Allies and Adversaries

The world of the Genuine Faux Farm has a wide range of  organisms that interact with each other and with the farm on a regular basis.  Some of these critters are invited.  Others interpret some of our actions as invitations.  But most are simply going about living their lives and probably try to ignore the fact that Tammy and I are here and we are still trying to do some farming on the land we steward.

Murphy, the kitten, now catten, was not invited to the farm.  And yet, we consider Murphy to be pretty much one of our welcomed allies.  She keeps us company when we walk the rounds to do the chores.  She knows how to be cute and will play with us every so often.  She will hunt and catch some unwanted rodents.  She helps with tray seeding....

Ok.  Maybe not that last one.  

But then, she also catches and kills young songbirds that have not yet learned to be wary of felines on the farm.  She annoys the other cats (the Inspector and Soup). She likes to try and run past us to get into the house and she isn't always to get out of the way when she is in the way.

An ally, yes.  But one that can sometimes be adversarial to our preferences by her very nature.

We count Barn Swallows among our allies on the farm.  They keep down some of the flying insects that can make being outside difficult for us.  They put on amazing shows of flight gymnastics and they often sit on the power line and chatter to us about their days, the eggs in their nests and anything else that comes to mind.

On the other hand, they love to put their nests in our buildings so that they are over something we don't want them to be over.  For those who do not understand, let me just remind you that when birds poop, they just poop.  And it seems they really like to let it go most often as they land or take off from the nest.

Most of the time we just deal with it if the nest is in the granary or the Poultry Pavilion.  But we find ourselves keeping the doors to certain buildings closed during the week or so that Barn Swallows are scouting for new nests.  It can be very inconvenient for us - but not as convenient as finding a swallow nest over an area where your cleaned harvest containers are stored or your garlic is curing.

We do have a fair amount of milkweed (a few different types) on the farm.  But the Common Milkweed is the most... um... common of them.  We don't mind having milkweed on the farm because we know they support some of the invertebrates we have decided we care about - especially the Monarch butterfly.  And when milkweed is in certain areas, they add an interesting texture and diversity to the plant life that we appreciate.

But, of course, Common Milkweed loves to invade cultivated spaces and they keep popping up where they aren't wanted by using their runners that spread out underground.  They can certainly stress out the crops we hope to grow and reduce their productivity.  While I don't find them all that hard to remove with our farming systems, I do get annoyed by the sticky, milky sap if it gets on my skin and clothing.

And so it goes.  Most of the plants and critters on our farm that we say we like have some sort of downside from our perspective.  And, I guess that's just the way it is.  None of them are entirely on our side, just as we are not entirely on theirs.  There will be moments where we clash and our interests fail to align.  Sometimes, we are adversaries more than we are allies.

Take deer, for example.

No.  Really.  Take the deer.  Take them very far from here.

As we have promoted a bit more "wildspace" on our farm and as we've scaled back production, we have set out the welcome mat for creatures like the Northern Bobwhite and encouraged a visit from a Wood Thrush.  We have also encouraged a healthy population of rabbits - and now some deer think this is a great place to raise their young.

Let's say we are less than pleased.  All you have to do is look at the lettuce and see how they like to eat the hearts out those plants when they are about half-grown.  Or you can look at our cauliflower crop.

Ok, you can't look at the cauliflower crop.  Because it's gone.  I think you can guess why that might be.

It's all part of the dance between the Genuine Faux Farm and the natural world.  If we say we want to work with nature, it means we have to accept that nature is not going to agree with us during every moment of our stewardship of this land.

Is this frustrating?  Yes.  But it makes you think harder about finding balances and reconsidering priorities.  I find myself admiring the grace of a fawn once it grows out of the early awkward phase - and I still consider them, raccoons, buffalo gnats and rabbits to be GFF adversaries in the first degree.  Each of these can rapidly reduce our goodwill and challenge our ideas like few things can.

What makes it worse is that many of our "allies" often seem to show little interest in supporting our interests.  I mean - if our interest happens to align with theirs - that's great and we're all going to work together just fine.  But the cats are still going to yowl at that moment you are about to fall asleep.  The Black Swallowtail larvae will eat some of your parsley.  And, the oak tree will drop a branch in your drive when it wants to.

In the end, we're the ones that have to exhibit the flexibility in our agreements.  The cat is going to be a cat.  The Barn Swallows will be Barn Swallows and the milkweed was only ever milkweed.  None of them professed to be anything else.  We do most of the choosing of our allies by working on our own attitudes and actions.

Over time, I've learned to find more allies than adversaries on our farm...  or at least I've accorded more of the things "neutral status."  But there's still a "dirty dozen" I fear will remain adversaries.  At least until I can get the deer to sign a contract that they'll eat things in areas we designate and the rabbits and woodchucks leave the seedlings alone so they can grow the food we can eat - and might be willing to share with them later on.

Sadly, none of them appear to be interested in learning to read or write and the idea of a contract might not get much traction.

Charge!

 

In yesterday's blog entry, I was bemoaning what feels like increased pressure from the various varmints that give us fits at the Genuine Faux Farm.   When I write things like that I try to maintain either a philosophical side or a humorous side to the whole thing because - well - what else can I do?

That, my friends, was a rhetorical question.  I do not require an answer, so let's leave it at that.

But, since it is MY rhetorical question, I can provide you with a bit of an answer anyway (writer's privilege!).

