snippets

Franken Hoops

2012-03-09T16:19:00.001-06:00

Spring in Central Illinois, in my experience, always has seemed windy. This year is no exception. A couple of days ago we experienced severe winds...like REALLY severe! One building was rocking so bad I thought it would go over at any second. Glad it didn't! The cow hut was flipped over so we moved them to the pasture where the pigs are...not to the delight of the pigs.

Then there is the problem with plastic over the hoophouses. Our plantings in our hoops are doing pretty good right now. We harvested red mustard, arugula, cress, and some lettuce in them this week. Radishes and cilantro are springing up, as well as the fennel and some spinach. In another two weeks we expect to have some green garlic ready. We certainly don't want to lose it all due to the plastic giving way.

But, Thursday morning we went out and saw huge rips on the roofs of the hoops. The rips went up the plastic at each metal rib and the east hoop's east side was a disaster. (Thankfully the west hoop only had two rips.) We scoured the buildings and came up with some spare plastic and started to do some quick repairs while we wait for a call back from the plastic company.

Here you can see one section kind of flapping around and the metal ribs sticking thru the other sections.

Here's two of the three (I'm the third) of the repair crew. Can you tell they are patiently waiting me to stop with the photos already? We used a piece of plastic and fit it between the ribs and the original plastic piece. Then we stapled and taped on the inside to hold it in place. The guys (while I weeded cilantro) put Gorilla tape on the outside at each rib also to hold the ripped pieces to the new plastic (I was too short to help so I just stayed close to the ground inside where it was 70 degrees).

That is how we ended up with this Frankenstein looking hoophouse. Looks like it has sutures or something. Weird, but works for now. Hope we don't get anymore wind!

Augh! Computers!

2012-03-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

This is obviously NOT a good computer day here at the farm! I've had to restart mine three times, been kicked off, restart again, it stole my homepage and I had to reset that, and it won't let me go where I need to!! So...if all of a sudden I disappear - you know why!
I'll try to keep it short and sweet...or salty...depending on the pics.

Here's the smoke house that we smoked the hams in...

They turned out a little salty - okay the bacon is WAY salty for me. But, Marty assured me he can fix that. I haven't had any strips of bacon with my eggs yet tho. Not sure about the ham yet. The smoking went really well tho. The guys smoked them for two days and the smell and flavor of it is great.

Ducks are loving the spring weather...

Chickens are roaming far and wide into the fields to get the worms. Suzy the Sussex and Della the Delaware are really out there far. Then, of course, they convince Top Top to go out too. She is the goofy looking one with the white top hat hair do that can't see anything. I worry about her getting scarfed up by the hawks. So far she's still with us.

Syrup season is closing down. We boiled all the sap we had left yesterday. Today, since it is warmer again, we'll check the buckets one last time and try to get another two gallons before shutting down completely. Our year was really patchy - cold, hot, cold, hot - so we got less syrup this year. We are at 30 gallons right now on the chart. Last year we had 53. Each year is different and we never know what to expect. But, that is farming!

After we boil the rest down we will go thru the clean up process, washing buckets and lids and taps, cleaning up the evaporator (no small feat), washing the floors, and putting everything away for the next season so the mice don't get into it.

In the growing room in the basement - wow! Stuff is really tall and gangly this year. We are trying to figure out why. The peppers are looking good. We will start seedlings of tomatoes, eggplant, and other fruiting plants next week (14th) which is an ideal day on the calendar for it.

This next couple of warm days I'll be cleaning out the "south greenhouse" and repairing the plastic...

then I will move the colder loving plants from the basement into it on the shelves across the back wall. These will include the kale, brussel sprouts, and bok choi. When the bok choi are big enough I'll plant them in the ground in that same greenhouse (actually it's a hoophouse as it has no heat added to it). We lost our bok choi that were planted into the big hoophouses, not sure what happened but might've been that cold snap last week.

Spring work is also starting. We planted onions last Wednesday in the field - 500 feet. Will has been checking the wheat field, waiting for a dry stretch so he can till. We are fixing tractors in anticipation of using them soon. And, building work is beginning now that the weather is getting warmer (I love that job!).

We have heard the news about bad tornadoes in southern IL, IN, KY, TN, AL. Wow. Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost so much.

Oh well for short and sweet...

Recipes for curing Pea

2012-02-24T16:21:00.000-06:00

Okay...here are the recipes we used to cure the hams, bacon, etc.

From the book "The River Cottage Cookbook" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Pea Bacon (Sorry it's all in Engle-measure)
1 kg sea salt (non-iodized), 100 g brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper.

   Mix all together then rub into the slabs of bacon with your hands. Rub into all the surfacs with your fingers (wear gloves if you have any cuts on your hands or eyaw!). We put all the pieces into a clean 5 gallon bucket, stacked on top of each other, then the lid on. We put the bucket in the basement.
   Every day Marty would take the pieces out, drain out the salty liquid in the buckets, rub more salt mix into them, and then restack them in the bucket with the bottom ones on top and the top ones on the bottom.
   He did that for five days. Then he took them out, rinsed them very well under water to get the saltiness out, then put them into pillow cases and placed them on the porch to dry.
   Now that they are dry he plans to put a couple in the freezer and then smoke a couple over a very cold smokey fire in our little smoke house.

Hams and shoulders (recipe 1)
   We put together a mix for a "basic brine". It was 2 kg sea salt and 6 litres of water. (We leave out the saltpetre as they said it was optional.) Brought it to a boil on the stove then we cooled it thoroughly.
   We put the meat into another 5 gallon bucket (we have tons of these great buckets thanks to our friend Tom from White Oak Gourmet - thanks Tom!). We added the brine, put a dinner plate over the ham and a brick inside a plastic bag on the plate to keep the ham under the brine, and then put the lid on the bucket.
   Then we put it into our walk in cooler (38 degrees) for ten days. It was figured at ten days because of the weight. Our meat was 3 kilos and it was to be three days for every kilo.
   Tomorrow Marty will take the piece out of the brine, dry it as much as possible with a cotton cloth, and hang it to dry further for 24 hours. He plans to smoke that one also.

(recipe 2)
   This one is called the Suffolk cure. (we left out the beer as we didn't have any on hand)
2 litres of beer if you have it, 2 litres of malt vinegar (we added a little maple syrup vinegar as we didn't have enough malt vinegar. We make the maple syrup vinegar ourselves...not sure where you would buy it), 1.5 kg of sea salt (non-iodized), 25 g peppercorns, 25 g cloves, and 1 kg brown sugar. Left out the saltpetre again.

   This brine was also brought up to boil, then cooled. The meat was also put into another 5 gallon bucket, brine poured over, plate etc. to weight it down, lid on, in walk in cooler for 10 days.
   Marty will smoke this one tomorrow also.

Whew! My job was the easiest. I just measured the stuff and boiled it. So I'm wishing Marty luck on the smoking part. After smoking the pieces, we'll hang the pieces in the basement to cure (in the pillow cases).
Then we'll have Chef Chris help us out by taking a look a them and determining if they are edible. I sure hope so after all that work and time curing. They could take as short as a couple of months and as long as a year to cure.

All I can say is...don't try this at home! or if you do then find someone who knows what they are doing to give advice. And don't plan on asking me any questions about it! I'm just the guinea pig (no pun Pea) who gets to eat it when it is done.

Pea Chops

2012-02-20T18:07:00.003-06:00

I love my pigs. They are cute, happy, efficient foragers, fun, look like black hamsters when born, act like dogs when grown, and give me kisses (the big boys anyway). But, they still are livestock. And, according to my rules, I don’t name the ones that get butchered.

Unfortunately, sometimes one that is named will have health issues and need to be “put down” as pet owners call it. And, as they are PIGS…”put down” means butchered and put in the freezer. Sorry folks, but that is farm life.

When Pea got to where her bowed back legs were just too painful and she wasn’t even wanting to stand up, we had to make the decision to take her in to the Chenoa Meat Locker. They butchered her for us, scalded her black hairs off, and sent her home. I had a hard time looking at the head…really hard time. But, the body is just meat now and we had to figure out what to do with it. Cure it? Freeze it? Hm.

Last Wednesday was to be a visit with our great friend and chef, Chris Pandel. He is the chef and one of the owners of the restaurants The Bristol (www.thebristolchicago.com) and of Balena (www.balenachicago.com). His food is fannn-tasss-tic! Check out the websites and these two Chicago restaurants…Balena is to open soon. But, unfortunately Chris couldn’t make it on ham day. So…we forged ahead (no pun intended Pea) anyway. We’ll get his take on how we did next time he comes down for a visit and see if we did everything okay.

So...

