Not An Ill Wind?

Now that we have had hot, dry weather for several days in a row (and believe me, Tammy and I are beginning to "feel" the hot dry weather), let me remind you that on May 29th, we had a frost at the farm.

If you like amusement park rides, this should suit you just fine.

I just happened to take a peak at our solar production for recent weeks and look what I found.

Now that I think about it, the day after the frost was a very bright day with beautiful blue skies.  But, I have to admit that Tammy and I weren't thinking so much about that.  Instead, we were trying to figure out how to get the covers off of the plants, get those covers dried off, rolled up and put away.  

In fact, I don't think either of us was feeling terribly happy on May 29th.  Some days, you just don't have it in you to appreciate good things.  

That's why it still pays to keep your "observer glasses" on so you can allow yourself a chance to reframe what felt like a bad day and maybe add a silver lining to those black clouds (hard to do on such a clear day.)

The surprising thing about the 29th is that there must have been a little cloud or two that ran between the sun and our solar panels a couple of times.  But we still produced 99.3 kWh of electricity.  

Why is that a surprise to me?  Well, according to our records, that's the best production of electricity from our panels in one day... ever.

So, they say it is truly an ill wind if it blows nobody any good.  It must not have been that much of an ill wind, because even though it caused us some problems (like terminating our cucumber crop), it still gifted us with this.

Here's to silver linings on clear days!

Which Side?

A week or so ago someone pushed me on an issue and wanted to know "exactly what side I was on."  

Apparently, they do not know me all that well.

The moment you imply that I should stand in opposition of good people that I happen to know are not in agreement with you is the moment I find myself wondering if I need to put some distance between us.  It does not matter if my thoughts actually align with you with respect to whatever issue you have brought up.  After all, it turns out that some of the things I think and believe line up with people I happen to get along with as well as people I don't get along with all that well.  

That's part of why I resurrected the "Carrotman" creation (thanks again Sam!).  I am not particularly fond of carrots.  Ok.  I grow them and harvest them and even clean them.  But, I will not eat them (yes, I have tried).  I mean... I could have stood completely on principle and determined that I would not grow carrots on the farm ever...

But, I overcame my differences enough and there are, in fact, a few carrots in one of our fields right now.  They need weeding, but they look pretty good so far.

So, am I "pro-carrot" or "anti-carrot?"  Which side am I on?

Well, Tammy actually likes to snack on carrots and I like her a lot.  Does that make me a "pro-carrot" individual?  However, I honed a skill to remove all of the little orange carrot squares from my mixed vegetables so I could eat the rest of the veggies without a single carrot touching my lips.  So, I must be part of the "anti-carrot" crowd?

It may sound like I am not taking the actual subject seriously.  But, I actually am.  The idea of being for or against carrots is actually more complex than either/or.  I can be pleased to pull out a nice sized "Bugs Bunny" carrot out of the ground and not want to see it on my plate in any form.  On the other hand, I can take pleasure in the fact that Tammy (or numerous other people) will happily enjoy carrots I grow.

And you actually think a more serious topic should be simplified down to just "for or against?"

You've got to be kidding me.  Really?  

Let me be blunt.  This is how relationships come to an end.  This is how we tear down good things that have been built.  This is how wars are started.  

Stop pushing the narrative that your side is "good" while everyone else who is not on your side is "bad."  You aren't making change, you are creating conflict.  Conflict usually hurts those who can help themselves the least.  We are better than that.

Blues

We've said this for a few years now, but the iris flowers on the farm are a shadow of what they once were.  And yet, we still manage to be charmed by many of our old friends each year.  Perhaps this is the year we'll get to giving them the attention they so richly deserve.  But, even if we can't manage it, we know that some of our most dedicated stalwarts will return next year and the one after.  

That's not a bad thing to take comfort in.

One of my all time favorites (Olympiad) made an appearance again this year.  With the frost coming (and then the hot dry winds) we knew the flowers would be short lived at the farm.  So, we picked most of the stalks we could and brought them inside before we could take a good picture of them.  As a result, I am relying on a picture from a year or so ago.

This turned out to be a good move because most of the stalks that remained outdoors had a pretty rough time of it.

The camera seems to make Olympiad appear a little more purple than my eyes see it in natural light.  But, that doesn't really matter.  I appreciate the subtle infusion of purple/blue into the white and take pleasure in seeing the little "caterpiller" (aka the "beard" on "Bearded Iris") with its progression from blue to yellow.

Would you like to learn more about the parts of an iris flower?  One easy to view site that does this is here.

I know some people like a more striking color combination.  And, I appreciate those as well.  But, this is an iris that I like to inspect up close - because there is so many subtle moments of beauty in a single bloom, that it can captivate me for quite a while.

Speaking of captivating.  I watched while Tammy was captivated by and trying to nab a picture of a Red Spotted Purple that had taken a liking to being inside some of our buildings the last couple of days.  It was sitting on a feed sack and she was waiting for it to open its wings and show off the bright blue colors on the top side.

This particular butterfly was camera-shy and didn't open its wings long enough for her to catch it.

But, a year or two ago, I managed to get one to sit on my finger while I took multiple shots of it.  Let's just say that it also did not want to sit still for the camera, opening and closing its wings often.  

There were MANY digital photos in that batch that I deleted, and these were among the best.

I'll take it as a positive that we got a shot of both the underside and the .. um... overside?  of the wings.  It was also a positive when this butterfly took off to investigate the rest of its world after consenting to this photo shoot.

Like Olympiad, who shows up every year with a stalk or two of flowers, we are usually treated to a Red Spotted Purple or two each year at the farm.  Unlike other "admiral" butterflies (such as the Red Admiral), we don't see them in great numbers.  But, when we do, they usually hang around the farm house and the outbuildings.  Almost as if they find us just as interesting as we find them.

I know that it can be hard to take a moment to watch a butterfly or observe a beautiful flower - but I encourage you to give yourself permission to do just that today.  I wish you the best as you try to fulfill this quest!