The picture above shows most of our solar chargers that we use to power the poultry netting fences that we use around the farm.  Like so many other things on the farm this year, we're finding that the last couple of years have put us in a less than optimal position.  Batteries need replacing, there are some shorts in a few of these that need to be repaired and the gator clips on others are needing to be replaced.  So, we've got them all in one place so we can "Frankenstein" some into working pieces for our farm.

You see, ever since we got some motivational help in June, things on the farm HAVE improved for us.  Tammy and I were just reminding each other of the things we did just today on the farm that would have taken a week (or not gotten done at all) just three weeks ago.  We've even managed four back to back days with some serious physical labor and we're still standing.

Though we did have a little bit of a laugh at the bottom of the stairs again.  But, yes, the trip up the stairs was ever so much easier this time around.

The problem is this - we're getting things in the ground.  We're getting the cultivation done.  We're getting the weeding done.  We're even getting irrigation and fences set up.  But, if the chargers for those fences don't work... deer and other varmints visit anyway, which is very frustrating.

The other issue is trying to figure out where to put fences.  These deer have decided they like being around the house.  That means potted plants are....

Wait?!  Where did the potted plants go?  I found the pots....

and some dirt....

ARG!

And so, we keep working to change things up in hopes that we can protect some of our crops, some of our flowers, some of our chickens...    Losses are a part of the game of farming and its the way the world works.  We can give up or we can charge up our batteries and work for other solutions that might solve the problem.

For now, we've decided to charge.

Varmints!

 

Day lily season had begun and I happily took the camera out yesterday to record some of the first blooms.  I think it would be safe to say that I was looking forward to even more today.  It turned out that there were fewer and there will be fewer for the foreseeable future.

Deer apparently like day lily flowers.  So, now we have a bunch of flower stalks with no buds and no blooms.  It's very annoying, of course - especially given the space around us and myriad of other food opportunities.  But, they, along with some other varmints, have decided the things that we grow are tastier than anything else out there.

 

The young melon plants were starting to look good and we were preparing ourselves to trellis them this weekend.  Well, I guess there is no need to do that now because the deer made sure to shorten them so that a trellis is no longer necessary.  

Gee thanks.  How thoughtful.

 

I was also considering pruning some of the peppers and tomatoes this weekend.  The deer decided they could also help in that department.  The problem is that I typically prune some of the low stems on both the peppers and the tomatoes, while these varmints like to start at the top of the plant and work their way down.

Now, it would be one thing if these plants were out in the field because this sort of thing happens sometimes.  But, the melons and peppers that were "pruned" were inside Valhalla, one of our high tunnels.  That's why the door is closed on Valhalla in the picture below.  The deer tracks told the story of these varmints just walking in through the door.  

 

Typically, we like to have that door open to allow for more air circulation, but if deer are just going to walk in, we can close it.  Unfortunately, they have now shown that they can navigate their way into Valhalla via the side walls - as new damage (and footprints) can attest.

Deer are not the only varmints that have been much more aggressive towards us this year.  The raccoons have been causing problems with the hen flock this year too.

One of our coping strategies is to not let the hens out for a while to break the pattern (and protect the birds while we try to address access issues).   That's why you see a picture of the hen yard with no hens in it during the daytime.  

Some of the measures we have taken for the raccoons have worked recently, but we know we need to keep addressing the problems because they will be back.  Once they figure out they like chicken and where they can get it, they'll keep after it until we can make the cost too high for them to pay.  

The same holds true for other varmints.  Who knew that varmints could respond to economic pressure?

It seems to us that the drought put pressure on the wildlife and they found our farm to be a location where they might find water and food.  Once they figure that out, we have a problem because these varmints don't know anything about budgeting and saving things for later, even if they do seem to understand opportunity cost.

Here's hoping we can figure out strategies that work with our current group of annoying varmints.  It's not like we don't have some options in mind, but every year is different and the irritation is always real.  We always prefer to find ways to get along with the wildlife, but sometimes it's hard to want to.

Rain, Nota Waterwheel and Blood Donations

In our last post, we mentioned that we were having some long days on the farm because the puddles had finally dried up and we could work in the fields.  There was additional urgency because the forecast had tropical depression Christobal heading our way and dumping all kinds of moisture on us.

As of 8:30pm Tuesday - we had 2 inches of rain on the farm.  The good (ish) news is that it didn't start to drip here until mid to late morning.  That means we could continue to try to slap more crops into the ground.

There will be winter squash here

 We did not complete our workday on Monday until 10:00 pm - and that wasn't just because we were completing farm chores.  The ground was dry enough to run the rotary harrow and prep area for planting.  It's a good thing the tractor has headlights.  This morning, we got up when the sun work us up and we did morning chores.  Then, we set up the mulch layer and put down some mulch rows.

The plan was to put as much as we could into the ground before things got too wet to work.  To be perfectly clear - that does not mean we quit as soon as a few raindrops hit the ground.  In fact, I believe we worked for two to three hours in a light rain before we called it quits.

The good news?  The farmers can still read the weather correctly because they got themselves picked and out of the field moments before the heavier stuff arrived.  That means there were still a few dry spots on the farmers....  but only a few.  My little toe on each foot, I think.

We did manage to get most of those two long rows planted with butternut squash, tan acorn squash and pumpkins.  We still have about 50 foot to go on each row that you see there.

