Matters of Perspective

We've lived on our farm now since the Summer of 2004.  And, anytime you become familiar with a place there is a tendency to miss certain perspectives that might be seen by those who visit.  Or, in this case, sometimes a camera can encourage you to see things in a different way.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to use a decent digital camera on our farm and we now have a pretty good bank of pictures to view when we wish.  We are also graced with the presence of others on our farm throughout the year.  And, we do listen to what you all say to us about our farm.  We learn from your perspectives and what you are seeing.  Sometimes, it opens our eyes to something new.  Other times, it re opens our eyes to see things again as we once did, before we let ourselves become jaded.  Or, if it is not a case of being jaded, it might be as much a case of being lazy.  If you live in a place, you don't always stop and really look.

Looking out from the old barn

Our old barn didn't start out as a favorite place on our farm.  In fact, it was a bit intimidating.  Part of the intimidation factor was the sheer size of the place.   The other part was the amount of repair that was going to be necessary if we wanted to continue to have it as a part of our farm.  It was a place of raccoons, rotting hay and unmarked jars with unknown liquids.  But, over time, we began seeing other views of this building.  For example, it was remarkably cool on a hot summer day.  No wonder many of the chickens would choose to come in here in July.

If you were in a part of the barn that we had cleaned out the old hay/straw then it wasn't as oppressive as other parts of the barn.  In fact, you could begin to understand why the barn was a place where children might play. 

But, this is where the perspective of the owner versus the perspective of a visitor often parts.  People would come to the farm and instantly be attracted by the old barn.  It was interesting.  It is rustic.  A joy to walk around and take in the natural beauty of aged wood and old white oak beams put together by wooden pegs.  Oh look!  There is an old hay fork!  That rope is as thick as my twelve year old's arm!  Neat.

But, what did I often see when I walked into the building?  Another broken glass pane from the windows we just can't seem to find time to fix or take out.  We'd better clean that up.  That corner over there has shifted some more, I'm not sure we can keep using this building much longer.  We'd better patch that hole or the raccoons will get to the chickens.

The good news?  When reminded, I could (and still do) stop and view the building from the perspective of a person who just sees it as a neat thing worthy of being.  And, I'm sure that if I really needed to, I could share some of the daily thoughts I have with others - just as I am doing now.  In my opinion, it's healthy as long as I let myself see both perspectives and don't let one completely obscure the other.

Sproing!

If you frame a picture just right, you can make it look like our farm is much more isolated than it really is.  In fact, the picture above makes it seem as if our house and the surrounding trees just sprang out of the prairie, with nothing else around for miles.  You can't really see the road if you don't know it is there.  It is too early to see the corn field in the background and it feels like you are much further from the house than you actually are for some reason.

It is a reminder to me that our farm is both bigger and smaller than you think.  There is plenty of room for us to do all kinds of good things at our farm.  There are places where, believe it or not, Tammy and I rarely go, though there aren't many of those.  And, there are many places where we walk frequently, but we often do not take note of a different viewpoint as we walk them.  So, every once in a while, I drag the camera along and try to take note of places on the farm where I can look in a different direction than I usually do, just to see what things look like from that perspective.

On a recent sunny day, I actually walked around our farm.  And, I mean I literally walked AROUND it.  I started on the road and walked to our Southwest border, then I walked the West line.  It was actually an odd experience.  We normally only see our farm from the outside perspective when we are on the road.  It is not often that we will view it from the North (for example).  It's simply amazing some of the ideas that can be jump started by a different viewpoint.

High Tunnel Take Two

Here we are in the lovely month of April.  At least it has been pretty nice thus far.  And, today, Rob harvested spinach from the high tunnel and a number of lucky people were able to purchase bags of our super tasty spinach.  Tammy and I are looking forward to diving into our own 'custom picked' bag of spinach as well.  There just isn't anything quite like our over-Wintered spinach for flavor and texture - we'll stack it up against any other spinach you can find.

But, that's not exactly what the subject of this post is about.  Many of you might recall our high tunnel build that occurred in 2010.  And, if you don't recall that event - or you are newer to our farm and our blog - here is a picture.

We put up the high tunnel in a just a few days as part of an extended field day.  Adam Montri, Mike Bollinger and Greg Garbos were all in attendance and gave presentations on the topic of using a high tunnel for season extension.  All in all, it was a positive experience.  But, let's be honest... we were the field day hosts.  I'm not sure how much of it we remember since we were run pretty ragged by the end.

But, on the plus side, this building has helped us provide good produce to people now every since 2010.  It is often our 'happy place' to go if there are issues with some of the field crops.  It was well worth the investment for our farm at the time we made it, even if it required some stretching and discomfort in the process.

High Tunnel Number Two on its way in 2015!

So, here we are in 2015.  And, we have written a check for a second high tunnel to be put up on the farm this Spring.

The new building will go up in a different location on the farm.  We've learned our lesson from prior events and will not put all of our eggs in one basket by clustering our high tunnel buildings in one place.  But, the building itself will come from Four Seasons Tools and will also be a movable (2 position) high tunnel like the first.  The other difference?  The new building will be 96 feet long as opposed to 72 feet.  I suspect we'll be surprised by what a few extra feet inside the building will do for us.

Four Seasons has learned a few things and so have we, so we anticipate an easier build and a simpler integration into our farm operation this time around.  Once we know when the high tunnel will be delivered, we will make more announcements regarding the build.  But, if you have interest in helping at some point in the process, please let us know.

No Spring Extended Season CSA in 2015
Other than the fact that we'll need to take the time to get the building put up, we are making one major change to the 2015 season.  We will not be offering a Spring extension this season.  We will have some produce for sale, including asparagus, lettuce and spinach.  But, we wanted to allow ourselves to focus on getting a strong start to the regular season CSA and we didn't want to have the added pressure of putting up this building AND maintaining a Spring CSA at the same time.