Here’s the meat…

Here’s the resident chef all ready to go…

Here’s the reference books…

Will helped Marty break the carcass down into pieces...hams (back butt), shoulders, loins (upper back section), and belly. We used a picture so we knew where to cut. It also helps that Will works at the locker in the winter.

The belly was for making our bacon. Four pieces were salted with a mix of non-iodized salt and spices, all was rubbed into the meat. Then they were put into a white 5 gallon bucket and placed in the basement. Each day Marty would drain off the liquid and re-salt them. He would restack them so the bottom two were on top. Did this for five days.

He'll rinse the salt all off, then dry it for a couple of days. We hung it in a pillow case to dry. And, then we will use some (yum) or smoke it over a very cool smoky fire for a day and then store it. We will smoke a couple of the pieces and put the rest in the freezer.

We packaged up the cute little Pea Chops into bags and froze them, as well as some loin cuts.

One shoulder was cut up into chunks to make sausage. We chopped up meat chunks and then fatty chunks, mixing it half and half as we put it thru Grandma Hazel's old grinder.

We were VERY careful not to get our fingers in!
Check back for the next blog and I'll include the recipes we used for the brines and spice/salt mixes for the hams. I'll also include the sausage spice mix - it turned out wonderful!

Mr. Vole...new farm employee

2012-02-17T15:03:00.000-06:00

This is Mr. Vole (at least I think he is a vole…it’s hard to hear what he says. Maybe he is a shrew). He made his way into the washtub in the basement and didn’t make it back out. So, I hired him. We always need a helping hand, even if the hand is about 2 millimeters long.

I started him out with the basics –

Syrup sales.

Then we moved on to taking care of the cacti garden.

He was a great assistant for helping me glue up some fabric

And for arranging my next quilt project. He has no eye for color…well, he can’t see now can he?

He tried his hand at emailing the order info for the week. He doesn’t like using the mouse tho.

And, you never know who you will reach when you call the farm.

As we became better friends I learned more about this handsome guy.

During his time off he enjoys reading,

Sunbathing,

Hanging out in nature,

Volunteering for great non-profit organizations like Spence Farm Foundation,

And taking dancing lessons.

And he likes cats…and thankfully Petie liked him too (kisses).

So, I guess I’ll keep him on for a while. At least until he begins to smell.

The New Old Tractor

2012-02-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

We got one of the best Christmas presents ever this year from our friend Rich Aberle. He asked us if he could restore the Allis Chalmers D-15 tractor. Wow! Such a generous offer not only left us speechless, but also dumb founded. We didn’t know what to say…so we said yes.

She sure could use some help.

A few years ago our neighbors, Wally and Dorothy Alpers, asked us if we were interested in purchasing the D-15 from them. It had a pull behind mower and was heavy duty enough that it would really help us with the field work. Wally said he would like to see it be used again in the fields. So, we asked an Allis Chalmers expert (Doc Smith) to take a look and tell us what he thought. He said it was in fair condition and gave us a suggested price to offer. We bought her and brought her home to Spence Farm and she has been a life-saver with the tilling and planting ever since. (Thanks Wally and Dorothy!)

But she was looking pretty tough…she is 51 years old after all…

So, in January she was sent in to Fairbury to Ben Meister and Adam Roberts. They worked on her for a few weeks and did a great job.

Will took some pictures of her when she was all broke up into the skeleton pieces as they worked on fixing her innards (she needed some work to keep her oils in) and painting her (they even got all new Allis stickers for her). Unfortunately we can’t figure out how to get the pics off his phone so you can see them. But, when she came home…WOW!

It is almost scary to use her! We keep telling each other – “watch out for that stick!”, “Don’t bump that tree!”, “for cryin’ out loud! Don’t scrape the paint!”, “you’re gettin’ her durty!”

She is soooo purrty! And she runs great now...no leaks.

But, there is only one minor flaw…I have to get the guys to put the little steering wheel wheely thingy back on so I can swing her around the corners easier. (That is truly MINOR to them.)

We are so happy with her. She’s beee-youuu-tee-ful!

Thank you so much Rich for this wonderful present!!!

Sprouts & Pea

2012-02-09T09:27:00.000-06:00

Remember those pepper seeds I wrote about...putting them on damp paper towels on the warm radiators to sprout? Well...

They sprouted! I planted them on a "fruit" day according to the biodynamic calendar and yesterday I planted them into the soil on another "fruit" day. These guys are just coming out of the seed. Cool!

This is my method...the finger method. I just put a hole in the soil with my finger and drop the seed in and then cover it, water it, put the lid on, place it under the lights. Not much to it.

I have to say that sometimes I'm really glad we aren't a huge producer. Oh yeah, we could use the extra income and it would be great to feel like we are really packed with tons of produce all the time, to look out over the farm and have it chock full of greens all the time. To see thousands of seedlings packed into tiny spaces. To have everything that everyone wants, all the time.

But, I also don't have to use the gadgets. I don't have a metal soil block maker, a seed-drop-in-the-holer thingy, and don't have to transplant four times. We use the bigger cells so we only have to transplant once. We learned from experience of planting into tiny cells and then transplanting that it just set us back too much in our growing time. And, with only us three we chose plants that didn't need started inside so much, saving on space and electricity and time.

We also don't do farmers markets where we have to have tons of produce in piles. We don't grow a lot of greens that are in thick blocks of rows. And, we have a lot to learn. TONS. So...maybe someday we will be able to have a unique system for blocking soil, dropping seeds, etc. Maybe our desire to try to do it all will override my desire to enjoy digging in the soil.

And...maybe someday we will have other people to do all that. I personally like digging my finger into the soil, dropping the tiny seeds in by hand so I can pump all my love and good energy into them. I like talking to them, taking my time, knowing that I don't have thousands upon thousands of transplants to do later. My simple methods might sound kinda whimsical - how will I ever be a big business if I keep doing it the small way? Guess it comes down to my quality of life - this is quality to me...not quantity. So...

Did you know that the seed casing sometimes stays attached to the plant leaf as it sprouts? Maybe you've seen this. It meant that when I had a bunch of really leafy seeds sprouting I had to be careful to drop the right end into the soil!

These were a little further along than I like. But they will do fine. Serrano peppers!
I love doing this...planting the seedlings. My allergies kick in and my nose gets clogged, my eyes get itchy, and I have to take a break every so often to breath (all from the soil molds and dust), but I still enjoy it. I'm glad I only do this once a year tho.

We have a friend farmer named Alma Augsburger of North Avoca Farm. She grows quite a few pounds of pea shoots and tendrils for restaurants every week. She amazes me cuz she grows these all year long in flats under her grow lights. Her growing area must be like a little jungle in the winter. Very impressive!

Animal news...we had to take our piggy Pea to the butcher. She had bad back legs, bowed, and as she grew they got worse and worse. She got where she looked miserable and laid around a lot...not good. I'm thankful to her for her life and for the food she will give us, wish she hadn't had leg problems and could've stayed around.
The ducks have figured out the water tank for the cows. They reach their heads up over the sides to slurp up the water. And, they are shy about it! I see them from far away, but whenever I get closer to take pic, they quit doing it.
The little roosters aren't chasing me as bad as they were. I have a new strategy. Used to be we would chase them back. Then Marty accidentally caught one in a bucket, swung it around, and now it leaves him alone whenever he has a bucket in hand. For me...well, I turn around and face the little bugger. I quietly ask him if he is thinking. "Are you sure you want to do that? Are you thinking that is a good idea? Are you sure you wouldn't rather think some more about what you are going to do? Think hard now. It might not be a good idea." Strange...but he turns and walks away. Hm. Peaceful, calm, direct, sincere...works.

Have a peaceful, sunny day!

An Early Syrup Season

2012-02-06T15:48:00.000-06:00

The last couple of days have been foggy and it has attached itself to the trees and plants. Lovely.

Syrup season is underway, a whole week under our belts. The first week is really hard. We are excited to start, but aren’t used to the physical work after sitting on our butts in the warmth for a couple of months. How physical is it, you ask? Well…

There’s tapping trees…and thanks to the Prairie Central high school agriculture classes, Will only had to tap about 50. Last year we tapped 322. This year we decided to get wise and only tap 150 to see if we wouldn’t have so much wasted by it flowing over on the really heavy running days. So, far it is working out.

Then there is the collecting the sap. Once again, we’ve had help from the teens at the school (they are terrific!). We’ve collected twice and they’ve collected twice. We put all the sap into a large stainless steel tank that holds about 400 gallons. It is well insulated and with the temps below 32 at night it keeps for a few days.

Here you can see the cool lean-to and the big sap tank

Then there is the firewood. Loads and loads and loads…We fill it in the back of the pickup and it takes 1 ½ loads a day to boil…minimum. Lots of wood. The best is dry and under 3 inches in diameter. That burns hot and makes for less work keeping the sap at a rolling boil. We stack it under the lean-to that we built last year and bless that thing every time we walk under it…so nice to have. Then we cut piles of the firewood and carry it in to put in a box inside, filling it quite a few times during the day.

