Available Starter Plants

While we no longer start plants specifically for sale, we do start slightly more plants than we need.  As a result, we do have some tomato and pepper plants that we can offer for your gardens this year.

All are certified organic.  All are heirloom or heritage varieties.

Plants will be available beginning May 15 and will come in 3 1/2 inch pots.  They will be young enough that they could stay in the pots for another couple of weeks if necessary and hardened off enough that they could go straight into the ground if that is what you desire.

Approximate number of available plants are below.  If you want descriptions of some of these plants, you will find them at this page on our website.

To order, email us we will confirm the order once we have it.  If we sell out of what you order, we will let you know.
Amount Available last edited May 9

Tomatoes (approximate available in parens):
Italian Heirloom (14)
Speckled Roman (12)
German Pink (9)
Moonglow (1)
Gold Medal (8)
Dr Wyche's Yellow (6)
Cosmonaut Volkov (6)
Rutgers (8)
Nebraska Wedding (7)
Wisconsin 55 (10)
Kanner Hoell (11)
Trophy (14)
Hungarian Heart (5)
Opalka (6)
Amish Paste (3)
Stupice (5)
Wapsipinicon Peach (0)
Hartmann's Yellow Gooseberry (0)
Tommy Toe (0)
Black Cherry (0)
Silvery Fir Tree (5)
Indigo Rose (4)

Eggplant:
Casper (6)
Florida Highbush (7)

Pepper:
Jimmy Nardello's (0)
Tolli Sweet (0)
Golden Treasure (2)
Chervena Chushka (4)
Garden Sunshine (4)
Wisconsin Lakes (4)
Quadrato asti Giallo (13)
King of the North (10)
Early Jalapeno (0)

On Time for Taters

Considering we have been dealing with the Winter that would never end, it seems odd to be able to report that we actually put our potato crop into the ground when we scheduled them to go in.  In fact, we put them in on the front EDGE of the scheduled time slot.

Realities of a Farm Schedule

Given the multiple variables that can impact any schedule we might develop for any growing season, it is remarkable to us when we actually hit something *right on schedule*.  In fact, our schedules actually reflect our own recognition that we rarely hit the optimal date.  For example, my schedule for potato planting says "April 28-May 5 is optimal."  April 15 to May 30 are the outside edges.

Beds with the initial tilling complete (April 30)

Frankly, we were expecting that the fields would not quite be ready to go during the optimal period this year.  But, we had warm, sunny and breezy days that helped dry out the fields.  Usually, we are later putting in potatoes than nearly any other veggie grower we know in Iowa.  That has to do with weather and the heavier, wetter soil we have here.  The physical nature of potato planting may also play into it a bit.

Hard, But Not As Hard

Last year, Tammy and I needed two days to put in our potato crop.  That doesn't necessarily mean two FULL days, mind you.  But, there has usually been at least two planting sessions to get all of the planned beds put in for the season.  

Further proof that Rob DID fix Barty up properly.

What was so different this year?  After all, Tammy was only involved in the whole process for a few hours, instead of full days.  How could we possibly get things done faster with fewer person hours?

First, let me make something perfectly clear.  Many growers have tools that are specialized to help speed potato planting.  It just happens that we have never really targeted equipment specifically help us with this process.  And, in some cases, we actually HAD the equipment, but we didn't have a system that worked with that equipment.  Let's also not ignore the benefits of experience with some of these tools.

And, there IS one more thing.  We decided to drop back from 12 beds of potatoes to nine (but more intensively planted).  We haven't been terribly happy with our potato crops in recent years, so it is time to revamp the process so we can see more success.  One of our strategies for crops like this is to reduce how much we plant so we can improve the quality of what we do have.  If we need to, we scale back up once we feel we have a better approach for our farm.

Not Quite What We Wanted

Sadly, the seed potatoes for many of the varieties we prefer were not available this year.  At least they weren't available through the supplier we have relied on for the past several years.  We could possibly have gotten the varieties we wanted from other suppliers, but the seed might not have been certified organic or, more likely, the seed would have cost multiples of what we had been paying.  If you are trying to improve crop results through technique changes it may not behoove you to spend that extra money until you feel you have solved those problems.
 

Trenches ready in the beds for the seed potatoes

That means we don't get to harvest Purple Majesty, Carola, Rio Grande, Sangre or German Butterball this year.  Actually, German Butterball has under performed, so it was due to be removed anyway.  We thought Purple Majesty and Rio Grande might re-appear after their disappearance last year.  Sadly, that did not happen.  But, we had no clue that Carola and Sangre would go away this year.  Now what?