What's the logic of adding a second high tunnel?
Removing the Spring CSA allows us to begin setting up the rotation that a two high tunnel system will provide for us.  Our intent is to have one building (the older one) move in the Fall and the newer one will move in the Spring.  One tunnel can focus on the early side of Spring, Summer and Fall while the other focuses on extending growing in the other direction (to the late side).  One building left us with tension between starting a new crop and wanting to let the current crop keep producing.  Two building should alleviate the problem.

A simplified version of the plan is as follows:

The current high tunnel will be used to get an early start on Summer crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, carrots, beets, etc.  It will also be used heavily for the Fall extended season by planting the Fall crops in August in the uncovered location and then we will move the building over those crops in mid to late October.  Since the Summer crops were started early, they should be well past peak and we won't cry if we move the high tunnel off of them.

The new high tunnel will allow us to start Spring crops early under cover.  As April heats up, we will move the building off of these plants so they don't bolt and we can continue to harvest the colder season crops well into June.  The Summer crops in this building will be started later and will therefore be used to extend our Fall harvest of these sorts of veggies.  We can also focus more on some late started crops intended for overwintering in place (such as spinach or lettuce).

Things Worth Observing

The month of April will see us kicking off our 2015 CSA membership drive.  As part of that drive, we have a goal of putting out a blog post each day of the month.  We hope you enjoy them! 

Please feel free to comment.  And, if the comment box fails to work, feel free to share with us via email.  

If you haven't noticed by now, I like to write blog posts that work in tandem with some of the pictures we have taken on the farm (or pictures others have taken and shared with us).  Sometimes, the picture inspires the writing.  Other times, I have something I want to write and I find pictures that go with it.  Today, I noticed this picture as I was previewing a batch of photos we have on file.

I do not know if the two young ladies in this picture remember when this picture was taken, but it was at one of the several events that are held each year at our farm.  But, they are doing something I, myself, love to do when I have a chance.  Taking a moment and watching a butterfly up close and personal.

If you are able to do so at some point this summer, give yourself the time to patiently wait for one of these creatures to land where you can see it.  Then watch while they fold and unfold their wings for you.  Consider how delicate they look and how tough they have to be to navigate a windy day successfully.

And maybe, just maybe, one will do you the honor of landing on you.

The farm can be a very busy place and there is a never ending list of things to do.  We do not sit down much from April to November and it can get pretty easy to be overwhelmed by the work.  Surely, we cannot spend time watching butterflies!  It isn't an efficient use of time and resources.

Or is it?

Take one minute now.  Just look at your watch or some clock for ONE MINUTE.  Don't do anything else.
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OK! Time's up!  Yes, I know, it's pretty difficult to simulate time in a blog post.  But, if you have ever done this exercise, you can appreciate exactly how long one minute can feel.  And, maybe, you can also appreciate how rewarding that single minute of time can be if you spend it observing something that has value.

One minute watching a butterfly on a flower, or your hand.  One minute looking at the leopard frog under the cucumber leaf.  One minute taking in the aroma, texture and colors of a favorite iris flower.  One minute marveling at how the garter snake moves as it moves away from you in the garlic row.  One minute being amazed by the fine veins in a maple leaf or one minute of amusement noticing the miniature rainbow created by the spray from a leak in your drip irrigation.

A minute is not an unreasonable amount of time for a break, especially when that break restores a sense of wonder or well-being.  Join me in taking one minute every so often to enjoy things that are worth observing.

Traditions Don't Die, They Just Look Different Each Year

Well, it seems like we might actually get a normal (ish) Spring this year.  Therefore, we will do something that is apparently normal for us.  We'll put a blog post out for you.

Anonymous Farmer Project Includes GFF in 2015

We have NO idea who that is.

The Genuine Faux Farm has been selected to be a participant in a new project called the Anonymous Farmer Project.  Since many people do not seem to place much importance on learning about where their food comes from, this project was created to reflect this common approach to food acquisition and consumption.  Photos were selected from those provided by participating farms and were placed on a calendar that can be found in the produce, fruit and meats section of many grocery stores throughout the nation.  In every case, the farmer's identity is obscured - providing the consumer with an excellent excuse for not knowing who grew the food they have purchased or how it was raised.

Romanesco Grows to Maturity Over Winter Months
In recent events on the farm, Rob and Tammy were treated to a fresh romanesco head from a forgotten plant in the basement of their farm.  As many of you might know, we start many of our plants in trays before transplanting them into the fields or the high tunnel.  Apparently, one of these trays was missed last fall and remained in the basement all Winter long.  As you might expect, most of the little plants simply died due to lack of water, sunlight and nutrients.  One plant was made of sterner stuff and managed to survive and even produced a head of romanesco.  We often joke that we should tell our production plants they are weeds, since weeds always seem to do so well on our farm.  Amazing what a little neglect can do.

We've got some swampland to sell you too!

Wild Turkey Infiltrates GFF Chicken Yard
Recent egg collection duties have resulted in finding some extremely large eggs in the hen area during the past couple of weeks.  The picture below shows a carton with mainly Xtra Large to Jumbo rated eggs.  The two eggs on the left go off the scale.

Now, those are some eggs!

Initially, we were under the impression that there should be a couple of bow legged birds wandering around the yard.  We've had big eggs in the past for short bursts of time and we just figured these hens started laying smaller eggs or went on strike after a while.  However, a recent early morning excursion may have provided us with a better explanation as we saw wild turkeys very near the hen pasture.  They were clearly looking quite guilty and were attempting to leave unnoticed.  Wild turkeys are smart birds and may have figured out how to get into the hen room and lay an egg or two.  However, we're still not sure how they re-latch the door on the way out.
 
