If You Could, Where Would You Walk?

We've been planning on taking this hike for weeks now.  But, I'm sure everyone knows how this goes.  The week was a long one.  There's so much we need to do.  We're just feeling tired and want to sit still for a while.  Sitting in the car just to get there doesn't sound attractive.  The weather isn't very nice.  There's another thing we have scheduled instead of a hike, so I guess it won't be today.  Feet are sore, maybe another time.

All of the normal excuses - and I am sure there might have been some non-excuses as well.

But, once we actually finally get there, we always wonder why it took us so long to make the time and space to visit the beautiful places in our world that are not all that far from the Genuine Faux Farm.

A warm November morning turned out to be the perfect time for Tammy and I to take a walk to Malanaphy Springs, just off of Bluffton Road.  The sign indicating the pull off to a small parking area is not terribly conspicuous, but most people who go to Malanaphy know what they're getting into when they take this walk along the Upper Iowa River.

I noticed that an artist had left painted rocks at the trailhead (and in a few locations on the first third of the trail).  One of the earlier painted stones encouraged up to "Let our dreams soar!" and others invited us to "relax!"  

I will say this - if there is going to be evidence of human intrusion in nature, this was a pretty pleasant way for it to manifest itself.

As you might expect, the trail was covered in fallen leaves.  All but the Red and White Oaks had released their foliage and allowed gravity to turn it all into a carpet for the woodland floor.

And, as we walked, the sun angled in beneath a cloud and just over the ridge so it could highlight the textures of the world around us.  The hill to our right invited us to stop and admire how good things look even when the trees were preparing for slumber.

The trail ahead encouraged us to continue after we had climbed a short rise.  There were a few slick spots where the damp leaves on the limestone attempted to trick us into sitting a bit more abruptly than we would normally like.  But, otherwise, it felt good to walk the trail and the land seemed to welcome us - whispering encouragement and hinting at more to come.

The understory of the forest still had a fair amount of greenery, considering it was November 7.  The Hepatica showed up in several locations near the trail, so it was easy to take a picture.  This Iowa Association of Naturalists publication gives some nice descriptions of some of the plants we found on our walk.  Apparently, it is not uncommon for hepatica to keep some green leaves through the cold months.  I think we need to go back in the Spring to see its blooms.

Evidence of the warmer fall came in the form of some new growth on other plants.  This one shows some older leaves at the top and left and a newer sprig in the center.  If my identification skills are correct, I think this is a Virginia Waterleaf.

A bit more familiar to the two of us - we also saw a fair number of Columbine.  We've noticed these plants are putting on a little growth at our farm again this Fall.  I keep telling them that they should just go to sleep because the cold weather IS coming.  But, they usually don't listen to me.

We didn't just look down on this walk, we also took the time to look up.  There is so much to learn and observe when you take a walk in nature.  We were both amazed by how trees found ways to claim their part of the forest canopy.

As we walked down the trail, we both came to a halt when we saw a familiar leaf from our past - a small elm tree came up to our knees in height.  And, where there is a baby elm, there must be an adult - so we started looking.

After some searching, Tammy noticed the triple trunk in this picture, which appeared to be an elm.  I suppose it is possible that this is an American Elm or a Red Elm.  We weren't able to get too close to those trees to inspect them further.  And, let's be honest, neither of us has seen an American Elm for a long time since Dutch Elm Disease took most of those beautiful trees away from us.

Still, as we explored further, we kept finding evidence of elms (look at the reddish leaf center left).  We do know that elms were prolific with their seed, which means it is not impossible for smaller trees to be found in areas such as Malanaphy.  It was good to see them, even if there was some melancholy that came along with it as we both wished for more of those stately trees in our lives.

I suppose for most people, the highlight of the walk is supposed to be the waterfall.  But, we were enjoying the walk so much to get there that I think we both figured a waterfall would be a bonus.

The Malanaphy Spring falls actually come in a couple of stages and a person should reign in their expectations that this is on a par with Niagara or some such thing.  Like Dunning's Spring and Twin Springs in Decorah, Malanaphy is another cold water spring that is typical of the karst landform in the area.

The waterfall, starts fairly inauspiciously with a small stream towards the top.  But, if you climb up there, you might be amazed by how much water actually pours from a fairly small fissure in the rock.

Now, certainly if it had rained recently, there would likely be more water feeding into the falls and Spring from outside sources.  The underground cold water source emanates from an area where it is possible for a fair amount of run-off to join it.

However, the great thing about Malanaphy is that the underground source just keeps pouring out its water.  Drought or no drought, you can go sit and listen to the water trickle down the rocks and to a stream bed that finds its way to the Upper Iowa River.  And, the underground water source means it will flow in the middle of Winter too.

And, if you thought Tammy and I were done observing and exploring at this point, you were wrong.  We were able to identify what looks like an old hornets' nest in one of the trees to one side of the spring.  My best guess is that this was the home of some Bald-faced Hornets.

When I did a quick search for this sort of nest, I was somewhat appalled by the number of pest control sites that worked on the fear factor for these wasps.  Generally speaking, they will be aggressive and stings will be painful when you climb fifty feet up in a tree to disturb their nest.

I've heard that some humans can be pretty nasty when you bother them in their home too.