 Have a good day everyone!

Streaming Whatever Comes Up

Sometimes, you feel like there are things to share, but you don't feel like coming up with a theme or a thesis or.. whatever it is that sometimes hangs blog posts together.  So, today, we're just going to do the Genuine Faux Farm streaming service where you get whatever comes up at the moment as Rob's fingers hit the keyboard.  

This could be interesting....

 Or maybe disturbing, confusing or some other sort of "ing." 

So, just over a week ago, we had some cold weather that resulted in a frost at the farm.  This was particularly disturbing after we were celebrating some significant progress in our farm tasks in the prior week and a half.  

The problem with frost damage to crops is that you can't always fully assess the damage until a couple of days after the event.  Now that we're over a week out, the damage is clear.  The cucumbers did NOT fare at all well.  It looks like 75% of the crop is done.  We did have a few trays of back-up plants and we put them in already.  However, we have resorted to reseeding more trays in hopes that we can still run a long enough season to get the seed production we hoped to have for Seed Savers. 

This is actually a 'double whammy' because the cucumbers were a key part of our PFI research project for the year.  Well, we'll make things work, but it won't be what we wanted - that's for certain.

On the other hand, the snow peas are VERY happy right now.  They are glad we covered them and we pulled in 12+ pounds of snow peas on Sunday alone!  Hurray for the snow peas!

Sunday was a fairly busy farm day too.  The "Middle Earth" plot got a thorough cultivation pass with wheel hoes AND our newest named farm cultivation tool, "Millard."  More forthcoming about Millard in future posts.  We got drip lines down after cultivation and even finished putting in the rest of the butternut squash.  We also worked up the field just south of Valhalla and got irrigation going there.

You know, we really should come up with a better name for that field.  

Actually, we have.  More than once.  But, the names just don't seem to stick.  That's the trick with naming things on the farm.  The name can be clever and even entertaining.  But, if it doesn't stick...  it... um... doesn't stick.  I'm not really sure what else to say about that.

Moving on!

We are officially in THAT time of year.

You know.  The time of year where you have to let birds out pretty darned early in the day and they don't want to go in until pretty darned late in the day.  

It's also the time of year where we have to move the building for our two flocks of broilers every other day.  To be honest, it's not a horribly difficult task when the two of us work together.  But, it does eat up some time.  And, it is among the things that can kind of wear on you sometimes.  

"Hey, tomorrow is a bird moving day again."

"Oh... yay?"

It probably has more to do with how life on the farm works.  We both get it into our heads that we'll get X, Y and Z done "first thing" tomorrow.  Then, we realize it is a "bird moving" day.  

Never mind.  You have to move the birds first.  And maybe then you can get on that list of ten things you wanted to do "first thing" tomorrow.  Alas for us!

Hey, I told you I wasn't sure if I could hold a theme here and I certainly did not promise a logical flow or progression.  That's why I am showing you this picture.  It's the field(s) that is (are) south of Valhalla.  We need a name for them that sticks with us.  Thoughts?

I was just looking at the photos I have for this year and the last shots I took were right after the frost.  I really need to get out and take some new ones.  After all, things on the farm can change rapidly in June.  What is alarming to me is how green things look above and how much brown is beginning to show with our dry weather.  Hot, dry air with lots of wind tends to dry things out - and I guess that's what we're going to contend with for a while now.  

It's tough on crops like peas and lettuce and it can be hard on seedlings.  We'll just do what we can and move on from there.

Speaking of which - maybe I've amused everyone enough for one day?  If I have - excellent!  If I haven't... well, go look at this blog post and see if it is more amusing.  

See?  I've got you covered.  Have a good week everyone!

Detours - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to this week's edition of Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog!

It is hot, sunny, and windy on the farm today - making it a perfect day for us to cultivate in the morning.  Cultivation tends to lift weeds up, exposing their roots to the elements.  A hot dry day is perfect for rapidly ending a weed's viability.  Imagine your worries and troubles are a field of weeds.  Now, drive that cultivator out there and lift those weedy problems out of the soil so they can whither and fade away. 

I bet you were wondering how I was going to get that one to work.  I know I was!

Now that we've taken care of our worries, let's learn something new and have a little fun.

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Today we're going to transport ourselves back to the mid 1860s.  For those who have enjoyed a few Postal History Sundays, you might not be surprised by the time period because that's the area of postal history I am most familiar with.  This time, I want to look at mailing something from the United States to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.  What choices would you and I have for sending a letter to Italy?

Letter Rates 1863-66 - US to Italy

Mail Service	Rate	Unit
French	21 cents	1/4 ounce
Prussia to north Italy	40 cents	1/2 ounce
Prussia to Sicily	47 cents	1/2 ounce
Prussia to Messina	38 cents	1/2 ounce
Prussia to Naples	28 cents	1/2 ounce
British Open Mail	21 or 5 cents *	1/2 ounce
Bremen or Hamburg to Sardinia	23 cents	1/2 ounce
Bremen or Hamburg to Sicily/Naples	22 cents	1/2 ounce
Bremen or Hamburg to Modena/Parma	25 cents	1/2 ounce
Bremen or Hamburg to Tuscany	28 cents	1/2 ounce

* British Open Mail rates did not pay for all of the mail service.  The recipient would have to pay for mail services from Britain to the destination in Italy.

To summarize.  If you wanted to mail something to the Kingdom of Italy, you could choose between sending it via France, Prussia, Britain, Bremen or Hamburg.  Each cost a different amount of postage.  In some cases, it actually mattered WHERE in Italy you were sending an item.  To make it even more difficult, some routes were tied to particular shipping companies that crossed the Atlantic Ocean.  You might get a better postage rate, but there could be a significant delay if you didn't hit that shipping schedule properly.

And... I even simplified the options available to you a little just to keep it ...easy to understand?