Inadvertent Success Leads to New GFF Project
The 2014 season was an excellent clover year at the Genuine Faux Farm and throughout Iowa.  There were many reports of clover patches simply appearing where none had been before.  Clover is great for bees and native pollinators and, if you are Irish, can result in an increase in luck - or maybe just an increase in the time spent picking four leaf clovers.

Maybe clover in the yard isn't really that hard?

In any event, the random clover patch phenomenon has encouraged us to take on a new research project tracking random clover patch migration.  Current research is limited due to the increased use of herbicides that control leguminous plants, such as clover.  It is our contention that the migration patterns of the common, random clover patch may have something to do with the reduced Winter habitat for Monarchs in Mexico.  But, we're having trouble finding appropriate tranquilizer darts for clover so we can tag them properly.

Glowstick Art Ban Ignored on the Farm
Bremer County has recently had a number of incidents where persons wielding glow sticks have entered agricultural fields.  After talking to county officials, we learned that this activity has been banned.  Apparently, there were numerous reports of crop circles from local farmers that were traced back to these "Glowstick Events."

After noticing just such an event in a field less than a mile away from our farm, we decided to investigate and found out that participants were mostly starving artists looking for things to eat. One person, who wished to remain anonymous, bemoaned the fact that they had yet to find a field that contained anything that resembled food.  However, she did state that there were some really beautiful glow stick events that had been performed in a soybean field by Janesville.

Since GFF is about raising good, edible food, we arranged to have these starving artists visit our farm.  In return for some good food, they allowed us to take a photo or two of their performance.

Purrrrrdy!

Florist Invasion

If you have visited the farm, you might recall that there is a wooded area about three quarters of a mile from our property.  There is also an access road that goes around our property, then straight back to the woods in the North.  We often see people go back that way to hunt, but we have been seeing alot of traffic recently.  And, we don't believe there is an active hunting season at the moment.

Our curiosity was peaked when we noticed that the people driving the vehicles were wearing cowled robes.  Of course, we had to find out what a bunch of monks were doing, so we snuck back there and found that they have a small greenhouse and are growing flowers, cutting them and packaging them for sale.  This would explain the delivery vans going back and forth on the access road.

We do not own that land, but we know who does.  We didn't think they would like someone using the land without permission.  So, we contacted the owners.  Apparently, they tried to talk to the monks, but got no satisfaction.  The traffic to the woods continued.  Finally, our neighbors called Hugh, our local sheriff.  He's a very nice guy, but he can get people's attention when he needs to.  All it took was one visit from Hugh and the monks packed up and left.

Of course, you know what this means.  (wait for it)

Hugh and ONLY Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

Oooooooh.  You just HAD to, didn't you?

Is it REALLY APRIL FIRST?!?

Wow!  Imagine that. 
If you'd like to see prior year installments, here they are!

2014 April Fool Post
2013 April Fool Post
2012 April Fool Post

Poultry Slam

Since we are approaching the date when we will have hen chicks on the farm once again, we thought we'd do a Poultry "Slam" and answer some questions about the hens on our farm that people have asked us.  Some of these have been posed over time and others have come in via email.  We will focus on our laying flock in this one. So, without further ado...

Do you raise your own hen chicks at Genuine Faux Farm?
The most accurate answer to your questions is that we HAVE raised some chicks on our farm that were from our farm.  But, this has only occurred ONCE so far.  We bought a small incubator in 2012 when we were unable to sell any of our eggs for eating after the chemical spray incident on our farm.  We were successful in hatching a couple dozen birds.  More than half were roosters.  Hm.  Last we checked, roosters don't lay eggs, so that isn't helpful.

Hatching in our incubator.

We may try this again, but for the most part, we are content to purchase day old checks from Hoover Hatchery to replenish our flock.  All of our turkeys and broilers are purchased as chicks.  Maybe, someday, we'll do more with this.

A few of our chicks soon after hatching.

What are the most eggs you have collected in a day and what is your average number of eggs in a day?
The most eggs we have collected in a day (all laid that day) is 87.  But, it is quite rare to cross the 70 egg mark.  We use a pretty safe estimate of 4 dozen eggs a day as an average collection for the entire year.  Our birds tend to cycle through high and low egg laying periods.  The hens are especially sensitive to very cold and very warm weather.  When we have conditions like that, their egg production usually drops.  So far in 2015 (as of Mar 23) we have collected an average of 52.7 eggs per day.  But, we just went through a peak period with several 70+ egg days, so it is a bit higher now.

One of the egg boxes is to the left of the door.

Where do chickens lay their eggs?
 Believe it or not, it is true that hens prefer a slightly confined space to lay their eggs.  A nest box that is about 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot and enclosed on all but one side works well.  It is very rare that we will find an egg that is not in one of these spots.  Occasionally, birds will determine some other enclosed space (like behind a nest box) will work.  When that happens, the humans sometimes miss eggs for a period of time.

The hen room in the middle of a nice day

Do you have to herd the entire flock back into their room every night?
Thank goodness, we do not.  We do, however, need to go out every night once the sun sets and close the doors to their room.  If we fail to close the doors, predators can get in and kill chickens.  Of course, the birds go in at their own pace.  They do not care if you actually want to go inside a bit earlier on a given day, nor do they care if you want to go see a movie or meet someone elsewhere at the end of the day.  Only rarely do we try to herd them into their room before they are ready.  But, when we do, we have to stay patient and calm or they will make it more difficult.

We have found that the trick to getting them to go back to their 'room' is to put them into their quarters for the first time at the beginning of the night.  After they spend a night there, they will tend to come back to it as their 'home base.'  If you want to be more certain that they will imprint on that space, keep them locked in for the first day.  And, we have learned to "hide" their prior home form their line of sight (see below).

