Attack Cardinals and Angry Roosters

It has been two years (yikes!) since Tammy and I took our great adventure to the island of Kauai and I was digging through the 'draft' posts in the blog that are waiting for completion and found an early post that just did not get put out there.  I thought it might be fun to flesh it out a little.

Cardinal vs Rear-View Mirror
Our first location in Kalaheo was a small cottage in town.  One of the biggest selling points for us was the kitchen, since we did not intend on eating every meal 'out.'  After all, that's a quick way to require a shorter vacation from a budget perspective!

The first morning, we kept hearing a tapping sound that seemed to be coming from just outside the cottage.  It took us a while to figure it out (see the photo below).

For some reason, this female cardinal decided the rear view mirrors on the rental car were evil!  I know that it was seeing itself in the mirror and thought it had to defend against an intruder.  But, geez, didn't you have to get yourself into just the right spot to see the offending critter so you could attack it?  We're kind of wondering how this bird knew if it had won or not.

Of course, you might also want to wonder why there is a cardinal on Kauai.  There are, actually a number of birds that came to the island with human 'help.'  Sadly, many of the birds native to the islands are scarce or extinct.  But, that doesn't mean we blame this cardinal - nor were we sad to see it.

Other 'out of place' wild-life we saw were Meadowlarks and Tiger Swallowtails.  These are two critters we would welcome on our farm, but we had to go to Kauai, where they are not native, to see them.  Once again, we were happy to see them - but a bit disturbed by how humans make native habitats less hospitable for natural populations.

Shelobs galore

We were actually surprised by how few spiders there are on the island - and we were also a bit surprised by the relatively low population of invertebrates, their food source.  Nonetheless, our first location featured a few very nice webs created by orb-weavers that looked very much like the "Shelob's" we welcome on the farm.  

Once again, I was a little disturbed by the fact that I found more orb-weavers in Kauai than we've seen in recent years on our farm.  We haven't seen them on the farm since 2012, when our farm had a fly-over spray incident.  It makes me wonder if I should import a couple of orb-weavers from someone else's farm to repopulate ours.

It's clear to me that I shouldn't have to fly over the Pacific Ocean to a small island to see some of the wildlife that should love the Genuine Faux Farm!

Angry Roosters and Swift Sunrises/Sunsets

The words "Oh look!  A rooster." - with no small amount of emphasis on the ridiculousness of the situation - escaped our lips multiple times.  Kauai has a thriving population of what some people call 'feral chickens,' while others refer to them as 'red junglefowl.'  The first junglefowl were brought to the island by Polynesians about 800 years ago and more European strains came after Captain Cook found the islands in the 1700s.  Things got even more interesting when a couple of hurricanes freed many of the domesticated (and contained) flocks in 1982 and 1992.  Scientists find it to be an interesting study of genealogy.  

Also note - chickens do cross the road in Kauai.

Unlike many tourists, we were not terribly impressed by the chickens.  I mean - we went there to get AWAY from the farm for a while.  The other thing to note is that chickens on Kauai seem to know that it is 5 AM (at least they do at Koke'e State Park).  And they ALL crow at exactly the same time.  Especially the one that has taken up a post right next the window of the cabin you are staying in at the time.

Speaking of mornings and evenings (we were?), sunrise and sunset on Kauai can be pretty quick.  In Iowa we are used to a bit more twilit skies - often lasting quite a while during the longest days and shortest days of the year.  That's probably why the chickens of Kauai start before there is some light.  They've slept enough and just want to tell you it's still an hour until the sun pops up.

While temperatures have been pretty moderate so far this Winter, we figure talk of a warmer clime is not an all bad thing for a January blog post.  We hope you enjoyed it and we hope you have a great day.

Octoberfest

You will see better why I had trouble trying to come up with a top-ten countdown for best blog posts of 2020 as I present the editor/writer selections for October of 2020.  Yes.  Just October.  And I had a tough time cutting this month down to ten.  In fact, I didn't manage it, there are eleven here.

Part of the reason for the difficulty is that October was apparently a creative month - with all sorts of topics and perspectives.  I mean - it's got to be a good blog month if you have not one, but TWO posts with Crazy Maurice! 

Crazy Maurice's Monarchy - We were talking about the little fluttery things that can't seem to fly straight.  He called the orange and black ones "Monarchs," but I like calling them "little fluttery things that can't fly straight and occasionally glide, love flowers, and roost in tree limbs at night, sometimes tickling the host tree..." (note, there was more to this name - Fuzzy Guy).

But It Wasn't Funny - But, occasionally, I get to hear the whispered conversations of my elders - the Burr Oaks on the southern part of this farm.  I have learned that, when they talk - I should listen.  And, when I listen, I have to be prepared to listen for a while.  I mean - they are kind of... well... deliberate.   That's a new word the Fuzzy Guy taught me this year when I tried to explain it to him.  I like that word.  And that's not an accident.

And another thing that got people's attention and apparently inspired me to write was baseball - or more accurately, my participation in the sport.  Each of the following made some connection to the sport I loved to play (and wish I could still play).

Ever the Observer -  But, it is fair to say that I was ever the observer.  While I was rarely pushing to be first in line to do things and I even more rarely wanted to try something new with any kind of an audience, I picked up far more than most kids by simply watching.  Watching and picking up the lessons that came with observation.

Backing Up First Base - We have all got our tasks that are very much like a right fielder backing up first.  It's not glamorous.  It's rarely recognized.  In fact, it may not seem necessary much of the time.  But, when it is needed, it is needed.  And when it is missing at a time when it is needed, we all notice.

Why Leadership Matters - With no small amount of glee, he told the scorekeeper to award me with an error rather than give a hit to the batter.  The message?  You've done great and I see that - and I know you can do even better!  And I believed it.  

