Oct 17

Well, can you believe it? I'm home. For good. I'll miss Heather, the boys, Buddy-the-farm-dog, the cows and the farm itself. I'll miss the work (mostly!), being outside all day, the CSA members I met, Becky and Diane who helped on pizza nights.... I could go on forever, I think.

It is nice to be home, though. While running some errands today, we stopped for lunch and it hit me, right in the middle. I turned to Erica with a smile on my face and said: "Hey! I don't have to pack up and go back to the farm tomorrow!" It felt good to be able to say that.

Anyway, it's difficult to sum up the summer but, as encouraged by Heather, I've written some reflections on my experience as a whole. Since it seemed a little like a 6th grade assignment, I titled it "What I Did on Summer Vacation". ;)

(Oh, and thank you, to you all who have followed along. Trying to express myself during all of this has been easier when I know there are people reading!)

What I Did on Summer Vacation

Every time I tried to start summarizing my summer here at Suncrest Gardens, I ended up with a novel. Trying to condense it into a manageable size is difficult! I learned so many things, some that are even hard to verbalize.

I arrived here with some basic knowledge about gardening and my goal was to see if small-scale farming was something I wanted (or even COULD) do. Honestly, there were some days when I doubted both of those, but at the end of it all, I say yes.

The list of things I've learned beyond that is long and varied. Obviously, a lot of it was about veggies. I now know how to grow and prepare: veggies that I'd never heard of before, veggies I've heard of but  never eaten, and veggies that I thought I didn't like, but if prepared differently are actually good!

I learned that the importance of healthy soil goes beyond just throwing a shovelful of compost in the garden every spring (although, that's not a bad first step!). I learned about plant families, their characteristics, likes and dislikes. I learned about how to take care of veggies when planting, growing, picking and after they've been harvested. And, I think every day showed me a new step in the “Circle of Life”.

The knowledge I gained went far beyond growing veggies, though. And, I think those other areas might be where I learned the most. I believe there is a unique way of thinking involved in running a successful small-scale farm. (Rule #1: Don't call it a “hobby farm”! It is a business, not a hobby.)

This can, and should, be work you enjoy doing, but the “successful” part is all in the numbers. And the numbers have to be on your mind all the time. How many pizzas do you have to sell to make it worth starting the oven? What is the value to the customer in being open “rain or shine”? Even during “rain”? How many CSA members do you need to have to make another drop-off site worth the time? Worth the gas? What is the retail value of this box of veggies? The 1st box of the season? The 10th box of the season? Is it fair to the member receiving the box? What is the cost of raising a chicken? Feed, water, chore hours, equipment, processing? What do they provide in return? Eggs? Meat you can use or sell (at what price?)? Do they provide entertainment to the people coming to the farm?

Everything has a value—even though some are fuzzier and harder to quantify. But, to be successful, I will have to know what each enterprises' value is to the big picture.

It was also reinforced to me that “thinking outside the box”—as cliché as it now is—is vital. Using materials already on hand instead of investing money in something new; not reinventing the wheel; learning to do some things yourself, but also making use of other people's skills as well (when your time is better spent elsewhere); having diverse sources of income to minimize financial risks; bartering and other creative solutions that solve more than one persons problems; networking and really being part of a community.

Even though these ideas weren't really new to me, seeing them played out over and over and over, here on the farm as well as across the community made their importance stand out to me.

This summer has been invaluable to me in so many ways. My ideas of what I want to do have solidified, my faith in my abilities has grown, and I know that I can grow beautiful, healthy food that people will enjoy and be happy to pay for.

Oct 12

Today, we packed up the last CSA boxes for the summer. Potatoes, onions, 2 kinds of squash, garlic, purple carrots, collard greens and perpetual spinach. Much smaller boxes than the peak of the season, but still 9 different items.

This afternoon I started separating the garlic bulbs into cloves for planting. The area of the garden they will go in is all tilled up and some "nice" fresh compost has been laid down. After planting the individual bulbs, we'll cover them with a thick layer of straw to help protect them over the winter.

Late last week we finished clearing out the hoop house, tilled it and planted winter spinach. I was noticing today that the first seeding is starting to germinate! When I first came to the farm, last February for a little preview of the farm before I officially became an intern, it was almost 60º in the hoop house, and the spinach was growing like crazy. Yet another example of the "circle of life".

I was home last weekend (late Sat night through Mon evening) and had a very hard time leaving to come back here, even though I knew there was only one week left.

But, now that I am here, I already feel like this last week is slipping away from me. I'm trying to savor my time, and it feels like it's flying by!

Tuesday is over, tomorrow she's going to be showing me some of her systems for bookkeeping and record keeping (I wanted to learn about those kinds of things too), and we'll be prepping more garlic for planting. Tomorrow night, I've got dinner plans with A&K.

Then, it's Thursday already. Hopefully, the garlic will be ready for planting then, and we're going to do pizza prep. Thursday night is potentially a reward night for Ashlan's good behavior at school (she was having some trouble with that!) and he chose to go to a roller skating rink! I want to go, because the boys will be with their dad this weekend, so it will be my last chance to see them.

Friday we have plans to go to an auction held by some of the local Amish. They use this as a chance to get rid of any leftover produce they have before winter. (Last year, she got 5 lb bags of potatoes for $1!) We also may bring the older group of chickens to them. They are several years old and only producing a few eggs per day (when I arrived in April, they were laying 2 dozen + per day) and it's not very cost-effective to have them processed... there's not enough meat to them. The Amish will butcher the chickens themselves, so there is no additional cost.

Friday night is my "last supper". Each intern gets to choose the meal for their last night here. I chose stuffed manicotti, salad and garlic bread. That brings us to Saturday pizza, and then I'm done. Wow. How did that happen?!

Oct. 7

Well, it's feeling like summer again! It was 74º today, and they are predicting 82º for tomorrow and 84º for pizza on Saturday!! Good think I didn't bring home all my shorts and tank tops yet! I really thought the 80º days were over, but I guess not.

We made more raspberry jam yesterday, and cleaned some of the mountains of winter squash and potatoes. Today we harvested the last of the carrots (purple!), leeks and cabbage (red!). Then, washed the carrots and more squash. It's a good thing it's warm in the afternoons these days with all this washing going on! H said last year, practically all of October was cold and rainy, making these jobs pretty miserable.

Tomorrow we'll be prepping for pizza. There's no music, but with the nice weather, we could get a big turnout. Although, maybe everyone will figure they should get their leaves raked on possibly the last warm Saturday of the season....??? Who knows. I've given up trying to guess!

Oct. 4

Ok. So I did an estimated count of the squash we harvested the other day:

Pie pumpkins: 115
Delicata: 360
Butternut: 125
Buttercup: 50
Spaghetti: 120
Acorn: 60
Baby Hubbard: 23

Phew!

The "Fall Harvest Fest" went pretty well on Saturday. We sold about 70 pizzas. There were lots of kids and families out for the hay rides and pumpkins, and live music is always a draw. We had a big bonfire going all afternoon, and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was certainly the kind of thing I would have loved to take my kids to when they were little. We still have pumpkins left (in addition to the "free pumpkin with a pizza" she sold about 20-25 others), and the hay wagon is still set up, so we'll be offering both those things again this Saturday.

There are only two more deliveries for CSA boxes this summer. She does do a winter share also, and has 15 people signed up for this year. It includes mostly root/storage veggies (above-mentioned squash, potatoes, onions, etc.) but also some mixed salad greens (as long as the weather permits) and spinach from the hoop house. Also, a dozen fresh eggs.

And, something completely new this winter.... She's going to be hosting a series of "Dinner on the Farm" events once a month, November-February. There will be a multi-course meal featuring as much farm-raised food as possible...think squash soup, spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette, etc. She has already lined up local speakers to come in and talk about the history of the area ("Legends of the Valley" is the over-all theme) and is looking into the possibility of a single musician (violinist, etc.) to play during the meal, etc. All of this will be set up in the warmth of the new greenhouse that is just about finished! She's going to put a wood stove inside, and a long table down the middle for seating up to 24. She had fliers out for it at pizza last Saturday, and there were a lot of people that seemed very interested.

It seems like a great way to spend a cold winter night!