We were also able to explore textures of wood and rock.  I probably could have spent significant amounts of time just looking around and making excuses for one more picture.

I even noticed an particularly interesting mushroom on one log.  While I have attempted to identify some trees and plants, I'll leave it to someone else to tell me if they can identify this type of fungi!

We followed the stream down to the spot where the water falls again into the Upper Iowa River below.  Tammy and I spent a fair amount of time just absorbing the gift that is this place in our world. 

I suppose I could have taken more pictures, but the camera informed us that our memory card was full. 

That's ok.  Tammy and I each have our own memory cards, and there is plenty of room for more.

So - that was the place where we went to walk.  If you could walk in a beautiful place in Iowa, where would it be?  Maybe you can encourage the farmers to take a walk there too.

Poo d'Etat - Postal History Sunday

You have been traversing the virtual world of the internet and now you find yourself here, reading this week's Postal History Sunday that is hosted on the Genuine Faux Farm blog or the GFF Postal History blog.  Don't worry about wiping off your shoes for this one, but do take a moment to get yourself comfortable and grab a favorite beverage or snack.  This week's entry is going to take us to some different territory - maybe we'll all learn something new by the time it is all over with.

One thing I cannot escape is the reality that I am a farmer AND a postal historian.  Rather than run and hide from this, I do my best to embrace it.  So, today's PHS blog is going to take a turn towards the farm - and more specifically, towards fertilizer!  That encouraged me to name this one "Poo d'Etat."  Hang on and enjoy the ride!

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When I first noticed this envelope, I have to admit that I was not horribly impressed.  It's not the prettiest item out there and there is some staining and aging that made me pause.  There is not much for postal markings either - and the cancellation doesn't really give me a too much information.  

The addressee may have been a law professional (note the letters "Esq" after the name) who could be located at Nottoway Court House (about 65 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia).  As the name implies,  this settlement was the "business portion" of the county, which included the court house building, clerk's office and jail.  The Fitzgerald family were quite prominent in the early history of the county, with numerous members serving in the legal profession and others claiming to be doctors. 

If you would like to learn more, you can go to Old Homes and Families of Nottoway County by W.R. Turner in 1932.

The postage stamp is a 2 cent issue from the 1869 US issue and it pays the rate for items that were classified as a "circular."  The rate for this class of mail was effective from 1863 to 1872 and allowed the sender to put up to three copies of the circular into one cover (envelope or wrapper of some sort).  To qualify, the contents could only be printed matter (with no written personal messages placed in addition to the printed matter).  The envelope also needed to be left unsealed so the postal clerks could inspect the item to be sure it met regulations.

What attracted me to this item in particular was not the envelope itself.  It was not the addressee or even a possible connection to historical events.  It was not the stamp, or the rate of postage it paid.

It was the contents.

The envelope held a booklet that was still in excellent condition.  And the booklet extolled the value of the Powhaten Raw Bone Super-Phosphate to be used as fertilizer on a wide range of crops.

Before I get into that side of things, it makes sense for me to talk about WHY contents are often a valuable part of a postal history artifact.  Sometimes, the envelope or wrapper, by itself, leaves us with more questions than answers.  In fact, as we could see from last week's PHS post, there are times when we have to determine whether or not an item has been tampered with, or if it has suffered losses over time.  But, even if it is not a matter of authenticity, it IS a matter of determining an accurate story that includes when an item was mailed, how it went from place to place, the postage required to carry it, and if there were any special circumstances that made the travels of this piece of mail exceptional!

If you look at the envelope again - we don't know where it was mailed from.  We don't know when it was mailed (other than the fact that the 2 cent stamp wasn't in use until March of 1869).  We couldn''t even be certain that this was an example of the circular rate of postage.

But, the contents give us a confirming year date (1869).  The circular was printed in Richmond, for a Richmond firm - so it was likely mailed from Richmond.  And, of course, the envelope was unsealed and held... this... a circular!  Tadaaaaaaa!

Even better, the clues the contents give us match up with the limited clues the envelope provided.  When the content and the cover confirm each other like this, it makes the story you can tell with your postal history item that much stronger.

Now we can have a little bit more fun and do some searches to see if there are advertisements that confirm the existence of this business during the time period we're looking.  Sure enough, the Valley Virginian, published in Staunton, Virginia in November of 1869 includes an advertisement for the same Powhaten Rawbone Super Phosphate.

So, all of this has been fun.  But, that's not what initially got my attention.

What interested me is the farming history that came with the postal history.

One thing that stands out is how our language has changed over time.  If I were to use the word "manure" right now...

Ok... stop laughing.  This is supposed to be a serious blog post....  you too.  Yes, you!  No more laughing.  I warned you about the "poo thing" with the title of the blog post.  You should have known it would come to this!

Ahem.

So, if I were to use the word "manure," you would probably be thinking about animal manure.  But, apparently, in 1869, any sort of fertilizer could be construed as "manure."  For those of us who have done some gardening or growing, we might recognize the "raw bone super phosphate" as "bone meal," which is known to be an excellent slow-release source of phosphorous for growing plants.

I recognize that some people are a little squeamish with the idea of using ground up animal bones as a soil supplement, but you need to consider the relative resource efficiency of using bone meal versus other sources of phosphorous.  Most farms included animals in their operations, some of which were raised for meat.  Rather than simply discarding the bones, they could be used by being ground up and placed back into the soil so the cycle of life could continue.  The goal of companies like this was to make the bone meal "soluble" so it be more readily available for uptake by plant roots.