Ok, let's just say you had lots of options and variables to consider.  It wouldn't be a surprise if you were confused by it all.  What often amazes me is that the foreign mail clerks were often able to make decisions for the best routing of mail when conditions warranted a change and despite the complexities most of the mail appears to have been handled without error.

Let's Send a Letter to Tuscany in 1863

Here is a letter that was mailed in New Brighton, Pennsylvania on August 20, 1863.  Thirty cents of postage have been applied to the letter and it was accepted as fully paid.  Exactly which rate was this person trying to pay?  I don't see a 30 cent rate anywhere in that table!

The letter is addressed to Florence, which is in Tuscany (north Italy).  We can eliminate the Prussian rate because it was higher than 30 cents.  

To make a long story shorter, I'll just tell you!  The sender was attempting to send this item via the Hamburg mail service, so the postage rate would have been 28 cents per 1/2 ounce to get to Tuscany.  BUT, for some reason, this item was sent via the French mail service at the 21 cent rate per 1/4 ounce.

So, the question is - how do I know all of that?

Two pieces of evidence seem to indicate that the person mailing this expected this letter to go via Hamburg.  The first is the 30 cents in postage (a convenience overpay of 2 cents).  The second are the words "via Hamburg steamer" at the bottom left corner.

This letter did, in fact, leave New York's harbor on the Hamburg Line's Saxonia.  But, for some reason, the foreign mail clerk decided that the letter should go via the French mails (as indicated by the New York marking with the "12" cent credit to France).  This is further confirmed red French marking in the center of the envelope and the boxed marking in red that has "PD" in it (also French).

This is interesting because the Hamburg steamer carried mailbags that were meant to go to and through France AND these steamers carried mailbags for letters sent via England as well as mailbags to go to Hamburg.  Each Hamburg steamer would make a quick stop at Southampton (England) and drop off mail that could go to or through France or England.  Since this was in a mailbag to go via France - it was dropped off there on September 3, rather than staying with the ship when it arrived at Hamburg on September 5.

The next question is why?  Why did the New York foreign mail clerk make this decision to send a letter to Tuscany, Italy via France?  

The short answer is that I cannot be certain.  What we need to understand is that the foreign mail clerks were often aware of potential mail delays and would often override the expected route when two conditions were met:

1. the postage would also cover an alternate route.
2. they knew the alternate route would get the mail to the destination more reliably and/or faster.

It is possible that they had learned that letters via Hamburg were typically slower to Tuscany than those going through France.  Maybe there was some sort of transportation issue on the route via Hamburg.  Perhaps the foreign mail clerk had a brother working in the French postal system and he wanted to support him?  

I can't say what the reason was, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open in case the reason becomes apparent someday.

How about a letter to Naples in 1866?

Below is a folded letter on blue paper that was sent from the United States to Naples in southern Italy.  Even though the Neapolitan area had been a part of the Kingdom of Italy for a few years, postal rates in some cases still treated this as a separate entity.

The letter went through the New York foreign mail office and was slated to leave via the North German Lloyd ship called America on July 21.  It would stop at Southampton on July 31 and go on to Bremen on August 2.

The scrawl in black ink at the top of the envelope reads "via Hamburg or Bremen."  Clearly, the intention was to send this item via one of those mail services at the 22 cent rate per 1/2 ounce.  Like the first letter, it left on a steamship that was going to one of those two cities (Bremen this time).  But, like the last letter, it was also off-loaded at Southampton and sent via the French mails and their 21 cent per 1/4 ounce rate.

Why?

There was this little thing that is often referred to as the Seven Weeks War (Austro-Prussian War) going on.  Technically, the final battle of that war was July 24.  But, at the point this letter was mailed, the postal clerk knew that the route from Hamburg or Bremen to anyplace in Italy was going to be uncertain.  So, they re-routed this letter via France.

The map above shows the troop movement and conflict locations for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 (you can click on the map to see a larger version).  If you look towards the north, you can find both the cities of Bremen and Hamburg.  The typical routes for mail from those cities would often go via Switzerland.  But, with the conflict, pretty much any route from either of these cities was uncertain, even if both cities were receiving mail ships with no interference.

And there you have it.  One letter that was diverted from what was likely it intended route for no specific reason I have been able to determine and another that had a VERY good reason to be sent on a different route.  Perhaps, one day I will find evidence that shows me the logic for the first routing change.  When I do, you'll probably read it here on a new Postal History Sunday post!

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Thank you again for joining me as I share something I enjoy and we all take the opportunity to, perhaps, learn something new.  

If you would like to learn more, or if you wonder what resources I use as I research postal history artifacts, here is one such item:

"United States Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations 1847 to GPU" by Charles J. Starnes, the Revised 1989 edition published by Leonard H. Hartmann.

This book is still recognized as the best resource for anyone seeking to find U.S. foreign destination postage rates during the 1847 to 1875 period.  The tables take some getting used to and it becomes easier to use as you learn more about postal history for that period.

If it weren't for the efforts of people like Charles Starnes, it is entirely likely I would not have found this hobby to be as enjoyable as it is for me.  So, thank you to the late Mr. Starnes and all others who have gone before me and shared the knowledge they have uncovered.

Have a great remainder of your weekend and a fine week.

Seven Years

I was trying to find a particular photo and I came across a picture of our farm from 2013.  It shows the view from the edge of the fields we call the "Eastfarthing" looking back towards our house.  The road is at the left, the old barn and the pasture that runs to the East of that barn is to the right.  The photo is from the end of April, so the grass is green, but the trees aren't really leafing out much.

As I looked at it, I couldn't help but notice how different things are now.
 

2013 (above)

 2020 (above)

 The 2020 photo is from a similar location.  I can tell you I was a little bit closer and a bit further to the South (left).  And, this photo is from mid-May, so there are flowers and more leaves.