Sept 30

Wow. The end of September already. Some days seem to go on forever (!!), but seriously, overall the summer has flown by.

We have been busy this week, with the added preparations for the "Fall Harvest Fest" going on this Saturday, the 2nd. Also, they are predicting  a hard freeze overnight Saturday-into-Sunday, so harvesting the remaining needed winter squash got bumped to the top of the to-do list.

That harvesting took up a good part of the day today. After figuring out how many of each variety we still need for the summer CSA members, and adding in what the winter CSA members will receive, and what she wants on hand for herself over the winter, we headed out to the field with boxes and boxes and boxes. I can't even begin to remember how much of everything we ended up with, but along with about 30 jack-o-lantern pumpkins, we filled up a 8' x 10' trailer. There were butternut, buttercup (ha! I now know the difference!), delicata, pie pumpkins, spaghetti and baby Hubbards.

Some of them might have been able to make it through the night on Saturday, but the squash is one of the staples in the winter CSA boxes, so she doesn't want to risk having a lot of damage. They all need to be washed then taken to the root cellar. She said some even use a mild bleach or peroxide solution to wash them, just to make sure they're really clean before storage.

We also cut down some corn stalks and tied them around the pizza/barn area as decoration for Saturday, and we bundled up some ears of Indian Corn, also as decoration, but for sale, as well.  Last thing on my list for today was washing the last of the beets that were harvested a couple days ago. And, just so you know: Some cows love beets. :)

FALL HARVEST FEST    ~ Suncrest Gardens ~  Pizza ~ Live Music with Jeff White

Time	Saturday, October 2 · 11:00am - 6:30pm
Location	Suncrest Gardens S2257 Yaeger Valley Cochrane, WI
	All Day Events - Wood-Fired Pizza Specialty pizzas prepared from fresh/organic/local ingredients and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Get a free pumpkin with your pizza order (while supplies last) - CSA Appreciation Dessert & Coffee - Wagon Rides to Pumpkin Patch (1 PM - 3 PM - 5 PM) - Live Music by Jeff White (4 to 6:30 PM) http://jeffwhitemusic.com/ - For the Kids Playground and Caterpillar Hay Crawl. Visit the farm animals. Lots of space available for fun activities. Bring a kite, frisbee or croquet. Contact info and directions: www.suncrestgardensfarm.com

Sept 25

The big news this week is the storm that came through Wednesday night through Thursday. A "100-year flood" they're calling it. (But, it's the SECOND one of the summer....How can that be?!?) Anyway, 9-1/2" of rain. Seriously. 9-1/2".

Once again, the gully through the pasture became a rapidly flowing river, moving the water through the property pretty efficiently. At the edge of the property there's a large metal pipe under the road (a drain pipe? I don't know the terminology) to carry the water from the gully to the creek on the other side of the road. Just like last time (Aug. 12-13) the pipe was overwhelmed and the water pooled up until it went over the road at the end of the driveway. As far as I know that area never became impassible (is that right? it went through the spell-checker), but there were many, many other roads in the area that did. The town of Arcadia (and others, probably) were evacuated. Again, we got a bit of a mess here, but no real damage.

Part of the fence did come down, though, and the curious cows found their way through a shallow section of the "river" (with their friends, the llamas, following along). Once again, I was here alone, with animals on the loose! And, in my attempts to "herd" them back to the pasture, I managed to get the golf cart (my trusty steed, remember?!) stuck in the mud. Things like that never happened to Drover, in the movie Australia!

I was forced to call in reinforcements this time. A neighbor and two passers-by came to my rescue, dragging the golf cart out of the mud (and rapidly rising river) and getting the animals back into the pasture.

All's well that ends well, I guess. It's almost funny now, when I think about it, but I had my moments of panic at the time!

A cool day is on tap for pizza today. Possibly rain this afternoon, too. Oh well. Such is the season, right?

Going home for the weekend again. H thinks things here will be wrapping up around the middle of October, so this may be my last "visit" home? We'll see.

Sept 22

The weather is our master!

More times than I can count, our daily (even weekly) to-do list is planned around the weather. It rained last night? The field is probably too wet to weed or till. Hot and sunny today? Harvest the leaf lettuce as early as possible, and get it out of the sun. Going to rain like the dickens tomorrow? Get outside tasks done today, and save the indoor stuff for tomorrow.

Today, we picked over five gallons of raspberries between the two of us. They are still going strong, and we're having trouble keeping up with them. Now we have a little issue with mold developing on some of the most mature ones, if we don't get them picked in time. And, of course it spreads like crazy once it gets going. We knew the rain that was predicted for tonight and all day tomorrow was not going to help the situation at all, so raspberries got bumped to the TOP of the list today.

Tomorrow, because the freezers (there are 3--one regular fridge/freezer unit, plus 2 chest freezers) are already full of berries (and other stuff, of course) it's going to be Jam Making Day for me! Also, because of the rain, for H, it's Drive-to-Green-Bay-Day! The clear panels for the greenhouse are ready, and in the interest of saving $300 for shipping, she's driving (almost 250 miles each way) to pick them up. Yikes. I'd rather make jam!

Recap of the last few days: Last Saturday's Pizza was a partial bust. Very cold for the regular pizza hours, so less than 20 pizzas total. A & K--the troopers!--came, and even brought friends!

After the "public" hours, the co-op from Winona held a staff party at the farm. They ordered about 10 pizzas over the 10 that is included in the party package. Lots of families/kids running and playing around, and checking out all the animals. A chilly evening, to be sure, but they all seemed prepared for it, and seemed to have a great time socializing.

This week's CSA box: Potatoes, garlic, peppers, "delicata" squash, broccoli (or cauliflower for some!), leeks, perpetual spinach, leaf lettuce and a bundle of cilantro and dill just for fun! I should also mention that, over the last few weeks, everyone has gotten a pint of raspberries, just not all the same week. The boxes are getting lighter (at peak, a full size share box weighed 30 pounds!) and some things are on their last harvest, like the broccoli and cauliflower--they were mostly the side-shoots from the main heads that were part of the boxes a couple weeks ago.

One other distraction in my day today was filling 5 additional 1/2 share CSA boxes. They were part of fundraiser for a local school. Instead of the normal gift-wrap/candles/candy sales that so many schools do, and people are sick of buying, or just plain don't want, the school (through some very dedicated and motivated organizers) decided to plan their own local-foods fundraiser. They approached  a lot of local food purveyors and asked them to offer products for the school kids to sell. The producers still got paid--it wasn't a donation, per se, but the school increased the price of each item by a certain percentage, that the school would receive. H offered a 1/2 share CSA box (5 sold), packages of farm-raised lamb kabob meat (4 sold) and pizza gift certificates (4 sold).

By-products: Raising awareness of local foods and local food producers, and getting her name out there.

Sept 17

I have been thwarted in my blogging aspirations by computer problems! (I know, I haven't always been overly consistent, but this time I can blame The Machine!) I have a "wireless network adapter." All I know is that I plug it into my computer, and it magically picks up the WiFi here on the farm. Bingo, I can go online anytime, on my own computer, without having to use Heather's.

Several nights ago, it suddenly was not able to find the network. (My phone could pick it up, so I know the problem wasn't the network itself.) Eventually, I re-installed the software for the adapter, and it worked!!

Well, it worked for a few days. I tried re-installing it again, and it worked, for that day. The next day it couldn't find the WiFi again. And, now, even the reinstall trick doesn't work anymore. Also, because I really have no idea what I'm doing when trying to troubleshoot stuff like this, I thinks I've click on something I shouldn't have and now I've made it even worse than it was!!!

Now, like at the beginning of my stay here, I'm back to asking if it's ok that I use her computer to check email, blog, etc. I'm really trying to limit my time on it, too. But it's hard!

Moving on.... This week was a big push to get the new greenhouse built. Her dad was available to help this week, but will be booked up with other jobs for the majority of the rest of the season. Mission accomplished, though! The framework for the greenhouse is done, and it's just waiting for the clear poly-carbonite panels that will let the sun shine in!

It was built on top of the root cellar rooms. Early next spring she'll be able to use the space for all her seedlings and plant starts (instead of using the utility room in the basement of the house!

