


You see, the hens are neighbors, of a sort.  They reside in the Poultry Pavillion at night and they come out to their pasture during the day.  Their pasture is not too far away from my location, but they ARE far enough away that I don't have to be bothered by their chatter most of the time. 

But, the day after moving day?

"Who are you?! That's my spot, get out of my spot!  That's MY spot! Get OUT of my spot!"
"I'm laying an egg!  I'm laying an EGG! I'm laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaying an EGGGGGG!  Hey!  New bird!  Stay away from my EEEEEEGGGGG!"
"Give me food!  I want more food! You call that food?!?  I want food!  You can't have that food, it is mine!"

Ya.  Same words, just directed and with extra emphasis so it can be heard everywhere on the farm.


The farmers added a new bee hive to the farm this year (yes, we've had honey bees here before) and these have been very pleasant neighbors.  I especially like it when they come by and hum a tune for me.

Lately, I have been most entertained by the new hatching of dragonflies!  The wetter year has provided a bit more support for them and the Fuzzy Guy with the Red Top told me this is the largest population of dragonflies he has seen since he got here.  I can just sit here and watch them hover, dive and spin.  Some of them have favorite places to land in my branches.  They will often use them as a sort of 'jumping off' point to go grab some insect as a snack.  Then they come back and chew a bit.  Happily, most dragonflies know to chew with their mouth closed so we don't have to have discussions about manners.

Can't see the dragonflies?  Click on the picture to enlarge and look at the sky!

August Faux Newsletter

Some of you may have noticed that we failed to put out an August newsletter in a timely fashion.  So, here is a fake newsletter to make up for it.  Well, actually, it's just a few pictures that represent some goings on at our farm that we thought we'd share.  That qualifies as a newsletter doesn't it?  It doesn't? 

Well, we're going to do it anyway.  So there!

Mini-Poof at the Farm (again)
It feels like we've had more wind gusts that have caused us issues this year than we have most years.  That is not to say that we have had more severe weather than usual.  It's more the fact that we've had more visible consequences this year than we usually do. 

Guess where this building WAS before the wind?

 The latest burst hit the farm sometime between 2 am and 4 am this morning (Aug 18).  Tammy woke up to raindrops hitting her face. 

*** pause for dramatic effect ***

Yes, she woke up because rain was being driven through our open window, across the room and into her face.  This is good because we had a few windows open that needed closing.  But, this was not the gust in question.  That came just after she got the windows closed.  Let's just say that the whole house shuddered when this one hit.  We do get winds that make the house move about a half dozen times per year, so it isn't a completely new experience.

In any event, the little sweet corn patch we planted for ourselves is completely down.  That's just a reminder of one of the reasons why we don't put much effort into growing sweet corn.  A section of our maturing broccoli got rolled over.  They should be ok with a couple of exceptions.  And, a chicken building got moved a bit.

The last item was the most concerning since we had just gotten our youngest batch of broiler chickens out to their portable building.  These buildings are meant to move, but they are usually moved with Rosie the tractor during the day when Rob and Tammy are around to herd the birds out of the way so it can be safely moved.  The good news is that there does not appear to be any real damage to the building and the birds seem to be fine.  Now, with 150 little birds that like to stay next to each other, you can't be completely certain - so we'll keep our eyes open for problems the next couple of days.

In the end, the damage is light and we can handle it. 

Horizontal Surface = Good Place to Nap
Our two Outdoor Farm Supervisors have been working extra-hard lately, which means they have been getting into some serious napping!

What?  You wanted to use this lawn tractor?  No, you don't.

 Just this morning, Tammy used the lawn tractor for a few minutes to help with some of the AM chores.  She parked it with the intention of coming back to it so she could do more.  The picture above is what she found.

Keep in mind that the period of time between parking and returning was probably not much more than 15 minutes.  And we still don't know how Soup would think that mower deck is a comfortable place to nap.

A good skritching is cause for a good nap.

 Inspector followed Rob into the granary while he went to load up some feed for one of the flocks on the farm.  He requested attention and Rob gave it to him in the form of a good, solid skritching.  After taking food to birds, Rob came back and found Inspector sleeping on the feed bin (seen above).  Apparently, that skritching wore Inspector out.  The sad thing?  Rob was not allowed to take a nap as well.

Anxious to Get It Running
And so, you have this big, beautiful solar array sitting on your property.  It took years of planning and then weeks of scrambling to do what it took to get it there.  It is collecting the sun, but that energy is going no where.  Why?