Other physical work includes pouring buckets of sap into the evaporator. Sounds easy, but for me…well, I’m shorter than the guys. So, I like to use an old water jug to pour it in a gallon at a time. We also fill a 55 gallon drum in the morning and it trickles in thru a pipe until about 2:30 when the barrel runs dry. Then we bucket it until 5pm...closing time.

The blue barrel behind Will holds 55 gallons of sap.
Marty is watching the back pan to make sure it doesn't boil over.
Will is getting ready to draw some syrup off to put in the finisher (not shown).

But, there is some great down time also. With two or three of us, we are able to take some time to read, chat, listen to music, etc. One person has to keep a constant eye on the sap so it doesn't boil over and the other two will add wood as needed. But we take some breaks to just sit. We all take turns with cutting and bringing in firewood, hauling sap, and watching the boil. It makes the work less and more enjoyable by far!

Here's Marty taking a much needed break.

I love the walk to the syrup house. There are three paths, all are nice. One is thru the prairie, one along the edge of the prairie and woods, one just along the inside of the woods. Today there was a yearling deer that I scared up unknowingly when I passed it. The guys saw it flit away. I’ve also heard the starlings come into the trees with their incessant chatter, and the kree-kree of the killdeer scouts entering the area.

Everything is a few weeks early this year. The season itself is three weeks early! We were afraid if we didn’t start to tap trees then we would miss out. It all depends on Mother and what she wants to do. Temps above freezing during the day (up to 4o is ideal) pushes the sap up into the branches of the trees. Then below freezing at night, it goes back down into the roots. As it passes the spout…drip, drip into the buckets with a musical ringing sound. And, this week the last of January was perfect weather to start.

So far we’ve bottled 48 – 12 oz jars and a gallon and a half of syrup. Almost all sold out! We have a lot of gallons presold every year to our chefs, but we like to bottle some for other people also. If all works out good, we will beat our record of 53 gallons made last season. Fingers crossed!

More syrup news to come...and animal updates!

I'm Planting!

2012-01-30T11:12:00.000-06:00

You might remember that wonderful calendar I mentioned in the last blog, the one that tells the best times to plant according to the planets and such. It told me that Saturday and Sunday were leaf days. So, I began to plant our herbs and some cold leafy greens in the basement.

The process is really simple. We have these nice shelves and grow lights set up downstairs. I use plastic “flats” with a plastic “top” underneath to catch the excess water, hold plastic packs of 36 cells to plant into, and have a nicer clear plastic top on the topside to hold the heat in and keep the mice out (farmhouses have a healthy supply of mice and they dearly love tasty little sprouts).

I reuse the soil and the plastic cell packs from the years before for most of the new plantings. Some people say that the soil should be heated in the oven or microwaved or whatever to kill bacteria. We don’t own a microwave and I have no intention of killing my soil microbes before I need them to help grow my plants. But, I’ve also never had a problem with bacteria in my seedling trays. (You’ll have to make your own judgment if you want to do this method of bacteria killing or not.)

So, I check my calendar, gather my seed, fill the cells with soil, pop in two seeds (I believe they need to have a friend to grow with), water (we include a sea mineral in our water to help boost the little guys), and put the top on. Then I place them under the lights, which are just shop lights with no special bulbs or anything. The basement is about 65 degrees right now so I’ve hooked up a heater to help warm it up. We also have three small, handmade heat trays for the tougher to sprout items. Some herbs and the peppers like the extra warmth.

The lights are hooked up to a timer so the plants have a “night time” to rest. When the plants are about an inch or so high, I’ll take the lid off and turn on the oscillating fan. The fan blowing across them helps to make their little stems sturdy, keeps them from reaching so badly. Another method I use to keep them from becoming spindly is to keep the light close to them so they aren’t reaching for the light. I raise it as they get close to touching it, just a little at a time.

Today was a “fruit” day so I worked on my peppers. This year we are sprouting them in bags that are placed on the warm radiators. This will help us to know we have full flats, no empty cells, saving on space which is becoming more scarce in the basement every year. I can fit about 50 flats down there right now, but we plant about three times that much to transplant in the fields later.

My system…ziplock bags, a marker to write on the bags (don’t forget to write on them what is in them!), paper towels or napkins, seeds, my planting list, and water.

Here’s what you do…Wet a piece of the paper towel and squeeze out the excess. Lay it out and sprinkle the seeds on half of it. Then fold it over the seeds, slip it into the ziplock, seal, and label. Put them in a warm place. Light doesn’t matter since they don’t have light to sprout in the ground anyway (only matters for those seeds that require light to germinate, read the packet if you aren’t sure). Check every couple of days. When they are sprouted, take some tweezers and place them into your soil, cover, water, lid on, under lights. Wha-la!

Word of advice…learned the hard way…if you are planting peppers – DO NOT put your hands on your face, nose or especially eyes, after touching the seeds! Wash your hands extensively before doing anything like rubbing your face. Believe me…not fun!!

I’ve planted my herbs and some cold crops such as kale, leeks, brussel sprouts, etc. in the basement flats. The cold crops will go out to the hoophouses fairly early, maybe by the end of the month. The herbs will get transferred to some shelves upstairs after they are up and going. Peppers will go into the flats downstairs, and the latter half of February I’ll start tomatoes. I might use the same radiator method for those.

We move plants out as they get larger and sturdy, making room to start more flats of seedlings. They go into the greenhouse next to the garage. That way if we have a cold spell, we can hook up a heater. The plants that like the cold go out to the south hoophouse (plastic top) and the larger hoophouses until ready to transplant.

We are mailing our seed orders this week! Quite a bit of seed we save ourselves, which saves a pile of money. The seed we save is stored in a special refrigerator in the basement until needed. Beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, tomatillo, flowers, corn, etc. We also save our own wheat, rye, barley, and oat seed as much as we can. The crops that are biennial, such as beets, and some others such as carrots or radishes, we don’t bother to save. They are difficult to clean and the seed is cheap enough to buy every year.

Well, that’s it for the planting for now…off to get ready for syrup season!

Winter Reading

2012-01-22T11:05:00.001-06:00

Today is a good inside day. It is really windy outside, although it is a somewhat warmish south wind. We’ve decided to work inside today. That’s GREAT ‘cause my sinuses are rebelling against me for sweeping the basement yesterday, threatening a cold. I’m all piled under a bunch of blankets and quilts with my books all around me. I love book reading weather!

I’m reading some interesting books right now. My winter study this year is on how to reconnect with the farm in a more spiritual way. I’ve found that in the past few years I’ve lost spiritual connection with my home. I get so involved in the production side of it, making a living from it, and with the programs (thanks to Carolynne for taking all that over), that I’ve not been rewarded with the refilling of my soul from living in such a beautiful surrounding. That might sound strange to most…but most work someplace where they don’t live.

In retrospect, I have to thank our friend Mark Edwards. Mark had a garden here for a season and would walk around the farm, just enjoying the beauty of it. He would see “vistas” that we never saw before. And, he would say “this is paradise”. We would reply…”paradise is a lot of work”. And, it is a lot of work to keep this place beautiful for the visitors and functioning for the income. But, he taught me a lot with his “vista viewing”.

In December, Marty and I were able to attend the ACRES USA conference in Ohio. I wanted to go mostly because of the Biodynamics class by Gena Nonini and Hugh Courtney. It was terrific! They were so knowledgeable and I learned so much. I came home with a few books and am working thru them now.

The first is the “Agriculture Course” by famed Rudolf Steiner, pretty deep stuff. And to go with it I’m working on the “The North American Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar for 2012” by Maria Thun.

Biodynamics is teaching me to take a look at the energies on the farm, how to work with them, and how to strengthen them to create healthier soils, animals, plants, and us. This is a hands-on approach with preparations to spray on the soils and some of it is very technical. Some of it may also sound strange to people, filling cow horns and burying them, etc. But, I believe that if you have faith in something then that faith can make huge differences in the world around you, whether strange or not. To me it is worth trying out and seeing what happens. After all…miracles can happen anywhere, anytime.

My next reading is really fun. “Sensitive Permaculture” by Alanna Moore. It teaches the reader how to live with the elementals around you, including earth spirits and fairies and such. That might sound strange to some also. But very old cultures, such as in Ireland, the Aborigines in Australia, and our own Native American cultures (and many, many more), have been connecting with these spirits in the world around them for thousands of years. I figure they MUST know something about it.