I've been somewhat on my own in the field this week while they've been working on the greenhouse. The CSA boxes got filled and delivered: Acorn squash, potatoes, beets, cukes, peppers, garlic, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, leaf lettuce and leeks. (She helped with that, of course!) And, harvesting, of course: raspberries (don't even know how much I've picked, and they're still going strong on the bushes!). Four 5-gallon pails of beets, picked, washed, boxed and put away for next week's CSA. 110 "delicata" squash, again, for the CSA, and about 100 head of garlic cleaned and sorted (three categories: Excellent--to be used as seed for next year, Good--for the CSA, and OK--for us to use in the house.)

There was also prep for pizza tomorrow. Straighten up the barn, mow the yard, and of course, ingredient prep. (It's hard to switch gears, though, from preparing for 60 or 80 or 100 pizzas, to preparing for 30 or 40!)

I'm going home after pizza for the "weekend". It will be nice to see J, E and of course my doggies!

Sept 13

Today was "Sunday" for me. With Pizza now on Saturdays, my weekends are Sunday and Monday, so even though it's Monday, it felt like Sunday...you follow?!?

Yesterday, I ran some errands (which translates into a 1/2 hour drive--each way--to Winona to get to a Walmart!) and  a garage sale I heard about in Alma. I hit the mother lode of baby girl clothes! Best of all, she'd been born in the winter, so there was a lot of cold-weather gear in little-bitty sizes! Score! The only thing that stopped me from buying the place out was that I'd only gotten $20 from the cash machine. Ended up with 5 long-sleeved, footed play suits, 3 pairs of pants, one long-sleeved top,  a pink cable-knit suit with a fuzzy hood and little mittens to cover her hands, one completely adorable summer outfit that I hope she'll fit into, and something that I don't think existed when I had babies.... It's a padded little bed that you can put on your bed. The baby can sleep with you, without you worrying about rolling over on her. It  even has a little night light so you can check on the baby in the dark. And, it folds up so you can bring it with you and the baby can sleep on someone else's bed, too. Until she can push herself up and/or move around, of course. I've got an email into the manufacturer to see if I can get a different cover for it.

I spent today pretty quietly, mostly working on a sewing project, but also laundry, and some cleanup in my room.

Next Monday is Heather's youngest son's 3rd birthday, and I made him a sock monkey! He's big into tractors, and stuff like that, but it's hard to sew a John Deere! I hope he likes the monkey. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Sept 11

I hope today finds everyone happy and healthy and that we all took at least a moment or two to remember those who lost their lives, and those who lost a loved one, on this day 9 years ago.

Today was the second-ever Saturday pizza day. Because the number of people coming out to the farm on Thursdays has always dropped so dramatically after the kids start school, she decided to try Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in September and October. Last week there were about 20 pizzas. Today 40. We'll see if word gets around. We'll also see how long the weather holds. We were very fortunate that, with all the rain we got this summer, none of it was on Thursday night!

A photographer from Midwest Living magazine was here today, also. The article they are preparing is expected to run in next May's issue. Magazines have to plan their articles so far in advance to get complete stories, pictures, etc., and have them published at a time that is meaningful to the reader. We're still not sure of the gist of the article, or how prominently the farm will be featured.

My "weekends" are now Sunday and Monday. No big deal to me, really. I haven't had consistent Saturday-Sunday weekends for about 7 or 8 years now!

I'm staying at the farm this "weekend" to work on some projects I haven't been able to get to with Labor Day weekend and all. Ethan is turning 3 in about a week and a half and I want to make him a sock monkey! Shhh! Don't tell!

Sept 8

Ah. Here we are, firmly in September. Labor Day weekend is over, there has been a slight chill to the morning air, some leaves are even starting to change color.

Thoughts are shifting around here as well. Projects that will need to be started before the ground freezes are being planned (most notably a new greenhouse above the root cellar). Seeds for the winter cover crops are being purchased and seeding them is on the weekly to-do list. Pizza has shifted to Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to better accommodate the back-to-school set. And the laying hens out in the field have their winter plans formalized. (For a variety of reasons, they will be going for a "visit" to a nearby Amish farm This is similar to a "field trip".)


Things already seem a little more relaxed for us, too. The produce we are harvesting for the CSA boxes isn't quite so fragile as the things we packed in those first weeks in June. Now we are able to harvest things when they are ready, and we have the time, and they can be held in the walk-in cooler until they are distributed to the members.  And, just the number of different items in a box is going down as well. At the peak, a CSA box had 15 different items in it,  and it weighed almost 30 lbs! This week, although I didn't weigh a box, there were only 11 items. (Still, quite a bounty, though, really.)

The weather (especially) feels good to me, and seeing things come full circle is amazing. Still a lot going on, but a new mindset.

Aug 31

Wow. Seems strange to write that date! August is OVER!

There is still a lot going on here on the farm, but gears seem to be shifting again. I noticed it before, when we shifted from planting and weeding to weeding and harvesting. Now, there is actually not much weeding going on (well, the collards could use a little attention, but...) and the harvesting is finishing for some crops. One row of cucumbers has been tilled under (there is one more that is being very fruitful...the full-share CSA's got 6 in their boxes today!). A row of yellow squash and zucchini have slowed production considerably. (There are two more short row of zucchini, green and yellow.) The beans, which have been the bane of my existence (OK, I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration...) are done for the year.

The poor, poor tomatoes, also. They have had the deck stacked against them almost from the beginning. We were delayed in getting them trellised, we were delayed in getting them mulched, they were overcome with weeds, completely saturated with 2 occasions of +5" of rain and many others of lesser amounts, most accompanied by high winds...the poor things were fighting a losing battle. And, after the hot spell we had a couple weeks ago, shortly after they were really coming into full flower production, I learned  something about tomato plants I didn't know before. If the overnight temps don't fall below 70º, the flowers will drop off the plants. No flowers = no tomatoes.

Whether it's a good thing, or a bad thing, most other area farms are experiencing the same fate with their tomatoes. Featherstone Farm is a large CSA farm located in Rushford, MN, just south of I90, between Rochester and La Crosse. They estimate they've lost $130,000 in crops this year from weather-related issues alone. Obviously, our troubles are nothing compared to that! But, the weather has certainly taken it's toll.

As some crops finish, though, there are other things to take their place. The collards, for example! And, we've planted more successions of leaf and head lettuce. There's more plantings of broccoli, cabbage, cilantro and dill. We haven't even gotten into the winter squash yet, and, oh gosh. I can't even remember what else is still out there. It's different, though. And some rows are done for the year. They will be getting cover crops planted soon, so the weeds don't move in! (The cover crops she has chosen will stay in the ground for the rest of the season. The frost will kill them off, but, they'll stay on the ground to protect it from erosion, etc. The dead plants will be tilled under in the spring adding organic matter to the soil.)

This coming Thursday will be our last "Pizza Night". We will be open, with pizza available, on Saturdays, from 11:00 to 6:00 throughout September and October, though. It will be more of a "harvest" festival kind of atmosphere. Hopefully, if that works into peoples' schedules better, we can get some folks out here!

Aug 24

Well, a little behind again. I always have great intentions about keeping up....

The week is going well. Yesterday was hot, but today, much better. Even so, lots of short, easier to accomplish tasks makes me feel like we're accomplishing things. The row of squash that has always been such a pain to harvest is slowing down in it's "old age". The beans as well. There are newer rows of each, but they are shorter rows and feel easier to manage. I never realized I was so susceptible to "Jedi Mind Tricks".

Got the CSA boxes packed today. Actually finished packing before noon for the first time since C left. Another rainbow of nutrition: White garlic; yellow beans & squash; green kale, broccoli, cukes & zucchini; purple eggplant & beans; red peppers, watermelon & tomatoes. Doesn't it make your mouth water?!?! Throw in an herb share with parsley, rosemary, basil and oregano and I'm in heaven!

We were inspired for dinner: Buschetta with fresh tomato, basil and garlic and some "research" into possible appetizers for the upcoming family vacation to Madeline Island.

Tomorrow is delivery of the CSA boxes. I'll be helping out this week, since H can barely fit all the boxes in her van, and this week there are watermelons, too! I volunteered for the Winona delivery and will be having dinner with A while I'm there! Can't wait to see him!