How do you introduce new hens to the flock?

Hen chicks getting their first taste of pasture.

We do not introduce the new, young hens to the flock until they are close to the point of laying eggs.  Since we get chicks in April, integration usually occurs in September (approximately).  So, as you can see, we have a different home that is surrounded by electric fence for the young birds.  We have learned that the young birds may try to go back to their old home if they can see it.  So we make sure the portable building is out of their line of sight once we move them.

We introduce the young hens at night (after dark) and we put them all in at once.  The older hens will try to establish dominance on the younger birds, but a larger number of young birds spreads out the picking that is bound to occur.  There is something to be said about safety in numbers.

If you have to move birds, how do you do it?
 This depends on how many we intend to move, how far they have to move and what the purpose is for the move.  For example, if we are transporting birds some distance (for example, taking young birds to another farm), we put them in cages such as the one shown below.

Ok, there are ducks in there, but you get the point.

If we are moving young birds into the main room with the laying flock, we will carry them from one place to the other.  It's just as efficient as any other method given the layout of our farm and the number of birds.  Before you get any ideas, we don't carry them one at a time and we don't take time to scratch each one behind the ears...

We move them at night, typically, when they are asleep.  It is far easier to catch and move them at this point.  We grab them by their feet and carry them upside down.  They squawk just a little bit and calm down not long after.  If they are not upside down, they tend to struggle longer and the whole event is actually more traumatic for all involved.  As long as they are all facing the same way, Tammy and I can carry three per hand this way (though one of us has to be able to open or hold open a door).  If they are all facing the same way, it is easy to lay them back down on their belly/breast, which makes it easy for them to orient and figure out their surroundings.

We've seen pictures of your chicks with a metal wall. Where is that?

Oh, like this picture?

When we first receive chicks, we need to find a safe, enclosed space for them to live.  This space has to maintain an appropriate temperature and it needs to be able to keep critters out, such as rats, cats and ummm... well, not bats, but it rhymes.  We also need to keep the baby birds from jumping out of their safe space.  After a period of time, they are capable of jumping out, but they don't have the body weight or feathers to maintain the body temperature and they will die if we don't notice it in time.  This picture shows the bird in a stock tank we use to start our chicks.  We put old screen windows on the top and we have polycarbonate plastic to put over that if the weather is cooler.   The nice thing about the stock tanks is that we can put them wherever we need to that has access to electricity for the heat lamp.

Are your birds always on pasture?

Hens in the front, turkeys in the back

You certainly know how to ask a question that isn't as easy as it sounds, don't you?
The birds are always inside at night to protect them from raccoons, owls, foxes, coyote and other predators.  They are outside during the day most of the time UNLESS it is Winter.  Our hens do not like to walk on snow and simply will not go out - even if the food is only ten feet away from the door.  Ok, some of them will fly to the feeder.  But, we've had birds land in the snow and just sit there until we went and got them.

Also, we want our birds to have some of their adult feathers in before we start letting them outside.  Of course, on nice days they would do fine, but there are other issues with keeping them safe.  And, it is not like we have the time to stand around and baby sit them all day.

One of the downsides can be seen in the picture above.  During a drought period, the pasture can look pretty rough. We do various things to try to move them around.  But, with our small farm, there are some limits.  We do our best to give them quality pasture, keep the pasture healthy and maintain security for the flock.

Tarp can provide good wind protection

 Sometimes, we will split the flock - taking some of the older birds out to their own pasture.  We use a portable building with electric fencing surrounding their pasture area.  This allows us to move them to different areas of ground and relieve some of the stress on the main pasture areas.  In fact, we can put them on areas that are in our vegetable plots that are not scheduled for veg until the next season.  That way, we get manure spread without having to shovel.  We like that.

What the pasture looks like late in the year.

While the picture above shows the turkey pasture after they've been taken to the park, you can see that the plants are pretty short.  The birds do like to forage and the hens like to scratch.

What do you feed the birds?

Feed us!  Tuppence a bag!

We do have a grain based feed that is put together by a local feed producer that comprises the bulk of what our birds eat.  However, people notice that our eggs have more yellow and more substance than most grocery store eggs.  This is a direct reflection of the health of the birds.  They are healthy because they are active and they have a diverse diet that includes insects in the Spring/Summer and Fall as well as clover and other plants they find in their pastures.  We also provide them with vegetables that are not suitable for sale/CSA and scraps from our kitchen.  They LOVE bread that Tammy and I have decided has gone stale.

People who visit will notice that the birds will come to the edge of the pasture when humans approach.  It's not so much that they think you are all great (of course you are), it's more the fact that an approaching human on the farm often means treats of some kind that fly over the fence for their approval (and consumption).

Thanks for asking - do you have more questions?  
We would love to do more postings on our blog of this sort.  Do you have additional questions about our hen flock?  If so, please comment here or send us an email!  We'll "make you famous" and put your question on our blog with the best answer we can come up with (without making it up!).

Feedback Friday - How are these plans?

The farm plans are pretty close to done and we are starting to implement them.  So, we thought we'd entertain you with some of them.  We are always happy to field your questions and take suggestions.  If you don't want to leave them here, then send us an email!

Brassica and more Brassica!
We've had a few years with some excellent results for our brassica (broccoli, cauliflower, etc) and we would like to continue along those lines.  So, what are we doing this season to continue to improve in this area?

The broccoli has been really tasty!