Sadly, we did not manage the 'after' picture because it was... well, it was raining and we wanted to keep the camera dry.  And, frankly, our hands were so muddy, neither of us wanted to try to run the camera.

Many farms that grow vegetables have a tool called a 'water-wheel' transplanter.  This is a tool that is mounted on the back of a tractor.  It has a big tank of water, a wheel that pushes holes into the ground (or mulch) and two seats where people can sit and push plants into those holes.  As the holes are being punched, water is poured into that hole to help the seedling deal with transplant shock.

The Genuine Faux Farm version of the water-wheel transplanter involves, two humans, watering cans and a tub.

Normally, we would lay out drip tape prior to transplanting, but time was short today and we knew lots of rain was coming, so we didn't want to flood the field prior to the rain.  However, we still needed a little help to push the plants into the holes.  So, we taped a short handled dibble onto an old shovel handle to punch holes and we used watering cans to put water into each hole.  Tammy performed this task admirably.  Rob's job was to take a tub of transplants and get them put into the holes.  There was a little extra effort to make sure roots were covered.

Voila!  The GFF water-without-a-wheel transplanter.

Folks, this is a grand illustration of what it is like to be a bit too big for certain farming approaches and a bit too small to be able to use/acquire a specialized tool.

Ouch

The Buffalo Gnats are out in force and the wind was fairly calm prior to the rain.  Both of us were wearing "bug baffler" netting over our heads.  The problem is - the darned varmints figured out how to get through around the neckline.  Yes.  It hurts a bit.  No.  I don't like it. 

And, if you ever wondered why we charge what we do for vegetables - I ask you if you would be willing to plant your produce with these critters clamoring for your blood.  Ok, that was uncharitable of me to say.  Nonetheless, it is a reminder that people with all sorts of jobs put up with all sorts of unpleasantness as a part of those jobs.  Some more dramatic than others.  I remind myself of this often and tell myself that I do not intend to be a person who perpetuates 'unpleasantness.'  Rather, I hope to be respectful and supportive.  I wish I could say I always succeed at that.

A favorite iris flower

And so - I end with something I think is wonderful.  This iris made its appearance on the farm today and it just happens to be one of my all-time favorites.  I am not sure there are any German Bearded Iris I do not like - though I bet I could find one if I looked REALLY hard.  But, if I were forced to select only a few varieties to keep, this would be one.

This stalk sits on my desk, just behind the computer as I type. 

My neck itches and burns a bit, but for some reason I forget about that each time I look at the iris.  But, I still find myself wondering when the puddles will recede so we can finish planting.

Bugged!

Working outdoors has many benefits.  We keep saying that to ourselves every year the blackflies (aka buffalo gnats) hatch and give us grief because we need the reminder.  This year, we've been needing that reminder a good deal more than normal.

Buffalo Gnat (courtesy IL Dept Public Health)

These gnats aren't like many other gnats that can be irritating - especially when they dive into your eyes, ears or throat.  In addition to the ability to seek out facial orifices, these little nasties also BITE.  According this article on the Illinois Department of Public Health website:

"... black flies bite using their mouthparts like scissors to cut into skin and lap up the blood. This results in painful bites that can produce bleeding, itching, inflammation and swelling, as well as allergic reactions that can be life-threatening."

This year, reports that the blackfly population has been higher than usual have come in from other farmers in Iowa, as well as locations in Illinois and Oklahoma.  And, I am sure there are plenty of other locations I just have not noticed.  In some locations, there have been reports of buffalo gnats killing poultry and a couple of the eagle chicks in Decorah succumbed to these varmints as well.  A few years ago, we lost several ducks to blackflies, so we can attest to the veracity of these reports.  Birds can look great in one instant and decline rapidly to a point where they cannot be resuscitated. 

Kennedy uses the 'cover up' approach to pest control

Of course, the humans on the farm have a tough time with these critters as well.  Early on during this year's hatch, Rob got caught with short sleeves and wound up with significant bites all over his arms after just 10 minutes of exposure.  Some have reported that vanilla helps repel the buffalo gnat, but we haven't noticed that it works for very long - if at all.  If you like the smell of vanilla, I guess that could be nice.  But, it seems as if you might need to re-apply every ten minutes.  That doesn't work very well if you work outside all day.

The Thistle Eradication Forces (TEF) know how to dress for success

We've found about all you can do to protect yourself is to cover up.  That means we're wearing long sleeves, glasses, ear protection and bandanas - even when temps get into the 90's (F). 

For those that are looking to chemicals for help - never mind.  See the following from the Ill Dept of Health page:

"Black flies are difficult to repel. Suggested “home remedy” repellents, such as vanilla extract, have not been scientifically proven effective. DEET-containing repellents that deter mosquitoes are much less effective at repelling black flies and have even been reported to attract the flies. Permethrin-containing repellents labeled for application only to clothing offer some protection.
The application of pesticides for black fly control often meets with limited success. In some situations, liquid residual pesticides may be effective when applied to surfaces where flies land. Fogging in the form of ultra-low volume (ULV) treatments like those used for mosquito control can be useful in some circumstances, but provide only temporary relief."

Our crew have handled the situation well.  Of course all of us prefer a good bit of wind during this time of the season because the buffalo gnat won't bother you much if there is a nice breeze.  Sadly, there have been many calm days of late, so we've just had to cover up and try to ignore the pests.  Rob and Tammy have both noted that the presence of blackflies tends to make both of us tense up a bit - so we're more tired than we should be by the end of the day.