Everyone seems to love it when the critters on the farm take center stage in one fashion or the other.  Would you believe that our poultry encouraged a spoof of Shakespeare - among other things?  And, anytime you can catch a bee midflight in a photo - you have to feature it.

Henlet, A Sililoquy -  

To lay, or not to lay, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the double yolk misfortune

or to add to the farms troubles, by pecking end them.

Turkey Smiles - "Oh look!" I said to myself.  "The turkeys are visiting Crazy Maurice.  I should take a picture of that."

Feeding Workers All Season - You see, the pollinators don't see the world the same way we do.  What looks like a tangled mess to us is a beautiful buffet to some of them.  It's a place that our bumbling human feet and bodies don't go to trample them as they do what they do.

The month even included a look back at one of my all time favorite posts (which I will not link here as it did not technically qualify).  There was a local foods post or two and even a reminder to us all to appreciate where we are - right now.

Impersonal -  Folks, your local farmers are often doing things to show their personal side - and you reward them with the most impersonal and the least useful support you can give - because hitting a "like" button is incredibly easy - and means so very little in the end.  What means more are personal recommendations for a product and, more important, your own patronage.

That's Not Orange -  Quadrato Asti Giallo peppers.  They are an heirloom bell pepper from Italy.  Isn't the name great?!?  You know what it means in Italian?  Quadrato means "square" and Giallo is "yellow."  Let's just stop there and just sound impressive when we say the Italian name!

Around the Bend - Would we remember to look carefully at where we are now and appreciate things like the texture of bark, the smell of leaves and the rustle of sound as a small creature darts around in the brush?  Or will we focus too hard on our destination - the area after we turn that bend in the path?

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Thank you for reading!  If you are so inclined - tell me which of these October posts were your favorite.  While you are at it - which of the pictures shown on this blog do you like best?

GFF 2020 Report Card - full year edition

Back in August, we gave grades to the Genuine Faux Farm (ourselves) for how they were doing a bit more than halfway through 2020.  Several people found it interesting and a couple even wondered if we would revisit this at the end of the year.  Apparently, the answer is 'yes.'

Here we are, only a few days into the new year and we're still trying to figure out what happened to us in the previous year.  Well - ok, that's the negative way of framing it.  The positive way is to remember that we can learn from what has gone before and it can help to inform us to improve as we go forward.  

With that in mind - here are our final grades for 2020 at the Genuine Faux Farm.  The midterm grade we gave ourselves in early August is in each heading. 

Handling the Water (B- at midterm)

So, here's the deal.  We dug some ditches/swales early in the season.  It rained like it has so many seasons in the last decade and the swales were tested.  Then, suddenly, the rains pretty much came to a stop.

In all honestly, it was a welcome relief to us at the farm - especially when you consider that we did get just enough rain here to keep things green through the entire Summer and Fall.  We've been so wet for so long, this was just wonderful.

What it did not do is test the swales further, which is just fine with us.  The early rains highlighted how the water flow was going to change with our efforts so we can continue to work to address that.  In a way, it was better that we ended up doing this in stages so we could assess how each set of changes impact the farm.  We have addressed some next steps, so hopefully we continue to make progress.  

After all, we know better than to think excessive rains won't come back to haunt us yet again.  That would be naive.  

But, for 2020, circumstances worked in our favor and helped us raise our grade:  B

Supporting the Pollinators (B+ at midterm)

We have always done a decent job of supporting pollinators at the farm, so we set this bar very high for ourselves.  In some ways, it is easier for us to assess pollinator health by watching our own honey bee hives, which did quite well this year.  

Our observations for the season were that we had more bird traffic, more smaller bees and a decent variety of insects and invertebrates.  On the other hand, butterflies and bumblebees were extremely scarce despite planting many things we know they like (from past experience).  We know that is not entirely our fault because there just needs to be more general support for these critters beyond what one 15 acre farm can provide.

Our timing for clover mowing and selection to allow asters to bloom was right on target to feed our pollinators through the fall months. 

The overall population decline might be beyond our control, but we did well with what we could control:  A- 

Dealing with Reduced Labor Hours (C- at midterm)

This would be akin to the hardest class in a major course of study.  The easiest way to pass is to somehow create more than 24 hours in a day AND be able to stay awake long enough to take advantage of them.  Since we couldn't do that, we had to try to milk all we could out of the resources we had and still stay healthy and sane.

The answer to the problem was to say "no" to putting in our normal batch of Fall crops this time around.  We did not particularly care for this solution, but it was actually the right direction.  Next year, I expect we will say yes to a batch of Fall and Winter crops, but they are going to be very different than they have been.

In the end, we pass the course by recognizing that we just need to change the goals to match the available resources.  We can still strive to excel, but that will mean something different in the future.  

We get a much better grade for learning enough to recognize where the solution was, even if we didn't get the details right: B-

Managing a New Sales System (C+ at midterm)

It was a good idea, but it probably won't be the right idea for the future.  The delivery approach was spot on, the tracking was not.  Not much more to say about it: C-

Further Refinements in Poultry (B+ at midterm)

At the point we gave the midterm, we still weren't sure where things were going to go with the new hens, with the turkeys or with the second batch of broilers - so there was a great deal that could change things.

Dealing with poultry requires dedication and some work.  The good news is that it requires a certain amount of work, every day.  But, except for a few key points in time, it does not require work ALL DAY LONG every day.  That means poultry actually worked better with our new work loads than growing produce did.  This is also a reflection of a system that continues to improve for our poultry at the Genuine Faux Farm.

We were prepared to back off of poultry in coming seasons but now we find that perhaps this is the part that works best with the new realities.  So, now we're looking at a few more tweaks and a continuation in 2021?  