We have identified Gypsy and Belstar as our main broccoli crops.  However, we learned the hard way several years ago that you can't count on a particular hybrid variety for very long.  Those who produce the seed may discontinue at any time (Early Dividend was our mainstay years ago, try and find it now).  So, this year we are trying two new varieties.  Green Super is supposed to be a great summer crop variety and Arcadia is supposed to be good for last Fall.  They both will get trial runs this year.  We are going to trial Amazing and Goodman cauliflower in 2015 and let Snow Crown carry most of the burden.  Snow Crown is an F1 hybrid and the other two are open pollinated.  Early returns from prior trials indicate these two should do well enough.  This is the first larger scale trial for each of them.  We've modified our schedule for kohlrabi a bit and hope it helps us provide a few nice batches of kohlrabi to our CSA and we're working on the kale transplant timing as well.  These are not big changes, but we do feel that little tweeks can provide excellent results.  We are also working on the timing of our chinese cabbage, cabbage and pok choi.  We've only grown each of these for three to five years, so now have a better knowledge base to work with.  New varieties include Emiko (chinese cabbage) and Win-Win (pok choi).  We decided to discontinue Minuet (chinese cabbage) and our seed source changed for Joi Choi (pok choi) so we felt we needed to hedge our bets and find a replacement in case Joi Choi goes away (that would make us sad).

Onions and Leeks
Most of these are already seeded and growing in trays.  We are hopeful that we can find a way to get these in the ground even earlier than last year so we can get a better crop.  We've got some strategies to get the drip tape in a bit sooner and we know the flex tine weeder works now.  So, we're feeling pretty good about the possibilities. 

In fact, getting them in the ground earlier is the biggest thing for us this year.  The issue with that is the fact that nature may not see fit to allow it.  But, that's the way it is sometimes.  We'll make the goal and set up to make it happen as best we can.  If it doesn't happen, we adjust.

We will be trying two new yellow onions in 2015.  Sedona is an F1 hybrid storing onion and Dakota Tears is an open pollinated storing onion.  We'll trial them against each other and see what we can learn.  Otherwise, White Wing, Redwing and Ailsa Craig come back in 2015.  Yellow of Parma will sit out until we see how the other yellows do this year.  King Richard returns as our leek of choice.

Melons and Watermelons
We planted our entire field of melons in about two thirds of a work day.  Now, keep in mind that I am simplifying here.  Planting includes things like prepping beds, laying the paper mulch, drip tape, putting in transplants and other things.  Also, one work day is the length of time we have workers on the farm.

We plant our transplants by hand and we were doing some research that required some special spacing that took more time.  But, the reality is that we want to shorten the planting window so we can hit the optimal planting window with more crops.

Ideally, we'd love to put in all of our melons, watermelons and winter squash in the same day.  This is also a good time to put in tomatoes and peppers.  So, clearly we need to do something to speed the process up a bit.  As a result, we're looking at adding a mechanical transplanter to our tool list.  We've got the tractor for it now, so let's see if we can id the transplanter and climb the learning curve quickly in 2015.  Our hope is to also provide more time for weeding/cultivating by reducing planting time.

We will be running similar melon and watermelon varieties to 2015 this year.  We will reevaluate the varieties after this season and determine if changes need to be made after that.

Root Crops
We would like you all to root for our crops.

Oh, sorry.  This must be a no punning zone.

Root crops, next to our long season winter squash, have been our biggest challenge on our farm.  The early planting timings are often missed because of wet fields.  A person can transplant into wetter soils, but seeding in wet soil is a problem.  And, if the soil temps are cool, like they've been the past two years, you have other problems with direct seeded crops.

So, in 2015, we've reworked our succession plan for root crops to respond to the issues we've had the last couple of years.  We've taken the successful batches and figured out some common themes for them.  Similarly, we've identified some common problems for the failed batches of these crops.

Our two goals?
1. To increase our fall root crop capacity and have more storage crops to take us deep into Fall (and perhaps past the first of the following year).
2. To hit the Spring window harder with a single succession and get our cold storage built so we can store the crop for distribution over a longer period of time.

Two things we need to do to make this work?
1. Get that darned walk in cooler built... finally.
2. Improve our techniques for keeping weeds out of these crops.

And there you are!  An insight to some of the things we are looking at for 2015.

Be Careful What You Say

Once again, I've been thinking.  A dangerous pastime (we know!).

Every time I write a blog.  Or have a conversation.  Or give a presentation.  Or express an opinion.  I run the risk of saying something that is.. well.. simply put.. wrong.  It may be wrong because I mispeak.  It might be that there is an interpretation that I didn't think of as I was typing or speaking.  Maybe I say something wrong because I need to adjust my attitude, or my knowledge base.  Or, perhaps it is wrong in one person's opinion, but not in another's thoughts.

Uh oh... he's talking again.

And, oddly enough, because we run a small farm business (the Genuine Faux Farm - in case you didn't know that... but how could you not if you are here?!), there are many more opportunities for us to mess up.  After all, we put our thoughts out on a blog.  We put posts out on facebook.  We give presentations to promote our farm and host events at the farm.  You might see us at a farmers' market or a CSA distribution.  In short, everything we do to promote our business and communicate to our customers provides an opportunity for us to make a mistake of some kind.

I will take a wild guess that most people who will read this post know Tammy or myself personally.  You've already formed some opinions about us (good or bad).  You also don't think of us as an entity known as the Genuine Faux Farm.  You know us as Rob and Tammy who run the farm they call the Genuine Faux Farm.  But, I've realized for some time now that our ability to last for ten years has moved us from Rob and Tammy who have a farm to the Genuine Faux Farm that has a married couple who are the owners of the farm.  That's actually a big difference in many people's eyes.

Wow, he IS out standing in his field.

In short, it is so much easier for people to jump to a conclusion because there is more distance between us and those to whom we speak (or write).  It's all part of the way things work. 