Well, it is all part of the process.  Alliant still needs to install the two-way meter and hook this system into the grid.  They have a period of time during which this is supposed to happen, so we are trying to be patient.  But, shucks, we have some very sunny days and we really would like to use some renewable energy on the farm!

We'll keep everyone posted as things progress.

Big Gap

We realize the blog has been silent for much longer than it usually is.  The reasons are the usual and the not so usual, so we will dispense with them for now and get to some Genuine Faux Farm stuff for those who might like a dose of it!

New Used Chicken Buildings
Our good friend known as the super-hero Bandsaw Man made a couple of very nice poultry buildings that can be pulled on skids to move birds to different pastures.  He was no longer using them and he offered them to us this season.  All I can say is, "How did we do the poultry without these buildings?"

Getting the building off of the trailer was an interesting process.

 At present, we have both buildings occupied by broiler chickens.  The 'boyus' are still a few weeks from their trip to "the Park" and the 'nuggets' just went into their own building today!  We try to move these buildings every other day so the birds have some clean area to rest in AND the pasture has half a chance to recover.  We've found that moving the building the first couple of times is a bit of a circus with the birds, but they get used to the routine very quickly.  We are grateful that we have Rosie, the tractor, to help us move these buildings as they are a bit big to move without the mechanical help. 

In answer to the question, "how did we do poultry without them," we had smaller buildings that we moved by hand.  We've had just enough near catastrophes with those over the past couple of years that it is nice to make this upgrade.  If you can't quite figure out what sort of catastrophe could happen with the smaller buildings, consider this:

Last fall was VERY WET.  We still had to move the buildings.  We moved the buildings by manually picking them up and moving them.  Grass gets very slippery when combined with poo and rain.  'Nuff said.

A Working Kitchen?!?
Believe it or not, I have not uploaded the most recent Genuine Faux Farm kitchen photos.  Here is the most recent I have. 

Since this picture, the counter has been put in, as has the sink.  The dishwasher is in place.  We can actually walk into the kitchen and wash out a dish or glass we have just used.  It's a strange, strange and wonderful feeling.  Is this how the civilized world lives?  Is it ok if we stay here?

Could You Try to Describe That Again?

I (Rob) have the distinction of having training in Computer Science, experience in raising vegetables and some knowledge in various other things.  In my opinion, computing professionals come in second to doctors when it comes to people asking questions of you once they find out what you do for a living.  Let me clarify - if you are introduced as a doctor, people are immediately tempted to ask about that twinge in their shoulder.  If you are a computing professional, it's a question about their email (or some such thing).

Before I get to it, let me say that I AM perfectly willing to answer questions as I am able and I am willing to hear about what you are growing - so don't let things I say here make you feel like I resent being asked.

It's a bit different now since I am a farmer.  I tend to get one of two things.  It is either:

1. A rundown of what someone is growing or has grown or their grandparents grow/grew and how good/bad it is/was.  And, of course, I get to deal with their 'surprise' when they find out the three tomato plants they grow in town in a raised bed are producing tomatoes now and my 500 plants have not really started yet.

2. A description of a bug, weed or plant condition that they would like my opinion on.  This is not so unlike what I often dealt with as a Computer Scientist.

But, often, the description comes out something like this (from a bird watcher's perspective):

In reality, I recognize it isn't just the describer's problem.  It is also my problem because I need to take the time to ask leading questions that might bring us to a reasonably good answer.  I hope I do a decent job of that.  Even so - every professional who is in the position of trying to give a professional response based on on a layman's description can appreciate the sentiment behind that graphic.  It's not just a doctor, computer scientist, farmer, birder issue.

You Mentioned Tomatoes

 Yes, yes I did.  Our tomatoes did go in the ground about four weeks late this year due to field conditions, etc.  Even our high tunnel tomatoes went in late because we were trying to extend some other things in them because... field conditions were still too wet for those things too.  Even so, we have green tomatoes on plants and a few of them are starting to ripen, giving us some tastes that are now on our radar for 2019!  (Ignore the 2018 date on the graphic - those tomatoes would be REALLY late).

Ain't That Grand?
If you've read the blog, you might recall that I am also a postal historian.  As a postal historian, I have worked for many years putting together an exhibit on materials from the 1860's that has been shown competitively about once a year for many years.  That exhibit has done well enough, receiving 'gold' and 'large gold' awards most recently.  For those who don't quite understand award levels, every exhibit is given a 'medal level' with gold and large gold being the highest levels.  But, many exhibits receive these awards.  Of those that receive large gold, one is given the 'Reserve Grand,' which is essentially second place and another is given the 'Grand' (first place).