Aug. 20

Another successful Pizza Night last night. 124 pizzas! Not a record, but a good night. We were all a little delirious by the end of the night. There were several larger groups. One was a company party with 11 pizzas (which we knew about ahead of time) and there were a couple others with 5-7 pizzas each. It all adds up. And, with her new addition this year of a beer license, people are able to, ahh... occupy themselves with some grown-up beverages while they wait for their pizza.

She is also taking advantage of the wait times with a couple of "appetizers". We're serving chips and salsa in a little paper boat, and for the last couple weeks, a melon bowl with fresh,  naturally grown cantaloupe and watermelon. If they tell you when you order that your pizza that it will be an hour-and-a-half wait, but would you like some chips and salsa or a melon bowl?!?! What are you going to say? Ah, Yes, please! And a couple extra beers! Woo hoo! Suddenly a $24 order becomes a $39 order. No brainer.

Today, Friday was a little laid back. Late start, then only a couple of tasks. Harvest beans from the newer lanes (that only took until 12:45!!) and try to get through the summer squash/zucchini and cukes. Got through some, but then had to get up to the Cities.

An uneventful drive home (always good!) and a fun evening with Erica, Shane and John.

Erica & Shane have officially given notice at their current  place and, after months of minor conflicts that are starting to accelerate, are moving their stuff in here. Will make for a full house, but, semper gumby, right???

(Semper Fi... the motto of the marines, "Always Faithful"??? Semper Gumby is "Always Flexible"!!)

Aug 17

Today's laugh comes from one of the crazy roosters.

This guy is quite the athlete. He can get up and over a 8'+ fence by a kind of combination of running and flying up the fence. Quite a site to see, actually. When he is on one side or the other, though, the place he wants to be is the other side. He tries to make you feel sorry for him, but he is perfectly capable of getting up and over any time he wants.

Today during afternoon chores, I gave them some fresh grain in the feeders inside. Then, I went out into their yard to check their water. He was up on top of the fence, pacing back and forth. All the other chickens had gone inside to get some of the grain. The little guy on the fence was acting all insulted that they were having some kind of fun without him. He was squawking away, going back and forth, back and forth. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore (or no one was paying any attention to him), and, he works up the courage fly down and see what all the excitement is about. Except, he completely mis-calculates, and smacks head-first in the the side of the barn!

Probably not very sympathetic of me, but I literally laughed out loud at that!

He fell back, ruffled his feathers a bit, (almost as if he was saying "I meant to do that") and made his way, uneventfully, into the barn to get his dinner.

And put a smile on my face.

Aug 15

Last week was simply too hot and humid to think about anything, other than just getting as much of the to-do list done as possible. And, even that was difficult.

The weather has broke now though, and I'm looking forward to a much more pleasant week!

Looks like I'm two weeks behind on Pizza Night updates.... August 5th was another record-breaker! 160 pizzas! I still can hardly believe it. A&K were here. They arrived just before 8:00 he said, and they could see how crowded it was, so they ordered right away. Each pizza is numbered, so a quick check of the last pizza out of the oven, subtracted from your order number gives you how many are in line ahead of you. Times that by the 2 minutes to cook each pizza, and you've got your wait time. They got their pizza at 10:00. I heard some people arrived after they did, but decided not to wait and went somewhere else.

There wasn't live music, but it had been a nice day. And, maybe being a few weeks after 4th of July, and a few weeks before Labor Day was a factor...people looking for something to do. We've given up trying to figure out WHY people come when they do!

Speaking of WHY.... Even with the weather forecasters carrying on about the heat index of over 100º last Thursday, the 12th, we still had 60 pizzas. I know. By comparison, that's pretty minor, but I can't imagine wanting, on a day like that, to be just hanging out, outside, eating a hot pizza. Ugh. Oh well. To each his own, right?

A big storm came through early Friday morning. I first heard the rumblings of the thunder a little after 3:00 a.m. Woke up a few times as the storm crashed through, and when I got up at 6:00, it was starting to let up a little. We got 5-1/2" of rain!

Through the pasture is a gully, or waterway, they purposely "sculpted" I guess is the best word. It runs from one end of the property to the other, with the purpose of diverting excess rainfall. And, yes, it works! Friday morning outside my door, was a river. All the animals were safe, but some of the fencing posts were being overtaken. We unplugged the fence and moved the ones we could get to. There's a lot of branches and other debris laying around the area. Also, the flour mill next door is in the process of adding a warehouse, so there is a large section of their property that isn't graded. With all the water rushing toward the end of the shared driveway and out to the road, some of the farm's section of the drive was washed up pretty bad. But overall, minimal damage.

I stayed on the farm this weekend, and had a couple nice quiet days. (H and her boys went to a cousin's lake place for a couple days.) I'm thinking of going home next weekend. And looking forward to our annual vacation to Madeline Island over Labor Day. Then, we'll be full into September, and I imagine here on the farm we'll start thinking about fall crops and frost dates. Wow.

Aug 10

Miserably hot and humid, but the CSA must go on!

This week, for a full share, from left to right:

3 summer squash

3 Regular cucumbers

3 pickling cukes

1 large head garlic

4 sweet peppers

2 large bunches kale

1 large eggplant

8 ears sweet corn

3 zucchini

2 lbs tomatoes

1-1/2 lbs carrots

1 cantaloupe

1 large cabbage

1 patty pan

Aug 4

This week's CSA boxes were beautiful (again!). Carrots, cauliflower, summer squash, zucchini, cukes, perpetual spinach (it's actually a variety of chard, not spinach), sweet corn and tomatoes! Yum!

This week is Cynthia's last week on the farm. We will all miss her and her hard work. We've had some great conversations and lots of laughs together. I guess it is customary for the interns to pick the menu for one of their last dinners on the farm. She chose a vegetable lasagna with white sauce, garlic bread and cheesecake for dessert. It was all so good! For the lasagna, we used an Alfredo sauce with ricotta cheese melted in, and layered it with slices of eggplant, zucchini and tomato, and a sauteed mixture of corn, peppers, onion, garlic and shredded carrots. All the veggies except the onion and peppers were from the farm! "Eating Local" doesn't get more local than that!

Oh, and the homemade cheesecake had a raspberry sauce with berries from the farm, too! Delicious!

The weather forecast for tomorrow is: Beautiful. Less humid, mostly sunny, a little bit cooler. We also have live music scheduled, so we are expecting big crowds for Pizza Night. We're thinking of planning for 120 dough balls. We'll see if that's enough!

Cow Adventures

I was at the farm by myself this past weekend. I guess I mentioned that before, but it's important to note it again as I retell my cow adventures from Saturday.

Everything was going well. After lunch I decided to indulge in a nap. When I woke up, I wanted to start on a new apron I'd been planning in my head. I found my material, got the machine set up, and when I glanced out the window of the door, there was a cow looking it at me. Being able to see the cows in the pasture from my window is not unusual. This cow, however, was RIGHT outside the window. Not in the pasture, on the other side of my door. Pardon my language, but the first thing out of my mouth was, "Oh, shit."

There are 6 cows on the farm. Three of them are about 2 years old. Three of them are just a few months old. The guy outside my door was one of the big ones. His head is about as high as mine, he out-weighs me by, oh, about 500 pounds, and he has horns. Heather grew up on a dairy farm and has told stories of how dangerous the bulls/steers that they had occasionally could be. She says they can even "smell" (or sense, somehow) certain hormonal fluctuations in a girl. Yikes. Now I've got three of these beasts wandering around loose.

They were already moving along by the time I got my shoes on and came out the door. I had several advantages: #1, cows don't normally move very fast. I suppose they could, if they wanted to, but they mostly just mosey along, #2, they're not accustomed to close human contact for the most part and tend to shy away if you get too close, #3, these guys have been together their whole lives, so they had no inclination toward scattering, #4, I'd just watched the movie "Australia" about a cattle ranch!

I wanted something big I could wave around to help guide them in the right direction (and to make myself look bigger). I couldn't find a branch or anything like that, but there was a plastic kiddie bat laying in the grass! One of those bright fluorescent-colored ones that are about 3 times normal size so little kids can hit a ball easier, you know? So, I start talking to them, in my sternest voice, waving this bat around, banging it on a tree or the ground, etc. to get their attention.