We shall see, but this year went about as good as we could make it: A

Farmer Mental Health (A for effort at midterm)

This is always a hard thing to judge - especially when you are involved in things such as education and.. farming.  One day you can feel great and the next, not so great.  

The effort was there, just as we noted with the midterm "grade," but the stress of the Fall school term on top of everything else was pretty rough.  An A for effort and a C for actual results gives us a B- for the year.

Reviving the Farm Grounds and Plantings (I at midterm)

We're just going to leave it at an incomplete.  We took too many courses this year and we knew it.  Incomplete.

Making the Farmhouse a Positive Rather than a Negative (A- at midterm)

While we had higher goals for this than we accomplished, we did manage a second wind towards the end of the year and got a few more things done that needed doing.  We've actually done more talking about some things "normal people" do - like what color we want to paint some of the rooms in the house.  On the other hand, there are still some uncompleted tasks - which means we don't get an A.  Instead, the whole year balances out to a B+

Vegetable Crops (C- at midterm)

There were some definite wins and some definite losses.  Sounds a good deal like every season at the Genuine Faux Farm.  But, one thing I noticed is that we rarely had to say 'no' to orders we received when we offered vegetables to those who had farm credits.  We put up about as much veggies as we were able to given the time we had so we had some to eat in the winter months.  Rob got eat some fresh green beans in early November.  That's always a win in our book.

So, we met the demand that we had for the veggies we successfully grew.  We'll just leave it where it was in August: C  

Giving Through Writing (A- at midterm)

The second half of the year probably held some of the best writing - practice makes perfect, I guess.  The Postal History Sunday series got a foothold and found a number of people who simply enjoyed them for what they were.  Suddenly I had a batch of Pesticide Action Network blogs that I had written that I felt were ok to cross post and widen the audience perhaps a little bit.  I let myself look at some older posts and edit and renew them for a new look so they would not languish in the dark halls of history for a time.

This went well.  I think it was a positive for me and a positive for many who bothered to read them.  As a teacher, I did not give an A lightly.  I find the same holds true here.  A

Extra Credit

What?  You want extra credit?  If you had just done the work when it was due, you wouldn't be in this situation now, would you?

Have a great day everyone!  We hope we select the best classes for 2021 and that we can put forth our best efforts.  Since it is only January 4, we still have the perfect 4.0 grade average in sight!

Tell 'em Where to Go - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the first Postal History Sunday of 2021!  We hope you take the opportunity to enjoy learning something new - or at least you like to be entertained by a person who thoroughly enjoys their hobby.  Either way, this isn't a half bad way to spend a few moments of your day.

So, let's get to it!

What's a "Docket?"

Postal historians and postal history collectors often reference docketing on various mail pieces, which can take various forms.  Docketing would be some sort of handwriting on the letter or piece of mail that either provides record-keeping functions for the recipient OR directives for the postal services.

 For example, the item above shows lots and LOTS of docketing.  

The writing that runs sideways on the left side of the envelope would be filing notes by the recipient.  George Atkinson, Esq, a lawyer by trade, probably did what many at the time did - they filed documents and stored them in the envelope they came in.  To provide for easy reference, they recorded the date and origin of the contents, a brief summary AND the date the letter was received in their office (May 9, 1866).  It just so happens this date matches the London marking showing in red towards the top.

This method of filing is part of the reason postal historians have as much material to collect as they do.  It also explains why many of the same addressees keep showing up on these pieces of mail.

The other handwriting on the front of this letter includes the address AND some directional docketing at the lower left.  This docket reads:

"per Cunard Steamer Asia from Boston April 25"

At least - that's what the writer was hoping when they mailed the letter.  It turns out - if you read the New York marking in red at the right side - that it left New York on April 28 on a steamer that was NOT the Asia.  We'll get back to that in a bit!

Success and Failure in Directional Dockets

If you look long enough, you can find all kinds of docketing on the mail that clearly were meant to try to direct the post office with varying degrees of success.  Take the item below for example.

The docket "per Steamer" at the top left could have meant one of three things. 

1. There was more than one option for mail to go from Worcester to Boston
2. The writer thought there was some other option than a steamship to cross the Atlantic
3. The writer just wanted to write "per Steamer" on the envelope

I can tell you that Worcester, Mass is just west of Boston and there are no streams that would have had steamers plying between the two locations.  I am pretty certain a train or a coach carried the letter to the Boston foreign mail office.  I am ALSO quite certain that the letter rode on a steamship (a Cunard Line ship) to cross the Atlantic.  In fact, there really wasn't another way that mail would do so at the time.  So, you could argue that the person who wrote this wasted ink on the docket.

In their defense, it had not been that many years that steamships were the primary mode of transportation across the seas.  The person writing could very well still remember the days that most ships went by sail, not steam engine.  They might even have experienced a time when you would WANT to indicate that you wanted it to go by a steamship rather than one that went under sail and you had to say so on your letter.

The item below, shows some successful direction given by a docket:

The words "via Panama" very clearly directed the post office in San Francisco to put it on a steamer that would go down the coast to Panama.  The letter then would go overland at the isthmus and then board another steamer to New York on the eastern shore of the isthmus.  There was, in fact, another alternative since overland routes were now in use from California.  By 1863, most letter mail went overland by default.  So, if a letter writer preferred the steamship via Panama, they had to indicate that preference as this person did here.

The question is, of course, "why did this person want this to go on the slower route?"  We may never know this answer for certain.  But, perhaps the sender had heard enough about mail coach robberies that they did not want to risk that with this mail item?  Maybe there was a known weather issue that was going to delay overland mail?  Whatever the case, this is a time when the directive was followed - even if it was going to result in slower transit of the mail item.