There are some differences that make me a bit sad (the two larger ash trees have died - for example) and other changes that make me happy (look how much the spruces have grown and how much more taller greenery there is).  Some of the change is intentional (what nice siding we have now!) and some of it is not (hmmm.  we've let a bunch of trees take hold near where the old barn was).

But, overall, I like what I see.  There is more cover instead of a flat lawn with minimal habitat or breaks in the flat ground.  I will admit that some of it is not taking shape the way I would like it to take shape, but it feels more natural overall.  If I were a bird, or a butterfly, or a frog... I might like this place more now than I would have in 2013.

Of course, we can't let ourselves give the 2020 picture too much credit because it WAS taken later in the season.  But, you can see a bit more willingness to let things be... appropriately wild in places.  Again, some of this is by choice and some is because that's just how things have landed as we traverse time at the Genuine Faux Farm.

Since it is a living farm, it will be interesting to see how this picture changes in the next few years.  I hope I like the overall feel then even more than what I see now.  I know we'll do what we can to make that happen.

Feeling Comfrey

We have noticed that the bumblebee populations in our area have been in decline for the past then years or so.  Even with all of our efforts to try to support their populations at the Genuine Faux Farm, we haven't been seeing them as much as we have in the past.

That doesn't mean we have given up and it doesn't mean we don't keep trying to do things to support those populations on our farm.  And sometimes, we do something that turns out to be a bigger "win" than we anticipated.

A couple of years ago, we picked up a few comfrey plants and, not being exactly certain where their "permanent" home was going to be, we planted them in a corner of Valhalla, our larger high tunnel.  The idea was to transplant them out eventually to the spots we wanted them to go.  Wherever that ended up being.

But, that first year, things got busy...  You know how that goes.  And the second year, the plants flowered like crazy and we noticed the bumblebees loved them.  Suddenly, the area around Valhalla was a favorite location for these fascinating pollinators.  

I liked that.  And, frankly, the plants were getting pretty big.  Transplanting might not have been an option at that point anyway.

This year, Valhalla is in its other position, so the comfrey are outside for the year.  When you walk by that area on any sunny day, you can hear a buzz coming from that cluster of plants - a sound we welcome.  

When I first noticed the sound of happy pollinators, I expected to see several types of them.  But, upon closer inspection, there were just A LOT of bumblebees in there.  

All I can say is - "I am a fan."  Maybe we should find a way to add more comfrey to the farm? 

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Would you like to learn more about comfrey?  I suggest this read from the Amisfield Walled Garden.  Or, if you want more focus on the benefits of comfrey in the garden, try this article from Wisconsin Pollinators.

This link to the hort pages at the University of Purdue features work done at the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin - Madison.  Comfrey has been considered an alternative cash crop until recently, when research showed that consumption of comfrey may not be an entirely healthy option.

If you like a bit more research, there have been studies that look at the visits of pollinators (specifically bumblebees) to comfrey flowers.

See, we can learn something new together even if it's not Postal History Sunday!

The Roots of Resilience

My thoughts are often a product of my current experiences - which should be a surprise to no one.  Of course the things we are going through in our lives right now will have a strong bearing on what we allow our brain to spend time on.

In the past few weeks I have been thinking long and hard about what it means to be resilient.  And, more specifically, what it means for me to be resilient - and what it means for me to support resilience in myself and others.  Certainly not a new topic for me, but given the context of a recent surgery, the process of recovery, and the amazing support from the various communities in which Tammy and I have connections, it has come back into prominence.

 

linocut created by Simone Adler - shown with permission 

Sense of Belonging Builds Resilience

One unlooked-for kindness was received on the day I returned home from the hospital.  But, before I tell you about that - let me give you some context.  

I have been a part of the PAN (Pesticide Action Network) community since last April with my job as Communications Associate.  I knew these were good people when I joined and I am happy to work with them.  I have worked at other places in the past and have also found plenty of good people, though there have been varying levels of quality if I were to describe the overall workplace community environment.

In short, my past experiences did not prepare me for what arrived in the mail on the day I came home from the hospital.  A packet was mailed from the PAN workplace community that included photos of pets - showing me how to relax and recover.  Photos of clouds, snow on mountains, gentle waves, and gardens.  Each with kind words encouraging me to do what I needed to do to heal.  This packet was appreciated very much.

Among the images shared in this packet was a linocut by Simone Adler, which is shown above.  I was already considering what makes us resilient and I was already thinking about the role communities play.  And, there I was staring at this piece of artwork.  

My work community, our families, our community of close friends, the farm community we've created over time, the school community Tammy is a part of, and the various other organization-based communities we are a part of all stood up to remind us that....

We belong.

Not only do we belong, but they value our membership in the community.  That's a good way to encourage both of us to persevere and be strong.  It is, in my mind, one of the ways communities build resilience.

Strong Communities Grow from Respect and Tolerance

Over time, I've learned that being part of a strong community has a great deal to do with the respect I show to others and the tolerance I exhibit for any difference from my own preferences and background.  I do not believe that a community is strong if everyone has the same characteristics, the same strengths and weaknesses, or the same likes and dislikes.   A diverse community (in all senses of the word "diverse") is one that encourages resilience because each of us can bring our strengths and knowledge forward to lift up another person's weakness or help them to learn something new.

And, when I just happen to be the person who is in need, I can lean on those who are feeling stronger or are in a better place at that moment.  If we were all the same, we would all struggle at the same time and no one would be able to help.  If we were all the same, we would not know how to help because we would all be strong at the same time.

Perhaps some people might wonder at my choice of the word "tolerance" because we have all known a person who has shown tolerance... but not respect.  But, I do choose that word and its pairing with "respect" deliberately.  Why?  Because I think respect and tolerance can lead to acceptance and growth, without necessarily giving up the things that make each person who they are. 

Bending, Not Breaking

Each member of a strong community has a responsibility to bend a little bit to make room for other members of that community.  This lends itself to resilience of both the whole and the individuals that make up that whole.  

Sometimes, we bend by going out of our way to help when someone is recovering from a surgery and can't manage all of the farm work.