Something good happened in Omaha in early August.

It is nice to have some affirmation that the work I have produced over a long period of time is well received.

The GFF Solar Project: Long Time Coming

 I was in 7th grade when I first 'researched' the options for solar energy.  At that time, it seemed as if solar would gain traction and become a viable option for rapid expansion as a major supplier for the power grid.  People were gaining direct exposure to solar power with the proliferation of inexpensive solar calculators (among other things) and the future seemed, quite literally, bright for alternative energy. 

1982 US stamp series featuring various 'energy sources'

Of course, some of the reason for all of the push was the rapid increase in oil prices during the 1970's.  But, we humans are fickle creatures and our attention spans can be notoriously short.  Oil prices fell in the mid 1980's and the pressure to promote alternative energy sources declined.  My old solar calculator still resides in our cash box during CSA distributions and continues to do a fine job.  And, Tammy and I have continued to pursue the dream of supporting alternative energy production - even though it has been a long journey.  And, that journey is not quite over.

Site for new solar panels at Genuine Faux Farm

We actually started to explore solar options for our farm in 2006, when we attended a couple of informational sessions in Decorah.  As is the case for so many things like this, we were going to have to revisit the process multiple times before we were ready to move forward.  We went so far as to have a site assessment and estimate in 2009.  That project was for 4 to 5 kiloWatt Hours and it was quickly superseded by other critical projects on the farm (such as a new furnace).  As it was, the cost was above what we could reasonably pay, even though we were willing to stretch to accomplish the goal.
 

Eagle Point Solar put in the GFF Solar Array

University of Northern Iowa's CEEE had a Farm Energy Working Group active in 2012 and we decided, once again, to go through the process of exploring our options.  This time, we were able to do a full site evaluation and report with the grant support provided by this program.  We were able to identify two possible site locations on the farm and we had a much better idea as to what it would take to accomplish our goals to power the farm using renewable resources.  But, once again, life intervened.  Our money had to go to other expenses that were more critical (ah, life in an old farm house!) and we simply ran out of time to follow up on the next steps of the project.

 And, here we are in 2019.  Tammy and I had our own little GFF Farm Retreat and we both put solar among the 'big projects' each of us had on our minds for the future of the farm.  Perhaps, just as importantly, we identified the need to make our farm into a place where we wanted to live instead of a place we tolerated living at.  While we grant you that the solar project was not a 'critical item' on the same level as 'make a kitchen that doesn't have a hole in the floor that leads directly to the basement' it still held an important place for us.  Why?  Because it is a part of who we are and a part of what we think is the right direction for the Genuine Faux Farm.

As is normally the case, the farm and everything else began to take precedence and the solar project was on hold until we heard about a possible "group buy" through Eagle Point Solar that could reduce the cost of new solar projects in the Black Hawk (and surrounding county) area.  We attended the introductory meeting and decided to go through the process.  If Eagle Point could keep the ball rolling, then we were going to try to give this a go this time around.

Nothing is ever as simple as you think it should be.  But, then again, if it were easy, you would have to question if the project were really worth doing.  Ok.  Maybe you wouldn't question it.  But, I would. 

We initially thought we could pursue a REAP grant to help with funding until we discussed it with a professional grant writer who as done multiple REAP grants.  Lets just say that REAP grants are NOT geared for farms our size and leave it at that.  It also turns out that the best location for solar on our property crosses the two parcels we own.  This required us to go through some legal processes to get that fixed so we could proceed with the identified location.  And, of course, there was/is the financing.

Installation was mostly complete after one day.

After one full day and a small portion of a second day, the solar array is installed on the farm.  We are now awaiting Alliant Energy as they must hook the panels to the power lines.  Once they do that, there are other processes before they 'flip the switch' and all is operational.  We have to admit that the build occurred far earlier than we were thinking it would - such is life when schedules of others are involved.  The farm had been using this area as our seedling nursery and cold frame area.  Needless to say, that had to be cleaned up before they could build.

At this point, it would be safe to say that the two of us are both pleased and in denial.  We have believed that this was the right thing to do for many years and we finally have an opportunity to follow through.  But, it's been in the works for so long and we have had so many false starts that it is difficult to bring ourselves to believe that this is actually happening.  We would like to share more with everyone about this project on our blog as we find time - so consider this a PART ONE blog post. 

And here's to worthwhile projects.

