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.