The good news is that Mountain Rose does return to the farm.  Canela will be our russet potato again as it has replaced Rio Grande in our grow list.  We don't like it quite as much, but it has been fine.  We're trying Red Norland for our earlier potatoes and Kennebec comes back to the farm after being away for nearly ten years.  We had some Carola potatoes left over in storage that we put in the ground and we are trying a bed of Harvest Moon again this year.

New Tools and Approaches

We added an attachment to Barty, our BCS walk-behind tractor that we might call a hiller/trencher.  We used it to make the trenches for the potatoes.  Unfortunately for Rob, he actually tilled the beds first and he probably should not have done that.  Or, better yet, he could have turned off the tiller while he was trenching.  It would have wore him out a little bit less if he had.

Even so, the trenches were made much more quickly and with less effort than previous years.  And, the even better news is that we expect it to be even easier next year (and years thereafter) now that we are a bit more used to the tool.  I think I can be forgiven for thinking I had to till more because we DID just replace the tines on Barty.  We were used to a certain amount of tillage in one pass last year.  (a hint - it wasn't very good)  So, it was a bit of a shock to get a beautifully prepared bed in one pass.

We understand that a middle buster on the back of Rosie, our tractor, would have done a fine job as well.  But, we don't have a middle buster at this time AND we're trying for a little more precision within the bed for intercropping reasons.  The smaller equipment gives us a bit more precision, so we'll go with that for now.

Once trenches were placed in the beds, we just needed to drop the potatoes in.  We just load up 5 gallon buckets and walk the row, dropping in the seed potatoes.  Yes, there are potato planters and other mechanized ways to do this.  But, we really don't mind walking 200 feet and dropping in some taters.  It's the simplest part of the process and it encourages us to observe what is going on with the seed and the field.  Clearly, I would have a different viewpoint if I planted much more than 1800-2000 row feet of potatoes.  But, I don't - so there you have it. 

Potatoes dropped in the trenches

The last step is to cover the potatoes.  The old method?  Rake the trenches in.  Usually it happened at the end of  long day.  We were tired and we really didn't enjoy raking that much dirt in.  This is where Rosie came out to play with the simple 2 disk hiller that we have.  The potatoes were covered (maybe a tad bit deep, but the soil is lose and will flatten out just fine) in about five minutes.  Celebration (and dinner) followed.

Why haven't we used this hiller before?  Well, we originally got this implement when Durnik (Ford 8n/2n) was our primary tractor.  Sadly, the hydraulic lift on Durnik couldn't be set to a desired height/depth on that tractor.  So, the result was that the disks would either be pushed in all the way (resulting in ridiculously high hills) or they would float out of the dirt - hilling nothing.  We tried to make the darn thing work two seasons in a row with no success.  I guess we rake it in, eh?

Picture added May 12 - rows hilled.

Frankly, those results soured us on using the hiller and we actually forgot we even had it in our arsenal until last year, when we hilled potatoes mid-year.  Ok, we sort of forgot it.  We also had trouble getting to it when we wanted it a couple of years ago.  That was one of the events that encouraged us to do a major farm 'cleaning' that corresponded with finally building our walk-in cooler.

We may not be the fastest at adapting, but we do get there eventually.  Here's to what we hope is a fantastic potato crop in 2018.

May Newsletter

Zero to Lightspeed in Less than 60 Seconds
The weather in April went from "Oh no you don't" to "Hurry up, you're late" in a frighteningly short period of time.  Tammy and I have now entered the season of Advil (we could go another nine innings), Insta-tan, peach/lemon smoothies, VAPs and difficulty concentrating while writing monthly newsletters.

As a result, we will just show another picture.

Weather Wythards
This year, April really outdid itself.  Just see the weather facts from our weather station below:

April's Report
High Temp: 83 (April 30)
Low Temp: 10 (and we hit 11 as a low temp four times as well)
Heat Index: 81   and   Wind Chill: -3
Highest wind gust: 46 mph out of the northeast (Apr 30's top speed was 37 out of the south)
Rain: 1.04"
Snow:  Yeah, yeah.  We got snow.  I'm not counting that anymore.... pfffft.
Barometer Range: 29.49 to 30.50

Year Through April
High Temp: 83 (in fact every day in the last week seemed to set a new high for the year)
Low Temp: -20
Lowest Windchill: -34
Highest Wind gust: 46 mph
Rainfall: 4.5"
Barometer Range: 29.39 to 30.89

Picture of the Month
You have probably figured out our picture of the month is usually last month's picture.  Surely you didn't expect a picture from THIS month when I write this newsletter (usually) in the prior month?  You do?  Oh.

I guess I'll work on that.

We showed everyone more than enough pictures of the pretty snow in April in prior posts.  Instead, we'd like to show you how we tuck our plants in at night when it gets cold outside.  In fact, the night of April 30 is the first night we have NOT tucked plants in for the night.  Sadly, as soon as I saw this picture, I started to panic that I had forgotten to do this nightly chore.  Then, I looked at the current temperature.