Mulchable

One of the biggest 'knocks' on organic agriculture is the idea that organic fields rely on cultivation, which is not good for promoting organic matter and supporting micro-organisms in the soil.  It can also be argued that constant tillage increases erosion.  However, if you are certified organic, the list of herbicides you can use are extremely short and if you have any kind of scale beyond 'big garden' most allowed applications fail to control the weeds.

Winter squash soon after planting into paper mulch.

 Like so many arguments that are used to discredit (regardless of what the topic is), they make so many assumptions about what it takes to steward a certified organic crop/field/farm that I would be tempted to laugh.  EXCEPT...  People actually listen to these short and to the point arguments without looking any deeper.

Soil Health is a Key to Certified Organic

First and foremost, it becomes clear to me that many people who blindly support the 'organic is bad because they till/cultivate too much' argument have no idea how much territory a certified organic operation has to cover to be certified.  It's not just 'don't spray these things.'  Certified organic farms must have plans on how they will maintain and improve soil health on their farms.  They must also consider how they will control or respond to diseases, pests and weeds, among other things.

 Use of a Broader Set of Tools
Another common argument people use to defend their choice to NOT convert to a certified organic operation is that the toolset is so restrictive and they don't see how they can use a limited tool set and succeed.  Ok, I'll grant that the fact that we can not use synthetically derived chemicals (which includes most herbicides, fungicides and pesticides) does limit the toolbox.  But, this is the equivalent of cutting the number of screwdrivers in your toolbox - they are all the same class of tool.

I tend to argue that those who sell themselves out wholly to using the chemical applications to solve all problems on the farm have limited their toolbox more than I have with my organic certification.  They've got every screwdriver known to the world, but they got rid of all of their saws, hammers and wrenches.  On the other hand, a certified organic operation is encouraged to explore the use of all types of tools available to them

One of the tools we are using more than we have in the past is mulch.

Two kinds of mulch, do you see them?  Keep reading and you will learn what they are.

What is "Mulchable?"
The first question we have to ask at the Genuine Faux Farm is "Is this crop mulchable?"

We grow enough crops with different requirements that we actually have to consider if the growing process for each crop will actually benefit from the addition of mulch.  Then we have to ask ourselves what kind of mulch will be the best choice.  And, after we've figured that out, we have to decide if we can actually implement this as part of our mulch plan and overall farm plan for any given season.

the Winter squash are starting to show some size.

What Type of Mulch Will We Use?
There are actually numerous mulching options available to us at our scale and there are others available to those who are either larger in scale or smaller in scale.  For example, you can use an organic based mulch such as straw or grass mulch.  The issue with these is that you must acquire the raw materials and then you have to spread it where you want it to be.  If the raw materials don't come from your farm, you have to ascertain that they did not have any chemical applied to them that will cause problems.   We have grass mulch in some of our green beans and in a bed of our potatoes.  We use straw mulch for our garlic.

And, we use dirt mulch on our potatoes as well.  If you can cultivate properly, the topic inch or so of soil will deplete the weed seeds in its seed bank.  That soil can become a 'dirt mulch' that could get hilled up against the base of the cash crop to help prevent further germination of weed seeds in the area that is hardest to weed.  So, there is your answer for picture #3 - there is grass mulch and dirt mulch there!

Larger scale operations often find that spreading grass would be far to labor intensive, though we are seeing some tools that could help automate spreading.  These operations also often find that straw mulch is also too labor intensive.  In fact, we (and other farms we know) have found that those who work on our farms tend to dislike spreading straw.  If you add in the fact that most farms who use straw as mulch do not have the space to grow their own, that adds an expense and all of the extra worries that come with sourcing off the farm.

Most operations of a decent scale will tend to use plastic mulch that is laid down by a mulch layer.  We fully understand this decision because the area in row with the cash crop is the hardest area to control weeds and it will often take more labor than the farm has in its resource pool.  However, we also made the decision that plastic mulch is not for us, which means we need to look elsewhere.

This year, we are using 3 foot wide paper mulch that comes in 500 foot rolls.  We have a mulch layer (the same tool that can lay plastic mulch).  The paper is put down in the bed, then we punch holes and plant into that mulch.  We increased the use of paper mulch this year and we are now using it in most of our vine crops, out tomatoes and much of our brassica.  These are all crops that are in the field long enough to warrant a mulch (whereas lettuce is not) and they are all crops we transplant.

So far, mulching has been working for us this year.  In other words, the plan has been a pretty good one for how this season has turned out.  The real test is in the next two weeks.  Can we keep up with the weeding cultivation of the crops that were not mulchable?  