For those of you fairy lovers...don’t worry, I’m NOT going the direction of Lady Cottington’s “Pressed Fairy Bo0k”. She went around the garden, creeping up on the little good people and smashed them in her book…

Sick lady.

Since I’m working on making my “picket garden” into a really nice spiritual haven of flowers and interesting vegetables this year…not a place of producing an income, but a place of producing a healthy soul…this book fits in great with another book I’m reading called “The Sanctuary Garden” by Christopher and Tricia McDowell. If you are interested in creating your own garden of sanctuary for the soul, this book is wonderful. It covers a lot of ground for planning and creating with a loving approach.

And all of these above readings fit nicely into my studies of ancient Chinese Qigong healing. Also a very old belief of using energies to heal, most commonly seen in America in the form of Feng Shui and acupuncture.

So, that’s my reading list for today…pretty extensive. I’ll have to go get some tea for this!

Snow day and seed orders

2012-01-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

We finally got a little snow last Thursday. It was actually kinda nice to pile on my snow pants and snow boots to go out to do chores. Altho I suspect the animals weren't quite as happy as I was. They were all doing pretty good tho and we gave them all a little extra straw to hunker down in. We hunkered in also (in the house) and looked at the seed catalogues for what we want to order, compiling lists from last year, piling up what we have on hand, sorting, dreaming...ah...

The bad winds and snow kept us from our deliveries in Chicago on Thursday, so we went to the big city on Friday to deliver. I took Ricky with me...he rides on my head.

I do have to be careful with him tho. As we cross the streets, some people have the tendency to speed up when driving toward us. I know that happens in the country...but come on folks! A quick whip off of the hat sometimes helps...

   The snow was blowing and drifting across the road when we left the house at 7:30am. The day before was pretty windy so we were glad that we sat it out at home. Chicago got a lot more snow than we did and it wouldn't have been fun driving all day in it...not to mention the crazies (oh, guess I mentioned them above with the Ricky hat huh?).
   We've been excited to take the new seed catalogues to the chefs. Every year we contact a couple of our favorite seed companies and ask for extra catalogues. Then we distribute them to the chefs so they can peruse them for interesting new products they'd like to try. They love getting them and we love hearing their wish lists.
   We ask them to give us their "dream lists" by the end of the month. Then we finish up our orders and mail them in. It is super exciting to see what they would like to try, and it's always fun for us to try new items. We really enjoy growing items that are requested special by our friends. It also helps us to know what to grow, takes a lot of the guess work out of it.
   Today, a Monday that feels very much like a Monday, the snow is already melting off. The chix are happy about that as they HATE walking across the snow. The ducks love the snow and look like penguins as they skid about on their bellies from puddle to puddle.
   I'm cleaning up the plant areas in the house today. Re-potted the cacti garden (one of the only gardens I'm actually good at, even tho they look a little on edge in the pic) and got the upstairs bookcases ready to hold new seedling trays. Then I started work on the downstairs.

We can fit about 50 flats (36 pots each) in our downstairs planting area. But, we also "borrow" the plugs and extension cords throughout the year. So every year in January I clean up, find all the plugs, buy new extension cords, fill the water jugs, and start filling the plant trays with soil. That way everything is ready to go as soon as the calendar says the timing is right.
The Stella Natura calendar tells us the best days to plant, so I start figuring out what gets planted first. I seem to be having issues with which way to tilt my head when I take a picture. But, you get the idea...

   Usually I start in mid to late January with some herbs as they take longer to get them big enough to transplant. Then the peppers and cold loving items (like cabbage and bok choi) get started the first of February as they will be transplanted into the greenhouses early and harvested in early April.
   So, back to my Monday work schedule!

Still NO Snow

2012-01-08T09:52:00.002-06:00

Today the weather is downright balmy...maybe in the 50's. Yesterday I spent all afternoon with no coat on, just in my shirt sleeves, cleaning up my picket garden area. It just seems so strange! The first of January still and 50's! Will we have a syrup season?

It seems that most people I know aren’t too happy about getting snow this time of year. I keep hearing the words, “well, at least we don’t have any snow”. In some ways I agree. It is a real pain in the butt to have to trudge thru drifts of a foot or more in the woods, carrying firewood to a cart, hoping all the time that the tractor (or me) doesn’t get stuck.

On the other hand…I look at the beautiful pictures of last year…snowy, blue, peaceful. Snow can be nice. It isn’t as bad as the ice storms or the below freezing weather. It blankets the ground, protecting the plants from the hard freezes. It also provides moisture.

And while some would say, “yes, but we could use some rain for moisture”. Hm. For me I think trudging thru MUD ankle deep is worse than snow that deep. The snow is a little easier to walk in. I’ve lost boots in mud that deep, but never in snow.

Besides, when it is so nice out then I have to keep working outside. Sometimes it is nice to have that wintery break...otherwise it is a VERY long year. I like sitting inside by the fire, reading or knitting, or looking at seed catalogues...knowing I have a short couple of weeks to enjoy some down time.

So, to ease the hearts of those who are still waiting for the wintery wonderland (me included)…here’s some pics from last year.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:46:00.000-06:00

The first day of the new year and all’s well at the farm. The sun is shining and it is about 35 degrees outside, pretty warm for this time of year. There’s a very strong westerly wind, but all the animals are out and enjoying the sunshine and the nice weather.

Today is the beginning of an annual tradition for us. We’ve decided to begin our seed sorting for the upcoming season and to do so on the first day of each year. It’s one of the most enjoyable and exciting things we do in the winter.

I have the seeds all laid out on the dining room table in groupings of leaf, cold, root, cucurbits, brassica, mais, etc. It is sooo exciting! We’ll figure out how much we have of everything and then how much we used last season. That will give us a good idea of how much to order for this season.

We have our favorite seed catalogues on hand…Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirlooms, Fedco, Shumways, and Johnny’s. I love the ones with the most pictures. We always come up with a huge wish list of seed and then have to take a reality check with the money in the bank…usually cutting our huge list down to a quarter of it. But, it is the planning and dreaming that is so much fun!

Again this year I am reworking my garden that has the picket fence around it. This occurs every other year usually, with mixed results. The fence needs repairs and propped up, the soil needs compost, the gnomes need respecting. A lot to do in there. But, the dreaming is the most exciting part. I plan to grow more herbs, some garden leeks, and my favorite heirloom tomatoes (German Howard), as well as some other interesting things and some nice flowers.

In about a month and a half we start our syrup season, Mother Nature willing. Firewood collecting began this past fall, but there is a lot more to collect. Last year we had a delightful visit from Lynn Miller of Small Farm Journal. He did a really nice write up in this last issue. If you would like to know more about our farm and see some nice syruping pics, check out the Journal. We love it for all the fantastic homesteading and horse information…more of which we are working slowly toward.

Here’s wishing all of you a terrific new year!

KNOW YOUR FARMER!

2011-11-23T07:51:00.000-06:00

OUR PRODUCTS FROM

OUR FARM!

WATCH OUT! Do you know if your farmer is raising the products you buy from them? Some farmers are telling their customers that they are raising products...and they aren’t. They buy them from other farmers who do the hard work and who aren’t given the credit for their work.

WATCH OUT! Some of those products may not be grown safely or humanely. Are you being told those products are “natural”? Is concrete and waste products “natural” for an animal to be raised on? Does your farmer know what is sprayed on a crop if he isn’t growing it? KNOW YOUR FARMER!

OUR PLEDGE TO YOU. We grow our own grains and crops on our farm, doing the work ourselves. We raise our own animals on our farm. We will not buy products from another farm and sell it under our good name.

If we deliver products for another farm we will not only tell you the farm it came from, but be able to give you their contact information. We deliver products for over 20 farms who are members of Stewards of the Land, but their products are labelled with their farm names and the invoice has their farm name on it.

Farmers work hard and deserve to be respected for the work they do...each of them.

If you haven't seen the "tips of how to know your farmers better" on our website, check it out. I won't list it all here and take up space with it. But, this is becoming a serious issue in some areas. We are concerned of how it affects the good name of the REAL growers. And, also concerned that it can be dangerous for traceability of products and for taking advantage of people and their trust in farmers. Your health and your trust is important to us, take action and make it important to yourselves also!

Winding down? Maybe not quite.

2011-11-07T11:42:00.000-06:00

   Hello again! Another few weeks of work before I could get back to y'all. When I started to do this blog last year, I thought I would have piles of time on hand to write. Now that the growing season is almost done...I have more time.
   I guess I didn't realize how much time it really takes to be a food farmer. Oh, I knew we spent a lot of time at it. But, at the same time I was volunteering (part to full time) for the Spence Farm Foundation (see their website at http://www.spencefarmfoundation.org/). So, when they hired a new director to take over (thanks Carolynne! You are terrific!) I figured I'd have piles of free time. Oops.
   But, now that the season is winding down, I'll see what I can do to catch up some.