Normally, we'd like to be hardening these plants off at this point.  But, there is a difference between hardening them off and finishing them off.  We'd like to aim for the former and not the latter if at all possible.

May Calendar
 We are going to enter the month of May with our calendar completely in flux.  This is not a normal state for us as we usually have some set deliveries to announce.  But, when the produce isn't showing signs of really getting going, we just have to play it by ear.  We did see a couple of scout asparagus spears, but it will still be a bit before they really get going.  And the rhubarb is about 2 weeks a way if we had a guess.

• May 1 - Egg and Spinach Delivery
• rest of month TBA

See!  There IS rhubarb there.

Song of the Month
This time there isn't a YouTube link to the song that I can find.  Not that I looked terribly hard mind you.

The song is Walking Backwards by the Mellowdramatic Wallflowers.  Their album Daffadowndilly can be found here.  There's just something about a tune that starts with the words "Five million dandelions bloom.."  It just SCREAMS May, doesn't it?

Heirloom Plants Available
 We have extra plants that will be available for sale.  We will not set up special sales or go to the farmers market.  But, if you want some heirloom tomatoes or peppers (and maybe eggplant), please let us know and we can arrange a way for you to get them.

CSA and Chicken Shares Still Available
Yes, we are still taking sign ups for 2018.  Hey, the season has been slow to get started and no one really had much chance to even think about Spring, much less CSA's.  Let's get this party started!

News Shorts
There farmers are tired, but there is much to report.  So, we'll adopt the short blurb method!

• We are still taking CSA signups and chicken share signups.
• We are working on contacting everyone for billing (whether paid or not).  A little patience please as we adapt to new schedules and work loads.
• We are looking for a little help with each of our distributions and/or someone to help with either social media presence or membership tracking.  Anyone interested?
• The potatoes went into the ground on April 30 - on a full moon.  That's a good sign, right?
• Rob attended a training workshop for produce safety that has been created in response to new Federal regulations.  The certificate certifying that Rob is certifiable is now in our possession.  He also knows stuff about produce safety.  Ok, he knew stuff about it prior to the training, but now he has a piece of paper saying that he knows.  Isn't that fun?
• The Genuine Faux Farm has a new organic certification as well.  My, we sure are being certified, aren't we?
• Rob and Tammy (with some help from Jocelyn and Kennedy on the first day) managed to get through all of the tomato, pepper and eggplant potting.  Usually that doesn't happen until a bit later.  What?  You didn't think we did nothing when it was cooler, did you?
• The Poultry Pavilion outstrips the number of grounded outlets in our house by a good measure.  And, where might the grounded outlets in our house be?  How about the basement - where we start our plants.  Hmmm.  Priorities, what might they be?
• The new hen chicks are doing reasonably well.  We were able to keep their area in the brooder room warm enough during cold we had in early April.
• The first broiler chicken batch is now doing well, but we lost about a third of them early on.  Sadly, they arrived during some of the coldest weather and we just couldn't keep them warm enough.  We have long since gotten past the idea of putting chicks in our basement.  Did that ONCE.  Not doing it again.
• The kitchen project continues in our 'spare' time on the farm.  We have managed to move the old cabinet and sink to the basement, where we can wash eggs and dishes during the transition period.  We are hopeful the transition period won't last longer than a few years.....er... weeks.  Ya, that's what I meant.  Right?

Time to Have Pun
We pulled our bicycles out of the basement.  Now we're both two-tired to pun.  We had to adjust the calipers and pads so we would be prepared to take a brake from punning.  I could pedal our puns to you but that would only work if we spoke out loud. 

Pest Issues

We came down to our kitchen last week and we were just a wee bit shocked by what we saw.  Apparently, some sort of rodent or SOMETHING had been gnawing away at the cabinets and ceiling area.  Perfect!  And, the growing season is really getting going now that Mother Nature has decided she might like to see some green growing stuff instead of the white snowing stuff.  How are we supposed to deal with giant rodents eating our kitchen when we need to be planting things?!?

Our upper cabinets!  They're GONE!

We weren't entirely sure what sort of critter would do this kind of damage to our farm, so we really didn't know what sort of trap to use.  We decided to put a motion sensitive camera out to see if we could catch the varmint in the act.  After all, how much more damage could be done?  Surely it wouldn't be all that much more, would it?

How wrong we were.

We're guessing the appalling reddish orange color scared it away.

Oh look.  Lots of colors.

We now have no LOWER cabinets and no plumbing in the room that WAS our kitchen.  Alas. 

On the plus side, there appears to be a nice new subfloor that doesn't have rotted holes riddled through it.  We will accept that as an improvement.  But, in that case, we know Travis Duncan was responsible for that work.  So, Travis is a positive.  And, the removal of the lower cabinets made it possible.  But, we STILL weren't sure what was rendering our kitchen useless..... and red-orange.  Ugh.