We shall see!

June to July: the Difference a Month Makes

We are honored by the opportunity to observe the changes that happen on our farm every day, but we don't honor every change that happens by taking a photograph of it.  Why not?  Well, photography is not our primary job here - I think it has something to do with growing good produce and raising quality poultry.  If I'm wrong, let me know and we'll change the prioritization.

Still, we do manage to take some pictures that show the progression of how things change at the farm.  And, even more rare, we sometimes put out a blog post that shows some of the progressions and we often remember to give them the label before and after.  

The Raised Bed does its job!

A few years back we had another wet Spring and one of our responses was to put in a few raised beds so we could manage to plant SOMETHING.  Well, we've had a few wet Spring/Summer/Falls since that time, but these raised beds are still there.  Well, two of three are.  Two have been upgraded to corrugated steel sides.  The third has yet to have that treatment.

RB3 (Raised Bed 3) in June

 We used one of the raised beds to get some more lettuce into the ground when things were still way to wet in June to plant elsewhere (except the high tunnels).  About 100 heirloom lettuce plants were transplanted in.

RB3 in July

 And, as of last week, we had harvested nearly every head of lettuce in that bed.  The picture above is just after the first (light) harvest.  I guess I should have taken a newer picture so you could see a mostly empty bed - but that's usually not all that interesting to look at.

Casa Verde and its occupants

If you have kept up with our blog, you have seen the construction progress of Casa Verde - Home of Plantlings. 

Casa Verde in June

 Part of the motivation of this building was to provide a woodchuck-free zone for our little plants after the "Massacre at Valhalla" this Spring.  

The other side of CV in June

 If we still had even *some* of the plants the Dred Pirate Chuck Woody McChucksterface Woodchuck ate, the building would have required more 'shelves.'  But, he did eat them so we didn't need the extra shelves.  Even so, Casa Verde was pretty full.

CV in July

 There is now a good deal of space available in Casa Verde, though we are seeding another succession this week.

The Lettuce Tree

 The Age-Old Question: Will the Genuine Faux Farm get decent taters this year?

It certainly will not be without trying and putting our best efforts forward.

Beans and Taters in June

 We opted to use paper mulch in several other crops so we could concentrate our cultivation efforts on crops, such as beans and taters, that do not lend themselves to paper mulch.

Beans and taters in July

And... the Ever-Present Kitchen Project

When you live in a construction zone, it is tempting to say:
1. You've always lived in that construction zone and,
2. It will never get done / no progress is being made.

GFF's kitchen in June

 This repair effort has been going on for a long time, that is true.  And, both farmers are very tired of having to deal with hauling dishes to the basement to wash them, etc etc.  Anyone who has worked on a kitchen or bath in a house knows the drill.  Dishes in the bathtub (at least we put the old kitchen sink in the basement, so we haven't had to do the bathtub thing), a stove that moves back and forth depending on whether you are going to work on the kitchen or work on dinner and piles of tools everywhere that dishes, foodstuffs and place mats used to be. 

GFF's kitchen in July

The good news?  July has lots of days left in it.  Let's see how far we can get on some of these before we get to August!

July Newsletter

The Wall
There are stages in every growing season that I think most growers and many other folk will recognize.  At the Genuine Faux Farm, we have a couple occurrences of hitting the proverbial "wall."  One of them typically happens around the 4th of July when we realize that we've put in a year's worth of effort and we still have a few years' worth of effort to go until the season is completed.  Exaggeration?  Perhaps - but when you are talking about how we feel, I am not sure it matters whether it is an exaggeration or not.

This 'wall' might have something to do with the ridiculous push we had to put on just to plant everything and now we find ourselves needing to cram in three weeks of cultivation and weeding into two - assuming the weather allows it to happen.  We will not bore you with the litany of things we have on our 'to do' lists (also known as VAPs at the Genuine Faux Farm), but we assure you there is a fine variety of mental and physical tasks for each of us to do.

What makes it harder is that there are at least a couple of unforeseen circumstances every month that complicate our farm lives.  You could argue that they are not entirely 'unforeseen' because we have come to expect that we will experience them.  But, we have yet to read the entire manual on the crystal ball we picked up this Winter to help with that problem.

One of our most recent 'additions of flavor' to the farm is the not so neat little storm that backed in from the Northeast just as people were arriving for a PFI gathering at our farm.  Apparently, the Poultry Pavilion roof has decided that we are giving far too much attention to the other parts of our farm right now.  In a desperate attempt to gain our attention, the metal on the roof threatened to go flying around the farm.  Happily, the grounding wire for the lightning rods held on and the sheets of metal merely flapped around merrily in the 60+ mph winds.