Well, there's only one of me, and I didn't have the benefit of being on horseback, like Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman did. So, they kind of just looked at the crazy woman with the bat, and instead of walking across the yard along the shortest route back to the pasture gate, they went up the hill, toward the house, and the gardens, which are behind the house. As they meandered their way out to the gardens, I tried to circle around to the side of them (through the prickly raspberry bushes, of course) and get them back down the hill toward the pasture.

I wanted them to be leery of me, but not too frightened. I don't know if cows have a "fight or flight" instinct, but I knew I didn't want to push it, just in case. They did head down the hill to get away from me (crazy human with the orange bat, again), but they went past the pasture gate and into one of the lower gardens.

That's when I saw that the llamas were out, too! Mama Llama is even more shy around humans than the cows, so she scurried when she saw me coming. I didn't see where she went, but later I realized she went back to the safety of the pasture the same way they all got out. The other llama, Rocky, is such a mamma's boy that when she took off, so did he. The cows found some particularly tasty stuff in the lower garden, (new green beans, it turns out) and that gave me time to run to the barn and get the golf cart (my trusty steed!!). At least I could move faster, now. Still armed with my bat, I went up the hill and came back down behind them, again trying to get them toward the gate.

I was having some luck! They were almost to the pasture gate! But, to my chagrin, the gate was closed!!! How did they get out?!?! I looked toward the wood shed, and saw that the small gate in there was knocked down. The llamas were right inside where the gate had been, so I ran there first and put a board up across the opening.

The three big cows were still fairly close to the main pasture gate, so I calmly (yeah) made my way around them to open it. That startled them, and they took off again, back to the lower garden. I did my circle-around trick again, and stayed on the golf cart, kind of zig-zagging behind them. With the gate open, they had an escape, and trotted to the safety of the pasture!

Ok, I tell myself, three cows and 2 llamas secured. In all the running around, I hadn't seen any sign of the baby calves or the sheep. Before the baby calves were put into the pasture with the "big guys" they got loose once. Jason, Heather's friend found them a little ways up the road! Oh, jeez, I thought. How would I find them out there?!?! If I did find them, though, I had an idea to get them back. Milk.

Yay! All eight sheep still in the pasture!

A quick spin along the back fence of the farm netted me 3 baby calves! Yay! At least they weren't wandering around the valley! I didn't want to startle the babies with the golf cart, so after I got close I went on foot to tempt them with the milk in the familiar (I hoped) bucket. One of them was curious about what I had and came to investigate. I got back to the cart before he could get too much milk, just a teasing taste, and started off toward the pasture holding the bucket out for him. Sure enough, he remembered the good stuff that was in the bucket and followed like a champ...for a while. I don't know if he got bored with chasing this bucket that was always just out of reach, or if he forgot what he was doing, or just spotted something more tasty, but every 50 feet, or so, he'd stop, and I'd have to show him the milk again, or even give him a little taste. It took some time, but I eventually got him back in the pasture. It was the same with the next two, but at least I could get them to follow the bucket together!

All in all, it took me about an hour to get everyone rounded back up and secured in the pasture!

July 31

It always amazes me when I check my last blog entry and it was DAYS ago!

Now I have to try to remember what we did last Wednesday?!? Well, I can guess: Harvested yellow squash, zucchini and cucumbers. Oh, and how could I have forgotten the cabbages. Boxes and boxes and boxes of cabbages. Between the CSA boxes waiting for delivery and the cabbages, you couldn't walk into the walk-in cooler! After H took the CSA boxes to deliver them, we started with the cauliflower. Yikes.

Thursday, of course, was Pizza Night. The weather was beautiful, and we knew we'd be busy. We made 91 pizzas! We were well prepared and had enough help to keep things moving along nicely. I don't think anyone had to wait too long. A long day, as always, but it all went well. A reporter from Midwest Living magazine was out, too. She spent almost an hour walking around and talking with H about the farm, etc., before we got started with the pizzas. I think she was here the whole night, too. Maybe trying to get a complete experience. Oh, and she even bought one of my handmade dog toys! H lets me put some of my craft things out on the "store" shelves, with her jams, homemade soaps, etc. It was my first sale here at the farm. (To most of the people around here, dogs and cats aren't "pets" as much as they are in the cities. They are more like predator control, keeping the deer away, or pest control with mice, etc.)

Friday, H and her family left for a wedding in Chicago. C went along take care of the boys after dinner, so H could enjoy the reception. My to-do list included final clean-up from Pizza Night (collecting the garbage, cleaning up the outhouses, bringing in the tablecloths, etc.), the squash/zucchini/cucumber routine,.transplanting cilantro into the herb garden, checking on and harvesting cauliflower, and doing a potato beetle check on the eggplants.

I hadn't planned on going home anyway, so I offered to do the animal chores over the weekend. Otherwise, she would have had to have someone else come in to do it. That seemed kind of silly! Today, after chores, I raided the pizza kitchen for ingredients to make a fabulous veggie-filled omelet. I also have plans to do a little cleaning and organizing, and maybe start a new sewing project. Oh, and if it doesn't rain, I even thought about checking out the Buffalo County Fair which is going on today. Or, maybe I'll just nap this afternoon!!!!

Sunday, when I'm done with afternoon chores, I am going home after all! I get to go along to E's first ultrasound appointment and maybe get a look at the new grand baby-to-be! That is Monday a.m. Afterward, I'll head back here. It's a lot of driving, but I can't pass up the opportunity!

July 27

So hot. So humid. Hard to even think straight.

Got the CSA boxes packed somehow, though! Sweet corn, yellow squash, zucchini, cukes, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, kale and lettuce. It all looks so good! Especially now that we're getting a better variety of colors. Soon we'll be adding reds and purples, too!

After, somehow in the heat, we did some head lettuce transplants and seeded some leaf lettuce. It's supposed to rain tonight, so we wanted to get that stuff in if we could. Leaf lettuce really does not like the hot weather. In our earlier crops we could get 3 or sometimes 4 cuttings from it. The last few we've done we'll only get one before it just wilts in the heat. But, the CSA members love it, and want it. So we plant it, all summer long. When the weather starts to cool, it will be happier out there too, just like us!

Hopefully, it will be cooler tomorrow!

July 26

Today felt good and productive. We harvested carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli and cucumbers. Also weeded some new broccoli rows. They are so happy now!

The broccoli we harvested was the last crop from that row. A task of mine on one of my first few days here was to plant those broccoli seeds. They have germinated, been watered and weeded, grown and been harvested. Now that area is done for the year. This the first--of many, I'm sure--full circles in the field.

Now, she will mow the broccoli row down, then till under the remaining greenery. We'll let that sit for a little while and begin to breakdown. This adds needed organic matter to the soil. Then, we'll plant a cover crop on the area (oats, clover and something called "hairy vetch" are all popular choices) and let that, along with the remains of the broccoli, re-nourish the soil over the fall and winter. In the spring, it will again be tilled and will be ready to plant.

Something other than a "brassica" will be planted there next year. That plant family (including broccoli, cauliflower, mustard seeds, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts, to name a few) are "heavy feeders" meaning they take a lot of nutrients from the soil. The foliage from the plants as well as the cover crop she chooses will help rebuild the soil through the rest of the summer, fall and winter.

Wow. I guess I am learning stuff, huh?!?

July 24

Spending a quiet weekend at the farm.

Thursday was another unexpectedly busy pizza night. Not on the scale of other weeks (we sold 56 pizzas) but it had been pouring rain all day (ended up with 4" total) so we weren't planning on many people. One more set of hands in the kitchen would have been nice (she told one of our helpers that they didn't need to come in because we were so sure it would be slow), but we kept up ok.

Because the pizzas are cooked one at a time, the kitchen only needs to be 1 or 2 pizzas ahead of the oven. In fact, if the dough sits out too long with all the ingredients on it (especially if the kitchen is hot) it gets really "crabby" we like to say. It sticks to the counter and the peel (the big flat spatula that they get moved around with), and is very difficult to work with. I've had to remind myself of all that many times. Just because there's a big stack of orders waiting to be made, as long as we're staying ahead of the oven, it's all good.