The other popular fertilizer that provided phosphorous in 1869 was "Peruvian guano" which was the harvested excrement from seabirds and bats.  This pamphlet compares their product by noting that what they produce is much more "favorably priced" than the more expensive guano that had to be shipped up from South America.

Currently, most of our phosphorous fertilizer is synthesized from mined phosphate rock, which is not a good thing since it is typically strip-mined and the process of creating the fertilizer results in a significant amount of hazardous waste by-product.  Maybe we need Powhaten to get their business running again?  But, then again, I can't say how they treated the raw bone to create their fertilizer either.

The second item I would like to show today is also an envelope that qualified as a printed circular.  However, this envelope was mailed in 1893 and simply qualified as a third-class mail item - printed circulars were now just included with everything else that fell into this class.  The postage rate was 1 cent for every 2 ounces in weight (1879-1925).

Before going into the farming side of things, the design at the top left on the envelope bears a little scrutiny.  For those who don't know, collectors often refer to this sort of design as a corner card which often served both as advertisement and a return address.

I found it interesting that a company, based in Rutland, Vermont, would choose Napoleon as a sort of "mascot" or "brand identification."  Other paper advertisements from them in the 1890s show similar designs.  Of course, they are trying to set themselves apart as leaders in their field and boldly say so with the words "I lead" next to Napoleon's head.

The words "Napoleon. Friedland. 1807" make it clear that they are referencing a key event in Napoleon's military history.  The Battle of Friedland was the event that persuaded the Tsar of Russia to enter into the Tilset peace agreement, which "split Europe into French and Russian spheres of influence and reduced Prussia territory significantly." (this last statement taken from the linked article)

I understand the idea of trying to establish that your company is a leader in the field, but I am not sure how appropriate it is to say that you are the Napoleon of Fertilizer...  look at us, we are the "Emperors of Poo!"

There were multiple copies of the same promotional circular in this envelope.  This is very interesting to me because that indicated that I was likely looking exactly at what the recipient saw when they opened this envelope.  It gives me a view into how one company sought to expand sales by mailing promotional material to people on their mailing list, hoping they, in turn would pass information on.  Given the contents of this envelope, I would say it didn't work in this particular case.

You can also notice that the contents are dated May 1, 1893 - which is a confirming date to go with the May 4, 1893 postmark from Rutland.

There are two points regarding the content of this document that strike me, as a grower of food.  The first is the concept that grass is undesirable and of little value.  After all, if someone decides to rely on perennial pasture, the Great Eastern Fertilizer Company might not have product for you.  So, it made sense for them to promote tillage and the application of their products for annual crops, such as corn and buckwheat.  But, even if the promotion made sense for the fertilizer company, we have learned over time that perhaps grass pasture has much more value than they portray here (in my opinion, grass pasture has more value, especially now that it is so scarce in states like Iowa - but that's for another day).

Second, the simple fact that buckwheat is listed on par with feed corn is telling.  In current times, buckwheat is touted by vegetable growers as an excellent short season cover crop.  The idea of growing buckwheat for flour production does not seem to hold much sway anymore, even though buckwheat is a quick grower that could be used even if a season started extremely wet and didn't allow entry into a field until later.

As a final note - the New York Agricultural Experiment Station regularly produced reports that outlined their own analysis of products offered by companies like this one.  The 1897 report linked in the prior sentence states that 193 manufacturers of fertilizer had registered with the station as required by law.  With these manufacturers there were 1900 different "brands" or products.  For claiming to be a leader, the Great Eastern Fertilizer Company was found to have levels of active fertilizer ingredients below their guaranteed levels in three of their twelve products being reviewed.

One could say they might have been a full of....  poo?

Here is one more that I wanted to share today, and it comes from Great Britain and is mailed to the United States. This item would also have qualified for discounted postage rates, but I have not had time to identify the particulars of this rate - but that's not what I wanted to show you!

This item is an open-ended paper wrapper that holds a pre-printed circular advertising publications put out by H(is) M(ajesty's) Stationery Office.  And, it feels to me that they were very, VERY interested in making sure you know that.

The address is pre-printed on the wrapper at bottom left (Shepherdess Walk in London).  There is a purple handstamp applied for the HMSO.  And, even the contents have "His Majesty's Stationery Office" printed and sticking out of the end at the left.  I think we get the point! 

The smudged purple handstamp reads "printed and published in Great Britain."  Once again, this seems a little redundant. But, if it seemed important to them and they wanted to pay someone in their office to stamp every copy being mailed out with this... it was their choice.  Right?

The other interesting sidelight for this piece of mail are the holes that you can see on the postage stamp.  Look closely and you might see that the holes punched into the stamp are the letters "H M S O."  That probably should not surprise us since HMSO is EVERYWHERE on this item.  But, these letters on the stamp actually served a different purpose.

Punched designs in stamps are called perfins and their purpose was to prevent the pilferage of stamps purchased for use by a company or government office.  If you think about it, the HMSO must have mailed a significant amount of material on a regular basis.  Rather than go to the post office every day and pay for postage stamps, they probably purchased them in bulk.  But, if there were a whole bunch of stamps lying around, it is possible an employee might decide no one would miss a sheet or two if they wanted to take some home and use them for themselves.