Evidence spotted in the room included a couple of wrecking bars, a reciprocating saw and a hammer.  Great.  We're dealing with pests that can also use tools.  We also noticed that the kitchen isn't being 'consumed' since there is all sorts of material just outside the backdoor of the house now.  That makes us wonder if someone tried to STEAL our kitchen but realized they would have to take it apart in order to get it out the door. 

Clearly, once outside with better light, they realized our kitchen wasn't worth the effort, so they left the remnants in a pile.... for us to clean up.  That's not very thoughtful.

So, we took some time today to download some of the photos from our camera and we can finally show the guilty party.

Um.

Ok.  You got me.  But, Tammy made me do it.

There's no Snow?

We have been blessed now with a week or so of beautiful weather and we have done what we can to make the most of it at the Genuine Faux Farm.  Tammy got her grading done quick enough that she could partake in the farming fun for most of what is termed "Tour Week" at Wartburg College.  Her tour?  Well, you'll see some of it below.


Sometimes I take a picture and I am not entirely sure why I take it.  In this case, it was simply the view from the vantage point I had as I was finishing some maintenance on Barty (see prior post).  There is now a hint of green to the grassy areas, though it is usually a good bit greener than that most years on April 26.  Still, there is nary a hint of the white stuff on the ground, so I am fine with it.

The great migration of plants from the house and other warmer spots to more 'outdoorsy' locations has begun.  We take most of our house plants (like the palm in the picture) outside for most of the Summer.  It's far easier for us to keep them watered out there than it is inside.  And, the cart is full of cute little pepper plants that are anxiously awaiting being 'potted up' from their cells into three and a half inch pots. 

They are going to go reside in Valhalla for a couple of weeks to protect them from temperatures that are likely to still get close to freezing.  In fact, the forecast has lows around 36, 32 and 33 listed for the next three nights.  So, we need to stay alert. 

The palm gets to sit in the garage and it comes out to play each day once it is warm enough.  The pepper, eggplant and tomato plants are protected in other ways.

The north side of Valhalla has been designated a plant refuge and resort.  The building gets quite a bit warmer during the day, especially when it is sunny.  We close it up in early evening to hold some of the latent heat and we put a couple of layers of remay covering over the plants.  There are hoops placed over the plant trays to make sure the covering is above them and not on them.

We tuck the little plants in each evening and let them out to play once the temperature in the building reaches levels they might enjoy.  It does the heart good to see six inch tall tomatoes and three inch tall pepper plants running around having a good time.

Ok.  They really just sit there.  Sometimes, we put them in a cart and pull them around just so they can see some different things.  They are young and they should see the world before they put down roots.

What?

We want them to be happy.

 

 Our potting and seeding area is about to be moved to another location as we prep to plant in the ground.  Initially, some of the things you see in the reddish tubs were supposed to get planted into the ground.  But, it was easier to keep them warmer in the tubs, so we kept them in the tubs during the unseasonably cool temps.  That way, we had the option to go get them and bring them in if we thought they would die.  As it was, they just sat there and didn't grow.  But, they lived.  Now, after a few days of sun and warm, they are putting on some growth.  So, time to prep the beds in Valhalla and plant them. 

 Meanwhile, we have to give more seeds a chance to grow and show us what they can do.  So, we threw seeds into 30 some trays.  I wonder what will happen next?

Meanwhile, we await the swelling of buds on trees and the greening of the pasture areas.  The soil in the field just south of Valhalla is still pretty damp, but the breeze should start to dry it out.  Lots of sunshine is raising the soil temperatures rapidly.

It is quite possible that Spring has actually sprung.

Mekanikle Ineptitude

Neither of us has ever said, "Boy howdy!  I'd really like to do some routine maintenance on our small engines.  And, while I am at it, I would really ENJOY making a few repairs as well!"  Of course, that's because neither of us is prone to saying "Boy howdy!"  Otherwise, we have been known to make a statement that we would LIKE to have routine maintenance done on the small engines and we would always prefer to get the repairs done as well.  It's just that neither of us is likely to pick these tasks over other tasks.

Would you like to replace some tines on the tiller?

Are we incapable of changing the oil, cleaning the filters and adjusting the throttle cable on a small engine?  No.  We can do that.  Of the two of us, Rob is more comfortable with this stuff than Tammy, but we can both figure it out.  It is safe to say that neither of us is brimming full of confidence and we both know these things take us much longer than it would other persons with more experience with this sort of work.  Hence the tendency to pass the task on to others who seem more inclined to enjoy it when they come around.  This is especially true during the growing season when there is so much to do.

Half of the tines are on (lower half) - almost there!