During all the rain before Pizza Night, we got a lesson in different preserving methods. We made 2 2-gallon jars of refrigerator pickles (just the pickling cucumbers, dill, garlic and onion, soaked in a brine and stored in the fridge), 10 quarts of spiced peaches (peaches in a simple syrup with ginger and cinnamon) processed in a hot water bath, and 20 quarts of green beans (with a touch of salt, then covered with boiling water) processed with a pressure canner. I've always wanted to do more canning and preserving but I've never had the volume of produce I felt I needed to justify the time.

Friday was a little tough on me. After a full day Thursday (only a couple of short "breaks" between chores at 7:30 a.m. until cleanup was done in the pizza kitchen at 9:00 p.m.) I was so tired. Even getting a little later start didn't help much. And, of course, it was hot and humid and the fields were very muddy. Plus, my weeding buddy, C, left early for the weekend so I was tackling some newer squash plants by myself. H took pity on me, though, and we finished up a little early!

I'm basically being a lazy bum today, which is kinda nice! I've been reading and working on some sewing projects. There may even be a nap in the near future! Just trying to re-charge my batteries so I can face the rest of the squash on Monday!

July 21

Field day, today. Harvested beans (80-some pounds), and squash (can't remember how many....a lot), then lunch, then weeding broccoli. Hot, sweaty and dirty. But great conversations among the plants! Weird, huh?

Tonight for dinner I made ham, steamed broccoli and carrots, and stuffed squash blossoms. They were good! It's the actual flower from the squash plants. I did both zucchini and yellow squash, but they tasted the same. I stuffed them with ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, an egg yolk, and just a touch of salt. Then, dipped the blossom into a batter of flour, water and more Parmesan and fried them. Ooh la la!!! I had a tomato sauce along side to dip them in, but it was a little over-powering for the subtle taste of the blossoms. They tasted good together, but the blossoms by themselves were good, too.

Big news for the farm: Midwest Living Magazine will be coming out on Pizza Night next week to do a story!!!! Lots of little maintenance/beautification projects just got bumped to the top of the to-do list!!! Not sure how they heard of the farm, but we're all excited! Just need to make sure we're showered before the photographer gets here!!!

July 20

Wow. Is it really July 20th? That is so hard to believe.

Anyway, today, like the last 7 Tuesdays (also hard to believe!) was CSA packing day. We were able to do quite a bit of the harvesting earlier, so it went pretty quickly considering what was packed in the boxes.

Zucchini, yellow squash, kale, green beans, carrots, lettuce, cukes (for the full-shares only this week), broccoli, and the surprise star of the box....SWEET CORN!!!! (It was a surprise because she didn't realize there was so much ready to pick. Her dad came over with a sample cooler-full--right before lunch....gee, what are we going to do with that!?!?!?--and said he'd help harvest it if she wanted it today.)

It all looked so beautiful and delicious!

The boxes that get picked up in the town of Alma were brought to their site today. The rest will go tomorrow to the towns of Fountain City, Trempeleau, Holmen and Winona.

There was just so much food. It blows my mind a little. 66 lbs each of carrots, green beans and broccoli, 68 large handful-sized bunches of kale, 294 ears of corn, 176 each of  yellow squash and zucchini, and almost 40 pounds of leaf lettuce. Can you imagine 40 pounds of leaf lettuce looks like? Or 300 ears of corn?

We are having a stir-fry tonight for dinner. Can't wait to see what "leftovers" make into the pan!!!

July 19

Time flies, eh?

Pizza on Thursday was good. 90+ pies sold! I'm having trouble remembering exactly what we did on Friday. I know there was winter squash involved, and lots & lots of tall, stubborn weeds. Sigh. Ah, yes. It's coming back to me now....

Went home for the weekend--maybe my last road trip until August 6th?!?! Yikes. Always anxious to get out at a decent time on Fridays, so no time to blog. 

Today, it was back to the winter squash. It is all very happy now, and with the biggest of the weeds gone, it will hold its own against anything new just fine. We also got a jump on tomorrow's CSA tasks by harvesting the carrots we'll need. We dug up 112 lbs, actually, which I think is a little more than we'll need. Instead of washing them with just the sprayer on the hose, on a plastic table (which got a soaking wet) we laid the carrots out on a big screen stapled to a wooden frame and washed them with the pressure washer! Took about 1/4 of the time with very minimal splashing! It was awesome!

Thanks for following along, everyone! I love you all!

July 14

Last night I went to a "field day" through an organization H belongs to called Land Stewardship Project. Their goals include helping small-scale farmers with just about every aspect of their business. They hold "Farm Beginnings" classes every year, support political initiatives that assist farmers and, among many other things, promote and organize these "field days" at different farms around the region for people interested in a particular topic. I was at one earlier this summer that discussed soil fertility. Last nights was at a farm that has a CSA with 130 members and they showed us around their farm and some of their processes for filling those orders. It was very interesting to see their set-up.

Another hot and muggy day. A brief storm blew through, but didn't change the pattern. More of the same for the rest of the week, I guess. 

Today, we finished up the first harvest of the green beans (it was started Monday for the CSA boxes) and we finished up the garlic (pulled the rest of the plants, tied them in bundles of 10 or so, and tied the bundles in the barn to dry out). Grand total on the garlic...over 800 bulbs.

We also did some more weeding (strawberries today) and started some prep for Pizza tomorrow before the weather got the best of us. 

Can't help but wonder what the count will be this week for Pizza Night!!!

July 12

I arrived here three months ago. Hard to believe!

Today was a harvesting day. I suspect that as time goes on there will be more of them than planting days that filled April, May and June. I love seeing it come to fruition. I go out into the field on Tuesdays, when we pack the CSA boxes and I remember planting seeds or seedlings, and I think, Oh, my gosh! Someone is going to be eating this with their dinner! It's a wonderful, fulfilling feeling.

I can't even describe it.

July 11

Hi, everyone. Catch up day again, I guess!

The 8th was Pizza Night. Another 100+ night, can you believe it? All she can go by, as far as predicting the numbers, is the notes she has from last year. The Thursday after 4th of July weekend in '09 was 75º and sunny, no live music and there were 40 pizzas sold. This year was 82º and sunny, no live music and we did 112 pizzas. Go figure. We, of course, were totally unprepared. She has averaged a 30% increase from one year to the next, and there was a private party here on Friday, so we thought we had enough dough prepared at 88 pizza's worth. Not so much. We had to make two more batches of dough. She had her dad cover for her at the oven while she made the first batch, but for the second batch, she had me do it! Yikes! I did it, though, and the dough turned out fine. Maybe a little stiff, but, not too bad. Another skill learned!

Friday the 9th was a "challenging" day for me. It was very hot and muggy. C and I agreed to help her with the private party on Friday night, and we were hoping to finish up a little early so we could clean up and have a little break before the party. We got involved in harvesting the garlic, though, and ended up barely having time to shower. The party went well, though. Very different from a regular Pizza Night. The price of "renting" the place for a party includes 10 pizzas. So, we just cranked them out and gave them a chance to eat. When they started slowing down, she asked if they'd want more. They ordered 3 more, and we did those, then did clean up. C and I were done by 7:00.

I got to run the tiller on Friday, too. That was a little scary at first, a big, ornery machine that doesn't care if it's grinding up dirt or your foot, but once I started getting a hang of it's quirks, I think I was doing ok. The garlic was a good thing to learn about, too. Something I've been waiting for, since last fall we planted beautiful organic garlic in our yard, too. The tips have turned brown and started drying out. That's the main clue that it's ready. It can be used now, but it's considered "fresh" and has a shelf life similar to green onions, in the fridge. Most of it (like the stuff you get in the store) is going to be dried. We tied the garlic together (with about 10"-12" of green stalks still attached) in bunches of a dozen or so. Then, the bunches were tied to some rafters in the barn to dry. On Friday, we started working on the garlic after lunch. We got one partial row harvested, trimmed, and brought into the barn. Then, we got about 1/3 of those tied and hung to dry. We need to get the rest tied up ASAP, so they don't get moldy or rotten before they can dry.