Let me put it this way.  You visit restaurant X for the first time.  You don't know the owners or anyone that works there.  You overhear one of the staff say something that, on its face value, seems wrong to you.  Maybe you didn't hear the whole thing, and maybe you weren't the audience.  But, isn't it a natural tendency to equate what was said to that particular establishment?  After all, it was THEIR employee at THEIR premises, therefore THEIR business has a problem with THEIR attitude.

And, that is my point.  There are people behind a business and people make mistakes with what they say.  And, the more chances people have to say things publicly, the more likely they are to say something wrong. 

Example number 2:  Tammy teaches Social Work at the college level and I have taught Computer Science at the college level.  There are many opportunities to make mistakes in what we say.  I have heard Tammy do this, and I know I've done it.  When you teach, you often have to have part of your mind on what is coming out of your mouth at that moment and the other part has to be setting up what comes next.  Oh.. and don't forget the parts of your mind that are paying attention to the students and preparing for their reactions and questions!  Sometimes, the part that is paying attention to what is being said NOW gets distracted.  And maybe the word "NOT" gets left out of a sentence.

There is a big difference between:
   "This is the way to do it."
and
   "This is NOT the way to do it."

Can you imagine the damage control when you find out students were actually listening carefully to that sentence - and sadly not the ones around it that clearly contradicted what came out of your mouth for that one moment?

So - what brought this on?  Nothing in particular - it's just been on my mind recently.  No, I am not aware of something I've said or done recently that has me worried - unless you count the things I just can't find the time to do when I know it needs doing.

Instead, I brought this up as a reminder to me and, perhaps, to you as well.

 I try to remind myself to be careful what I say - and be more careful about how I listen (or read).  I remind myself that people are involved.  These people make mistakes.  These people may say things for any number of reasons.  But, until I have more evidence and knowledge about what drove them to say what was said, then I will give the benefit of the doubt.  Does it mean I won't say something if I feel what is being said is VERY wrong.  Of course not!  I will say something as politely as I am able.  It does not do the other person a service to stay silent either.  But, there is a difference between an appropriate, measured response and condemning someone (and anyone or anything they are associated with).

And, now, I remind myself to proof read this blog post yet AGAIN.  But, I know I'll miss something.  I always do.  I hope you can forgive me.

New Varieties on the Farm for 2015

One of the things we are pleased to be able to provide is a great deal of variety on our farm.  We feel very strongly that a range of vegetable types along with a variety of cultivars of each vegetable type gives us a higher likelihood for success any given season.  We also believe that there can be a wide range of tastes from one vegetable variety to another.  This means, if we grow different kinds of tomatoes (for example) it is more likely that everyone will find a tomato that they find to be a great match to their own personal tastes.

And, since I mentioned tomatoes, I'll start with them!

Black Krim will return - of course.

We are pretty happy with most of our 'different' color tomatoes - the reds, purples and most of the yellows (there is an exception to this, as you'll see).  But, we are currently motivated to improve on the red tomato varieties.  The first issue is that our source for Druzba seed is tenuous.  We like that variety, but if we can't secure seed, it is a moot point.  Also, we're feeling like we can do a bit better for taste than Trophy. And, Wisconsin 55 has very good taste, but it likes to drop its fruit on the ground.  Not a big deal - unless they all ripen at once, which they've done the past two seasons.  So, we will continue with Trophy and Wisconsin 55.  And, we'll grow out the last of our Druzba seed.  We've also liked how the Rutgers strain from High Mowing has been doing.  And, this season, we're going to give Cosmonaut Volkov a fair trial, along with John Baer.  Both will give standard sized, red slicers.  We liked Volkov's taste last season, but we're not sure if it likes us yet. 

We will also be giving Kanner Hoell and Mortgage Lifter a chance this season.  We have a feeling that both of these may be redundant with some of our bigger tomatoes.  But, we like to try new things, so there you are.

With respect to the yellow varieites, Moonglow, Nebraska Wedding and Dr Wyche's Yellow all return.  But, sadly, it looks like Golden Sunray is not coming back for a while.  Their seed apparently was cross contaminated a couple of years ago.  After a small trial last year, we are giving Emmy the spot that Golden Sunray used to hold.  And - we'll be growing more of the Black Cherry tomatoes after some high praise regarding their taste.

Nebraska Wedding loves us as long as we get them caged!

And, a note to all of you who are looking to buy heirloom tomato plants this year.  We will be having a nice variety yet again this year.  If you have special requests, now is the time to give them to us.

Lafou, I've Been Thinking

It's a dangerous pastime, this thinking.   But, somebody's gotta do it!

First order of business - join the CSA!:
Do you want fresh veggies from the Genuine Faux Farm this year?  Well, you'd better sign up for the CSA.  Go to the website and take the link to send us an email.  Or you can just send us an email from here!

Second order of business - visit us at the Cedar Valley Local Foods Fair this Saturday:

Saturday - March 14 from 10 AM to 3 PM.  Waterloo Center for the Arts 225 Commercial Street.  If you want to sign up, we'll have paperwork with us and we can get everything taken care of during your visit!

Third order of business - did you use our web form to reserve a spot - Uh oh...
In an effort to make a long story less long - if you signed up using the web form at any point over the past couple of months... we didn't get it.  A change in providers apparently resulted in the form breaking.  Apparently, the code was not supported with our configuration on the new service.  We apologize for the inconvenience, but we do encourage you to sign up.  We are not ignoring you - we just never did hear from you - despite what the internet said!   If you are reading this and know someone who might have tried to sign up, help us out and let them know about the problem we are dealing with.

Reasons to NOT join a CSA?
Liz Kolbe of Practical Farmers of Iowa wrote a piece for their blog regarding CSAs that gives some pretty common (and pretty good) reasons for not joining a CSA.  If you grow your own fresh produce, prefer to purchase local in other ways, etc - then it makes sense that you are not part of a farm share program.  She also makes some pertinent points that you can find ways to support a CSA even if you travel or if you feel financing it is a difficult thing.