   I'll start with what is left in the fields. Everyone is always surprised that we are still harvesting into the first of November. There are lots of plants that like the chilly weather. We have beets, five kinds of radishes, turnips of various kinds, onions, and some late pumpkins. There are still thousands of pounds of butternut squash...literally. I bet we have about five hayracks full still.

   Thanks to Tom Leavitt of White Oak Gourmet and the Crop Mob crew for helping to harvest them all. They stretch as far as the eye can see! Well, not really, but some days it feels like it.
   Butternut Squash recipe- We've been using a lot of the squash for ourselves. Marty, who loves to cook, has made oven fries with the squash...delicious.
   They are fairly easy to make....Peel the squash with a veggie peeler, then cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Then cut the squash into fry size pieces, toss in olive oil, put on a cooking sheet and put in the oven at 325. You need to flip them and check them often so as to not burn them. Very tasty!
   Another idea is the traditional one of scooping out the seeds, cutting the squash in half and roasting it on a cooking sheet. Then when it is mushy, add some nice spices (I like nutmeg, Marty likes cinnamon), and brown sugar or maple syrup. We also add pecans and dried cranberries.
   Pickled Beets recipe- Today I'm canning another 30 plus pints of pickled beets. I love canning. And I love pickled beets. But, I have one favorite beet that I love best...Bull's Blood Beets. They have purple leaves, a very nice beet flavor, and are dark in color. Very pretty.
      My beet recipe is like this...Wash the beets (some people don't do this but I do). Then I put them in a pot and cover with water and boil until I can stick a fork into them and they are soft but not mushy. Dump them into some cold water and with a kitchen knife, slice off the top and then with your hand slide the skin off. (We feed the skins to the piggies but they are good around the plants outside or in a compost pile also.) Then I chop them up into bite size pieces.
   Follow canning recipes for how to prepare the jars, etc. This is how I do it tho...I like wide mouth jars so I can get my beets out easier. I wash my jars and lids and then put the jars in the oven to warm and then boil the lids. Then, mix 1 cup water/1 cup apple cider vinegar/1 cup sugar and boil in a pot on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Put the beets in the warm jars, put in the juice until about 1/4 inch from the top. I add a few whole allspice, wipe the lid dry, wipe the rim of the jar dry, and put the lid on and seal with the rim. Then I put them in a hot water bath, water covering the jars, wait until it is boiling (rolling), and then time for 15 minutes. I take the jars out and let them cool and wait for the little POP of the lids...love that sound!

   The trees have all changed color nicely this year and it took quite a while. There are still leaves on quite a few even tho we have had rain and wind the last couple of weeks. It was still 60 degrees yesterday altho it was a chilly southerly wind. So, the weather has been really nice fall weather.
    Last of the news...8 little piglets from Swee on October 9th. All are doing terrific, round and rolly-polly.
They are sucking on beet skins and squash leavings. Cuties!

Is Winter here yet?!

2011-10-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

Hi there!!
I guess you can tell that we've been busy as I haven't been writing for soooo long. So, here's the latest of what is happening...

Harvests - we are almost done with our tomatoes. No frost yet but some other nearby farms had some. We've been selling our green tomatoes to some of the chefs. I like to use them as fried green tomatoes. But a couple of years ago I made a veggie mincemeat that had the main ingredient as green tomatoes. Yummy.
We harvested and sold all of our pie pumpkins...about 400 pounds. Now the rest of the pumpkins that were yucky are being fed to the piggies who LOVE them. We are also harvesting tons and tons and tons of butternut squash. Marty thinks there might be around 10,000 pounds. (I hope not as I'm not sure where it will be stored and the white corn is already in my dining room!)

Wilds - Pawpaw season was the best ever. For those who don't know...pawpaws are a native understory tree that has huge tropical looking leaves and smells kind of like kerosene. The fruit is green with a skin like a mango. The inside of the fruit has a large seed and creamy custard like guts that make wonderful pastries, sauces, and ice creams. In the past we had about 500 pounds as our top amount. This year was 788 pounds! And many were huge - half pounders. They are very very perishable so we pick them and then have to deliver them within a day or two. Here's a pic...

Truck farm - I did pretty well with it. My swiss chard was great looking, the celery still has a huge root mass, and the onions were perky. The radishes were coming up thick too. Notice the past tense some? WELL...I couldn't stand it anymore! I am so used to having a truck bed to put stuff in. No more hauling stuff around the farm, putting the gas cans in back to go get filled, etc. I was also very conscious of windy days and trucks going by me on the road. I was able to drive 55 easy and even up to 65 with no problem and the topper never even moved. But, I was still careful.
Needless to say, it was cramping my freedom. So, I took the plants out two days ago and put them in the greenhouse for continued growing. I'm hanging the top in the barn in case I want to try it again in a different season. I learned some valuable lessons from it tho. First, a heavier duty truck would be better. My little Toy didn't have the suspension to handle it and I was worried about a blow out. Next time I would put less soil in and grow smaller rooted plants like lettuces, cress, etc. Another lesson was the one about my need to be able to pick up and go whenever I wanted without worry about how strong the gusts were. But, I also learned that it can be done and works. So...don't be afraid to try it!!

In the woods - other farmers are finding Hen of the Woods mushrooms right now. We didn't have luck with that. But I did find a few huge puff balls near the tomatoes! And we found some small ones in the woods.

     We have started cutting our firewood to heat our house and there are a lot of trees that came down in a storm this year that we have to clean up. It is really nice in the woods on these fall days. The trees are changing and looking lovely...mostly yellow and rust and lime green. And the wood smoke smell is so very autumn like. The woodbine vines are beautiful as are our sumac bushes. Leaves are falling, falling!

Budley - I call Hey Bud that now. He's really cute! No horns. We think he is a polled Dexter, which sucks cuz now we have to figure out how to hook him up as an ox without the yoke that a horned ox would normally use. We have some ideas and were actually at a harness shop in Arthur, Illinois, today discussing some ideas with the guys there. We haven't done a good job keeping up on training as harvest and other volunteer work got in the way. But, we did get him trained to the electric fence and he is now out on pasture like a big boy...with mommy tho. And...he's really cute!

Volunteer work - Spence Farm Foundation is a not-for-profit education organization located on the farm...check out their website at spencefarmfoundation.org. So, Marty and I have been volunteering quite a bit of time for a few programs, namely Chef Camp and the annual fundraiser Harvest Feast. Now Marty is involved heavily with hundreds of 2nd and 5th graders coming to the farm each week, as well as a class of college students from Illinois Weslyan. On the 16th is a Crop Mob - check that out at http://cropmob2spencefarm.eventbrite.com/.
    On another note for volunteering, I've been working on knitting some titties. Yep, you read that right! These are for women who have had mascectomies and take the place of those rubbery uncomfortable silicon ones. You can find out about them at knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html. I think this is a great project. It is easy for me to do these as I can knit while travelling around delivering in Chicago each week. I also think it is a wonderful way for women to connect with each other in a very supportive way, making something personal and beautiful to help someone else feel beautiful. I like that.

And...field work - we were able to harvest our Red Floriani corn and our Iroquois White corn. Our red corn is just about dry, we left it in the sun for a few days. We'll shell it and mill it as corn meal for some of our customers. Then the white corn was horrible. We pretty much had a crop failure so are salvaging all we can for seed. We'll try again with it next year. The other two corns (orange Henry Moore and a blue) are still drying in the field and we hope to harvest them soon also.
     After harvesting, I mowed the areas down and Will worked on tilling them (as Marty was teaching the kids about the corns). Will is also tilling areas for us to plant our winter wheat crop. We'll be getting that and our rye in the ground in the next week.

And Swee - my big fat sweetie of a Swee piggie. She's in the barn stall...sitting. Sitting, grunting, eating, being crabby and waiting for the little piglets to pop out. Hopefully she'll have them this week (she's really crabby).

Well...lots to do and tell you about. But that is a quick (okay a long) update. Touch back again and I'll have more. All in all, I'm really looking forward to cozying down in front of the fireplace and knitting and reading away while the snows swirl outside. That is always such a wonderful holiday for me...fireplace, soup, reading...just hope we have all the firewood in before then!

Garden on the Go!

2011-09-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

   Finally back, and with a new project! I've been working on my gardening skills, which in the past include a very brown thumb. Marty is much more the gardener than I, but I keep on trying. After all, I'm supposed to be a farmer, right?
   So...I have been thinking of trying a truck farm for a couple of years. Got a pretty red truck to try it in. Unfortunately it isn't running and the wooden floored bed needs replaced. I decided to go ahead with the idea tho and do one in the truck I drive all the time - my little Toyota Tacoma pickup.
   Check out the websites for these truck farms to get an idea of what some others are doing... http://www.truck-farm.com/ and http://www.truckfarmchicago.org/ Too cool idea!