Sometimes, we bend by accepting help graciously when we would rather be the ones doing the helping.

Sometimes, we bend by moving outside of our comfort zone of what we know and understand so we can show respect for another member of the community as they share what is important to them or about them.

Sometimes, we bend by realizing that our opinions and our beliefs may not work for someone else - and that doesn't make them any less valuable or any less worthy of our kindness, love, acceptance, and respect.

I liken the development of strong and resilient communities, populated with strong and resilient members, to the process of "hardening off" seedling plants.  Our young seedlings are initially protected from the winds, the heavy rains, and the wide temperature swings.  As they mature, we must expose them to all of the elements - toughening them up so they can thrive on our farm.  The process of hardening off encourages the growth of a strong root system - the basis of a healthy plant.

Perhaps, initially, we protect our fledgling communities and our children (and maybe ourselves when we enter a new group) from difficulties early on, just to get a start.  Then we need to increase exposure to the elements of the world, and in doing so we make ourselves, and our communities, stronger by bending in the wind, bowing as the rain pours down, and leaning on each other when things get tough.  These trials encourage the growth of roots that will lead our communities to thrive and the strength of our communities will permit the roots of resilience to grow.

Frost Blanket

 Just last Wednesday, we shared on our blog all of the "Farm Progress" that we had made with the help of many others.  And now we remind everyone of the perilous line we often walk as we do our best to make the right decisions about how - and when - we do certain farming tasks.

 Generally speaking we were past our "last frost date" for our area, which typically gives us the "green light" for planting more sensitive crops into the ground.  If you take the link in the prior sentence, it will show you the typical last and first frost dates where the odds of a frost at that point reach a 10% chance mark.  The closest location to our farm is New Hampton, which shows April 29 as still having a 50% chance of a frost in that period and May 9th reaches the 10% mark.

Our history at the farm tells us we do not match up with that and we normally accept May 20 as being pretty safe.  For comparison, Waterloo hits the 10% mark on May 12, Mason City on May 14 and Decorah at May 23.  From those dates, the frost chance continues to go down - of course - until we reach September.

This explains why we had frost at the Genuine Faux Farm on May 29th.

 

The set up was actually classic.  Full moon within days of the event.  A rainy and windy system where the temperatures have trouble getting out of the 40s all day, but stay in the 40s at night because of the cloud cover.  Then, the clearing starts in the evening, just an hour or so before sunset and wind doesn't die down until then too....  Once the skies clear, the temperatures plummet and the frost forms in the wee hours of the morning.  We see this pattern nearly every Fall - but we are most unfamiliar with it in the Spring (thank goodness!).

The issue for us this year?  Well, we were actually doing pretty well with getting things in the ground this Spring.  We moved Valhalla, which exposed green beans, snow peas, potatoes and other crops to the elements.  We put in about 1100 row feet of cucumbers and melons.  And, we slapped in shorter rows of winter squash, pumpkins and summer squash.

Typically, peas would be fine - except they were really flowering - and getting hit with frost would certainly cut into that production.  The green beans would probably be finished.  The potatoes would get singed and set back a little, but would likely bounce back.  All of the vine crops would probably be finished since they are still seedlings at this point.  

In short - not a good thing.

So we did what neither of us really wanted to do, get the row covers out and do our best to protect all of the sensitive crops.  We had just received about 1.3 inches of rain, so things were muddy - and there was still a bit of a breeze.  In short, this was not a picnic. If you've every walked in mud before, you know how you "get taller" as more and more mud adheres to your footwear.  You also know how much harder it gets to move with every step.

And, we're doing all of this when we're actually ready to wind down for the day - this has been especially true for Rob since the surgery.  But, we had to wind-up so we could get this done.

The next day, I went out with the camera to document things as I started to uncover.  The temps were hitting the upper 40s by this time, so most of the frost had melted.  Although, there was still some on the clover in a shaded area (see below).

The row covers were extremely wet and my pants got soaked after removing just one section of row cover.  After some of that work, I decided it might be better to leave things out to dry a bit more (that didn't work - more later).  I also noted, with some amount of disgust, that the local deer thought our row covers were fascinating.  They walked all over the covers we put over the cucumbers in the Eastfarthing (our East fields).

Looks like we're going to have to do more with deer control this year.

Thus far, it looks like most of the crops we covered will be fine.  There was some evidence of burning on some of the beans where there were holes in the cover.  We consider this proof that we would have had NO crop if we hadn't got the covers out.  There were some minor issues in the peas as well.

The cucurbit rows where we had hoops fared better than those that did not.  There were sections of the cucumbers that we're not sure if they will grow through their issues.  And, there were cucumbers that were crushed by deer walking on them (and the cover).  There were some plants, such as sunflowers and zinnias, that we had seeded and did not cover.  They were not looking as happy as we would like, but I think most will recover.

We'll wait and see.  If they don't - we'll till them in and try again I guess.

In the end, we uncovered our crops and took the row covers to grassy areas to finish drying before we could roll them up.  I think that was mid-afternoon before we could really consider doing that.

So, that's the fine line we often walk with our farming.  We know that some of the wettest weeks of the year at our farm typically run from the 3rd week of May until the 3rd week of June.  At least that has been the case since about 2008.  This makes our planting windows extremely tricky.

We have to find soil conditions dry enough to prep and plant.  But, we have to gauge the likelihood that we might be putting certain crops in too early and risk a frost.  We made a judgement call that we needed to put as much in the ground as we could before this last rain.  After all, it will probably be several more days before it will be dry enough to plant again.... which means we are suddenly in June and time grows short.

Maybe it will work out.  Maybe it won't.  But, I still think it was the right call for the circumstances of the year.  I can live with that.

Here's to some fresh snow peas in the coming week - I'll take that as a reward!

Unforgotten - Postal History Sunday

Welcome once again to Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog!  