Yesterday, I went to H's folks' house and did about 4 hours work for them, for a little extra money. They just finished building a new house, and have lots of little jobs to do. I helped wash the windows, then we worked on putting up a new electric fence around the corn. Saturday afternoon, C and I did a road trip into Winona. I hit "The Cinderella Shoppe," a fabric store with more John Deere material than you'd ever think possible. Got myself some new projects to work on.... Yeah, I needed that! Then, we had dinner and watched a movie together. A nice little girls night.

Today is a little more relaxing. Slept in until 7:15 -- that was a first for here, but it's cloudy and the sun didn't shine in the window at me! Had a nice bacon & egg breakfast and caught up on some emails. Plan on spending most of the afternoon finishing a book and sewing.

Love to all, and more soon!

Oh, I've got some new pictures on Facebook. For those that don't have access, here's a link:

Farm Internship Album

July 7

If you can't say anything nice (about the weather) don't say anything at all, right?

We finally finished the trellises on the tomatoes! Woo hoo! So glad that's done (and I think they are too!) We also moved the Working Girls to some new grass. They seem to be reaching the end of their laying-years. When I arrived here, they were laying about 2 dozen eggs a day. Now they are down to less than a dozen. The barn girls are taking up the slack though. (It was planned that way!) The new eggs are a little undersized, but they're getting there. Plus, we're putting a little marketing spin on the little ones, calling them Squeakers ("the girls are so new at laying eggs, they have to "squeak" them out!") and they're selling like crazy on Pizza Night. Go figure.

We also did a potato-beetle check on the eggplants (a ton of immature bugs--get 'em before they can multiply!!!), and did a little deep cleaning in the pizza kitchen.

The best part of the day, I have to admit, was the cool shower at the end of it.

Oh, then I went to Wine & Women Wednesday at Danzinger Vineyard. It was fun, but I got there too late for most of the food! Still a really great atmosphere, and got a little tour of the wine making facilities. The wine maker seemed like a really fun guy!

July 6

I got off pretty easy today--not too much time in the heat and humidity.

This morning was packing day for the CSA's. Luckily, I was in the barn for most of it, washing kale, kohlrabi, chard and napa cabbage (in very cold well water up to my elbows!), then filling boxes.

Lunch in the air conditioned house.

There was a couple of hours of misery moving the meat birds to some new grass. We closed them into their shelter, and I moved the fence. Because they're still kinda stupid and they won't just follow us, the grain, or even each other around, we had to catch them all and put them in crates. Move the crates out of the shelter, move the shelter into the newly fenced area, then bring them back into their new space. (Speaking of stupid, some of them had to be physically removed from the crates...)

We were going to move the Working Girls, too, but the belt broke on the lawn mower.

While H and C worked on the mower, I somehow got lucky enough to move into the house to work on updating the newsletter for the CSA members. I listed out what is coming in their boxes, and inserted recipes for most of the veggies. (H had already picked out the recipes.) Before I knew it, it was the end of the day.

I was still really dirty-feeling even though I was really only out in the sun for a few hours.

I think I sent most of you the link to the Winona Daily News article about the farm. The big news is that #1 the article appeared on the FRONT PAGE of the hard-copy paper, and #2 there was a picture of C and I weeding right under the headline! (Our pic was even bigger than the one of H?!?! What's up with that???) The bad part is that the silly reporter wrote, next to the pic of C (age 21) and me, "Young and Middle Aged Going Back to the Land."

Middle Aged?!? Excuse me?!?! Ha ha!

CSA boxes, week 5: Kale, napa cabbage, kohlrabi, green onions, garlic scapes, and the full-sized shares got a few small summer squash. (Can't believe it's week 5 already.)

July 5

Today was tomato day. We spend pretty much the whole day putting more trellises up for the (hundreds) of plants we put in May 18 & 19.

She's trying a new support system for some of them. It's called a "California weave". We put in large metal stakes, about 16' apart. Toward the bottom of stake #1 we tied twine, then weaved it back and forth around all the plants up to stake #2, then, around stake #2 and back around each plant on the other side, creating a figure-8 pattern. Because the plants have been in the ground so long, we were ready for the second step in supporting them: attaching more twine up about 8"-10" from the first. This one isn't weaved around the plant, but just circles them between the stakes. We will continue to watch their growth and add more circles of twine as they get bigger.

In a perfect world, shortly after they had been planted, the neighbor would have come over and made hay from her back field. This would have been spread as mulch under them by the neighbor, just driving down the rows. Then we would have put up the trellis before they got very big.

You may have noticed, though, that the world is not perfect. Since she is mostly bartering for the neighbor's haying services, her field has been low on his list of fields. Now, even though he's been able to do it for a couple weeks, the timing on the rain here has been off and he can't do it. In the meantime, the tomatoes are just doing what nature intended: Growing. Because we waited so long for the trellis, the plants are already going a little crazy and aren't too keen on being tied up in "strange" positions! The stakes and twine are up now, which is good, but when we do get some mulch for the tomatoes it will have to be hand-shoveled in the rows.

Overall they look good, we got a lot of weeds out of the rows, too, and they will be happier with a little breathing room. (And, I think between the 3 of us, there's a couple dozen fewer potato beetles chowing on the poor leaves.)

We saw quite a few fruits on the plants, too! That was exciting!

July 3

Didn't realize I was this far behind!

Tuesday was CSA packing day. This was the fullest box we've had so far. Green onion, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, beets, kale, napa cabbage and leaf lettuce, and some peas. Still lots of green-colored stuff. It's strange, but all the more colorful veggies (well, except for the beets) will come later in the season. After packing the boxes, we had a little more time to weed before calling it a day.

Wednesday was more field work. The morning was spent at H's dad's property, weeding the sweet corn that is there for the CSA boxes. I know she's told me WHY it's planted at her dad's, but I can't remember! We got about 3/4 of the rows weeded before lunch. Guess what will be on the schedule for next week?!?! After the corn, we did more weeding at the farm. Also, started some of the mowing to prepare for Pizza on Thursday.


Pizza Night on the 1st was a record-breaker! 142 pizzas. Phew! We did really well. We had plenty of help and things ran very smoothly. It was a long night, though! The yard areas were packed with people. There was live music, too. I think that attracted a lot of people, and kept them at the farm longer. (Good for sales of beverages, which is new this year.)


















Friday was a late-start day (finished with clean up on Thursday about 10:00), and because of the holiday weekend, an early-finish day. H had plans to go to the river camping with family, but I know she really wanted to stay home and work. Some people almost have to be forced to relax!

J actually rode his bike down on Friday! Then, happily rode back home in the truck. It's good to see him and the dogs again for the weekend, and to reconnect with other family and friends.

P.S. Anyone want a rooster? This fella was actually chasing H's little boy around the yard trying to peck and claw at him. Scared Ethan pretty bad! The rooster is headed for Craig's List now!!!

June 28

After a good weekend home, a new week starts on the farm. Storms came through here Friday and Saturday, as well. Lots of rain, but minimal damage. And, no chicken casualties! Yay! I was almost afraid to ask when I came back!

Today was weeding and seeding again. Seems like the mantra these days. Hard to keep up with both. We also worked on a trellis system, of sorts, for all the tomatoes we planted a few weeks ago. Metal stakes driven into the ground, "cow panels" (large 4' x 8' panels of crossed metal rods) tied in place, and the plants tied to that. We got one row done (took 3 of us all afternoon) and realized we'll run short of petal posts. Something different will have to be done for some of the remaining rows.

Today was also H's birthday. Her folks came over, and we all had I nice chicken dinner together. A good end to the day.

June 23

Better day today. Better weather, some inside activities mixed with outside activities, got to drive "into town" and get a cell signal to talk to my honey, etc!!!

The weather looks great for Pizza Night tomorrow, so that should be busy. Busy is always better than bored!

Cranky mood yesterday was just a blip on the radar. No worries, right?!?

June 22

A couple rough days for me.

Monday should have been a recovery day after a wedding and lots of family fun, but instead, I was on the road at 5:50 a.m. on my way back to the farm.

After lots and lots of weeding, we did lots and lots of planting. After dinner, and a short bit of reading, I hit the sack early.