To prevent this, the HMSO effectively personalized the stamps by putting in these perfin designs.  If someone did take a few sheets it wouldn't be hard to identify where they came from if that person tried to use them on the mail.

If we look at the first page of the enclosure, we might conclude that this is something that was mailed out from the HMSO every month (this is the October 1951 edition) - so it was not a small undertaking. In a real way, it makes my writing a weekly postal history blog seem small by comparison.  At least I don't have to print out a bunch of copies, fold them, put them in wrappers and mail them all out!

The publications being summarized in this circular cover a wide range of subjects - but to keep to the topic at hand, you will find that there are even some publications on agriculture, including one dedicated to potatoes.

This is where I have to stretch a little to maintain a connection to the topic at hand... poo.  There is actually no direct mention of fertilizer, manure, bone phosphate or guano.  Instead, there is a quick mention that the potato brochure includes information on soil preparation.  

Well, sure!  Soil preparation often includes managing fertility!  Let's go with that!

What actually drew my attention to this particular item was the publications on insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.  In 1951, these tools were truly beginning to gain prominence - in large part because of industry's desire to sell product.  I find it interesting to read the description of this part of the circular:

Clearly, it is a new topic for them.  The simple mention of endorsement by the Ministry and the Government Chemist implies a feeling that they need to justify the validity and usefulness of this publication.  And, given what I know now, I wish they - and other agencies like them - had not been so successful in achieving general acceptance for these products.

Well, thank you for joining me this week!  I hope you were entertained and, perhaps, learned something new.  But, you'll have to excuse me.  I've got to grab my pitchfork and clean out the chicken coop.

Have a great remainder of your day and good week to come!

Sounds on a Frozen Morning

Temperatures on the farm this time of year seem to be several degrees colder than the forecast typically suggests.  So, when we saw lows predicted in the upper 20's (Fahrenheit) we had to remind ourselves that it would likely be much lower at the Genuine Faux Farm.

Sure enough, we had a low temperature below 20 early this past week.  

On Tuesday, we got up and noticed that the cacophony was visiting us in full force.  For those who are not inclined to follow the link to the blog in the previous session, the cacophony is a large flock of various types of blackbirds that loves to find places, such as ours, that has some trees and open ground to rest as they wind their way to the South for the winter.

The short clip below gives you an idea of what they sounded like at our farm that morning.

 

They, of course, were not too keen about my moving around to do chores, so they flew to their next spot and the world became quiet.

My feet crunched as I walked over grass that had frozen and had not yet thawed (the temperature was still 21 degrees at that time).  I noticed that we had a light, intermittent breeze and there was very little in the way of sound at that moment.

Then suddenly, during a light puff of air, I heard little popping noises, followed by the sound of dry, frozen leaves falling and striking other dry, frozen objects.

I think most of us in the Midwest can identify the sound of rustling dry leaves in the wind.  So, the second sound was very much like that.

But, the first sound.  It grabbed my attention.

I stood silently for a couple of additional gentle puffs of wind until I figured out what I was hearing.

The little "pops" coincided with the green leaves disengaging themselves from their tree, before they tumbled down to join their compatriots... making the rustling leaf noise that was familiar to me.

Sometimes, magic happens in small ways that we don't expect on a frozen morning.

Tolerance

As a teacher, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to scream, "Can't you follow instructions?!"

It's not a surprising reaction given the amount of time teachers at all levels typically spend creating interesting projects, assignments or activities to facilitate the learning of those who are in their classes.

As a person who writes, I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me a question and I was tempted to snarkily reply, "The answer is written here in plain words. Just read."

This is not unusual for a person who spends time working with their own words in an effort to communicate.  It's not hard to understand how it might be upsetting when it feels like someone hasn't given that very thing I spent (sometimes significant) time on little more than a glance.

As a human being who has been in situations where a group is receiving direction, I have been that person who sometimes feels exasperated when it seems like we should be ready to get going... but "some people" (say that with a roll of your eyes) just are too slow to figure it out.

I attended a meeting a couple of weeks ago where the person leading the meeting said something to the effect of, "So, everyone should have done this thing so we can do this other thing now...."

I was about to say, "WAIT!  You didn't tell us to do that....."  

Instead, I found the email and re-read it.

And, I found the instructions that I missed when I "read" it the first time.

Then I did my best to be a positive part of the meeting.

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And that is why, my friends, I give the instructions again.

Answer the question again.

And do my best to wait patiently, even though I really just want to get started.

Scents of Humor?

It feels like it is time to share a laugh or two - and since it is Throwback Thursday, we're going to share this post from November of 2015. There will be a few edits for clarity, but it is true to the original.  Enjoy!

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While it is evident that we can get a whiff of my sense of humor (such as it is) during the summer months, as can be seen by our first and second posts regarding our pea crops.  But, it becomes clear to me that humor during the peak of the growing season is embedded in serious topics most of the time.  On the other hand, once we get to November - all bets are off!  Suddenly, I am writing about cats rolling up fences and unknown authority figures inspecting okra.