Sometimes, there just isn't a person who you can pass the work to.  And, sometimes, you realize you really should just get over yourself and improve your own skills (and your attitude while you are at it).  After all, it's not like I haven't done anything like this before.  

Well, ok, I haven't actually replaced the tines on a tiller before.  So, this is a new one for me.

Old tines at left and right.  New in the middle.

 So, why were we replacing the tines on Barty (our walk behind tractor)?  The picture above doesn't do it justice because you can't really see the curved part of the blade on the new tine in the center.  Let's just say the tine on the right is missing half of what it is supposed to have and leave it at that. 

Barty was also treated to the full "spa treatment" with new oil, filter, lube, etc etc.  He's one happy walk-behind tractor now.  We even adjusted the throttle.  Hurray for us.

Ha!  I put it back together with NO extra parts AND it appears to work!

The lawn tractor had better watch out, because it's next.

Paths to Produce?

The weather and farming.  Farming and the weather.  Every year there is something about the weather that provides a challenge to the farmers and this year the weather issue of choice is the Winter that would NOT let Spring move into the apartment.

March 27

We had actually seen/heard some robins and kildeer on the farm just prior to the bigger snow on March 24/25.  We, of course, apologized to them but figured "hey, it's March.  This sort of thing happens in March."  

April 3

The April 3 snow wasn't a huge surprise.  There are supposed to be three snows on the robin's tail anyway.  The bigger issue was the temperatures.  What follows below is the April 2018 weather for Waterloo, Iowa.  In Tripoli, we were cooler than these numbers and had a bit more snow as well.  For example, you may note the "rainfall" amount on April 18.  Then, view one of the later pictures.

In combination with the much lower than normal temperatures in early April, we didn't have much for sunshine.  The daily summaries shown above don't make it look like it, but we did not have many really sunny days to heat up our high tunnels.  The net result?  Nothing really grew.  The plants lived.  But, that's about it.

April 8

Sun puddles are one cure for Winter.

Temperatures actually did get warm enough to melt the April 3 snow.  That, and, it really wasn't all that deep.  There was still some snow on the north side of buildings, bush lines and the like, but nothing much.  So, Mother Nature gave us another blanket on the 8th of April.  We had also had a light dusting between the 3rd and 8th, but it wasn't picture worthy. By the time we got another snow on the 15th, we just said, "Bleah," and didn't reach for the camera at all.  After all, that one wasn't much of a snow anyway.

Tammy had a great deal to do during the end of the semester at Wartburg and there was a good deal to do on the farm that didn't have to do with working outdoors.  So, we both stayed busy to avoid letting the weather get us upset. 

Sure, the weather was starting to impact our growing season.  Things in the high tunnels were falling further and further behind.  We had trays of plants stacked up in locations that they shouldn't be because we had to keep them warm enough.  Other trays were not getting seeded because there wasn't a place to put them.  Blah blah blah.  Stuff stuff stuff. 

But, we're used to slower starts on the farm than we usually want simply because of our location and the types of soils we have.  We rarely come out of the gate on this farm quickly.  But, we're usually quick enough.  This year, we're just like everyone else in our region - quite a ways behind where we normally are.

Then this happened April 18

Once again.  The snow was pretty.  But, now we were getting just a tad bit miffed.

 Probably the real highlight of this snow was how wonderfully packable it was.  Normally, I would have been spoiling for a good snowball fight.  But, with no one to throw snowballs at (Tammy knows exactly how to avoid becoming a target), Rob was left to figure out how to dig the snow away from the sides of the high tunnels.

All of that wet stuff that landed on the high tunnels ends up sliding down the arched roof.  Now we had 3 to 3 1/2 feed of heavy snow leaning against the roll up sides of these buildings AND out came the sun and the warmer weather!  If you don't want your crops to bolt inside the building, you've got to get them open!  The shovel was running too much risk of tearing the plastic sides and the bucket on the tractor was certainly not an option. 

Anyone for digging out with your hands?  No?  Oh, that's why I did it myself.
I think we're ready for Spring now.

Stuck on the Farm Music

There used to be an exercise that people who very much enjoy music would indulge themselves in that used the old 'if you were stranded on a desert island' theme.  Given current technology and the tendency of many to 'stream' music and not play entire albums of music at a time, this thought exercise doesn't seem to get used all that often any more.  The basic idea is that you will be stranded on a desert island and you can select only 10 albums worth of music to be available to you from that point on.  You can't pick and choose single songs, you have to take all or nothing from each album you select.

So, why would I actually spend time on this sort of a post, you ask?

Well, Tammy and I both like our music and...  sometimes when you aren't feeling well and can't sleep, you find something to do with yourself.  Like a think about what music albums you would bring with you to a desert island.