And here is another successful routing docket.  This one reads "by the Persia Aug 24 in New York."  Unfortunately for the postal historian (me), there are no contents in the letter and there is no originating postmark, so I cannot tell for certain where this item was mailed from in the United States.  Clearly, it DID go through New York and it DID leave on a ship from New York on August 24 (yes, it was the Persia).  So, you could say that the docket worked - it went where the writer wanted it to go based on that agreement.

Did They Need Dockets by the 1860s?

By the time we get to letters in the 1860s, the need for writers to include directional docketing had been greatly reduced - though there were times when it was still necessary.  As far as mail from the United States to England, the postal service had a pretty good system for getting letters to the earliest departing steamship - there was very little a directional docket would do that would improve that.

As long as the letter above was mailed on time for that New York departure, it was going to take the earliest departing ship even without the docket.

But, the letter below actually has a somewhat useful docket!

The docket "via Liverpool" at top left could be construed as a directive to put the letter on one of the shipping lines that went through Liverpool - but it actually did more than that.  You see, the Cunard Line would stop at Cork, Ireland and offload mail for England there.  It would then go by rail, cross the water from Kingston to Holyhead, and then on to London by rail.  

Because this item was headed to Scotland, the writer indicated that it should stay on the ship until it got to Liverpool the next day.  From there it would go to Glasgow.

But, again, there is a question as to exactly how useful the docket might be because the mail volume to the United Kingdom was sufficient that mail to Scotland could have been placed into its own mailbag.  If that were the case, it would take the most efficient route to Scotland without needing the docket.  Once more, this is a case where we see mail handling in the process of change.  Dockets were once fairly critical in directing the mail and they are becoming less important as the amount of mail increases and the procedures become more refined.

Back to the Original Cover

Here we are - back at the original item with the docket claiming the letter should go to Boston and leave on the Cunard Steamer Asia on April 25 (Wednesday).  But, clearly, it left New York on a steamer that Saturday (April 28).

The reason for the delay is simple.  The writer did not make it to the post office in time to get the mail to Boston and the departure of the Asia.  The post office simply sent the item to New York, where the next ship was scheduled to sail across the Atlantic.

But, here is the problem for the post office.  The writer makes a claim by saying the letter was to leave Boston on April 25.  The post office provides themselves evidence that it is not THEIR problem by putting the "Too Late" marking on the envelope.  "Hey, George Atkinson.  I don't care what the guy who wrote this says - he didn't get it to us in time for that ship.  Take it up with him!"

This illustrates a bit more about why dockets were still routinely placed on letters.  It could often serve as attempt to provide evidence of timeliness during an era when it took ten to twelve days to cross the Atlantic - and a missed ship could add three more days to the wait!

And there you are!  The first Postal History Sunday of 2021.  I hope you have a great remainder of the weekend and the coming week treats you and yours well.

And here's a docket for this post:  I wrote this on January 2, 2021 and you get to read it on January 3 (or later)!

September's Color

We're doing the "New Year" thing by looking back on the "Old Year."  As I mentioned when I featured July posts, there are simply too many posts to try to do the whole year in one shot.  So, for those months where I managed to get close to a blog a day, we're going to do a separate post.

The idea is that the writer and editor (that would be me... both of them) got together and selected the best reads from each month and put them into posts for you.  Also included are available photos from that month (sometimes I had to pick one from a prior year though!) because, well, we like pictures.  I suspect you do too - so there you have it.

We eliminated Postal History Sunday posts, PAN cross posts and posts that focused on farm business - you can go see those if you want too!  Just check the 'tag list' at the right of the screen and try some of them out.

Without further ado - here are our selections for September of 2020.

Details, Details    People would rather draw lines in the sand for the basic concepts - even if they aren't the right ones to argue over - than 'get into the weeds' and do a little learning and cooperative discovery so they can make the best decision they can make.

Faded   The path turns.  A flash of the deepest blue catches your eye. Suddenly, you don't feel quite so tired and you pick up the pace.  You turn again and there it is.  Something that takes your breath away.  Something that renews you.

Drink Out of the Hose?  Kids and turkeys.  Do the similarities end at the affinity for drinking out of the hose?

Not That Simple   In the end, I discovered that the responses of others who felt I had to either love beets or hate them did not matter - because they haven't taken the time to know beets like I have.

Miles Gone By -  And, this is why it can be so hard to try to make a connection with other people when we try to explain what it is like - doing what we do.  How do you get someone to understand our brand of farming until they have climbed into and back out of a pickup truck thousands of times?

Over/Under on Whelmed -  Feel free to ask the question.  Go ahead!  Are we just borrowing trouble by putting all of these 'big picture' things onto our 'list of concerns?'  It is certainly a valid question - and I have asked myself this question more than once.  So, let's do a reality check here.  Should I be allowing these things to take up brain space?

Learn Something New Again -  If you are a curious soul, like I am, it can be quite enjoyable to dig into something and learn.  I will also admit that learning new things can be a comfort.  And, after the post just prior to this one, I think we all (those of us who write the blog and those who read it) could use a little comforting.

--------------AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION----------

Thank you for reading!  If you are so inclined - tell me which of these August posts were your favorite.  While you are at it - which of the pictures shown on this blog do you like best?

Resolution

The new year is often the time for people to identify goals and renew commitments to health, wellness, prosperity and whatever each individual feels is important at the time.  While I am not one to write a list of resolutions for the new year, I will admit that I do often use the energy a new cycle brings with it to try to do better on a whole host of things.  This year, I am making an exception and giving myself a resolution. 

What Do You Feel and Think When You See This Picture?

