June Newsletter

Roller Coaster
As I worked my way down the row planting onion starts into soil that was really too wet to have worked  but I worked it anyway) I had plenty of time to muse on things related to life, the farm and life on the farm.  If you wonder where we come up with some of the things that show up in our blog, consider the fact that some of our tasks are repetitive and may take a while to complete.  The brain needs to go somewhere and it is often a wonder where the farmer's brain wanders.  See!  I got to use 'wander' and 'wonder' in the same sentence.  Now I am happy.

This time around I was reflecting on the number of "mood swings" I had gone through up to the point that I started putting in the onion plants.  The soil conditions, as I stated, were not what I normally prefer for tilling - which put me into a bit of a funk.  Prior to that, I was noticing some things germinating in Valhalla (our larger high tunnel) and I was feeling pretty optimistic that we can get things going.  Before that, I was feeling pretty grumpy about another important tool breaking (no worries, we figured out a good fix later on) which was just after the relative high point that came from building a temporary shelf for more seedlings in Casa Verde (see prior post).  Sometimes the highs and lows are less specific and more philosophical or general in nature.  Other times, the specific event is merely a symptom of a bigger worry (how do we handle weather extremes or spray drift) or more encompassing joys (the iris are blooming, isn't it cool how seeds sprout?).

But, the main point I am trying to make is that I find myself swinging from end of the spectrum multiple times a day - every day - on the farm.  One moment, I am telling myself this is the LAST TIME I will go through this @$^$% and the next I am thinking we'll finally manage to achieve certain goals we set for ourselves every year and that it's great that we can do what we do.

Which brings me to planting the onions.  It's a longer task.  It could be a tedious task.  But it is steady.  And, I usually don't have new highs and lows being placed in front of me for a period of time.  I can process and level it all out.  Does it work?  Sometimes.  The trick is to avoid getting stuck down at the level of the most recent low and digging it in deeper.  Frankly, I don't usually have a problem with getting overly happy with things on the farm because there is always something that isn't done or isn't going right to temper that particular feeling.  But, each onion placed in the ground represents a mini-success that has potential.  After a couple thousand mini-successes, it isn't so hard to balance out some of those failures or problems.

Grow onions!  Grow!

Weather Wythards
A cool, wet May.  We'll let Mark Schnackenberg's blog summarize if you are inclined to read it.

May's Report
High Temp: 88
Low Temp: 31
Rain: 6.03"

It's not the rain numbers southern Iowa received and we sure feel for them and the struggles this has caused.  But, we still ran a couple of inches above the 'normal' levels for the month.  Broken record time - it isn't helping to dry out the soil enough to work.  All I can say is that our plan to backload the 2019 growing season that we created in February is looking positively brilliant at this point - even if we STILL need to get things in the ground if we want longer season crops. We won't look brilliant if we never get anything to grow.  But, maybe that becomes the 'right' solution for the given situation?  We shall see - but for now the plan is to get it planted and have some quality produce.

Year Report
High Temp: 88
Low Temp: -29
Lowest Windchill: -53
Rain: 11.72"
Wind: 49+ mph from SW
Barometer Range: 29.14 - 30.90
Snow: you know, we lost count.  It was a lot.


Veggie Variety of the Month - Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas
At the rate of growth the snow peas have experienced thus far, it is safe for us to say that we do not expect them until the end of the month and into July this season.  The plants are a couple of inches of high, but they look healthy enough.

We favor snow peas and sometimes will plant snap peas, but we no longer plant shelling peas.  Among them is the fact that many of our customers don't want to spend time shelling peas and we certainly do not have time to shell peas for them.  One of our long time favorite snow peas has been the Oregon Sugar Pod variety. 

We preferred the original strain of Oregon Sugar Pod on our farm, but a new strain was developed that was a little bit shorter and supposedly had more mildew resistance.  Even though these are shorter, it is still important to provide some trellising to keep the pea pods off the ground and make harvest easier.

What we particularly like about Oregon Sugar Pod is that they maintain a good eating quality even when the peas get a little bigger in the pod.  Some varieties start to get stringy and lose some of their eating quality once the seed starts to get a bit bigger.  We like Oregon Sugar Pod II in stir fries or in lightly steamed.  They are fine eaten raw as well, but we usually prefer Blizzard for the raw snacking.

