November Genuine Faux Farm News

It feels like it has been a while since I wrote an honest to goodness newsletter that simply focused on our farm (the Genuine Faux Farm) and all that is going on with us here.  Of course, you can probably piece some things together from any number of our (almost daily) posts because we can't escape it - the farm is a huge piece of who we (Rob and Tammy Faux) are.

The daylight hours are getting shorter and the sunrises and sunsets are at their peak - or maybe that's because we're taking the time to notice them?  There is still more than enough for us to do outside and on the farm, but the increasing hours of darkness gives us the opportunity to do more contemplation, reflection, and planning.

2021 Farm Season Coming to a Close

At least from the perspective of 2021 farm sales, the Genuine Faux Farm is in the final stretch for 2021.  By the time this blog post goes live, we will have delivered all or most of our turkeys.  Our stores of vegetables that we have available for sale consist only of storage crops at this point.  And, there will be only three more delivery/sales dates for eggs and veggies this year (two in November and one in December).

From our perspective, this is an excellent position to be in.  Yes, I suppose it would be nice to have such an abundance that we would have stores to keep selling through the winter months.  But, this year, in particular, it is best for us to get things moved and leave the winter sales to other growers until the next growing season.

How Did the Season Go?

I'll probably go into more detail in other blogs.  But, in general, I think Tammy and I should come away from this season with some level of satisfaction.  We threaded the needle between keeping the farm going, doing well in each of our jobs, and navigating various health issues - all while doing our best to maintain a healthy personal balance.

This is not to say that there were not challenges, foremost of which was Rob's kidney surgery in April.  There were times when jobs were overwhelming, the farm wasn't getting the attention it needed, and our lives were out of balance.  Some of our growing areas got away from us (in terms of weeds) and we'll pay for that in the future.  And, there were a number of projects that just did not get done.

Even so, one very important goal was that, this year, we would be certain to fill our freezer and cupboards with a diverse supply of our own farm veggies for our consumption during the colder part of the year.  It seems that somewhere along the line, we forgot that one of the basic rules of a small-scale, diversified farmstead was to feed the farmers.  But, this year we've got beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale and even some melon in our freezers.  Rob even got his wish and we've been eating some buttercup squash this fall!

We set some lofty goals in terms of seed production for Seed Savers, planning on growing out cucumbers, green beans and bell peppers.  Sadly, the cucumbers were taken out by a very late hard frost and green beans were lost to a myriad of issues, including the August windstorm that stripped the pods off of the remaining plants.  That left us with the peppers, happily growing in the high tunnels.  We're still processing the seed, but I think we'll meet that part of our contract at least!

We are also beginning to see some rewards in growing and selling product for bulk sales rather than continuing to rely on direct to consumer marketing.  This is a key component that is necessary if we are going to continue to farm and hold down jobs off of the farm.

To sum it all up.  There have been plenty of hiccups, but the prognosis for future success is good.  

What's Currently Going On at the Farm?

We are taking our cues from the honeybees and we're hoping to plow through a long list of things on our "to do list" before Thanksgiving.  For those who do not understand the context of that particular "deadline," if you want to call it that, Thanksgiving is about the time we expect the ground to freeze at the Genuine Faux Farm.  It's not that you can't do farm things after that - of course you can (and we do).  But, how you do things changes dramatically.

The presence of poultry on the farm is down to a flock of about 55 hens and a rooster.  There are no other poultry currently on the farm.  The Farm Supervisors (cats) are around, as always, but they are looking for cozy places to lounge and where the sun puddles reside.  The farmers need to get next year's garlic crop into the ground and they need to finish pulling in hoses and all of the irrigation that gets put out every year.  We are also cleaning up all of the portable fences, buildings, feeders and waterers.  If we are lucky, we'll find a warmish day to get the power washer going so we can clean all of those things and the large batch of veggie containers that need attention as well.

Just yesterday, we managed do do some cleaning and re-organizing so we could get all of our remaining produce into the walk-in cooler, which is soon to be the walk-in warmer - to keep our storage crops from freezing.  Rob even managed to pull in the Golden Beets and the last gasp of bell peppers.  A little bit of oregano was the last thing harvested prior to calling it a day.

There are doors and windows that need mending before the snow flies and a few issues with electrical in outbuildings that need to be addressed before we have to deal with frozen waterers in the hen room.  We're still processing seeds for Seed Savers and we're putting in a few new trees (we lost several in the August storm).

If we can manage it, it would be nice to put in a few crops to over-winter in the high tunnels and ideally Eden would get moved to its west position fairly soon (we'll see).  We're still trying to move equipment that does not fit our farm anymore and other tools really could use some maintenance before it gets too cold.

And, of course, we are starting to plan for the future.

The Future of the Genuine Faux Farm - 2022 Version

As is normally the case, Tammy and I have already had numerous conversations about how we intend to handle the coming year at the Genuine Faux Farm.  As is usually the case, we can't predict the future and none of this is written in stone.  But, we do have a pretty good idea of things that we expect will be in our plans for at least the coming season.

The biggest change will be in our poultry operation.  We will continue to raise turkeys, but our broiler (meat) chicken operation will be downsized significantly.  It is true that we have put together a good system and we do this well.  But, when you raise birds, you must care for birds every, single day.  There is no day off and there is no option.

We found that with both of us working off farm, most of the available time for farm work was consumed by caring for the poultry.  And, neither of us is that fond of raising meat chickens.  Yes, we prefer to eat chicken that we raise.  Yes, we have appreciated the support we have gotten from Jorgensen Plaza the last couple of years to make it easier to raise the birds knowing there was a consistent monthly sale.  But, we weren't getting to do farm things we both like better.

That is an important realization and we are going to address it.

Instead of raising 500-600 broilers next year, we'll likely raise 101 - focusing first on what we and our families will consume.  The rest we raise will be offered to those who have faithfully ordered from us in the past.  Then, that will be it for the year.  One flock and only one flock - and more time to do some farm things we want to do.  And, possibly more opportunities to leave the farm if we want to during the summer months.

We will try some seed crops again.  We will raise vegetables again, focusing on a subset of crops with the idea that they will primarily be marketed as bulk sales.  The egg laying flock has been reduced in response to the lower demand - and - well, if you wash 30,000 or so eggs a year for well over ten years, you don't like to see unsold eggs in your refrigerators!

And there you are.  The Genuine Faux Farm is a constant.  Always changing - always learning and adjusting as we go.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a fine week.