Some who read this blog may be more familiar than others with this building and this perspective.  Others may never have seen it in person, but maybe you've seen pictures in the blog.  It doesn't matter - I just want you to take a moment to look at it and explore how this view makes you feel and/or what kinds of things it makes you think of.

Now try this one.

Can you picture yourself in this frame?  What would you be doing?  How would you be feeling?  What would expect to see as you walked into the picture?  What sounds are there?  Is there any breeze?  Do you smell anything?

And this one?

So, I have asked you to explore what you feel or think when you see some pictures from our farm.  I've asked a few people similar questions over the years and I've had others just volunteer thoughts and here are some things I have had people say about similar sights on our farm:

• What a beautiful place!  It's so peaceful.
• I could just sit here for hours.
• This place is so relaxing.
• You must enjoy living here.
• You need to paint the granary the rest of the way... I love to paint.

So, What Do I See?

Initially, all I see are things left undone that still need doing.  

Yes, the granary needs paint.  The trim and siding around the door needs to be finished and the old doors need to be fixed.  We still need to find ways to exclude raccoons from the building and we have work to do to make more of the building useful to how we do things.  

The next picture shows Casa Verde, which is currently uncovered after the plastic tore.  We need to recover the building and do some work on vent on the other side.  The Iowa hydrant in the front of the building has never quite worked as well as it should since we put it in, so that's a mild continuous stresser and there are some failed experiments in the picture as well.  Oh - and you don't see the raised bed that desparately needed weeding just behind this.

Surely the flower is a relaxing picture for me, yes?  Well, no.  I know where this flower resides and it is in an area that needs to be addressed - especially if we want flowers again in the future.

If I think a little longer, I can transport myself into the picture.  I can hear the door on the granary as I open it so I can get food for the chickens.  It makes a rattling, squealing noise as it opens and I can feel the tug on the rope as I hang on to prevent it from slamming onto the roll at the top of the door.  There are a couple of Barn Swallows that come swooping out as I open the door.  They land on the electric line that leaves the building and make their chittering call to tell me it's a good morning to fly. 

So, yes, I can see the beauty and appreciate it.  But, I have to work harder to see 'peaceful' and 'relaxing.'  It can be very difficult to get past the obligations that come with the farm

Once again, this is about perspective.  You can't necessarily know what I am seeing and how it makes me feel or what it makes me think unless you put yourself fully into my shoes.  Similarly, I don't know what cares and worries, joys and preferences, expectations and fears come along for the ride to color your experience of something. 

Resolved

This is part of the reason we are so willing to take sides and engage in conflict.  We have to work - sometimes REALLY hard - to understand each other and see what the other person is seeing.  Apparently, this is so difficult that we are much more willing to fight in opposition than we are to try to understand.

My resolution is to continue to work on being better at understanding what others are seeing so I might have a chance to recognize what motivates them to do and say what they do.  And, I will also listen better to what people might say about me and where I am, so I can appreciate the good things from a different perspective and contemplate whether the critical things are worthy of my attention so I can make changes.

I want you to look at pictures of the farm that shows green plants, some sunshine and a farm building and feel that it is peaceful.  I also want to see those same things and feel a little of that as well.  But, I also hope you can recognize that my perception might be colored by some things you can't necessarily know about.  I don't need you to feel the same way, I just need you to accept that I might not feel the same as you.

By the same token, I need to look at you and consider that what I see in you and where you are from your perspective.  If I see something good, I should call it out - so you can see it again for yourself, because you might have forgotten with all of the difficulties that surround you.  And, if I see something that needs attention, perhaps I need to think a little harder about why that might be the case instead of leaping to judgement.

It's a tall order.  But, the worthwhile resolutions usually are.

Genuine Faux Farm 2020 Hindsight

Welcome to the final day of the year 2020.  Rather than indulge in the 'year-bashing' that so many fall prey to doing, I thought we would do a year-end retrospective from our farm's point of view.  Yes - it is true that many of the challenges that faced us were part of the general news (pandemic, derechos and hurricanes, confrontational politics, etc etc) - but you can (and probably have) read about that elsewhere.

Personally, I am not celebrating the end of 2020 because that I am glad to be rid of it.  I celebrate 2020 because it was a part of my life and I found some things to appreciate - or, at least, contemplate - in the form of a top ten list.

The GFF 2020 Hindsight Top 10!

10. Swales and Ditches, Ditches and Swales

While we didn't put in as many swales (or waterway ditches) as we had planned, we did get two critical swales put in early in 2020.  You can ask if they worked and the answer would be - "mostly."  Once we determined exactly how much time and effort it took to put in these two swales, we realized that we just don't have the best equipment to do the job efficiently.  However, we also learned that it was just as well that we did not do everything at once because we were able to learn from how the water management changed with just these two adjustments.  

 

In other words, this is a work in progress.  But, there actually was some good progress!

9. A Year of the "Bird Game"

This might seem odd, but one of our highlights for the year was actually a board game!  Tammy and I found ourselves enjoying Wingspan so much that we have played it nearly every day for the entire year.  

This was something we got to do together and it was not a case where one of us was humoring the other.  Wins and losses are roughly equal even after all this time.  And, we still learn things about our avian friends - all thanks to this game.  We have found that our bird identification prowess has improved because of the repetitions we have had with the images and names on the cards this game features.

8. Rob Gets a "Smart" Phone

I am still not a fan of smart phones.  I probably never will be simply because I see how often they take people's attention away from things that are more important.

On the other hand, the sheer volume of things that practically require that you be able to text has made it increasingly difficult to avoid having one of these things.  So - Rob got a smart phone.  The first thing he did was figure out how to delete the vast majority of useless apps he found preloaded onto the device.  Then, he deliberately figured out ways that the phone could be useful without becoming an appendage.  