Here's to a late, but hopefully glorious, pea harvest in 2019.

Song of the Month

A little Over the Rhine for June.  Seems like a good choice - Betting on the Muse.  It has been interesting listening to the musical development of this group over an extended period of time.  While I am not always in the mood for their music, I am always appreciative their skill and quality.  Just good art.

CSA Openings Abound - And CSA Phase I has Begun!
We still have plenty of space in our CSA program, so we would welcome new and returning members at any point this month.  We could certainly still add people throughout the season, but we'd really rather start with you on board now!

We have entered Phase I of the CSA season where current members are able to use their CSA "credit dollars" to purchase early season veggies.  Things like lettuce, spinach, rhubarb and yummy asparagus!  Scroll down and look at some of our informational posts on the blog!


Farm News and Announcements 
We start with onions and we continue with onions.  Our onions are started from seed and were looking pretty good in their tubs and trays.  Once transplanted they go through a bit of a transition focusing on root growth until they start again on the tops.  As a result, they often look a bit rough for a week or so.  Once they start looking good again, we cultivate them with the flex tine weeder - which tends to beat them up pretty good.  But, after that first weeding, they have a real chance to look good - until we cultivate again!  After that we can usually pretty much let them do their thing without being mean to them.

Valhalla as of June 3

We did manage to plant all 7 planned beds, even if some of them were planted much later than we wanted.  The later plantings may not size up as we would prefer, but even half-sized onions are fine.  The trick now is keeping them weeded so they have that chance to fill out and be tasty for us.  And that is why we use the flex tine weeder, even though it beats the plants up.  Seven beds, each 200 feet long with four rows of onions in each would be impossible to weed by hand - so we use a cultivator that has worked for us.  So far, four beds have had their first cultivation and three haven't been in the ground long enough to cultivate.  Ideally, I might have liked to have given the onions a little more time, but the weeds weren't being patient.

Valhalla is our larger and newer high tunnel.  It resides on ground that is a bit higher because we dug out two ditches (one on either side) and used the soil to raise the center a little bit.  As a result, this is one of the dry locations on the farm - though you can hit water if you dig down a foot and a half.  The building moves between two positions, so we're altering our plan to use the higher ground.  

The things you see (and don't see) in the picture above are getting a start in the building until we move the building in the next week.  Once moved, we'll put the Summer planned crops for Valhalla into it.  What you don't see here (yet) are (from left to right) potatoes, green beans, beets, carrots, peas, carrots.  And what you do see (continuing from left to right) lettuce, lettuce, flowers and zucchini.  The flowers are placed in this position in an effort to attract pollinators to the zucchini flowers.

 We have a new building for our broiler chickens that gets moved every other day (with exceptions in bad weather, etc).  The birds are allowed to be in a fenced in area around the building during the day, but we get them to go in at night to protect them from owls.  Needless to say, the birds are hard on the grasses and clovers - but that' why you move it every other day.  You can see from the picture above how things recover over time.

Speaking of broilers - flock #1 goes to "The Park" June 24!  If you want broiler chicken from this batch, now is a good time to reserve them.

An interesting observation that is not new to us, but always a bit shocking when we see it each year.  The grass IS always greener where the building has been - at least after the building has moved on and things have recovered.

We have dubbed this field/plot on our farm "Middle Earth."  If you like Tolkein, then you likely get the reference.  But, the reason for the name is far more mundane and simple than a "Lord of the Rings" reference.  It's a tillable spot pretty much in the center of our farm.  This is its second year in service and its job this year is to grow peas and cukes - so we can mind them for you.

And here are two sights that have been pretty normal around here over the past month.  A gravel road that can be difficult to travel when it is wet and....  more wetness heading for the farm.  For those that know gravel, you can see that it has been recently graded.  This is only the second time the county has been able to service our road since they stopped plowing for snow.  It's been a rough Spring for many.  We appreciate what the road crews do and realize that many who live in the country may be thinking many uncharitable thoughts about them this year.  It's time to extend a little grace folks.  The weather has been truly exceptional.  Record-breaking even.  We're all trying to adjust and deal.

Have a great June!
Rob & Tammy