This week, in honor of Memorial Day in the United States, I will break with tradition and not tell you how to pack your troubles away so you can enjoy a few moments reading this blog.  Instead, I'm going to be presumptuous and tell you to push your own personal troubles out of the way so you can ponder what it means for individuals to die in military service for their country (it does not matter which country) or for people to be injured, displaced, and terrorized by war.

But, even as we ponder, I hope we can also learn something new and still enjoy as we explore the postal history hobby.

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Many postal historians explore the process of mail delivery during periods of conflict.  My own interests often do not focus on wartime postal history.  However, I recognize that these are periods of time where I can study how postal services worked to adapt as they attempted to solve problems brought about by strife between nations and peoples. I also understand that conflicts often serve as milestones for change that are reflected in postal history.  Therefore, it is important that I have an awareness of these events.

By now, you also know that I like a piece of postal history that leads me to a good story.  When it comes to stories, wartime can provide numerous compelling plot lines that feature normal, every day people - rather than the rich and famous. 

At the time this letter was mailed, the cost of mailing to a foreign destination from the United States was 5 cents for every ounce in weight.  A five cent stamp from a series known as the "Overrun Countries" was applied to pay the postage required.

A Letter to a Relative in the Armed Forces

H. Edgar French, of New Castle, Indiana, wrote a letter to Flight Sergeant Geoffrey French of the Royal Australian Air Force.  He posted this letter on March 14, 1944.  I have not determined how Edgar and Geoffrey might have been related, but it seems clear that they must have been.  There were no contents with this envelope, so who knows what Edgar wrote about?  It could have been stories about a favorite niece or reports on the family's Victory Garden.   That's something I'll never know.

Like so many people at that time, he wanted to advertise his support for the Allied Forces and used an envelope that showed a patriotic design (known as a cachet) that heralded the Lease-Lend Act in the United States.  A label now covers that design, but I was able to uncover it so I could scan it and share it with you here.

The Lease-Lend Act is more commonly referenced as the Lend-Lease Act (but who's quibbling?).  This legislation provided President Roosevelt with the authority to send materials, such as food, supplies, and weapons to Europe without breaking the United States' neutral stance.  The legislation went into effect on October 23, 1941 about a month and a half before the attack at Pearl Harbor and the end of that neutrality.

This particular envelope was printed by a company called Advertisers Press which operated out of Des Moines, Iowa.  Apparently, they printed a series called "Victory Envelopes" for public consumption.  For those who have interest, there are people who study the myriad designs and printers who created patriotic envelopes during World War II.  From what I have heard, the definitive book on the subject was written by Lawrence Sherman and would be a useful acquisition for those who would like to pursue the subject further.

A "Merry Chase" Cover

Some time ago, I showed an item in a postal history discussion group that traveled to many places before catching up to the recipient.  My description was that the the letter went on a "Merry Chase."  Several people found that amusing and it has encouraged me to use that term any time I find an item that had fairly complex travels to get where it needed to go.

First - to England

The first address for this item was to England, but that address has been crossed out and then covered up by a label that has only been partially removed.  In itself, this is not a surprise since most Allied military personnel in the European theater likely had a mailing address in England from which their mail would be forwarded to their active duty location.

The England location is also not surprising because the Royal Australian Air Force was largely under the control of the Royal Air Force (British).  So, while Flight Sergeant French was a R.A.A.F. member, he was part of an R.A.F. squadron. 

Next - to Italy

The removed label likely held information on the first target for forwarding and it is possible the pencil notations at the bottom could also provide clues.  But that may not matter because we do know that Flight Sergeant French was part of the 104th RAF Squadron, which was stationed in Foggia, Italy from December 30, 1943 to October 31, 1945.  So, it makes sense that the letter was forwarded on to Foggia.

I could leave it at that, but I want to point out to you that going from England to Italy was not a simple matter.  There was a war on in 1944.

The territory in red would have been areas controlled by the Allies and blue would have been Axis control.  Mail from England to southern Italy would have had to go the long way around to get to where it was going!  I am sure specialists in World War II mail would be able to tell me (and you) how the letter likely got where it was going.  But, I am not that specialist!  If you are, feel free to let me know what you know about it.

The next obvious pieces of postal information that I can readily decipher are on the back of the envelope.

The first postmark reads: Field Post Office 217 - May 12, 1944

We can take a guess that this might be the Field Post Office in Foggia for the British forces.  There are numerous sources that track this sort of information, but I was not able to locate one that provided me with information to confirm that this was located in Foggia.

 

And now back to England 

It is my guess that the label shown above was affixed giving instructions that this letter should be returned to the sender at the British Field Post Office (note that this is an R.A.F. form, not R.A.A.F.).   At a guess, this was sent on to the R.A.F. (British) Air Ministry Instructions in England who THEN sent it on to the Australian Airboard (administrative arm of the R.A.A.F).

Why was it forwarded?  French's plane had gone down on April 17.  Sadly, he was no longer available to read letters addressed to him.  The report of his demise can be found later in the blog.

A long trip to Melbourne, Australia

Now, the Australian Air Force postal service had to find a way to get the letter back to the writer.

The second marking reads: R.A.A.F. Base P.O.N. 15 July 21, 1944  M.E.

Here's where I find myself out of my element.  I am sure those who study military mail could decipher more of this than I can.

This is the step in the process where I think the purple handstamp that reads: Return to Sender on Australian Airboard Instructions R Silvester Commanding Officer was applied.  The Australian Airboard was the administrative arm of the Royal Australian Air Force and was located in Melbourne, Australia at the time.  So I will conclude, unless proven otherwise, that this marking was applied in Melbourne.

Sadly, I cannot tell you if the letter sat in Australia for months before being forwarded on or if it got part way before it stalled at some out of the way location.  There are no markings to record those travels.

Back to the beginning - Indiana, USA 

The final marking on the back reads: Feb 9, 1945 H.E.F.