Success?  Mostly.  And I was able to use it so I could hold a PFI field day this year.  Score one for the phone, I guess.  And I could record some bird sounds while I was working in the Spring that I can now enjoy in January.  We'll call that a win.

7. Walking There Again

Perhaps we should have done this more often this past year, but we did manage to take ourselves to some of the natural areas in Northeast Iowa and hike around a bit.  

I will admit that our willingness to take the time and do this fell off once the school year really got rolling in August, but we still recognized a benefit to reconnecting with nature at locations that were not our farm.  Don't get me wrong, the farm is a great place for us to maintain our connection to the natural world.  But, it is also a place of work for us.  Sometimes we need to balance our lives out with a walk in the woods by a stream - with nothing to remind us that we need to finish digging a swale or that the garlic needs mulching (it doesn't, we did get that done - phew!).

6. Adjusting Farm Sales Processes

Even without all of the extra 'big events' that were going on with the world, 2020 was going to be a very different year on our farm.  We had already announced that we were discontinuing our CSA Farm Share Program that had been running since 2005 and we went with a Prepaid Farm Credit system for the year.  Add to that a pandemic and the necessary steps to maintain safe practices with foodstuffs and you find us working to adapt how we deliver food dramatically.

We feel that, with the help of our customers, we developed a safe process for delivery that was effectively adapted as the season's changed and circumstances required.  There were some definite issues - primarily with tracking, which was rooted in large part to the next item.

5. Rob's New Job and Tammy's Never-ending Job

Perhaps some of the biggest news of the year was that Rob took an off-farm job for the first time in many years, working as a Communications Associate for the Pesticide Action Network.  As anyone who has taken a new job can attest, there is always a period of transition that has its stresses and requires changes.  

In many ways, Tammy's job was ALSO a new job.  The adjustments and the uncertainty that came with teaching at the college this past year has not been comfortable and it required her constant attention - even during the weeks that she traditionally has been able to step back a bit.  You see, teachers at all levels tend to work for much longer than 8 hours a day, five days a week when school is in session (and usually right before and after each term).  The balancing factor is that Summers are supposed to allow for a little more freedom.  Not so in 2020.

This is supposed to be a positive reflection - so here is the positive spin.  Rob has adapted to his job well and his co-workers feel that he is a useful member of the team.  Tammy has amazing skills and has done more good than she knows for a number of people (some of whom do not yet know how much good she did for them as well).

We both did good - the warts just add character.  And that's the story I'm sticking with.

4. Sharing Information with Others

Pandemic or not, we still did things at the Genuine Faux Farm to share our experiences and knowledge with others.  Rob was given the opportunity to present on various mulching techniques at the conference in January (pre pandemic).  We probably should have taken that as a warning for future months since a Winter storm was bearing down on us and many people had to leave the conference early.  Tammy and I, in fact, stayed an extra night to avoid driving in the worst of it.

During the Summer, we hosted a two-part (initially intended to be three-part) field day at our farm.  The second session, focusing on cover crops and poultry, can be found here.  The first of the two focused more on incorporating cover and establishing new cover.  Rob also was one of a panel at the Iowa Organic Association's Annual Meeting.  

There was even a chance to talk about postal history this year.  Something that I might not have been able to do in a 'normal year!'

3. Working Alone Together

With only a couple of brief exceptions where we were able to get some volunteers to come and help (with appropriate physical distance) the farm crew consisted of... Tammy and Rob.  That meant more adjustments on our part in terms of what we planted and how we went about planting.  

We both missed the presence of a crew and were relieved that we were not responsible for a crew at the same time.  It is clear that no matter how efficient we could be as workers, there was no replacing the person hours we typically received in the form of our seasonal helpers.  The same was true for the removal of our annual festivals at the farm from our itinerary. 

On the positive side of things, the extreme changes to how our farm operates have opened our eyes to some different possibilities and helped us cut ties from some things that, perhaps, we needed to let go.  We are hopeful that we can continue to adjust successfully to a new phase for the Genuine Faux Farm.

2. Major Repairs and Improvements on the Farm

Yes, we started the year with the big farmhouse project (siding, doors, windows, stairs, etc) and a new roof for the Poultry Pavilion.  It was a pretty major effort all around to start the year.  

We also celebrated our first full year of renewable energy from our solar panels that were installed the prior Summer.  

First, let me say that we are BOTH relieved that we do not have to be outside tearing off siding again THIS December and January.  We are pleased with the results and we continue to make progress on the overall project that this house presents.  And, we are also pleased with the production of the solar panels.  We have successfully managed to cover the electrical use our farm takes, including the walk-in cooler and heat mats for starting plants.

1. Paying It Forward as Best We Can

The number one item on our list is that we continue to do what we can to help others.  I wanted to send a little praise Tammy's way for her recent efforts in trying to address food insecurity for the Wartburg students who remained in Waverly after the early end to the semester.  These students do not have food plans like they might during the normal semester.  Tammy cooked up a GFF turkey and a bunch of winter squash that was snapped up quickly.  And, on another date, she helped connect resources so a catered meal from the Diner in Waverly could be made available to these students.  And, yes, she was also involved in the Holiday Shoppe program in Bremer County. 

So, celebrate the coming of the new year as you see fit.  If you want to burn a 2020 calendar and say 'good riddance!' that's up to you.  But, in my mind, one of the best ways to move forward is to build on a solid foundation with good bones.  

Happy New Year to all.

End of Year Giving

One of the things I have become even more aware of since I started working with Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is how much non-profit organizations come to rely on the Giving Tuesday and "end of year" donations that come their way so they can continue with their work.  Certainly I have always had some knowledge of this.  But, there is nothing quite like being on the other side of the ball (so to speak) to really begin to appreciate a different perspective.