But, what you all might not know (or maybe you do) is that Tammy and I will often share a humorous observance with each other as we work or travel.  If I can hold onto them long enough in my brain, they may show up in our blog posts.  Most of them are forgotten (sometimes this is good, often it is kind of sad).  

So, today we share a couple of our odd or mildly humorous observations from the past year (2015).  Please remember, farm humor can sometimes seem a little less kind, but it does reflect certain realities that we witness and deal with that many other people do not.

The Fork of Damocles
This one came up as we were observing to each other that we only had a week or so left for one of our batches of broiler chickens.  Soon, we would take them to "the Park" and then "Freezer Camp."

Just to fill you in briefly, broiler chickens are cute when they are chicks and can be mildly fun to watch as they grow.  But, the bigger they get, the less fun they become as far as we're concerned.  They eat more.  They drink more.  They tear up pasture more, so they have to get moved more.  They become much less kind to each other and they just get more irritating and less amusing.  So, by the time we hit the last week or so of their time on the farm, we're ready for them to go.

the 'Nuggets' in and around their trailer home

We strongly considered fashioning a large fork and hanging it over their trailer and call it the "Fork of Damocles."  We'd do that just as a reminder that the cushy existence they live in at our farm always has that constant threat of being ON the dinner table rather than next to it.  After all, we can just stick a fork in them when they're done!

But, upon review, we determined that the humor would be lost on them.  That, and fashioning a large fork and hanging it securely seemed a bit too much like it would resemble work before we completed the project.

Sometimes, just building a picture in your head is enough.

(*editors note in 2021* If you would like to see if our reference to the "Sword of Damocles" is a proper use, you can visit this NPR interview.  I think you'll find our "Fork of Damocles" is not far off the mark.)

The First Squinny of... Oh

First, we should fill you in on what a Squinny is.  You can certainly go with the recent Des Moines Register article that claims it is a term used primarily in Des Moines, Iowa.  And, since I grew up in Newton (just 30 miles away) you could argue that my use of it came by me honestly by virtue of my residence in the region at that time.  Tammy, on the other hand, had to learn to use the term properly since she grew up elsewhere.

 

13 lined ground squirrel = SQUINNY

Squinnies are fairly common in roadside ditches throughout Iowa and they usually start appearing in April after sitting out the Winter months.  These critters do burrow and they do cause some problems on our farm with root crops.  They can (and do) burrow down a carrot row and eat the roots from the bottom up.  It can be pretty disappointing to pull a batch of carrots that look good and find most them shortened significantly or hollowed out.

And, like many small critters that live by the side of the road, they will dart across the gravel (or pavement) every once in a while.

This April, while Tammy and I were going down our gravel road, we took note of a squinny.  The conversation went something like this:

Tammy: Oh, look!  The first squinny of....

***squinny darts across the road and directly under one of the truck tires***

Tammy: Oh.

Let's just say that the lines on that particular squinny got a bit wider and it was a bit shorter in height than it had been.... 

......and a lot less active. 

But, the thing that made this so humorous for us was the tone of voice Tammy used.  She started with the normal tone you might hear from anyone who observes a sign of Spring for the first time each year.  She was mildly excited to take note of a critter we hadn't seen since October (or thereabout) and was brightly pointing it out to me.  But, when the little critter made the fateful decision to direct itself - with perfect timing - into the path of Chumley the truck, her toned changed to the normal "Oh.  Never mind" tone that people use

Perhaps you had to be there.  But, if you hear us reference the "First Squinny of Spring," you now know the reference.

Have a great Thursday!

What If? - A Local Food Challenge

It's a common theme that shows up semi-regularly on this blog.  The farmer pushes the concept of local food production in front of your face - over and over and... over again.  Often it sounds like I am bemoaning the current state of things (because I often am).  Sometimes, I give you a look into what it has been like being a producer of food for local consumption.  Always, I wish we would value our food the way we should.

This time, I thought I would take a different approach and advance an idea.  What a novel approach!  Identify a problem and suggest the beginning of a solution!  We can't have that can we?!?

What's the potential?

The Genuine Faux Farm occupies about fifteen (15) acres of land and is surrounded by hundreds of acres of corn and soybean field production (not ours, of course).  On that fifteen acre plot, we have grown as much as 5 acres of uncovered vegetables and two high tunnels worth of covered vegetable crops.  There are some fruit trees and raspberry/blackberry canes to go along with wild plum and mulberry trees.  We have raised 500-600 broiler (meat) chickens, 75 turkeys, and maintained a good sized flock of laying hens most years (and even ducks for a few years).

And, before you think we're milking the land for every drop it is worth, we recognize that we have to pay the rent by maintaining the balance.  We feed the soil, we maintain untilled and wild areas, and we feed the pollinators.

It is safe to say that we were never able to reach the full potential of food production of our farm - for a whole host of reasons we can discuss another day.  But, even with that caveat, we had multiple seasons where we were able to produce 12.5 tons of produce in one year.

Twelve point five TONS of produce - and I am not even counting the two to three tons of poultry and approximately 2 tons of eggs.

So, let's call it 17 tons of food.  On 15 acres.  While still maintaining habitat and soil health.

And, I am NOT counting culls (product that is not high enough quality for marketing).  If we were really hurting for food, there is a LOT on our farm alone that is fed to the poultry or put into the compost.

How much space do we need?