Here she is...

My list of supplies included:

1 - top frame from an old small greenhouse - given to me by our friend John

2 - 2'x4' pieces screwed to the two frames on the underside. (These help keep it from wiggling side to side)

3 - 6' pieces of 1 1/4" round wooden hand rail poles (like the kind you might use for a shower curtain)

4 - pieces of 2'x4' about 12" tall that attach to the front and back 2'x4' pieces, forming legs for the topper

4 - pieces of metal strapping (with holes) and 4 bolts with wing nuts to attach the legs to the truck (see the pic below)

I have hooks in the corners of my truck bed that I put the strapping thru. This holds the whole contraption secure in the bed. And, please note, that I have a plastic bed liner (great!) so I didn't need to add any kind of water barrier or padding or whatever to keep the bottom from rusting out. (See the videos for the truck-farm.com guys on you-tube to see what he used for his metal bedded truck.)

I put on a piece of plastic left over from when we built our hoophouses. It is about 4 mil thick I think. I stapled it to the 2'x4' front and back pieces in the middle and wrapped it around the corners on the ends. Then I realized the plastic would rub on the frame so took some old shoulder pads out of a couple of shirts and taped them with the everlasting and versatile duck tape to the sharp corners. (see the first pic) I just tucked the plastic under the round side bars.

The test drive...almost fatale. The plastic was blowing into the middle so far it touched in the middle. hm.

Came back and added two side pieces of wood in the middle of the sides...these were old molding pieces 6' long. I screwed them onto the frame. Add those to the supply list.

I also added a piece of black plastic tubing across the middle and over the top bar (see pic below). It helped stabilize it some more when I screwed it to the lower two round bars. Add that to the supply list.

To keep the sides up when the weather is nice and it needs some air, I used 4 bungee cords that go from molding piece to molding piece, holding the plastic up. This is handy for when I want to work in it also.

To avoid the soil leaking out the gap in the bottom of the tail gate, I added a piece of hardware cloth (1/2"x1/2" holes, metal fencing) across the back and folded under the bed liner. Then on top of that I laid a piece of landscape fabric. This way the water can go thru, but not the soil. (see the second pic above that shows the legs and you can see the hardware cloth and fabric). I can also put the truck tailgate down without all the soil falling out the back.

Add the soil!

15 - 40# bags of mushroom compost

1/3 - bag of organic fertilizer

1 - 3.8 cu ft bag of sphagnum peat moss

1 - 2 cu ft bag of perlite

All of the soil stuff cost me about $100. Mixed it all together while dumping it into the bed. We figured it weighed about 630 lbs. including the frame, not wetted tho. Wet soil makes a difference. But the specs for my truck says it can hold 1350 lbs. My truck is 15 years old, so I wouldn't want to push it. Right now it is just heavy enough without affecting the stearing. The soil depth to the top of the wheel well is about 10". Just right for a lot of different kinds of plants.

Then the plants!

Okay...I cheated here a little. I went out into another garden area and dug up some swiss chard, celery, and onions. Popped them little guys in. I planted seed for arugula, three kinds of lettuce, three kinds of radishes, and a dwarf bok choi.

See the clear plastic tubing in the picture on the right laying on the wheel well? I found out that the plastic would pull out from under the sides when I drove down the road. I had it just tucked in under the side bars. I went to our local Nussbaum Ace Hardware store where Dayton helped me figure out what to use. The tubing is about 1 1/4" on the inside. We cut 4 pieces at 2' each and then slit them down the middle. I trimmed the end edges round so the plastic wouldn't rub on them and rip. Then when I put the plastic down I tuck it under the sides and the back corners of the frame, and slip these plastic pieces on two per side. They hold the plastic great.

All together I spent money on the round wood pieces, the soil, and the clear plastic tubing. Everything else was just stuff on the farm or given to me. The wood was scrap stuff, the metal strapping and bolts and such we had on hand in the tool shed. The plastic was left over from other projects, as was the black tube in the middle. And we always have bungee straps and duck tape here for emergencies. And, we always have seeds! I think all-in-all it cost me about $150. If I had to do it all from scratch and buy everything I can see where it might cost closer to $400 or more, depending on how I built the frame ends.

The guys on the truck-farm website have glass (or plastic) flip up frames for the sides and their truck is a lot bigger. I figure that someone could probly put a pot in their front passenger seat and grow some stuff tho if they were desperate.

Today is the big test drive...down the highway! We'll see if the big truckers blow the top off. It is pretty secure but I don't know about the plastic. Since I don't live in the big city like the truck farms in NY and Chicago, we have to drive quite a way thru country or highway to get anywhere. That means I need to make sure it will hold up, not only to 65 miles per hour, but also to big trucks passing me going either way. Wish me luck!!

The whole idea that intrigues me is that people can use any space they have available to grow food. You don't need a farm, garden, or even a window sill. Use an old shoe, use anything for a container, just grow food! Don't be tied to feeling like you can't do it cuz you don't have any land or seeds. Soil and seeds can be found. We need to teach ourselves to feed our nation, our starving kids and those who are down and out. If my brown thumb can succeed in this - anyone can do it! Go grow!!

Veggie-ball season is finally here!

2011-08-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

This is my absolute fav time of year...autumn. I love the smell of wood smoke, the warm days and cool nights, the taste of squash and apples, and the crisp clean air.

We also like to go to the football games...high school that is. We are proud supporters (when we can get the eve off) of Prairie Central High School. This year we are going to try to make it to all the varsity games. I like sitting on the bleachers, freezing my butt off, and yelling my fool head off for those kids. I try to get Marty to do the wave, sometimes it works.
    So, in the spirit of autumn and football season, we have been practicing up. We've been working on our veggie-ball game. It should definitely be a national sport - Farmer Veggie-ball.
   We started the veggie-ball season a couple of weeks ago actually, with cabbage. The guys were in the fenced garden pitching the cabbage to me on the outside so I could put it in the crates. These cabbages were just for us as they didn't look good enough to sell. The name of the game...Cabbage Stab. I stand on the outside of the fence with a kitchen knife, they lob the cabbage up and over the fence, I try to impale it on the knife. Did it too! Takes a little practice of course.
   The next veggie was the Bucket List Cucumber Catch. If you don't have this on your Bucket List - put it on! Then get a bucket, have someone pitch cucumbers from one end of the 50' hoophouse to you on the other end, and you try to catch them in the bucket. Tricky as they spiral a little and also catch the wind different due to their shape (and maybe their little spines). (These, again, are not the ones we sell...they are pig food. Thank goodness, huh!)
   Then today we had some fun with Zuc Shoot - shooting the zucchini across the patch and into the wagon. But - the rule is to do it without exploding it in the wagon! It is way easier to lob it to the next person and then they can gently put it in. It is also extremely sporty to lob one that is on the very ripe side...heh, heh.

This is the wagon we use for this sport.

Tatume Toss is another game. Tatume are a little round squash from Mexico, about the size of a large softball or small volleyball. And, then there is the Pumpkin Pitch. The smaller pie pumpkins work better for this one. AND...you don't need one of those large sling shots like some competitions require, just your bare hands and some great catching skills.

left - Tatume, center - Italian Zucchini, right - Hubbard

   We are seeing some different methods of pitching/tossing/shooting/etc. on the field (or should I say "in" the field). There is the normal over hand, then the underhand lob, then the side arm, and my favorite is the medicine ball lob. When I was a kid we had this thing in PE called a "medicine ball". It was very large, very heavy, and leather. This lob is definitely needed for the overly large squash and pumpkins. It is a two-handed, between the legs wind up, and as much strength as can be mustered, kind of pitch. I'm pretty good at this one. I used this pitch for the Hubbards today.
   For the fast ball, we tend to like to use the little round guys like the lemon squash or tiny pumpkins. The lemon squash are great as they are the size and about the shape of a lemon. Nice overhand with that one!
   We try to keep things lively by changing the rules...pitching one person to another to another then in the wagon, pitching directly into the wagon, catching in a bucket, and also having the wagon moving while pitching them in.
   So, when you get the next ballot to elect the next olympic sport...don't forget to write in Farmer Veggie-ball!

Sorry, don't have a tomato song

2011-08-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

And, I don't have any great tomato pictures...except this one.