(ed note: this was written in late January and was scheduled for a later release IF Rob could find time to proof it a bit)

To make this fit the farm blog better - here are the ten albums Rob would choose if he were stuck on the farm and could access ONLY ten albums for his music.  They are listed here in no particular order.  After all, they made it on a list for a guy who has about 10,000 songs to choose from on his Ipod Classic.  Ya, ya.  I know.  But, do you expect me to carry that much vinyl around with me?

To increase the suspense... we're going to split this into a few posts.  (ed note: yes, suspense!  For all three readers out there who might want to know!)

Apocalyptica - Reflections
We're not talking the original release, you've got to include the extended release material because there are some really good songs there.  It has cellos.  We like cellos.  It has cellos playing music that might not have been initially intended for cellos.  But, that's wrong, because all music should be played on a cello.  So there.

The Choir - Circle Slide
It's relaxing when you play it quietly.  It can rock when you turn up the volume.  It's artsy.  It's thought-provoking.  It's layered and textured and...  Well, I like it.  I listen to these songs that I know so well and I still pick up new things.  And, while they don't show up on this album, the Choir has been known to use a cello in its music now and again.

Future of Forestry - Pages
We listen to this compilation of songs and both Tammy and I say things like, "I like this song."  Or, "this one is my favorite on the album."  This is quickly followed by, "but I said that about the last song too."  We can't decide and we don't want to decide.  We just want to listen to the album.  And, there are cellos in this music sometimes.  I begin to detect a theme... How about you?

Two more posts are in the pipeline!  I wonder when I scheduled them to go?  Who knows?

Poultry in Winter

"The Ladies," also know as our laying hen flock, are the only poultry that currently over-Winter on our farm.  We did over-Winter ducks a couple of times, but we have taken duck off of our poultry menu for a while. 

The ladies suggested that we have not written a blog post about them lately.

A couple of our recent posts have alluded to the weather and how that impacts our chickens, so I guess it makes sense that we should follow through with a 'flock report' of some sort. 

If you check out the photo below, you'll see what happens to the hen yard when we do NOT get early snow cover.  The area closest to the building gets pretty beat up.  We like to let the hens out every day we are able, but if there is no snow cover during the cold months, the birds go out and scratch everything up

This area is just LOVELY during mud season.

If you have not dealt with chickens before, it is important for you to understand that chickens like to forage.  Part of the foraging is to scratch up the ground.  They are so good at this that we've actually used them as a poultry clean-up crew.

I recall returning to a place Tammy and I used to live and cringing as I watched chickens pulling away all the mulch in perennial plantings the two of us had put down prior to moving away.  I realize that not everyone values perennial flower plantings the same way we do/did and I get the appeal of having hens wandering around a country farmyard.  But, it was still alarming how quickly they destroyed what was once a well-manicured planting.

So, now we raise chickens.  And they beat up pastures like this.  What do we do?  Well, we've worked to create a more mobile summer home (see Oh Give me a Home) that will allow us to move the birds around a bit this Spring and Summer.  Our hope is that this will allow us some time to rehab this pasture area a bit AND get some needed maintenance done in the hen room.  The presence of a bunch of birds around your feet does not lend itself to many productive moments in carpentry.  How do I know?  Well, let's just say we've given it a try or two.

Another example of poultry 'destruction' explains one reason why we don't keep our hens right next door to most of our vegetable production.  It also shows you how we supplement our poultry's diet with produce that isn't going to find a home via sales (or in our own kitchen). 

Some pumpkins just don't meet the cut.  Others don't find a home early, so we hold on to them until they start to get softer.  Then, we let the hens have them.  You might think that you have to split the pumpkin up for the birds so they can eat it.  Not so.  Just look at the pictures above and below.

For a point of reference, we were able to store these pumpkins into January.  The benefit is that we can have some quality supplementary food for our hens from the farm in the middle of Winter by simply storing some of the lower quality squash and feeding it to them over time.  This past season, we were able to give them some squash as late as the end of January.  In fact, we were able to give them some bolted greens from the high tunnel just this week.  Happy birds!

If you are interested in getting some of our farm fresh eggs, we suggest you contact us to get on our email list.  We send out a note prior to each egg sale (usually every other week in Winter and every week the rest of the year).  Our customers regularly make positive comments about the high quality of our ladies' work and you will too once you start using them.  Eggs cost $3.50 a dozen and the ladies - despite the cool weather - are doing just fine and giving us 5-7 dozen eggs a day.

And, of course, there is the next generation of hens on the farm now.  We got the chicks JUST prior to Easter and right on time for the cold snap.  It happens every year when we get chicks.  Get the little birds - weather gets cold.  This year has just been a bit more persistent about it than some.  Nonetheless, the little ladies seem to be healthy and are looking forward to being let out of their tub so they can explore more of the world.  We just need temps to stay a little bit warmer at night.