A significant portion of the Communication Team's time was spent on crafting the online appeal materials and activities that PAN used to ask for donations from Thanksgiving to Giving Tuesday and onward to the end of year.  This was done while still trying to keep a pulse on things that were happening in the world that we are working to address.  As a 'for instance,' many of us were involved in responses to the search for the new Secretary of Agriculture (it turned out to be Tom Vilsack - not our favorite choice if we want to make progress on a number of things - but maybe he'll listen if we approach it right?).  If you want to learn more, I took my USDA post from PAN and put it on our farm blog as well.

In any event, I realize that the population in general will often grow weary of all of the appeals that come rolling your way once we get into the second half of November and they don't really slow until about... well... January 2.

There are two reasons for this.

1. Non-profits need to combine grants and donations for funding so they can actually have dedicated workers to do the things the organization is trying to do.  Both Tammy and I have been involved in organizations that had little or no staff - leaving a board of volunteers to do the work.  Unless that organization is lucky to have one or two people who are so dedicated to the cause that they willingly put forth the effort, the organization usually fails to meet its potential.  And when those selfless individuals move on?   Well, you can guess what happens.

2. This IS the time of year that requests for donations do get the most response.  

Tammy and I recently received a request to identify organizations with Iowa ties that promote the health of our environment - whether it is by encouraging/discouraging particular farming practices or supporting wild areas in the state.  What follows will NOT be an all inclusive list and I will only include organizations for which I have some personal knowledge.  You should do some of YOUR OWN research on any organization so you know exactly what you are supporting.  I can speak now from personal experience that involved donors are even more of a benefit to an organization than you might think!

Ten Recommendations To Support Environmental Initiatives

We took a moment and checked our recommendations out on Charity Navigator, which does not have complete ratings for every organization, especially if they are smaller.  We encourage you to look beyond the number ratings to see what the rating is based on.  You can decide what, if anything, in these ratings matter to you.  

What we can say is that, in our opinion, all of these organizations would be worthy of your attention.  Read on for some of our opinions and experiences regarding each.

Pesticide Action Network

Charity Navigator - 84

I am going to get my (Rob's) direct affiliation taken care of first.  Full disclosure - I work as the Communications Associate in Iowa for PAN.  Iowa is one of four states (California, Minnesota, Iowa and Hawaii) that have focused campaigns - even though PAN does do national work.  PAN (North America) is actually a part of a much larger, international organization that was initially formed to address the export of banned pesticides to poorer nations.

In Iowa, PAN has a strong focus on trying to reduce (and eventually remove) our reliance on chemical agriculture and the inequities it maintains in our farming systems.  If you are interested in donating to PAN, please make sure you tell them that you want them to continue work in Iowa.  While you are at it, sign up to receive our newsletters!  You'll hear from me more often (ooops, maybe that's not a good sell?).

Iowa Organic Association

Charity Navigator - N/A

The Iowa Organic Association is a smaller organization that has been around longer than you think - yet is just now really coming into its own.  One of its biggest contributions in recent years has been annual sessions to help farmers figure out how they can transition to organic production.  

Again - full disclosure - I served as a member of their board for a couple of years while we tried to bring the organization back after a decline.  I was asked to be a member of a farmer panel at their most recent Annual Meeting and wrote about that in this blog.  The link to the meeting is there as well - so if you want to see more about what is going on, it can give you some ideas.

Xerces Society

Charity Navigator - 91.34 

The Xerces Society is a national organization that has had a strong presence in Minnesota and has also had some good connections to Iowa.  Once again, you can let them know how much you appreciate their attention to a state, such as Iowa, by pointing out how much we need help maintaining our pollinator and invertebrate populations.

Xerces is my "go to" resource when I need to learn more about pollinators and pollinator habitats.  In fact, we hosted a field day with Xerces and Practical Farmers of Iowa in 2016.  Xerces has also helped other farmers (not just veggie farmers) install pollinator strips, beetle banks and other habitat areas.  Our pollinators need support now and Xerces is a key organization.

Seed Savers

Charity Navigator - 80

If open pollinated seed access and preservation are important to you, then Seed Savers should be an organization you consider supporting.  This organization maintains some beautiful land in northeast Iowa, sustainably managing natural areas as well as a heritage orchard, seed production gardens and display gardens.  

Our farm has relied heavily on a number of heritage and heirloom seed varieties for our vegetable production over the years.  If you love Black Krim tomatoes, Thelma Sanders Acorn Squash or Grandpa Admire's Lettuce, you can thank Seed Savers for making them available to farms like ours and gardeners like yourself (if you garden).  Our farm has pushed back against the increased reliance on F-1 hybrid seeds by trying to use open pollinated varieties whenever we are able to - we support Seed Savers mission, in part, by simply working to grow and sell those varieties rather than relying on an increasingly small number of seed producers.  Diversity in seed is important.

Scattergood Friends School (and Farm)

Charity Navigator - 100

This recommendation may seem a bit out of place if we are talking about environmental issues, but this is where our personal connection gives us an inside scoop to understand what the non-profit does.  We have friends who teach and run the farm that is attached to the school.  We are aware of how the school uses its farm and surrounding natural areas to educate young people with hands-on experiences.  Exposing young people to nature and to how food is grown (they raise vegetables and meats for consumption at the school) is an excellent way to make a difference in how we care for our world now and how we prepare to care for it in future generations.

Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center

Charity Navigator - 96.81

Rodale is synonymous with organic.  We have at least two Rodale books that have been in our reference library from day one at the Genuine Faux Farm.  While Rodale is centered on the East coast, they recently (in the past couple of years) opened their Midwest Organic Center in Marion, Iowa.  