But, if you want some tongue in cheek blogging, then you can read this other piece by Liz.  It's true.  If you despise the idea of locally produced food and you hate veggies, then I suspect a CSA program isn't the right thing for you.

We'd like to add one more addendum to what she writes.  Please remember that if you DO join a CSA, then you need to take the time to figure out what that means for you AND for the farmer.  Read the communications your farmers work to provide you that describe their services and procedures.  Many programs differ for many very good reasons.

Des Moines Water Works
I am watching with some interest the case of the Des Moines Water Works versus areas up river for agricultural pollution of the water.  This online article can bring you up to date on the latest responses by many Ag organizations.  I would encourage you to read this and see what they are saying.

Then, we have to ask the question - if the voluntary approach to addressing the problem is 'working,' then why is it that the water works have to do what they have to do to make the water safe for drinking?  I also wonder how it is that they ignore the studies and data that show the erosion that happens as a result of our most common agricultural practices in this state?

My opinion?  We've done the voluntary approach long enough.  It seems that, for many people in ag, they will only do what is best for the environment if it is made financially expedient to do so in the short term.  That's not a recipe for advancement.

Nice Picture
This photo Rob took from our farm was featured as part of the MOSES Organic Farming Conference in LaCrosse this year.  Pretty cool!  If you wish, you can scroll to the bottom and download the PDF that is the conference program.

It's nice now - but when is the last frost date?
One of the things that we have to remember is that our farm doesn't warm up as fast as other locations.  Hey, you folk in Waverly, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, take a look at this map - and for that matter, you can look at the rest of the USDA information by downloading the PDF found here..

Take note.  We are in Northeast Bremer county.  We're not situated in the nice little bubble that Waterloo/Cedar Falls and Waverly are in.  And, if you grow in town, you have some micro-climate help.  Nope, we're not complaining.  But, we are educating.  Every year, we try to push the boundaries of the growing season without being dumb about it.  We expect to lose a few things every season because we pushed the envelope too far in one direction or the other.  Just as long as we don't lose too much, we will be fine.

Curious about first and last NORMAL frost dates for your zip code?  Well, you can go here and enter your Zip.  The dates for Tripoli are April 28 and October 3.  However, I can tell you that over the last three years, we have had frost dates in mid-September and have even had freeze dates in week 3 of September.  The dates given as the normal first/last frost dates are the point where there is a 50% chance that the last frost date will be LATER than the Spring date given and EARLIER than the Fall date given.

If you are more serious about this, you can go to the NOAA climate normals page and download information there.  According to this date, Tripoli has a 50% chance of having a 36 degree F or lower temp after May 6 and a 50% chance under 32 degrees (freezing) after April 28.  Simply put, frosts that can impact our crops can occur at temperatures 36 degrees and colder.    Clearly, the prior site is taking the numbers for a FREEZE.  But, fine, it all depends on the year.  Sep 25 is our 36 degree marker and Oct 3 is the 32 degree marker for Tripoli.

But, before you get too crazy with these numbers, consider some of the other numbers in the PDF from NOAA.  How is that Waukon actually has dates that look like a longer growing period than we do, but the map above shows Waukon (Allamakee) as much shorter?  We all need to remember that the stations for which data is collected all have their own micro climates.  After all, we don't want things to be too simple, do we?

Variety Show - Black Cherry and Tasty Evergreen

This week's variety feature is for two tomatoes.  One is a cherry tomato we introduced to the farm in 2014.  

Black Cherry

We only grew a couple of Black Cherry plants in 2014 as an experiment.  And, for the most part, only people who worked on the farm or visited for a festival had a chance to try this fruit.  Our 2014 Summer Festival and Tomato Tasting Event actually included some of these beauties for tasting.  The result?  Everyone wants us to grow them.

So, in 2015, we will grow more of the plants in our fields and we will start more of these plants for sale in the Spring.  Look for them and give them a try.  People of all ages agreed that they would eat ALOT of these if given the chance.

And - the other tomato that did extremely well in the tomato tasting in 2014 was.....

Tasty Evergreen

Production	Reliability	Resists Cracking	Disease resistance	Taste
Days to Maturity 80	Fruit Per Plant 7.6	Typical Harvest Period Aug/ Sept	Size of Fruit .73 pounds

These tend towards a brownish, yellow/green when ripe and maintain a green gel in the interior with white/green flesh. The taste is quite good, giving a refreshing zing to a summer sandwich, especially if you like mayonnaise. The taste helps one to think cool thoughts on a hot day. On the down side, they tended to have deeper cracks on the shoulders that led to rot problems at ripening. Fruit size is highly variable and the shape is rarely perfectly round. The taste treat is enough to grow a few of these on the farm. We find that picking them before they get too ripe gives us a better shot at harvest. Unfortunately, they do not ship well and are difficult to deliver.

The picture above is from the very dry 2012 season. Like many tomatoes, they liked this weather better than some of the wetter, cooler ones we have experienced on the farm. We are getting better at growing these, but we are still not convinced that we should grow much more than five or six plants. They are still finicky and we get discouraged by the number of fruit that start to show rot spots up by the stems in some of the creases. We get the feeling that they like being picked in warmer weather, so we're wondering if an earlier start might actually result in more marketable fruit. As it is, these are enough of a taste treat that we'll offer fruit that have some blemishes just so people can have the option of taking them home and enjoying them. Results with Tasty Evergreen are far better than those we get from Aunt Ruby's German Green, but that's our farm. We encourage you to try both head to head to choose. Taste for this tomato is, in our opinion, tangier and much more interesting than Aunt Ruby's.