Observations about blackflies on the farm from ourselves and the crew:

• Yes, buffalo gnats DO hit your glasses or goggles with enough force that you can hear and feel them tapping on it.
• No matter how hard you try, you cannot ignore a gnat that flies into your eyes, ears, nose or throat.
• A gnat bite IN the nose can give you a nose bleed.
• Gnats tend to find the borders/edges of clothing but usually do not go beyond that.  
• Once you've been bit by a gnat, many more gnats are going to go for that spot or that area of your body.  It's probably best to make an adjustment early rather than trying to 'tough it out.'
• We're all looking forward to the end of blackfly season. 
• Blackflies do not taste all that bad if you give them a good 'chew.'

Rats in Your Room

Our story begins with a batch of turklets in their room.  They had nice clean straw and lots of area to run around.  They jumped and hopped when a moth made the bad decision to fly through.  We saw the moth for a while and then it wasn't there.  We're not sure if the moth managed to leave, land somewhere safe or if it met a "Beak of Doom."

The turklets were healthy.  They were curious about everything.  They ate well.  They stayed hydrated and got plenty of exercise.  Until, one morning.

Tammy found some dead turklets.

We'd seen this before and figured rats had decided to expand their diet from stealing feed from the turklets to the turklets themselves.  Not good.

So, we moved the turklets from their room to the brooder room, which is more secure.  There are fewer entry points and we got the birds away from where the rats had established that turklets were edible.

Unfortunately for the turklets, they now had noisy and stinky neighbors - the "nuggets" (aka broiler chickens).  Fortunately for the turklets, the nuggets were due to go out to pasture the next day.    The farmers moved a fan into the room and added some extra venting to regulate the temperature and everyone did fine the next night.

Caught in the Act!

We set out to rid ourselves of the rats in the turkey room and ended up catching one in a rather non-conventional way.  Apparently, the one picture above was used to going THROUGH the chicken wire about half-way up the turkey room wall.  Also apparently, adding turkey to the diet went straight to the rat's hips.

Tammy went to check the room the morning after we moved the turklets and found this rat stuck and unable to get out of its predicament.  Queen Boss Tammy's wrath resulted in the smiting of said rat and it is no more.

If you are a farmer with animals, you have to know there will be rats.  If you have livestock, you have to accept you will lose some of them.  It doesn't make you happy, but there you are.  But, it is even rarer to be given a gem like this after what could be termed a 'bad situation.'

The turklets are currently 'safe' and healthy.  The nuggets are moved and out on pasture.  And, the rat gave us an opportunity to laugh and have a little fun - at its expense.  We put out some Facebook posts asking people to give us song titles that would fit the picture above.  Here are our favorites that were submitted or mentioned:

Honorable Mention: Journey "Who's Crying Now?"

Number 10: Tonio K "You Don't Belong Here"

Number 9: Vigilantes of Love "It Could Be Alot Worse"

Number 8: Queen "Great King Rat"

Number 7: Giant "No Way Out"

 
Number 6:  White Stripes "I Smell A Rat"

Number 5: Creed "One Last Breath"

perhaps six feet under isn't down far enough?

Number 4: Kerosene Halo "Bad Sense of Direction"

Number 3: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Stuck in the Middle"

Quite literally - at that.

Number 2: Kerry Livgren "Hindsight"

Ahhhh!  A title that works on SO many levels.  You just have to like it.

Number 1: NRBQ "Rats in My Room"

There was just no question about this one.


And a bonus: Princess Bride and the ROUS

If you didn't believe in them before - you have to now!

Rough Start

A quick blog post to celebrate the end of May and beginning of June - if celebrate is exactly the right word.  If I felt like we were caught up on everything, I might be more willing to celebrate, but we are not.  So, I'll just roll with the calendar because there isn't a choice in the matter.

Spring Sprang Sprung?  Not quite.
We had some nice weather in April that got everyone thinking "Spring," then we had this patch in May where things got pretty cold - including a freeze and a couple of frosty nights.   They had us scrambling to move plants to places where they could handle the temperatures.  Tomatoes got put into a high tunnel with a double cover of remay.  Even then, some of them got bit.

Some of our brassica went into this trailer and were covered with what we could find

We were glad we hadn't pushed much into the fields at this point, even though it might have been nice to get a few things seeded.  But, you get done what you get done and there isn't much more we can do.

We pressed some moving blankets and tarps into service on the cold frames.

While we didn't lose many plants, we did lose momentum.  Essentially, a cold snap like that one makes you move things backwards.  Plants that had graduated to various stages of hardening off were backed up one level.  It also means we spent that much of our time and energy just trying to get everything moved and/or protected.  And then moved back to where they belonged after the danger had passed.  That's alot of hours and effort that should have been spent moving forward.

The good news?  We are better prepared each year for events such as this.  We lose fewer things and the process gets more efficient.  And, we know what the next steps need to be - but that always takes time and resources to get there.  Sound familiar?  Just like everyone else we are.  We have ideas as to where we need to go and how to get there - now we need the things we need to get it done.

Mekanikle Ineptitude
Ok, we do NOT claim to be mechanics.  We can do what must be done when it has to be, but we admit we are not the most proficient at it.  That's why we pay others to do certain work.  They have the tools, shop area and expertise to do these things more efficiently than we do.