In my opinion, it is important that organizations such as Rodale, PAN and Xerces put a focus in a state such as Iowa.  Why?  Well, Iowa may be one of the most unfriendly states (in general) for their efforts with the overwhelming strength of corporate agriculture in opposition to their goals.  The strength of these larger organizations are needed if we want to make headway.  If you decide to donate to Rodale, please tell them that you support their center in Marion.

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

Charity Navigator - 100 

Here is an organization that works on preserving natural areas in Iowa by supporting the process for lands to be protected by easements.  I have been a supporter of INHF from the time I took my first job in Cedar Rapids until the present day.  I have watched their efforts as they have helped to preserve the Loess hills in western Iowa and set aside larger contiguous pieces of land in the Upper Iowa River Valley (among others).  

I won't pretend to be perfectly knowledgeable about such things, but I suspect we would have even fewer natural areas in this state if INHF didn't exist.  Oh, and some of the beautiful photography on their magazine is quite worthwhile.

Practical Farmers of Iowa

Charity Navigator - 100  

If you have read our blogs over the years, then you have heard about Practical Farmers of Iowa.  PFI supports on-farm research, which encourages farmers of all types (row crop, grazing, orchards, horticulture) to 'stay curious' about farming and continue to look for better ways to do things, rather than simply accept what agribusiness tells us to do.  Our farm has participated in several research projects and we have held multiple field days for PFI.

PFI strongly supports the increased use of cover crops to reduce erosion, supply fertility, suppress weeds and provide alternatives to current agricultural processes.  It was PFI who helped create videos on pesticide drift and resources for those who have been drifted on.   Spoiler alert, you might recognize one of the two farmers featured in those videos.

Iowa Farmers Union

Charity Navigator - N/A

IFU has been a force for pushing alternative policy approaches in a state that does not seem to want to listen to ideas that don't come from corporate agriculture.  IFU has pushed back against the process of farm consolidation, which results in larger and larger farms.  You may notice that IFU has taken a stand to stop pesticide drift, reduce agricultural runoff into our waterways and encourage diverse farmscapes.

The people at IFU have the energy to push for policy change and they need support to maintain that energy and make some progress.  I have had the privilege to speak one at their annual conventions and have participated in their policy discussions.  I appreciate the heart and tenacity of this organization.

Iowa Environmental Council

Charity Navigator - 85 

The Iowa Environmental Council is probably the organization with which I have the least amount of personal connection in this list.  We can say that some of IEC's work helped us through the process of putting solar panels on our own farm.

If you are concerned about the health of Iowa's land and waterways, support renewable energy and want to take action to respond to climate change, IEC is a good place to look.  IEC is a policy oriented organization, looking to advocate for changes at the governmental level to support renewable energy, clean water and land stewardship.  So, if you are looking for policy level organizations, this is one you should consider.

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I hope you found this review worthwhile to read and I hope you found some of the information useful.  Tammy and I are both happy to support each of these organizations as we are able throughout the year.  We are also pleased to support other organizations, such as the Northeast Iowa Foodbank and Cedar Valley Friends of the Family.  We also have traditionally supported Iowa Public Radio and Iowa Public Television.    

Don't get us wrong - we aren't trying to say we are key supporters for any of these organizations, we don't have that much money or influence.  And we are definitely NOT saying we are better than anyone else.  What we are saying is that if you were asking our opinions (and someone did), this is where much of our money and support flows when we are able to give it.

Have a great day and thank you for lending your support to others in whatever way you are able.  Kind words mean something.  Careful and thoughtful actions are important.  And, when you can, donating resources (time, money, etc) is also important.  When we care and put effort into HOW we care, we help make this world a better place.

August Company

 We're doing the "New Year" thing by looking back on the "Old Year."  As I mentioned when I featured July posts, there are simply too many posts to try to do the whole year in one shot.  So, for those months where I managed to get close to a blog a day, we're going to do a separate post.

The idea is that the writer and editor (that would be me... both of them) got together and selected the best reads from each month and put them into posts for you.  Also included are available photos from that month (sometimes I had to pick one from a prior year though!) because, well, we like pictures.  I suspect you do too - so there you have it.

We eliminated Postal History Sunday posts, PAN cross posts and posts that focused on farm business - you can go see those if you want too!  Just check the 'tag list' at the right of the screen and try some of them out.

Without further ado - here are our selections for August of 2020.

Trying to Bee Good  The swarm was quite heavy and it hit the box with a nice 'thump.'  The branch had a little kick back to it, so some bees rained all over the tractor hood and on to the driver of said tractor.  

Learn Something New   I hope you learn something new as you read this.  And if you don't, I hope it is just because you are REALLY smart and just happened to have already explored these particular topics.  Either way - good for you!

Caretaker   Those tough, thick-fingered hands don't blister much anymore because they are all callous - but they can still hold a small bird.  Gently.  Kindly.  With awe and wonder.

Local Foods Reality Check   I have seen this before - this zeal and excitement.  And, I have watched it fade rapidly.  If past history is any indication, I predict that 75% of the new CSA subscribers that jumped on getting a share this year will not return for 2021.
Prove me wrong.  Prove me wrong without needing a pandemic or other disaster to encourage you.

So-Called Media Madness   Facebook: "We're guessing that fifty people thought they might see something you posted somewhere, so we counted that and made a nice chart.  If you gave us some money, we'll make a nicer chart that has better numbers.  We take all major credit cards and Paypal!"

What it Feels Like to Fail   The two of us have given ourselves plenty of opportunity to fail since we started raising poultry and vegetables on our farm in 2004.  And, for good or bad, we have experienced our share of failures.  You might even be tempted to say that we are quite good at it!

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Thank you for reading!  If you are so inclined - tell me which of these August posts were your favorite.  While you are at it - which of the pictures shown on this blog do you like best?