Today started better, as it should after nine hours of sleep! Tuesday is CSA packing day. All the produce gets harvested, cleaned, portioned out and boxed up for delivery tomorrow. Green onions (10 for full-size shares, 5 for half-size), radishes (2 bunches/1 bunch), garlic scapes (4/2), salad greens (12 oz/6 oz), kale (2 handfuls/1 handful), turnips (1-1/2 lbs/3/4 lbs.) and their greens (2 large bunches/1 large bunch), and peas to the full-size shares only (about 1-1/4 lbs.). There are 18 full size shares and 50 half-shares.

All that went well, but just as the temps started soaring, we were back out in the field putting seedlings out before more rain comes tonight. Making myself do things like that will be the hardest for me, when I am doing this for ourselves. I can feel the sun beating down on the back of my neck, despite my straw hat. I've long since given up trying to figure out if that tickling down my spine is sweat running down, or a bug crawling on me. There's clumps of dirt and rock in my shoes. The dirt is too dry and hard to kneel on, so I'm bending over and over and over to plant these little buggers. Or, you squat down, plant the three you can reach, get up, move two feet, squat down, plant the three you can reach. The gnats are incessant. The water in my bottle is hot, even though I refilled it right before we came out. I keep asking myself if I'll get used to it by the time August comes.

Hopefully the motivation will come to me even when I know I've already got 2 rows of broccoli growing like gangbusters, but I want another succession of it.

June 18

Terrible night last night.

At the end of pizza night a bad thunderstorm came through here. When the winds kicked up, we think they blew the little meat birds' shelter around. None of them looked like they'd been hit by it, but we think it scared them out of the shelter (understandably!). It sometimes takes chickens a while to figure out how to protect themselves from the weather, and these little guys were pretty young, and very new to the big bad world outside. Plus, if they HAD seen the shelter as, well, shelter, that thought had been scared out of them.

We lost over 70 of them.

H thinks some of them actually drown in the rain. The rest probably had some kind of heart-attack. There was no evidence of any kind of predator. Most of them didn't have any visible wounds and the ones that did were most likely from after they'd died.

It was a horrible thing to see, and has put a bad vibe on the whole day. A couple days at home in the middle of friends, family and parties will feel good.

June 17

Beautiful weather today! Started out kinda cloudy and cool, but when the sun came out, it warmed up quickly. C is from Florida, so this was finally feeling warm to her. Me? Well, the Minnesotan in me thought it was getting up there towards hot sometimes... !

The first part of the morning was weeding some of the bulb onions. (As opposed to the green onions.) After that, we loaded the 2nd batch of meat chickens into crates and moved them to a space outside in the grass. They are very happy now;  lots of bugs and weeds to peck at. They arrived on May 19, and most of them now have all their "real" feathers that can withstand the elements. We've got a couple of days with no rain predicted, so this is a good time to get them outside and acclimated a little before they have to deal with bad weather. We also moved the "working girls" to a new section of grass. The recent rain and the fact that they've been in the same spot for a little over a week made their area pretty muddy.

After lunch there was a little more weeding, then, while I was mowing the expansive yard, C got the unpleasant task of "mucking" out the meat birds' room in the barn. Definitely the worst part about chickens. The room will be sprayed down with water, then disinfected in preparation for the baby turkeys that are coming next month! (I guess there's a disease that chickens can pass to turkeys--but not vice versa--that we need to make sure is not present in the room.)

I posted a couple more pictures on Facebook. Here's the link if needed:

Farm Pics

June 15

Oh the pressure of knowing people read this!!! Ha ha!

Today, we got the CSA boxes put together. I think I went through the gory details yesterday, but we got the rest of the contents harvested, cleaned, measured out and boxed up. It all went SO smoothly! We were so happy!

Some of the boxes are delivered on Tues, so that fell to yours truly. Just into Alma, about 20 min away. (I can get a cell signal in Alma, so I sneaked in a call to my sweetie, too!!!)

Directing the helpers, overseeing the quality/quantity of the boxes, upholding the farm's reputation, delivering to places unknown.... I spent most of the day outside my comfort zone (at some points I couldn't even SEE my comfort zone), and I lived to tell about it!

Yay for me!

June 14

Today was a harvesting day, despite the virtually constant drizzle/rain. Tomorrow we pack the boxes for the CSA's and we need to do some of it today. Of course, everything is better the later it's harvested, but if you're careful about the way you do it, some things can be picked a little ahead. There's only so many hours in a CSA day, anyway!

We harvested leaf lettuce and sugar snap peas today. We cut the lettuce and collect them into a mesh laundry bag, filling it only about 1/2 way so the greens have plenty of room in there to move around. The warmer it is outside, the faster you have to move. (Today, heat was not a problem.) If it is hot, the lettuce will wilt pretty quickly, and there's no recovery from that. We bring the bags into the barn, and submerge 2-3 of them at a time into cold water in an old steel water trough. It's about 2' wide, 4' long and 3' deep. We swish the bags around to get the dirt off, then, spin the bags in an old washing machine. Seriously. It's like a giant salad spinner. And, it was free from a recycling center. The old owner got rid of it because it was leaking, but we just need the spin cycle to work! After spinning, the lettuce is dumped from the bags onto a towel-lined (very large!) table. There, we fluff it, and sort it, checking for weeds, or other things you wouldn't want to see in your salad. Then it's bagged and weighed. Today, we cut 10 laundry bags, which got us 18 bags at 12 oz each for the full-size shares, 51 bag at 6 oz each for the half-size shares, and 4 bags at 8 oz each for the people that order "extra salad" a la carte. There are 73 bags of salad greens in the walk-in cooler waiting to be put in their CSA boxes tomorrow morning!

Then, we moved onto the peas. She tried something new this year: She planted oats along with the peas. (Forgive me, there's a term for that kind of planting, but I've forgotten it. Overplanting, maybe?) Anyway, the oats grow faster than the peas, so by the time the peas are starting to reach for the sun, lo and behold, there is something right there for them to climb up...an oat plant! The oats seemed pretty thick to me, it was hard to walk through the "rows" of peas, but the peas were really clinging onto and climbing up the oats! They didn't seem to mind having someone else in their "bed" with them! And, with the oats kind of thick in there, there were virtually no weeds. It was just the oats and the pea plants. This bed was already planted when I got here, so I'm not sure about which was planted first, or if it was at the same time. Certainly saved a lot of trouble supporting the peas, or having them just laying on the ground.

We also counted out more of the garlic scapes we'd pulled last week. (4 each for the full shares, 2 each for the half shares.)

Tomorrow, we have to helpers coming. We'll need to harvest green onions (10 ea /5 ea), spinach (2 bunches/1 bunch) and bok choy (4 bunches/2 bunches). The members will also get radishes (2 bunches/1 bunch) but they came from a different farm. Someone she knows, and farms with the same philosophies that she does (low or no spraying of pesticides/herbicides, with an emphasis on maintaining and improving the quality of the soil whenever possible, etc.). There are also 21 members that will be getting a dozen eggs this week.

And, dang it, it's could rain all day tomorrow too! Oh well. Makes me appreciate a nice hot shower at the end of the day!!!

June 13

A quiet, at-the-farm weekend for me. Cynthia has been terribly lonesome, so she went to see her boyfriend and his family in Isanti. I've been helping a friend with a craft project for her son's grad party, and doing some other sewing and things like that. Watched a movie last night, and took lots of pictures around the farm today.

Added some pictures to the album I have on Facebook, if anyone wants to see them, here.

Tomorrow and Tues, H will be gone at a conference, so I will be "in charge" of the CSA packing day on Tuesday. C will be here, of course, and we have a helper coming in for an a.m. shift Tues, and another one for a p.m. shift. I've got the list of what will go in each box, and a plan of when to harvest each item. Some of the boxes will then get delivered to one of the drop off sites Tues afternoon. (The rest, H will deliver on Wed.) I've done this twice already, C's done it once and our a.m. helper was here last week, too, so between us we should be ok! Still a little stressful for me. Just have to follow my list and remember to breathe.

The weather radar shows a huge green blob headed our way, so it might be time to hunker back down in my room to finish up some of my projects!