So one of the JD lawn tractors went in because it wouldn't start (at all).  Then, the tie rod on the other one broke.  So, we have no mower on the farm.  Uh oh.  We got a loaner mower - the belt to the blades stretched and came off - so it's down now.  So, we fixed the tie rod on our tractor ourselves.  It worked until it blew out a tire.  So, had to get that tire off and get a replacement.  Now that tractor is stalled out in the middle of the North fields and won't start again.  Each time we have a small mekanikle viktorie....

If it were just the lawn tractor issue, we wouldn't quite feel like there was some sort of hex working here.  But, it's been email issues and other computer things.  Various other tools have odd breaks or issues that we've had to address as well.  We're used to some things breaking as we start to use them in the Spring - but this has been a bit over the top.

And, who ordered this Spring cold that both of us caught this year?  Not fair!  "Piling on" foul!  Even the Sandman has been fighting an infection of some sort this Spring.

I am annoyed by this situation.  I, the Sandman, have spoken.

Masked Bandits and other Varmints
This is turning into the year of the VARMINT on our farm.  Look, we want to be friendly to nature - but when it gets this unfriendly to us and what we're doing...  We have to find ways to fight back a bit.

Short story is as follows.  We've seen more rabbits, raccoons, woodchuck, deer and other critters than normal this year.  With fewer options to tame areas that tend to get overgrown (dead lawn tractors - see above), these critters are feeling more welcome than usual.  We had some of our kohlrabi (about three trays of them) get nibbled by an unknown critter in our coldframes.  We moved things out of that and an adjacent cold frame until we could try and trap the culprit (never happened).

Things were placed on pallets in the cold frame area and seemed final until, one night the culprits attacked again.  We lost 90% of succession I of broccoli, most of the cauliflower and all of the cabbage.  Only things we had pulled and put on a hayrack were spared.  So, what was left got placed onto additional hayracks until we could address the issue the next day.

So, it only figures that raccoons would then climb onto the hayracks and dig into our plants and throw them around for a bit.  Why not?

Now, we have an electric fence around the area and no further issues have been encountered.  But still - that hurt.  Many of these plants were going to go into the ground the next day or two, so I suppose it could have been worse.  We could have spent the time transplanting into a field and had them all destroyed after that effort (that's me - always looking on the bright side!)

R.I.P. little plants.

Whether Wythards
Too warm, too cold, too dry and then too wet - in that order.  We farm, therefore the weather is always an issue.  'Nuff said.

Looking on the Bright Side
Ok, we will now follow my own advice and look on the bright side - because there have been several.  It can be hard to think about them sometimes when you are feeling a bit put upon by circumstances.  But, they are there, nonetheless.

We do have the onions in, which is no small task.  We have the option of putting in a bit more, but may opt not to do it.  Still, it is nice to have that choice available to us.  they probably have shown the least transplant shock of any season to date because we got the drip tape on them pretty quickly - despite the very dry soils we planted into.

Lettuce in Valhalla is looking great and the next succession in the field is on schedule.  The chard in Valhalla is also looking pretty good, so that is encouraging.  The next set of broccoli is getting closer to transplant stage and are looking good as are the plants in pots and trays that are waiting for ground to dry out enough to put them in.  And, the asparagus has been producing pretty well.  A good weeding of the taters will help them out (they are all in) and the germination has been good - if a little scattered.

And, despite the rain arriving earlier than forecast, we had a good day getting things done on the farm.

Building blocks.  We'll use this one as a solid base and put another good block onto the pile tomorrow.

Happy June everyone.

This and That

We took a quick look at the blog and said...

Ok.  Let me be honest here.  I took a quick look at the blog and said nothing.  Which, sadly, is what has been said on the blog for nearly a week.  Terrible!  Someone get a farmer in here who can write something, will you?

Ah, how about you.  Yes, you!  Get over here.

---------

Hi.  Ummmmm.

---------

Ok, that person didn't work out.  I guess Rob will have to write this one.

---------

A Trip to the Park
 The broiler chickens took their trip to the park.  It was a bit more of an adventure this year than some and we hope to regale you with it later this week.  However, the pressing business is that we have about 80 birds that still have not sold.  If you want one or two or ...ten..., go here and place an order.

Yet Another Reason Tammy is Wonderful
She makes peach and lemonade slushies.  1.5 trays of iced cubes, 1/2 cup lemon juice, a short 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup other liquid water or juice from our canned peaches.  Blend it up.

After a really hot day where we've been working outside, this does wonders for the attitude and to cool us down a bit.

You Can't Escape the Scapes
If you are in the CSA program, you will receive scapes.  Happily, scapes are gaining more acceptance and people need less convincing than they used to.  But, it is hard to believe that convincing is needed. 

Scapes are the flower stem of the garlic plant.  You can use every inch of these in any dish you might use garlic.  About 1 inch of a scape is about equivalent to one clove in potency.  You may want to cut them up a bit finer and/or cook them longer since they are not quite as soft.

Other excellent options include cutting these the long direction and infusing garlic oil.  Or, grill them or put them in stir fries.  We think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  For details on the garlic oil, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Drats, We've Gnats
 The gnats on the farm have been irritating lately.  But, the nice breeze today helped immensely.  But, if you wonder about all the little bumps all over the farmers' arms as you pick up shares, those are gnat bites.... ugh.

The real problem is that they appear to be taking a toll on our young ducks.  We've lost several over the last few weeks.  As always, there is more to the situation than this, but that's all one needs to know for now.