If you would like to read more about how we work with our poultry, you can check out this post: Poultry Slam

Winter Wonderland

I've noticed that there are a number of people who are letting themselves get a bit on the grumpy side with the cold weather and the snow.  I wonder if they've taken a look at how nice everything looks out there right now?

First step outside of our door.

I realize that everyone is anxious for Spring.  I also fully understand that there are many (ourselves included) that are finding our work to be a bit more difficult with this weather.  But, I am finding myself getting amused with how 'up in arms' everyone is about this "LATE" snow on April 9th of this year.

Out of curiosity, I randomly chose to go to the weather history for April 9th of a different year (2009) and I noticed that there was mention of snowfall in April.  A quick look found this.   4.3" of the white stuff on April 5, 2009.  Or, dare I remind you of May 2013 again?

Besides, did I mention that it was kinda pretty?

 To put you in the mood, how about a little Bing Crosby:

I'll grant you that snow makes farm chores a bit more difficult.  The cold weather has really put a crimp on our getting an early start on any of our veggie crops.  They really are just holding on in the high tunnels right now - not much incentive to grow.  But, we didn't get much snow during the period that we would normally associate with snow.  So, forgive me if I actually take a moment to enjoy the short-lived beauty.

Hey, that looks kinda.. um... pretty.

Underneath all of that snow is brown grass and black mud.  We will see that soon enough as the temperatures jump past the "averages" and beyond over the next week.  Oh, don't worry, we'll come back down.  April in Iowa is always a roller coaster.  We can at least agree that temperature swings would be normal.

Besides, I still think... oh, you got the point?  Never mind.

And, seriously, it isn't going to be long before we see signs of Spring other than robins huddled around the crab apple trees in town - desperately pecking away at the dried fruit.

Here is a picture from the farm from April 16 last year.  See!  Green grass! 

And April 9 two years ago.  See!  Gree....  um.  No.  Skip that one.

Here - April 27 from two years ago.

Spring is on the way - hang in there!

The Robin's Tail

There is an old saying that there are always "three snows on the robin's tail."  Well, we're pretty certain that the number used in that saying must be a statistical average rather than a law of nature.  I'm watching snow number four (or is it five?) as I type this.

That isn't sand, is it?

I can tell you that since we started farming, it has seemed to hold fairly close to true that the robins arrive and we get a few snowfalls.  Usually at least one of them is only a dusting that barely qualifies as the third snow fall.  But, when you are getting anxious for Spring, you'll count a single snowflake as an official 'snowfall' if only to get past the third "robin's tail snow."

Funny thing about Mother Nature, she doesn't really care what we think.  And, she certainly doesn't worry about staying true to an old saw about robins, snowfalls and the timing of spring.  Nonetheless, I still submit to you that, at our farm, the saying is accurate - on average.  After all, it was just 2013 when we got this snow in early May.  According to my notes, I had counted three snowfalls after the arrival of our first robins on the farm.  But, one was, admittedly, one of those snowfalls that didn't even give us a dusting of snow.  I should have known that there was still one more coming.  Darned robin and its tail...

For those who might enjoy it - here is a link to a time elapse snow cover of North American for March through May of 2013.  

The good news about snow?  Well, it looks pretty - even when you don't want it.  And it blows around alot.

Like this.  It wasn't that much snow, so we got 'mini-drifts' for the April 3 snow

Ok, maybe the 'blows around alot' part isn't seen as a positive by most people.  I think we're all over-reacting a bit to the snow this April because we (at least in the area around our farm) haven't gotten all that much snow this year.  Here is the snow cover animation for November 1 to April 1 of the past winter. 

March 15 on the farm.

The animation sure makes it seem like we got much more snow than we recall getting.  But, the truth is one inch of snow IS snow cover.  For us, we didn't have to do too much "path-making" in snow to get to the chickens until March this year. 

March 27 on the farm

 It all evens out in the end, depending on what sort of balance you are using.  For now, I am going to go outside and console the robins.

Their tails are getting a little tired carrying all of that snow on them.

April Newsletter

Reluctance, Anticipation and Ambition
Every month of the year marks a transitional period for us at the farm.  There was a time when I wouldn't have agreed with that statement - until I realized that every time I set out to write the monthly newsletter, I found myself wanting to write about how things will change during the month.  So, here we are - in another month of transition.

The end of March and beginning of April has many similarities to the end August and beginning of September.  There is a profound sense of reluctance to move on.  In August/September, we are realizing that many of our crops are coming to an end, though there is always plenty to deal with into December.  There is regret for things that didn't get done and a realization that certain things cannot be fixed until the next growing season.  March/April is when we realize our 'other' season is coming to an end - just when we were really getting into the rhythm of doing things differently.  There is regret for things not completed and certain things cannot be fixed until the growing season reaches its conclusion.