This question can be answered in so many ways, but I will start by approaching it from my perspective - the small-scale farmer looking to produce a diverse set of products.

We just completed our 18th year farming this way - so I think we have enough experience, with plenty of failures and successes, to make a few educated guesses.  First, I've come to the conclusion that this type of farm would benefit from being sized at around fifty acres of land.  Second, these small-scale, diverse farms need to have consistent contact with two to four other farms of a similar scale - preferably close enough where resources could be shared.  And third, the uber-diverse CSA model on a single farm is too inefficient if we're worried about volume of production, just as a monocrop (single crop in a field) system is too restrictive to provide natural insurance and the benefits of nature's services for production.

The other way to answer the question is to ask how much food a person needs in one year.  According to this 2011 NPR story, Americans ate an average of one ton of food in one year.  This, of course, includes estimates for the amount of corn syrup we consume in our softdrinks, for example.  It also is making the point that we consume a LOT more than we need.  Or, if you believe some health sites, the claim is that we need about four pounds of food a day (just under 3/4 ton per year).  That's a great deal of food, either way - and the wide range (.75 ton to 2 tons) tells us that we have choices to make (including how we measure such things) that will change how much food - and thus how much space - we need.

What I do know is this.  At our peak, the Genuine Faux Farm supported 120 farm shares in our CSA.  Many of those farm shares provided produce for multiple families.  So, we estimate that we provided vegetables for about 150 families which totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 people.  Did these people eat as much of these veggies as they should have?  Probably not.  But, it still gives us a measure of exactly how well local production could do if we gave it an honest fighting chance to succeed.

The beginnings of an idea

It seems that we are often stymied by the overwhelming size of the problem.  And, the solutions are often too big for us to actually put the energy into making them happen.  So, here is a thought that might be "bite-sized" enough for us to consider in the state of Iowa.

There are approximately 26.2 million acres dedicated to cropland in Iowa and another 1.3 million dedicated to pasture land.  What would happen if we dedicated just three fifty acre farms per county to some small-scale, diversified farms that we supported collectively?  This would require just under 15,000 acres.  For context, we need to consider that this is about .0005 % of the available farmland in the state.  We're not talking even 1 percent of the land here.  Not even 1% of 1%.  

Each of these farms, if we took the weight of food our little, inefficient, 15 acre farm could produce and apply it to three 50-acre farms, you have an estimate of 168 tons of food per season in one county.  That's well over 16,000 tons for the state - and I believe that number is a very conservative estimate.

Now, if I had asked you first if you thought 1% of all of the tillable land in Iowa was too much to ask for to allow for small-scale, diversified farms on that land, what would you have said?  Probably, "Oh, that's not too much, we could do that."  And yet, people will balk at this ask for .0005%.  Still, for the sake of argument, what if we could identify 1% of the land and put a bunch of 50 acre farms on them?  We would produce about 320,000 tons.    On 1% of its cropland.

And if we dedicated our farmland to real food production?  That would be 32 MILLION tons of food.  In Iowa.

There is always a danger when you take a small sample and simply multiply it out and pretend it gives real results - just as I have here.  But, this is an experiment for us to think just a little harder about what is possible.

What could happen if these farms could be placed next to each other so labor, tools, expertise and support could be more readily shared?  What could happen if these farms could "specialize" their diversity so they could grow twenty crop types instead of the fifty a single-farm CSA often requires?  What could happen if we considered the real value of our food and made sure the good food they produced was being consumed locally?  What could happen if we identified these farms as a key part of our communities so they are supported and able to stabilize and be productive for decades... or for generations?  What could happen if we made it a fact of life that these farms would also support pollinators and wild areas?  

What if?

Fireball!

As the days get shorter the "opportunity" to drive down the road in the dark presents itself to the farmers a bit more often.  For most of the year, we don't actually drive when it is dark all that often because we typically get our travels done in time to arrive at dusk and perform our poultry chores.  Now that we only have hen flocks, it is a bit less of an issue, though we still have to get back early enough to close them up before the predators figure out the door is still open!

Well, it turns out we had an eventful drive this past Saturday - and I mean that in a good way.

Photo by Dan B and shared on AMS site

Somewhere in southern Minnesota, Tammy got to see a meteorite or "falling star" as she was driving and I was able to see a little of it.  That's the funny thing about meteor showers, you can be with someone else and one of you is looking at just the right direction and the other isn't at the very moment it occurs.  If you're the person that missed really seeing it, you can't help but feel a little bit cheated all while feeling really happy for the person who got to see it well.

Well, surprise, surprise!  At some point north of New Hampton, Rob got to clearly see a meteorite that would be classified as a "fireball."  Tammy also saw some of it, but I don't think she saw this one as clearly as I was able to.

This one was more than the usual meteorite as it was much bigger and brighter.  I could actually see a green coloration and the shadow of the central object surrounded by the material that was burning off as it entered the atmosphere.  It was definitely a "WOW" moment.

After we got home and completed chores and got ourselves into the house, I decided to do a little looking to see if I could learn more.  I found the American Meteor Society's website and started doing some reading, learning that we had probably witnessed a brighter meteorite that is classified as a fireball.  In fact, they actually encouraged reporting of this sort of event.