We've tried this tomato in the high tunnel with no more success than the field.  We've tried it without mulch, with mulch and with different trellising methods.  One thing is certain - no mulch and no trellis is a very bad idea.  Otherwise, we have yet to find the perfect situation.  We suspect it may need more babying than we can give individual plants on our farm.  But, it still doesn't matter.  We look forward to this taste too much to completely remove it from production.

Variety Show - Costata Romanesco

Costata Romanesco

Costata Romanesco is one of those varieties that we grow because the taste is truly outstanding.  Production, on the other hand will not help us fill CSA shares.  On the positive side, once vines begin to produce, they are sturdy and continue to produce for an extended period of time.  On the negative side, the vines sprawl more than most varieties of zucchini used by commercial growers.  In short, if you see one of these beauties in the tray for zucchini at a CSA distribution - pick it up and give it a try - but you'll want to check if it is Costata OR Cocazelle, which has its own taste!

Fruits often have a thinner center or will bulb on one end.  If the center thinning is pronounced, the fruit quality is often a bit lower, but still usable.  These can get quite sizable and maintain good taste quality.   Some will suggest that you should pick these small, but you better pay attention to catch them when they are small as they sneak up on you.

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Zucchini/Summer Squash Grilled
1 medium summer squash, cut into wedges (similar to potato wedges)
1 medium zucchini, cut into wedges
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper, oregano, marjoram and/or thyme
Place vegetables in a 9x13 inch cake pan. Toss vegetable wedges in oil.  Sprinkle on spices and toss to mix.  Place vegetables directly on the grill.  Turn after 5 minutes.  Check after 5 more minutes – they are done when they are very soft when poked with a fork.  (Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn).

Legislation - Let's Get This Done

The following is from the Iowa Farmers Union.  They are working to get some changes made in Iowa with respect to agricultural chemical applications.  We need action on this now.  Please take some time and respond.

If you recall our spray incident in 2012, one of the big issues was the delay in learning lab results.  We were forced to secure our own lab results form a lab in Oregon to the tune of over $1500 in out of pocket costs.  We still received our results form the Pesticide Bureau, but that wasn't until the season was completed.  The only use those results had for us was to pursue compensation after the fact. 

Please take some time and make a few calls or send a few emails on our behalf.

Rob & Tammy



=====================================

You've been hearing from us about all the activity at the Iowa Statehouse this past week on legislation that is important to you as Farmers Union member and supporter.

Last week we told you about a Senate subcommittee hearing scheduled for this morning on Senate Study Bill (SSB) 1221, which would appropriate funding to IDALS to:

• establish on-line reporting for incidents of pesticide drift and
• set up a fund to improve turnaround times for lab results when IDALS collects samples following an incident of spray drift. 

The first legislative funnel day is this Friday. That means that bills must be passed out of full committee in at least one chamber by March 6 to stay alive.

We have just learned that the FULL Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment will be taking up SSB 1221 at their meeting this afternoon at 1PM.

WE NEED YOU TO EMAIL OR CALL THE SENATORS ON THE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT SSB 1221:

PLEASE CONTACT:

• Sen. Dick Dearden (D, Polk County - Chair) dick.dearden@legis.iowa.gov 
• Sen. Chris Brase (D, Muscatine County - Vice Chair) chris.brase@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R, Mahaska County - Ranking Member) ken.rozenboom@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Jerry Behn (R, Boone County) jerry.behn@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Joe Bolkcom (D, Johnson County) joe.bolkcom@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. David Johnson (R, Osceola County) david.johnson@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Kevin Kinney (D, Johnson County) kevin.kinney@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Janet Petersen (D, Polk County) janet.petersen@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Amanda Ragan (D, Cerro Gordo County) amanda.ragan@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Brian Schoenjahn (D, Fayette County) brian.schoenjahn@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Joe Seng (D, Scott County) joe.seng@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Tom Shipley (R, Adams County) tom.shipley@legis.iowa.gov
• Sen. Dan Zumbach (R, Delaware County dan.zumbach@legis.iowa.gov

Senators also can be reached by phone via the Senate switchboard: (515) 281-3371.

WHY SHOULD SENATORS SUPPORT SSB 1221?
 

SSB 1221 would allow impacted farmers to more easily and accurately report incidents of pesticide drift to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) Pesticide Bureau via the IDALS website.
The Iowa Pesticide Act currently requires someone claiming damage from an incident of pesticide drift to submit a report in writing to IDALS within 60 days of the incident. With current budget and staff resources, the IDALS Pesticide Bureau is only able to collect incident reports by phone during agency business hours. This reporting process would operate much more efficiently and allow for more timely and accurate reporting if an impacted farmer could directly file an incident report in writing, as provided for by statute, via the IDALS website. A significant number of state jurisdictions already provide for this type of reporting, including Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri and Illinois.
 

SSB 1221 would provide much-needed funding to improve the time required for laboratory testing following a reported incident of pesticide drift.
In a typical incident of pesticide drift, an investigator from the IDALS Pesticide Bureau is able to follow up an incident report with an on-site visit in a matter of days. The on-site visit often includes collecting samples for testing to determine whether an incident of drift occurred and which chemicals were involved. Unfortunately, the current time for returning the laboratory results for these tests is in the range of 6 to 8 months. This delay places an enormous burden on an impacted farmer trying to take reasonable precautionary steps - such as segregating or washing crops intended for human consumption - and working to minimize financial losses. Providing IDALS with the resources to significantly shorten the turnaround time for lab results is critical to supporting farmers impacted by pesticide drift.
 

 For more information on this bill, please visit the Pesticide Drift Resource Page on our website.

Thank you for your help!

Jana Linderman
IFU President