On the other hand, we do have a sense of anticipation for the good produce that is to come.  There are days where we can put in an honest effort of labor and see the rewards of jobs well done.  We look forward to being outside for longer periods of time and being warmer while we're doing it (sometimes much warmer).

And, yes, there is ambition.  It is there, even if we might have trouble focusing that ambition on the new season that is coming.  Is it possible to be reluctantly ambitious?  If it is, I think that might be right where we are.

CSA Promotion
We need CSA members and we are kicking off our 2018 Spring Campaign: #PathstoProduce2018.  We would like you to join us this year.  For those of you who have already signed up or who have contacted us, thank you!  We will be sending information as we approach the season and we will keep you informed.  This year we are trying to be more flexible with payments to help everyone out with their budgets.  At the same time, we have expense we need to pay - so let's get the sign ups going!

Our next post will introduce the blog post/Facebook post promotion theme for 2018.  Above is a sneak peak!

Need to know what the CSA options are: Here they are!


Picture of the Month/Weather Whythards
Winter decided that we didn't need most of our snow until we reached the month of March this year.  The farm received somewhere around 17 inches of wet snow on the 23rd and 24th of the month.  Of all things, Rob and Tammy were away for that weekend, which left poor Caleb to deal with the farm in the immediate aftermath.  Happily, he was able to dig his little car out and get back home.

The snow melted fairly quickly, though we still have a little bit here and there on the farm as of April 2.  The good news about "warmer" temperatures and lots of cooler moisture?  Well, you end up with a nice hoarfrost most times that happens.  The fog/clouds didn't leave until mid-afternoon, so I had a few opportunities to try to catch some neat pictures of the farm.

Highest wind gust for March: 35 mph
Highest temp for March: 54
Lowest temp for March: 12
Snowfall: 17 inches (est)
Rainfall: .15 inches

Farm News Shorts and Announcements

• We have had one Wartburg Service Trip group at the farm in March and may have one or two more at the farm this month.  The first group helped us cut down some brush, pick up trimmings from our fruit tree pruning and lay down plastic on what will be a new veggie plot.  Tune in next month when we report on the other group efforts.
• The hen chicks are now on the farm!  About sixty (or so) little ladies arrived in the mail last Thursday and, of course, the weather went and got really cold on us!  This appears to be a tradition for us.  Get chicks, weather gets cold.  The birds are in the brooder room where they get plenty of heat to stay healthy.
• The first batch of broiler chicks will arrive in a week and a half.
• Speaking of broilers - last year's broilers are now sold out!  We have a few stewing hens available.  But, until we process batch #1 of broilers at the end of June, we will have no more broilers for sale.
• Plant starts - do you want some?  If you want some, you need to speak up so we know to start them for you.  As per our decision last year, we will not be holding general plants sales.  However, if you are one of the people who has relied on us for plants over the years, you need to say something if you want us to start them.
• Our plant starting shelves hold peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, kale, broccoli, flowers, tatsoi, komatsuna and various other items.  We have a huge planting list to start in a about one week.  And, Valhalla has tubs with started lettuce, spinach and onions.  It has begun.

There be tubs of spinach, lettuce and onions in that building!

April Calendar
You may notice that the first item on our list is a Flash Veg and Egg Sale.  We anticipate that this will be during the first week.  We have some greens that will need to be harvested, but we have to respond to the weather.  Tuesday does not look like a good options.  But, hey!  This is the nature of a "Flash" sale - it happens when it happens.

• April 5 (Thus) - Flash Veg and Egg Sale
• April 12 (Thus) -  Egg sales Waverly and Cedar Falls
• April 24 (Tue) - Egg sales Waverly and Cedar Falls

Song of the Month
Here we are, on the cusp of a new growing season.  It only seems right to have a song titled "the Precipice" by the Classic Crime as our song of the month:

Time to Have Pun
We've noticed in the past that there are a number of characteristics different potatoes exhibit.

For example, there is the potato that makes all the other potatoes do what it wants.  That's a dic-tater...
Every once in a while, we get one that seems to be tainted by the negative side of the force - also known as - Darth Tater
We also find some that are very helpful, we call them facili-taters.
The common-taters just keep talking, but you can find them everywhere you look. 
Once in a while, we find a potato that was cut by the potato digging tool.  Depending on how badly it destroyed the potato in question, you might say it was a decapi-tater or an ampu-tater.
If potatoes could talk - would they yell "Im-a-Tater!"  And, if they did, would you assume that they were trying to act like someone else?
The medi-taters always seem thoughtful and others balk at being pulled up out of the ground. Silly hesi-taters!
And, finally, all of the little ones that we find when we dig up the rows - they must be speck-taters.