This pic was taken last fall by Lori Leavitt at our Crop Mob (I hope that is who took it!). These are the little Galapagos tomatoes we grow. Galapagos tomatoes are little powerfully tasty cherry tomatoes from the Galapagos Islands, seed brought to us thru our friend John Swenson, seed expert and collector extroidanaire.
   So...tomato season is in full swing for most of the farmers around us. Ours are poking along. We just got a nice refreshing downpour so should have a ton of split ones in the next few days from all the water they are soaking up. Lov-e-ly.
   I have to say that most people I know love tomatoes and get very excited for this season to come every year. I'm very happy for them. I like tomatoes a little...cooked, sauces, ketchup (homemade of course), chopped into a taco. But, sliced and juicy and gooey and eew! Not me! I think it is a texture thing...all that goo gives me the willies. Just like the willies I get from those nasty tomato horn worms!
   Picking tomatoes is NOT my favorite thing to do. The plants emit this toxic fume that makes me nauseous. I don't know why, but I just can't stand it. And, then the leaves (or something) makes my hands yellow and green when I pick. AND...those worms!! Have you ever been picking tomatoes, enjoying just being with the little guys, and all of a sudden you see fangs and horns an inch in front of your face? I have! And I must say that I jumped about two rows over and fell splat back on my butt on big red tomatoes.
   But this year is different...I have become a Wild Woman (check out the book "Women Who Run with the Wolves") and am getting in touch with my natural native self. This does not mean running around naked with nasty hair streaming thru the woods. Nope...just that I'm looking deeper inside at the true me. So, I have decided I need to come into touch with a stronger person, focus on the One Strong Woman I am (name is trade marked for my next business venture).
   Off to the tomato patch, I said! I can conquer them! I can do this! I can be strong! Whew...what a stench! But, I can do this!
   I, by myself, picked all the Galapagos tomatoes this week for orders...14 1/2 quarts! I was soooo proud of myself. And I learned a couple of things. First, I can hold my breath while bent over practically standing on my head for longer than I thought if the smell of tomatoes is present to egg me on. Two, tomatoes stink worse in the afternoon and on sunny days. Third, look for tomato horn worms BEFORE picking. And, fourth, if I stay focused I can pick the Galagpagos which don't stink as bad as some of the other bigger tomatoes.
   Usually I break off the stem where the worms are hanging on and squash them under my shoe. Refreshing!This time I actually picked two tiny ones off by hand and squashed them. Hey...it's a start! They have that same squishy texture problem as tomatoes...hence the reason they love them? But, I conquered all I saw even tho they gave me the evil eye and horn attitude.
   Next I'll be looking forward to doing some ketchup and sauces...now tomato canning I can do and love.

Hey Bud!

2011-08-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

Do you remember this little guy (the little black bull)? His name is Hey Bud and he was born the end of May. This picture was taken just about 15 minutes after he was born. Surprise was patiently trying to get him to stand up.

Will has spent the last couple of months milking Surprise one or two times a day.

She looks thrilled, huh?
And, Will struggled to feed the little bugger...

Needless to say, the sheep were not happy to have him in a stall with them, or even one next to them. BAAAD BUUUD!

Bud (for short) has turned into a stocky, cute little guy with a great personality. Very gentle and loving. Very unlike his BAAAD sister, Dini. Bud's goal in life...to stay out of the freezer. So, we are helping him as best we can.

We began his halter training a couple of weeks ago and are now working on real ox stuff. Below is Marty at the beginning of the training when we were figuring out how to keep him from falling over. He would topple himself over if he didn't want to follow us. We've got that corrected and have now moved on to some other maneouvers.

Since this is a little bit of a learning curve for us all (my ox driving class at Garfielf Farm had well behaved and already trained oxen), we purchased a dvd from Rural Heritage (http://www.ruralheritage.com/). The dvd has given us some ideas of what to do and what not to do. But, there are still some things we are trying to figure out...like how to get him to stay when we walk away.

I have to say that he is coming along nicely. He can come and stop (even tho he doesn't stay yet), comes up for his halter to be put on, and stands for a period of time attached to a post. We have also introduced him to the tractor, the mower, the measuring tape (had it in my hand), the pigs, and a little kid (thanks to Val!). We walk him in the morn and eve. We call it going for a Bud Walk, which is a little different than walking to the fridge for a cold brewsky. In a couple of weeks he'll get castrated (ouch) and will then be a little steer.

Eventually we plan to put a yoke or a harness on him and have him pull things, move the pig cages twice a day, pull a sled with maple sap on it, and pull small logs out of the woods. It will take a few years to get to that point, but we are determined to try. It takes patience on both sides, committment, and determination. I think he is up to it...hopefully us too!

And as for his sister...well, no more running around the woods for her! She has been wild since day one.

We never bottle fed her and she has quite the bad attitude. In the picture above, Will is discussing her bad attitude with her...look at her defiance! When our farmer friend and dairyman, Paul Kilgus, told us he would've butchered her a long time ago we got to thinking he is probly right. So, this fall we will cull Dini which will give us meat for a year for the family. We'll keep Bud and Surprise together, continue to work Bud into an ox, and then breed Surprise for another calf next year (hopefully a female). We think Bud might have a calming effect on Surprise also.

That's all about the Bud for now!

Beans, beans...the magical fruit

2011-07-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

   Let me say first....come on rain!
Whew it is hot. We have met numerous farmers who are losing their livestock due to the heat. Not good! We are doing okay with ours. We take water to them all a few times a day and check on them. So far, so good. Sorry for the others tho.

   So...beans. We are into our bean season very heavy right now. As well as picking squash once a day, squash blossoms about three times a week, and various other miscellaneous crops...we are also picking beans twice a day. augh.
   The guys don't like to pick them but I'm super glad they are helping this year. I started out picking the green beans, what most people know. We like the Empress ones as they have good flavor, nice size and shape, produce enough, and freeze well. I snap their little ends off, blanch them in boiling water for just about a minute or so, then pop them in freezer bags to keep in the freezer. We've also done a canning recipe that has vinegar and onions, called "Pungent Beans". It is okay but limiting on what you can do with them later due to the vinegar taste.
   Then the green beans change into shell beans. Here they are...

Left to Right...green bean, shell bean (tiger eye), shell bean (black turtle), shell bean (cranberry)

So, are you wondering about the "shell bean" thingy?
First the bean is green...then it dries a little but isn't real dry. It doesn't pop open yet and the bean seeds inside are still a little soft and lighter in color. Here they are opened up...

Tiger eye, black turtle, cranberry

It is my non-culinary knowledge that people with culinary knowledge use the shell beans in a couple different ways depending on the kind. They cook them lightly and add them to something else, and they don't cook them to add them to something else like salads (like a chick pea or garbonzo bean I guess).
Then there are the dry beans...on the far right...

oops...at the top. Okay top to bottom...dry bean (notice the color is much brighter, the pod is dry and crispy), next is shell bean (lighter colored seed, soft seed and pod), next is "before shell but kinda after green" (seeds too bulgy to be a good green bean), the bottom is green (nice and slender and soft).
Make sense?

Hmmm. I think he's got it! Now we can all sing the bean song together...you know it don't you?
Beans, beans, the magical fruit
The more we eat, the more we toot
The more we toot, the better we feel
So eat your beans at every meal.

Sick Chick and Hot Harvest

2011-07-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

It is hot! About 98 degrees on the shady side of the house. That is why I'm able to be inside jotting down all my blog thoughts...or at least one of them. I tend to write my best blogs while harvesting. Sitting on a bucket, plucking beans, the sun touching the horizon on the west, thinking...but, I rarely get a chance to sit and actually write it all down.
This hot weather has created some changes for us here on the farm. We take our cues from the plants and animals. Three weeks of nary a drop of rain has forced us to begin watering. We hook up our large water tank to the tractor and fill it from the well or cistern. We began watering last Friday and will continue until we get enough rain to dampen the ground an inch or more. The little sprinkle yesterday didn't last and the ground and plants sucked it right up.

Marty filling buckets to take water to the animals.

   Our harvest schedule changes with the heat. We get up at about 5:30 and harvest until around 10:30 or 11 or whenever we get too hot. Then we come inside and work. The house doesn't have AC but, because it was built in 1902, it keeps the cool and stays about 80 degrees or so. Then at about 5:30 or 6pm we go back out and work until we can't see anything anymore. Or until we are too exhausted to continue. It is usually really pleasant out in the evenings and I enjoy working at that time the best.

   The animals also siesta in the afternoons. But, Dee wasn't just dozing. She wasn't feeling good. So, I thought I would answer some of the chicken questions we get. The main two - how do you know if a chicken is sick? and what do you do about it?
   This is Dee...