This would be a handstamp applied by Mr. H. Edgar French.  We can assume he received the letter he had written almost eleven months earlier and the "Merry Chase" ends. 

Indiana to England to Italy to England to Australia to Indiana.  A Merry Chase indeed.

Five of Six Crew Members Lost

What must it be like to be notified that a family member is lost in war?  This letter did not return to Mr. French until February of 1945, so I can guess that he had already been notified by family that Geoffrey's plane had ditched in the ocean near Corsica and that he was among the five crew members that were lost.  Perhaps his family was just getting over the initial grief - and then this letter comes back in the mail to haunt them.

The RAAF Aviation History Museum provides a summary of the action that took the life of Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Charles French.  The original work to compile this information by Alan Storr can be found here.

In honor of the Flight Sergeant and all others who have served and are no longer with us, I take the liberty of quoting that site for the content regarding his loss:

Service No: 422484
Born: Ryde NSW, 27 July 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 104 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 104 Squadron Wellington aircraft LN928), off Corsica, 17 April 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Edgar and Elizabeth Ida French, of Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia.

At 2307 hours on 16 April 1944 Wellington LN928 took off from Foggia aerodrome to attack a target at Leghorn, Italy. The following messages were received from the aircraft: 0130 hours- Landing at Borgo with engine trouble; 0206 hours – preparing to ditch, and 0209 hours – now ditching at position 42.20N 009.57E. The position was in the sea near Corsica. When the aircraft ditched, Flying Officer Gilleland was forced out of the escape hatch by the inrush of water. No other survivors were seen. He reached a dinghy and later saw a light being shone upside of the dinghy. He was rescued when a Catalina was sighted and attracted that afternoon. It was later recorded that the 5 missing members had lost their lives at sea.

The crew members of LN928 were:

Sergeant Ronald Adams (1047206) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer Leslie Albert Denison (418224) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant William Fox (1586899) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Charles French (422484) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer William Campbell Gilleland (421900) (Pilot) Rescued, Discharged from the RAAF: 11 July 1945
Warrant Officer William Barry Ryan (413446) (Air Gunner)

Above is a Vickers Wellington aircraft (bomber) that would have been similar to the one Geoffrey French served on.  Image taken from the wikipedia open source photos pages.

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Thank you for joining me again for another Postal History Sunday.  May we learn from the lessons of the past so we might avoid making the same mistakes - and people like Geoffrey Charles French could live beyond the age of 26.

Approaching Limits

A common theme in the life of the Genuine Faux Farmers - both Rob and Tammy - is that we are ambitious, we expect a great deal out of ourselves, and our "to do" lists are typically far longer than we have time to accomplish everything in....

Little things.  Things that, by themselves, really shouldn't take too much time or effort, just don't get done and then they become larger things in our heads.  Things like putting the reducer in the beehive at the left.

For those who don't see it or understand - look at the openings at the bottom of each hive.  The one on the left goes the whole width of the hive.  The one on the right has been reduced to a few inches in width.  The concept is to give the bees a smaller area to defend against critters that might want to invade.

If you still don't see what I'm talking about, just seize onto the explanation that a smaller opening is easier to defend and leave it at that.

The reducer is just a small piece of wood that gets pushed into the larger opening.  The trick is, you don't really want to do it when the hive is active.  This is an early morning or late evening task.  But, our mornings are usually filled with numerous chores.  Our evenings also have chores... and much less energy.

And, to be perfectly honest, we tried to put one in last night and found that they were cut just a little long.  So, the task got a bit more complicated... and we were tired.  So, we left it for tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Temperatures have been predicted to be unseasonably low Friday night with possible patchy frost.  Now we feel less happy about having gotten all of these cucumbers planted.  Will we be able to cover these plants to protect them?  It really depends on when the winds calm.  If they calm too late, I suspect we'll just hope we get lucky.

Why?

Because our limits get reached a bit sooner than they might have other months of May.

I think I fully realized today (Thursday) that both of us are still operating with limits on our energy and ability to function that are still lower than usual.  Why?  Because both of us are still recovering from surgery.

Tammy had to carry a heavy burden for many days, taking care of all of the chores and all of the animals.  Trying to do what she had to do for Wartburg.  And, being a "Guardian Dragon" for her partner (that would be me).  There was understandable worry, fear, and frustration and it took its toll.  It only makes sense that she might still be trying to recover lost sleep and find some mental and physical balance that was lost.

I, of course, am still healing.  That means that I get tired more quickly than I think is right for the amount of effort I put into things.  I sat down this evening with the idea that I could knock off a couple of "smallish" tasks that required some concentration.  I was motivated to do them.  But, my brain refused to concentrate on them.  So - I decided to finish this blog post and hope that it makes sense tomorrow (Friday) when people read it.

Let me explain just a little more.  This tired is a special kind of tired that people who have had similar surgeries might understand.  The brain just kind of ... refuses... to do more.  In a little bit, it will just flip a switch and I'll be asleep.  That's pretty odd for me, as I am typically a light sleeper and it usually takes a while to wind down so I can sleep.

I pushed fairly hard to do some physical farm things when the weather was nicer.  But, Thursday's rain allowed me to do indoor work and my body was telling me that I had pushed it a little.  

First, let me assure you - this was nothing serious.  I stayed well within safe limits, but I did push myself within those well-established limits.  This was just my body saying that, "Hey.  You did actually expend some energy and move around and use some muscles (in a good way) and thank you for doing that.  Since I am also trying to heal you up, could you slow down a little and let me do that work now?  Then you can be up and moving again tomorrow."

It's all good.  But, I guess I'll just have to move a few items from today's "Very Ambitious Plan" (VAP) to tomorrow's VAP.  

That's normal.  So, recovery is progressing nicely.

Have a nice day and upcoming weekend everyone!  Now, I will follow the advice of the Sandman... and go take a night-long nap!

