Clearly Not Used To This

We are guessing that a large number of blog posts, facebook posts, twitter feeds and other things mentions something about beautiful weather in Iowa today.  They would, of course, be right.  But, why were you posting/tweeting/typing about it?  Get out there and do something in it!  I can get away with it because the day is over.... so there!

Ok, ok.  I'm just mad that you all beat me to it.

In any event, we did have a fine day to do work on the farm.  Our accomplishments in the last several days are worth reporting.  But, you should first take note of the title.  I'll pause for a second while you read it.

(insert elevator music here)

While Tammy and I did not work as hard or for as long as we will in days to come, we did find that we have gotten a little soft this Winter.  It's something we find out every Winter, so we aren't really surprised.  But, it can be a bit irritating when you feel a bit wiped out - even when you feel what you did doesn't quite justify it.

Now that we have that over with - on to a farm report:

• The organic certification paperwork is *DONE* and will be mailed tomorrow AM.  For those who do not know, this is a big deal for us and represents some amount of effort on our part.
• Billing for those who have signed up for the CSA is *MAILED.*  Again, this requires a some effort on our part and requires a number of things to be done prior to this effort.  So, please forgive us if we mention it as an accomplishment of some import.
• We are currently at 79 members for the Farm Share CSA.  41 to go.
• You might notice we are doing a number of things to get the word out about our Farm Share program.  You might notice a spot on Iowa Public Radio soon.  There are posters up here and there for our farm and brochures are getting pushed around a bit.    You may even notice that we are pushing a couple of aspects more than the past.  First -we are a Farm Share CSA - which means you invest in our farm and you become a part of our operation.  Second, we are emphasizing the fact that we are certified organic.  More on that in a later post.
• Our first year SARE report is sent.  We currently have a 2 year SARE grant to study intercropping spacing issues with "larger" equipment.  
• We have been selected to be a part of two Practical Farmers of Iowa studies in 2012.  One investigates companions for cabbage.  The other attempts to use living mulch in peppers.
• We just rebuilt one of our plant starting tables.  We actually built this in Minnesota and moved it down with us.  It was not initially intended for what we do now, so the shelf spacing was....not efficient.  We have now added another shelf and improved the shelf surfaces so the heat mats will have better contact with the trays.  Here's hoping.
• In order to celebrate the rebuilt shelf, Tammy planted 15 trays of onions today.  There are already about a dozen going.
• Tammy took a trip down to Dyarsville (Farmtek) and picked up about 750 egg cartons.  Among other things.  Let's just say the car was full.
• Tammy just finished editing/working on chapter 12 of a 12 chapter text.  Now she needs to do some of the end of chapter material.  Good work!
• Plants in the high tunnel just got a nice day of drip irrigation.  The plants are small, but they are there.  Surprisingly, the arugula and mustard appear to have made it through this Winter.  We'll have to watch them closely to see if they want to bolt.
• We even got to hang some clothing on the line today.
• Lots of acquisition for the coming year going on right now.  We picked up 3000 lbs of hen feed from Frantzen Farms in New Hampton and 800 lbs of seed starting media from Beautiful Land Products in West Branch.

The roller coaster has only just begun.  You want a front seat?  Pick up a farm share with us!