Well, I figured other people must have seen this thing because so many were out trying to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) that were predicted to be visible Sunday night (none were observed).  But, I had no way of knowing whether or not others knew about the AMS site and the opportunity to make these reports.

Well, if you look on the map, you can see that there were plenty of individuals who not only saw the fireball, but they also reported the fireball!

As of November 1st, ninety-four (94) observations were reported.  And, to top it off, a few people actually managed to have a camera pointed in the correct direction.  The first photo in this blog comes from the AMS site.

The observer, a Dan B, is apparently an experienced observer and frequently takes photos of the night sky.  Here is the text he included with his observation:

"This was a stroke of luck for me. I was out shooting a few test shots to see if they were going to pick up the possible auroras this evening. I just happened to be taking a 15 second shot (24mm lens at f/1.8 ISO 1250 Nikon D750 Camera) and the meteor streaked through the frame perfectly centered but fairly low on my Northeastern Horizon. I was also looking right at it when it happened which is a first for me because all my other meteor reports were taken with an automated meteor surveillance camera and not witnessed by myself in person. The colors of this meteor were incredible going from white to purple to green. I have not seen any auroras yet but this was enough for me. My backyard amateur roll-off-roof observatory can be seen in the foreground of the shot. That's a 20" Obsession Telescope aimed at the sky. The fall colors in the trees lit up by the surrounding street lights added to the amazing colors of the meteor. WOW!!!!!!!!!!"

While I don't think I'll worry too much about adding sky photography and a roof observatory as a hobby, it is always neat to hear the enthusiasm an experienced observer has for an event such as this.

The cool thing for Tammy and I is that our report and its connection to all of the others takes what we saw a bit out of the "did I dream that" realm and more into that of reality.  We really DID see that and it really WAS pretty awesome.

From AMS site on Nov 1, 2021

One of the joys of living in the country is that we can observe the night sky with much less light pollution than most of the population.  But, it is pretty amazing exactly how much even small towns such as Tripoli and Frederika can obscure parts of the heavens with their lights.  Even though we are a decent distance from Waverly and Waterloo/Cedar Falls, we can't see much beyond the brightest stars in the lower skies to the south.

And, because we farm and are outside frequently, we do take the time to look up to those heavens to see the stars winking their greetings to us.  The constellations of Orion and the Big Dipper are familiar and we take delight in observing the moon as it goes through its phases.  We often have discussions about which planet we are observing and probably get it right much of the time.

And sometimes, we get to see something that makes us exclaim - "WOW!"

picture by Annika S in Wisconsin

Another cool thing about these reports is that the different perspectives help to figure out exactly where the meteorite was traveling.  The photo at the right (from the AMS site) was taken in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.  

I like this photo because, if you click on it to see the larger version, you can see the trail for a long time in the sky, but the brighter portion that I was able to see is low to the horizon for this viewer.  The first photo was west of the meteorite and also near the horizon.  But, they were closer to our latitude, so angle appears to be less steep.

We were pretty much a close to being directly under this fireball as anyone could be.

The other amazing thing about this fireball was the strength of the colors.  While we only saw green before the meteorite ceased to be visible, the first photo clearly shows some beautiful purple or violet shades.  

It is my understanding that much of the color comes from vaporized atoms from the object entering the atmosphere.  The colors can tell us something about some of the elements on the object as they "burn off." I only know the tiniest bit about spectroscopy, but reading on the AMS site tells me the green may have come from nickel or copper.

There you are, I've learned a few new things and I know there is so much more to learn.  I hope you enjoyed a little exploration into something new (for me and maybe for you).

Update Nov 2

The number of observations has grown to 101 at the AMS site and the NASA Meteor Watch on Facebook included additional information as follows below:

A bright fireball was reported by many eyewitnesses in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri last night at 8:34 PM Central Daylight Time. Analysis of their accounts, combined with duration information from a couple of publicly accessible cameras, indicate that the meteor first appeared 60 miles above the Iowa town of Reinbeck, moving almost due south at 87,000 miles per hour. It disintegrated 44 miles above Oskaloosa, having travelled 73 miles through the upper atmosphere in just under 3 seconds.

Let me say it again.  Wow.

November Genuine Faux Farm News

It feels like it has been a while since I wrote an honest to goodness newsletter that simply focused on our farm (the Genuine Faux Farm) and all that is going on with us here.  Of course, you can probably piece some things together from any number of our (almost daily) posts because we can't escape it - the farm is a huge piece of who we (Rob and Tammy Faux) are.

The daylight hours are getting shorter and the sunrises and sunsets are at their peak - or maybe that's because we're taking the time to notice them?  There is still more than enough for us to do outside and on the farm, but the increasing hours of darkness gives us the opportunity to do more contemplation, reflection, and planning.

2021 Farm Season Coming to a Close

At least from the perspective of 2021 farm sales, the Genuine Faux Farm is in the final stretch for 2021.  By the time this blog post goes live, we will have delivered all or most of our turkeys.  Our stores of vegetables that we have available for sale consist only of storage crops at this point.  And, there will be only three more delivery/sales dates for eggs and veggies this year (two in November and one in December).

From our perspective, this is an excellent position to be in.  Yes, I suppose it would be nice to have such an abundance that we would have stores to keep selling through the winter months.  But, this year, in particular, it is best for us to get things moved and leave the winter sales to other growers until the next growing season.