Farm Progress

 I finally got the gumption to go out with the camera today and then nearly forgot I had it with me.  Of course, once I realized I had it and started taking pictures, the battery ran out of juice.  Sometimes that's just how it goes.  But, I did get enough to take everyone on a little bit of a tour of the accomplishments of the last week or so.

Our recent flurry of activity started before the 16th, but I do think that's about the time I was able to participate a bit more fully than I had been.  Our good friends from Blue Gate Farm came up and helped us get Valhalla moved from the East to the West growing position.  Moving the high tunnel is a pretty decent task that has many steps, so it always feels good once the process is completed.

You can actually see a couple of accomplishments if you look at the picture above.  Valhalla in its new spot AND the field to its right has been prepped for planting.  The area closest to the building is 75% planted and has even been cultivated once.  The swale in the middle is getting some decent clover established at the West end at least.  And we ran a few rows of sweet corn to the right of the swale.  

This is more sweet corn than we need - but we figure the extra sweet corn is Rob's opportunity to learn how to use a new piece of cultivating equipment!  (more on that on a later date)

When we moved Valhalla we uncovered some crops that we had started INSIDE the building.  They are now OUTSIDE the building - which was by design. The snow peas are really getting going with the flowers and the potatoes and green beans are way ahead of where crops like these would normally be on May 25.  The lettuce at right looks pretty good too!  Let's just say we're feeling pretty good about how we are handling the high tunnels this year so far.

Unfortunately, as I looked back West when I trotted on out to Valhalla, I recognized some clouds that were a little less encouraging from my perspective.  What we really do not need is hail, now that we've uncovered these wonderful looking crops.  

The inside of Valhalla in its new position is now 80% planted.  We've got four rows of bell peppers (Napoleon Sweet) that we are growing for seed (Seed Savers).  At the far left are a row of tomatoes.  And, there are a couple rows of crops that we've seeded... so needless to say, you can't see plants now.... be patient, they'll show up eventually!

Our good friend, Mark Quee, from Scattergood Friends School came up and helped us prepare the ground and repair the roll up side on the left side.  It was really good having a chance to touch base with him AND we managed to get some things done we really wanted done.  It's hard not to be pleased by things like that!

Once the high tunnel was moved, we changed our focus to moving the broiler chickens into their portable buildings and onto pasture.  Tammy and her sister Brenda (also our good friend) pretty much handled this task.  There wasn't much more I could do than drive the tractor and pull the buildings into place.  

The process is essentially to place the buildings, catch the chickens in the brooder room and put them into crates and then move those crates to the buildings and let the birds out.  Sounds simple until you realize you need to bring out feeders and waterers...and food and water.  And, oh yeah... we need to set up the electric fences and the solar chargers so we can protect the birds.

Since that time we've moved the buildings every other day - that process is for another day.

Then, there are the bees.

We have had one active hive for several weeks now (at right above) which we were able to acquire soon after we realized all three of our previous hives had collapsed over the Winter.  We had two more on order and we had to pick them up sometime last week.  

That meant a nice long drive to Mt Vernon for Tammy and then some quality time in the bee suit setting them up.  One went in the same location as the first hive.

The second hive is in a new location by some of our apples in the orchard area.  We like this location right now, but we're trying to figure out if we'll need to do something more during the Winter months for this location.  I think we have time to work on dealing with that...

But, we all know how things sneak up on you when you work a farm!

Are you getting tired of this update yet?  Well, if you need a break, that's fine.  Go use the restroom or get something to drink.  I'll wait....

Ok.  Time's up!

So, the plot you see above is called "Middle Earth" on our farm.  We planted some sunflowers and corn earlier and had some germination issues with those.  So, in the past week, we tilled most of that under to try again.  We also planted a row of pumpkins, watermelons and winter squash (and a few flowers).  There are borage seedlings at the right too.  We've even managed to cultivate this field once are replant the corn and sunflowers. 

We're hopeful that this field will turn out the way we want it to.

I didn't get a picture of the southwest plot where we put in summer squash and zucchini and cultivated the carrots and beets.  I almost forgot that task happened in the last ten days too!

Eden has gotten the royal treatment as well.  Five staff members from Practical Farmers of Iowa took a trip to the Genuine Faux Farm last Friday and provided willing hands to make numerous tasks just that much easier.  They also made sure I wasn't trying to lift too much too!

Sally, Liz, Alisha, Lydia and Michael provided us with good conversation and helped us complete a long list of tasks - even with wetter conditions limiting our options.  Once again, good friends (both old and new) made us feel as if we were valued.  It's pretty hard not to feel positive after all of this.

The edges of the high tunnel needed attention, both inside and out.  We cultivated all of the beds, put up fencing for the melons, cage the tomatoes and put up some poles for the tomatoes that will need trellising.  

It's looking really good now!  And, it is completely planted.  

Now, for some truth in advertising.  Yes, both farmers DID participate in the labor here.  Rob can effectively wield a wheel hoe or a trapezoid hoe and he can even run Barty, our tiller.  But, there is no way we get all of this done (including taking some old chicken buildings apart and organizing a couple of areas in our buildings) without the help.

Yesterday's tasks included desperately trying to get things put into the ground before the fields were made too wet once again.  Rob managed to get the broccoli and cauliflower in (the small green dots at the left) by himself.  The two 400 foot rows of cucumbers were completed with help from Kory and Daniel (and Tammy of course).  

These cucumbers are serving a double purpose.  We are growing A&C Pickling cucumber for Seed Savers AND we are using them for a PFI research trial.  They needed to get into the ground!

In the background, you can see the red roof of the 2nd broiler chicken building.  As we went out last night to close their door (after the storm rolled through) we were able to check on the new plants and they looked fine.  We appear to have dodged the hail and pounding rains - thank goodness!

Rob even ran the wheel hoe by the onions.

I know I missed a whole host of things and I hope I didn't miss anyone who lent a hand during this flurry.  If I did - call me on it.  It's my blog and I can fix it!

Have a great day everyone!