Well, add that one to the VAP.

Weather Wythards
A typical Iowa June at the farm this year.  It was warm, it was cool.  It was wet and it was... less wet.  There was wind and calm and there were gnats!  At least the buffalo gnats have come no where close to last year's silliness.

June's Report
High Temp: 95
High Heat Index: 119
Low Temp: 48
Windchill (believe it or not): 46
Rain: 5.58"  (average: 4.96")


Year Report
High Temp: 95
Highest Heat Index: 119
Low Temp: -29
Lowest Windchill: -53
Rain: 17.3"
Wind: 60+ mph from NE
Barometer Range: 29.14 - 30.90
Snow: you know, we lost count.  It was a lot.


Veggie Variety of the Month -Pablo lettuce
This one seems a little odd for a selection, even to me.  Why?  Well, we have not harvested that much Pablo so far this year.  But, the few we did harvest were absolutely beautiful and had the great taste we grow this variety for.

Pablo is best known to us as a decent Summer lettuce as it falls into the Batavian class of lettuces.  We are very hopeful that Pablo will pick up where some of our cooler season lettuces are leaving off!  So, there you have it, we listed a veggie variety in hopes that it will come through for us.  But, that isn't so different than last month's selection of  snow peas.  Speaking of which, the peas didn't start producing until July 1.  I guess it is going to be a very short pea harvest this year.  Sure hope I didn't jinx the Pablo lettuces!


Song of the Month
Been a while since I've listened - really listened - to some U2.  How about One Tree Hill for this month's song?

CSA Openings Abound - And CSA Phase I has Begun!
We still have plenty of space in our CSA program, so we would welcome new and returning members at any point this month.  We could certainly still add people throughout the season, but we'd really rather start with you on board now!

We will enter Phase II of the CSA season when we enter the month of August.  Until then, current members are able to use their CSA "credit dollars" to purchase early season veggies.  Things like lettuce, turnips, peas and the first of the cucumbers!

Farm News and Announcements 
We were mentioning unexpected challenges in the introduction.  The picture below shows a plug that decided to have a problem in the Poultry Pavilion earlier this season.  Happily, the circuit breaker did its job and were able to trace down the problem.  The temporary fix, in that case, was to take out the plug and just wire through it for the time being.  We'll put a new plug in later.

Another photo from earlier in the season that deserved to be featured earlier is this one from Tammy's phone.  The eave on the portable building for the henlet flock is open.  When the henlets were smaller than they are now, they thought it was supposed to be the ultimate roost.  It was mildly amusing to look up and see these sleepy little birds looking down at us.

Speaking of little birds, it is amazing that we've actually had the turklets on the farm for a couple of weeks now.  Tammy did manage to get a couple of pictures on the day of their arrival at the farm.  They are much bigger now, but still quite small.  The great news is that they appear to have the normal turkey 'curiosity' that amuses us sometimes.  Unless they get out of the pasture and we have to look for them in the dark.  That is NOT amusing - at least not to the farmers.



The farm house kitchen project continues to progress one step at a time.  As we have mentioned before, we try to set aside one day a week to make some progress (usually Sundays).  The dry wall has been taped, sanded, top-coated and now painted.

Next up- cabinets!

 One of the things that happens when we hit the wall?  The farmer doesn't quite get enough gumption to go out and take pictures of the fields.  We have a few we can show, such as this one from July 5.

As you might notice, we've hilled a bed of potatoes and mulched a couple beds of beans.  We are also experimenting with grass mulch on one of the potato beds.  Here is hoping that we have success.  Sadly, we couldn't get the beans in on time again this season, so the Colorado Potato Beetles are causing us some fits again this year.  The two beds with minimal problems?  They are adjacent to the one bed of beans we got in on time!

And finally - East Bremer Diner is trying out purchasing some veggies from the Genuine Faux Farm.  It may not be much, but we've got to start somewhere!

The Born & Raised Burger at East Bremer Diner - July Special

We were able to sell the Diner an assortment of heirloom lettuces to put on this burger that features a bun made by the nearby bakery, wagu beef from Hansen's Dairy in Hudsen and cheese curds from Hansen's as well.  If you are inclined to visit the Diner, please consider going and supporting them, Hansen's and us by asking for a Born & Raised Burger during the month of July.  We've tested it and it tastes extremely good!  Success here can lead to more collaboration later!