So Far So Good

The picture above shows our major tool investment for the season.  The Williams Tool Bar came highly recommended.  As is true for every tool we purchase, we have to climb a learning curve.  Part of that learning is figuring out what the tool can and cannot do.  We have learned it CAN cultivate fairly close to a row of transplanted broccoli, allowing two people to very quickly weed the rest with hand tools.  Viola!  Clean broccoli!  Nice.

Quick Crop Report
Everything is still a couple of weeks behind (or more depending on the crop).  The latest rains gave us very little which is good and bad.  At this point, we just roll with whatever we get because either direction has its plusses and minuses.

Peas look great and are really getting going.  Carrots have been weeded in their entirety, which is a big deal since carrots aren't the easiest thing to weed.  They are still a month away.  The cucumbers are starting to vine.  Pole beans were replanted and are sprouting nicely.
Tomatoes are just now showing some real life.  Basil is in, but small.  Summer squash and zucchini are looking good and may start producing next week.  Garlic is due to be harvested about July 30 - they cure for two weeks after before we distribute any of these.
Potatoes look pretty good and we should have a decent crop by the end of August or beginning of September.  Green beans are in varying states of readiness.  Turnips are approaching readiness - possibly next week.  Similar comments for pok choi and chinese cabbage.

Garlic Oil

What Do I Need?
• several teaspoons of herbs and spices
• oil to fill one bottle
What Do I Do?
1. Bruise the herbs and spices a bit to release their flavors. (slice garlic scapes length wise)
2. Place them in the bottle.
3. Add warm oil.
4. Cover and let stand for 1 week.
5. Taste the oil. If the flavor isn't strong enough, add more flavorings. Once the oil is infused, keep it in the refrigerator. It may get cloudy from the cold, but should clear up when it reaches room temperature. The oil should last, refrigerated, for up to 2 months.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/seasoning/kitchen/recipe-oils.html Be sure to remove the garlic scapes from the oil to reduce the risk of contamination.

A Poo d'Etat

There is much going on at the farm right now - so we'll do the "news brief" thing for this blog post.  We hope you enjoy!

Three in One?
There are a number of crazy things we find ourselves doing on the farm that make us shake our heads.  For example, if you had told us that we would own and operate three freezers and two refrigerators on the farm even five years ago, we would have laughed.   But, twenty-seven pound turkeys, two batches of broilers, lots of veg freezing, broth freezing, cooperative buys, etc etc....  So, yes, we have three freezers and two refrigerators.  We graduated to ONE freezer today by finally getting everything into the biggest freezer and the freezers that are part of the two refrigerators.  We hope these two will stay OFF until the broilers go to the park.  Oh...and yes.  It WAS a tight fit.

Two Hundred A Day
More or less.  That's what we are hoping we can manage as we transplant tomatoes into four inch pots.  There are about 2000 of them to do.  Then, if the peppers get a move on here, we do them.  And the eggplant.  Hmmmm.  The hardest part is figuring out where to put them all.

Closing at the Opening(s)
One of the things I found most humorous for signs of businesses in small towns were those that said "Open Until Closing," which made me think of this subtitle.  In this case, however, we are talking about openings in buildings on the farm.  If you follow the blog or farm happenings, you know we worked hard to rehab the truck barn last year.  We just never quite got the overhead door put in before Winter (such as it was).  We've also been struggling with the doors on the granary.  Stay tuned, it looks like we'll be getting some doors put up.  While it still goes against Rob's nature to hire someone to do these kinds of projects, that's exactly what we will do.  Why?  Because it won't get done until December if it is left to me....  And, it would likely only be one of the three doors at that.  Sometimes the right call means you pay someone else.

Dominoes
Old house.   Old buildings.  Working farm.  Lots of projects.

And every project has its own domino effect.  If you do any sort of house projects on your own homes, you know what I mean here.  How did stubbing in plumbing for a bathroom turn into replacing the water heater?

Oh.  Well.  I Guess We'll Do Something Else.
The simple (?) project of moving the burn 'barrel' to a new location away from the cold frame area got interesting.  This entailed cleaning up the new area and moving the barrel.  But, our barrel is essentially four heavy pieces of metal that have been bolted together in a rectangular shape using some brackets.  It was here when we moved in, so it's been through a bit.  Let's just say the "barrel" became a flat pile of metal as I tried to move it. 

Poo d-Etat
We are actively trying to build some new poultry rooms in the Poultry Pavilion.  To give you a summary... the building started as an open front machine shed.  It was closed up in the 1980's (we think) and made into a hog confinement.  We arrive and kicked the hogs out.  Unfortunately, some of the modifications made to the building (and time) have provided raccoons with some nice places to live.

So, what is the problem with that exactly?  Other than the fact that we fight them every year as they get into the chickens?  Let me put it this way.  Raccoons don't go outside to use the bathroom.

So, you know all of those spots that look like they've gotten REALLY wet in the ceiling?  Yep, the spots that actually have holes starting and the insulation falling through?  That isn't from a leaky roof.  It's from a raccoon leaking....  And remember, when you ask a raccoon "Number 1 or number 2?"  It will usually say, "Both."

What was a highlight of the day?  Pulling down lots of that ceiling so we can have a shot at putting together a good room for the birds.

What a wonderful smell I've discovered.  Maybe it should have been

Pew d-Etat?

Bugga-boo!