How Did the Season Go?

I'll probably go into more detail in other blogs.  But, in general, I think Tammy and I should come away from this season with some level of satisfaction.  We threaded the needle between keeping the farm going, doing well in each of our jobs, and navigating various health issues - all while doing our best to maintain a healthy personal balance.

This is not to say that there were not challenges, foremost of which was Rob's kidney surgery in April.  There were times when jobs were overwhelming, the farm wasn't getting the attention it needed, and our lives were out of balance.  Some of our growing areas got away from us (in terms of weeds) and we'll pay for that in the future.  And, there were a number of projects that just did not get done.

Even so, one very important goal was that, this year, we would be certain to fill our freezer and cupboards with a diverse supply of our own farm veggies for our consumption during the colder part of the year.  It seems that somewhere along the line, we forgot that one of the basic rules of a small-scale, diversified farmstead was to feed the farmers.  But, this year we've got beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale and even some melon in our freezers.  Rob even got his wish and we've been eating some buttercup squash this fall!

We set some lofty goals in terms of seed production for Seed Savers, planning on growing out cucumbers, green beans and bell peppers.  Sadly, the cucumbers were taken out by a very late hard frost and green beans were lost to a myriad of issues, including the August windstorm that stripped the pods off of the remaining plants.  That left us with the peppers, happily growing in the high tunnels.  We're still processing the seed, but I think we'll meet that part of our contract at least!

We are also beginning to see some rewards in growing and selling product for bulk sales rather than continuing to rely on direct to consumer marketing.  This is a key component that is necessary if we are going to continue to farm and hold down jobs off of the farm.

To sum it all up.  There have been plenty of hiccups, but the prognosis for future success is good.  

What's Currently Going On at the Farm?

We are taking our cues from the honeybees and we're hoping to plow through a long list of things on our "to do list" before Thanksgiving.  For those who do not understand the context of that particular "deadline," if you want to call it that, Thanksgiving is about the time we expect the ground to freeze at the Genuine Faux Farm.  It's not that you can't do farm things after that - of course you can (and we do).  But, how you do things changes dramatically.

The presence of poultry on the farm is down to a flock of about 55 hens and a rooster.  There are no other poultry currently on the farm.  The Farm Supervisors (cats) are around, as always, but they are looking for cozy places to lounge and where the sun puddles reside.  The farmers need to get next year's garlic crop into the ground and they need to finish pulling in hoses and all of the irrigation that gets put out every year.  We are also cleaning up all of the portable fences, buildings, feeders and waterers.  If we are lucky, we'll find a warmish day to get the power washer going so we can clean all of those things and the large batch of veggie containers that need attention as well.

Just yesterday, we managed do do some cleaning and re-organizing so we could get all of our remaining produce into the walk-in cooler, which is soon to be the walk-in warmer - to keep our storage crops from freezing.  Rob even managed to pull in the Golden Beets and the last gasp of bell peppers.  A little bit of oregano was the last thing harvested prior to calling it a day.

There are doors and windows that need mending before the snow flies and a few issues with electrical in outbuildings that need to be addressed before we have to deal with frozen waterers in the hen room.  We're still processing seeds for Seed Savers and we're putting in a few new trees (we lost several in the August storm).

If we can manage it, it would be nice to put in a few crops to over-winter in the high tunnels and ideally Eden would get moved to its west position fairly soon (we'll see).  We're still trying to move equipment that does not fit our farm anymore and other tools really could use some maintenance before it gets too cold.

And, of course, we are starting to plan for the future.

The Future of the Genuine Faux Farm - 2022 Version

As is normally the case, Tammy and I have already had numerous conversations about how we intend to handle the coming year at the Genuine Faux Farm.  As is usually the case, we can't predict the future and none of this is written in stone.  But, we do have a pretty good idea of things that we expect will be in our plans for at least the coming season.

The biggest change will be in our poultry operation.  We will continue to raise turkeys, but our broiler (meat) chicken operation will be downsized significantly.  It is true that we have put together a good system and we do this well.  But, when you raise birds, you must care for birds every, single day.  There is no day off and there is no option.

We found that with both of us working off farm, most of the available time for farm work was consumed by caring for the poultry.  And, neither of us is that fond of raising meat chickens.  Yes, we prefer to eat chicken that we raise.  Yes, we have appreciated the support we have gotten from Jorgensen Plaza the last couple of years to make it easier to raise the birds knowing there was a consistent monthly sale.  But, we weren't getting to do farm things we both like better.

That is an important realization and we are going to address it.

Instead of raising 500-600 broilers next year, we'll likely raise 101 - focusing first on what we and our families will consume.  The rest we raise will be offered to those who have faithfully ordered from us in the past.  Then, that will be it for the year.  One flock and only one flock - and more time to do some farm things we want to do.  And, possibly more opportunities to leave the farm if we want to during the summer months.

We will try some seed crops again.  We will raise vegetables again, focusing on a subset of crops with the idea that they will primarily be marketed as bulk sales.  The egg laying flock has been reduced in response to the lower demand - and - well, if you wash 30,000 or so eggs a year for well over ten years, you don't like to see unsold eggs in your refrigerators!

And there you are.  The Genuine Faux Farm is a constant.  Always changing - always learning and adjusting as we go.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a fine week.