It's October and relatively close to Halloween.  So, we thought we'd show you some scary pictures.

The scene - our high tunnel.  Home of some beautiful tomatoes and green beans in October.  The tomatoes are on the left, the yellow box holds some green beans we were picking... in case you want to know.

 

This picture seems tranquil enough.  Harvest was going relatively well.  We decided we should scout the tomatoes and see what was going to be available to pick. 

We found this beautiful Black Krim tomato.  It tasted pretty darned good too.  All is right with the world.  The birds are chirping.  The sun is shining.  The farmers are happy.

Suddenly, a scream chases thoughts of pleasant work in a sun-enhanced enclosure on a mildly chilly day.  What could possibly be wrong?

Ok, now wait a minute.  You are ruining the mood with your questions.  We are not going to tell you who screamed or how they screamed.  Seriously... no, we aren't telling.

Look.. It's a metaphorical scream.  Just a symbol of the unhappiness felt by this discovery.  Ok?  No one actually screamed.  yeeesh.

NOOOOO!  The horror!  Defoliated leaves on the tomatoes.  It is awful.  Horrifying!  Whatever has done this?

And it gets worse!

========== SENSITIVE VIEWERS ALERT========= 

What you are about to see is uncensored.  Some viewers may find the following to be unsettling and, frankly, a bit gross.  Viewer discretion is advised.

   =================================================

The farmers' let out a collective gasp as the magnitude of the situation sinks in.  It is not just the loss of some leaves.  That loss, while disturbing and less than positive, is not the end of the world.  The plants are nearing the end of their life cycle as temperatures sink lower each night.  It is the loss of ripening fruit that hits home. 

Who is responsible for this reprehensible behavior?  Is it the butler?  The maid?  Professor Peacock in the solarium with a megaphone?
 

Aha!  The culprit.  A hornworm.  Evil little feller.  Actually, it was more like a few dozen of them throughout the tomato row.

An excellent summary resource about tomato hornworms (larva for hawkmoths) can be found here: http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/hornworm.htm

How do we handle the hornworm on the farm?
We have had very little issue with hornworm damage in the past.  But, then again, we have not grown in the high tunnel all that long.  The high tunnel provides a beautiful location for a late hatching.  We look for hornworm damage and then look for the hornworms themselves.  Once found, we pull them off the plants.  If we are feeling ambitious, we take them to the turkeys.  If we are not, we find that they do not survive a quick compression with the sole of a shoe.  (step on it)

Green tomatoes damaged by hornworms should just be pulled off the plant - especially earlier in the year.  this allows the plant to focus on other fruit.

Note - you will find that hornworms can grip the plant or leaf in a way that it could be difficult to pull them off.  They may startle you a bit as they curl towards your fingers - and there is a bit of an 'ick' factor for many people.  They will pinch you a bit if you carry them any distance (as we do when we take them to the turkeys), but it is more startling than painful.  They cannot do any permanent damage to you.  And they certainly cannot do the damage you can do to them.

Parasitic wasps - If you find white growths on the worm, you probably should find a way to let the worm live by moving it somewhere you can tolerate it.  This will increase the parasitic wasp population.  Thus, building up a natural control.  thus far, we have not noticed any of this on hornworms we have found.  Sad.

Not So Marigolds

(the following was a part of a 2008 newsletter and is reposted here for your enjoyment)

Our desire to grow our gardens without chemicals has become stronger over the years, but we held this conviction even with our first garden in Burke, Wisconsin.

Our landlords were kind and had a section of ground tilled up for our garden. We already knew that there were many rabbits in our area and we had nightmarish visions of our entire garden being mowed over by the 'evil' little critters. We didn't really have the money for fencing and we weren't anxious to spray a repellant or kill the bunnies. So, what to do?

Thus begins our first foray into companion planting. We had heard from somewhere (or someone) that marigolds were a good companion plant for vegetable crops. Why? We didn't know. But, when we also heard that rabbits did NOT like marigolds and would tend to avoid them, we formulated a plan.

It was a simple plan that would be the master stroke. It would solve all of our rodent problems! Let's go buy enough marigolds to circle our garden. Surely it would provide us with a natural fence that would keep the critters out, be a friend to our vegetables, AND look pretty as well!

In went the garden. Around it went the marigolds. Marigolds in flats are not all that big - now that you see them in the ground. They were only 2 inches tall - most with a single marigold flower. We spread them out evenly on the border and watered them in well. In one day, we had planted our first garden and we went inside, feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

Our first morning foray into the garden revealed our first gardening tragedy. The tiny peppers were fine. The little tomato plants were fine. The broccoli plants? Well, we lost a couple. The marigolds?

Every last marigold plant had been nipped just above ground level. And, the plants (with now wilted flowers) were neatly lying next to the stem. It was true. Rabbits do not like marigolds.

And they had just seen to their removal.

Things On Our Minds

The creativity level is not necessarily high.  When that happens, we tend to do blog posts that just throw a few things together and maybe we'll hit on something!

• We're working on setting up distribution of chickens and we have many still available.  If you want some, let us know.  They are currently in the Fredericka Locker.
• We're a bit annoyed with Sierra Blanca (white onion variety).  The seed became unavailable for last year's planting.  So, we bought plants.  The plants were about the only onions that matured last year because they are an early variety.  But, this year, we weeded them, treated them nice....and they really aren't all that wonderful to look at.  They taste fine - just small and inconsistent.  Why is it a big deal?  We pay alot more for plants.  They arrive when we're not usually ready for them (our heavy soils are workable later than most zone 4b areas)... and we don't get a good crop.  hmmmm. 
• Weeds - arg.  
• The "War of the Raccoon" continues on the farm.  We think we're down to a couple remaining bandits.  And, they still like to harass the hens.  The good news is that we haven't lost any hens lately, but have lost some eggs.  The critters that were enjoying trashing plants (they liked digging in the potting soil) are gone.  As near as we can tell, the score is now Raccoons: 6  GFF: 13
• Our CSA members are *GREAT*.  We had someone at each distribution kindly provide us with cold beverages.   The ice tea and the lemonade were both appreciated.  It's nice to get a little boost like that during a hot week.  Don't get me wrong - we come prepared with a thermos of water and water bottles full for distributions.  With this job, you have to be sure to take care of your fluid intake.  But.... these kind gestures still mean alot to us.  Thank you.
• Speaking of fluid...  The record has been set.  Rob had a six t-shirt day and a five t-shirt day this week.  It certainly made me wonder why I bothered changing clothing when it seemed like it took only moments to sweat through things again.  Then again, neither of us wants to develop a heat rash.  So....
• On that topic:  Neither of us is entirely sure what to think when clothing is tossed into the 'wash these soonest' pile and they make a resounding 'splat!'  Should we be proud of our hard work that led us to sweat through this clothing?  Should we be disgusted that we actually did sweat through clothing enough that you can literally wring them out?  Thoughts?
• Speaking of laundry...  we are noticing that our towels we use for hydrocooling and keeping things damp/cool in our containers for CSA distribution are getting threadbare.  If anyone has towels that they are looking to retire, we may be interested in them.  Anytime we mention things like this we wish to emphasize a couple of things.  First - don't give us something you can use.  After all, they are yours and you should use them.  Second, please don't treat us like a trash can either.  If they are already threadbare, they won't do the job any better than what we do have.  Definition of threadbare - we can see many holes in them as they hang on the line to dry.  Well-loved and worn is fine.  
• Speaking of hydrocooling...   We've added a step to the process this season.  For several seasons we have been picking greens into tubs, taking them to a shaded location and filled the tubs with very cold well water.  We push the greens that float down into the water and cover with a towel.  This makes sure everything stays wet and prevents any of it from dehydrating in wind or sun.  As a result, the greens (or other produce we do this to) will last in a crisper much longer.  Lettuce treated this way can easily last 2 weeks (or more).  We've been collecting the water used for hydrocooling in a tub this year (the new part).  Then we transport the water in buckets to the high tunnel to water plants in there.  We reuse the water (very good) but we realize it is inefficient in its current state.  We'll be investigating options for next season.
• Speaking of greens... the ducks love greens that bolt and can't be sold or distributed.  This is a good thing since the hot weather has sent some of our lettuce past prime very quickly.  
• Speaking of ducks...  we don't witness as much of the 'grab it and run' mentality we see with our chickens and turkeys.  In short, ducks seem to be able to share better than other birds.  Hm.
• Speaking of sharing....  we want to share the credit for the CSA distributions this week with all of the folks who fought through the heat to help us.  Thank you Andrea, Denis, Anden, JoHanna, Bailey, Sally and Jeff!  Well done!
• And finally, speaking of workers.  For those of you who have asked or are curious - we have no full time workers on the farm, but we do contract with several people to do work for us.  In many cases, they receive produce as compensation for a certain amount of work on the farm.  In other cases, they are compensated with pay for contracted labor.  And, we do sometimes receive volunteer work help.  Usually, our labor pool dries up when school starts again. 

Ugly Bookends

Today has been an incredibly long and difficult day on the farm.

Reminds me of a roller coaster a bit.

We started the day off thinking about the plan for our work day with several of our helpers on site today. The weather looked nice, many things had been going fairly well and some fairly major projects looked like they could get finished.

Then Tammy went to feed the turkeys. Go to bed with 57 turkeys. Wake up with 34 (or so). The devastation had many of the hallmarks of a mink that had gone on a killing spree. Tammy spent a good deal of time trying to plug every small hole in that room she could find. We stopped by the room multiple times during the day. And, of course, we had to build a funeral pyre (so to speak) for the (too small to eat) turkeys. It makes no sense to bury or otherwise dispose of them in ways that attracts more predators to that taste.

Lost a few small trees we just put in to some rabbits - so things are looking just a little dicey. But, we're pretty resilient and we had wonderful help....so the day got better.

K finished cleaning up the shingles from the truck barn roof. 400+ peppers went into the ground (thanks to L and T). We got the irrigation system going for the season (just a few more repairs and it is again fully functional). Five rows of tomatoes got hay mulch and several more were cultivated (thank you D). And, we actually got all of this done with our helpers so that they could all leave right on time. Tammy and I then were able to get some young plants watered *and* get to a movie in Waverly before it started (that was strange - on many levels).

Upon returning home, we dutifully went out (after 9pm) to check on the turkeys. More carnage. We're down to 29 turkeys at this point.

We're also down a masked bandit. We still do not know how it got in (one of tomorrow AM's tasks). But, we've only seen this kind of thing happen before (where a raccoon appears to get a taste for just killing). Usually they take one or two - but normally not more than the family will eat in a day. The normal result is continuous depletion - but more chances to respond to the problem.