Notice the drooping comb, the nodding off, the pasty butt? Sick...or declining.
Dee is my favorite chick. She is my buddy. But, when she started to decline, I got worried. She obviously wasn't feeling perky, not talking as much and not wanting to eat treats. Her comb was dry looking and drooping, her legs not as bright yellow, her eyes sleepy looking. She would perk up one day and then go back down the next. So, I got out my Chicken Health Handbook (I think that is actually the name of it). It tells of all the millions (okay hundreds) of problems a chick can have and what to do for it.
I was up at 3am perusing the pics and reading the symptoms. It wasn't contagious as none of the other chix had problems. Dee's abdomen was hard, but part of that is age (the book said)...she's over 5 years old after all and not laying any more for the most part. I sat and chatted with her, a one-on-one doctor session...

See her eyes? Just not perky.
   She told me all about it...she just wasn't feeling good. I, on the other side, explained that I am NOT a chicken doctor, looked thru the book and have no idea what is wrong, and asked if it was okay if we did an autopsy after she was gone to maybe help save the others from something horrible. She, of course being a truly cool chick, said "whaaaat?".
   But, the book didn't help me much (on this occasion anyway). I was doing all it said, which included keeping the water clean, keeping her house clean, having her get fresh air and sunshine.
   I did all I knew...it was this...I made sure she had fresh water and enticed her with food, keeping the others away. I gave her blueberries and other treats. I couldn't bear to lock her up in a cage so let her go where she wanted and she usually chose to rest under the firewood cart. If I thought it was contagious I would've locked her down in an instant. But everyone else was acting fine...still are.
   I also gave her vitamins in the water and some diatamaceous earth (DE) with the food to help boost her immune and dispel worms. I did NOT notice any worm problems, but there again am not a chicken worm expert. For the most part her poop looked okay. It was not too runny, not greenish or weird colored, but had the firm part with the little white watery part like most chicks do. She was cleaning herself on good days...

But, then she quit...hence the pasty butt. She just wanted to sit and sleep. I consulted my book again. It had to be something I could fix. My determination was finally this...she got old. Yep. Chickens do that. As much as I love Dee, a truly fun chicken, and as much as I wanted her to be well, she just wasn't getting better.
So, today we buried her. No...no autopsy per her request. But, as she never minded her picture taken, she provided an opportunity to teach others what to watch for if their chix are sick or declining. Sometimes you can fix the problem with some vitamins and DE and loving care, sometimes not. That is life. Farm life if you're a chicken.

Farm Friends

2011-07-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

This is one of my very most favorite pics...

What a great shot...thanks for it, Cristina.

I think this pic really says what our farm life is all about. Friends, the land, the blue skies, the fruit of the land (in the hand on the left), all together and embracing each other. wow.

We talk a lot about our chef friends (Tom Leavitt is the tall hatted figure, chef of his own White Oak Gourmet Personal Chef Service in Chicago). It is interesting how a business relationship can turn into some truly beautiful friendships. We care about their businesses and what they are serving, how they are surviving, because it directly relates to our farm business surviving. But, it ends up more than that. We get to experience their incredible artistic talents that highlight products that we've put our blood, sweat and tears (and joy) into.

   I think it forms a bond that isn't business related at all. They inspire us to reach further in our business, to always be on the hunt for something cool to share with them. And, we hope that we do that for them also. Our Wednesday delivery days end up being a full day of sharing, inspiration, and creative excitement. We come home exhausted and liberated and excited to forge ahead the next day.
   We also come home with the latest news...who is getting married, who is having a kid, who is moving on (we miss you Brian). And, we sometimes are able to follow our chefs to their new ventures (check out Bistro One West in St. Charles where our friend chef Doug D'Avico is creating delicious dishes). It is our circle of friends, our family.
   The chefs also love coming to the farm. And we love that! We have visitors from all over the world come to Spence Farm for tours. The chefs come and get to play in the dirt with us, taste the food right off the vine and right out of the soil, and learn about how animals can be raised with glorious sun and great care. It is sometimes a first time experience, some have never set foot outside the city before, and to bottle feed a calf is such an amazing experience for city kids (I grew up city too, so know this first hand).

   So...thanks to all our chef friends and family. We really appreciate all you do. Thanks for believing in our farm and in our way of life and letting us share it with you.

   To everyone else...don't forget that when you support the restaurants that purchase products from local farmers, small family farms like ours, you are supporting us and our farms. Thanks for that! We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for all of you enjoying great food. And, if you want to come for a farm visit...contact us. We love to share our farm and would be glad to work out a time to have you come.
   Watch for farm tours, crop mobs, and farm programs of all kinds on our website, on the blog, and with other organizations like 350.org, Slow Food, and our own Spence Farm Foundation (under revision as I write).

Thanks to Cristina Rutter (check out her cool site) for the wonderful pics at the Crop Mob last fall, organized by Tom Leavitt and sponsored by 350.org and Spence Farm Foundation.

Signs of Summertime

2011-07-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

Summer is in full swing now. We have weeds up to our waa-zoos and it is hot with lots of bugs. With only three of us working the farm, we've been ultra busy. Our first order to the chaos is to start pulling weeds. We are also mowing some areas and preparing to till for fall crops. Our fall crops include more beets, radish, onions, etc. But, for the most part the crops are looking really good right now. The potatoes are blooming, the beans are setting fruit, and the squash are flowering.
Squash blossoms are one of our major crops. We harvest a couple thousand of them a week. The restaurants prepare them in lots of ways, stuffing them and frying them, making soups, using the petals in salads and as garnishes, and mixing them with other delicious ingredients. I love squash blossom soups.

Squash blossoms and nasturtiums next to a quarter

Another sign of summer is the harvest of our wheat, hay and straw. Being a city kid originally, one of my first farm lessons was learning the difference between hay and straw. I learned that hay is a mix of alfalfa, grasses, or other greens that are dried and baled and that the animals eat. As kids we would say "Hey!" and mama would reply "Hay is for horses". Thanks for the lesson mom!
Straw is the leftover stalks of the wheat, oats, (or whatever) that is already dry and then baled, and the animals use for bedding. The tops of those plants are harvested for the fruits or seeds (wheat berries being one) and then the stalks shoot out of the combine into a long pile that the baler picks up into bales.

This is our cool old combine

I have also learned that our hay bales (baled by friends of ours) weigh about 80 pounds each. I would definitely make the suckers smaller! We moved 400 bales from hay racks to the barn, and stacked them in the hay mow in the barn. Talk about pooped out! We have a system tho...I shove the bales off the hay rack, Marty puts them on the conveyor belt that takes them up to Will inside the barn, and Will stacks them. We broke down and hired a friend of Will's on the last rack (thanks Tyler!) and boy did that help a ton.

Then Will used our old 1940's Allis Chalmers all-crop combine to bring in our wheat. It does a great job. We actually only brought in about two acres of wheat we are buying from mom Willa. Our wheat that we planted isn't quite ready yet. We asked that the two acres from her not be sprayed with anything except our organic bio-enhancer stuff so it could be sold to our customers and not have all the chemicals on it.

The straw will be baled later this week or next by a neighbor. Those bales weigh closer to 50 pounds each and will also be put in the barn. We will pile in as many as we can fit as we use them for mulching our tomatoes and for the stall bedding in the winter time. We also use them to form a wind break around the pig pens in the winter.

A half load of straw

Then there is the delivery system. Another sign of summer!
Every week we deliver to Chicago, Champaign and Bloomington restaurants. And this time of the year we always get requests from curious people who would like to ride with us. Needless to say, we cannot sqeeze another cucumber in, and simply not a cucumber the size of a person. Sorry folks. This day is grueling. We are up at daybreak loading the van,

Side view, can't see out the back window. Another
week and all this will be completely to the inside of the roof.

drive an hour to pick up more products from a handful of other farmers, and then drive another hour into the city. Traffic isn't as bad as people think when you get used to it...the key is getting used to it. For us it is just a normal delivery day.

But the day lasts from 6:30 am until we get home, usually around 9pm. In traffic all day, in alleys, unloading crates. Long. Why do we do it? We love it. We enjoy visiting with the chefs, seeing what they can create with our food, bantering around cool ideas, thinking up the next great find for them. It is inspiring and exciting. So, even tho the day is long, we can't imagine someone else doing it for us. Everyone is great to work with and we would miss seeing them if we had someone else delivering for us.

The bustling kitchen at The Bristol on N. Damen.
Fantastic food and wonderful people!

The last of the news...Happy Independence Day to y'all! We didn't see the fireworks that were put off by people, but Mother Nature had a great show! The fireflies were out over our prairie by the billions. I wish I had a camera that would take a picture over ten seconds...it would've been filled with light. It was fan-tastic! It is great to live in a country where we are free to stand looking out over our own tiny piece of land and see a sight like that. Hope you are having a great summer!

Back in the thick of things

2011-06-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

I made it back, 1000 miles there and 1000 miles back, through the jungles of the Atlanta airport and the fields of destruction in dry dry Georgia. I have to say that my vacation was WONDERFUL and I had a great time with my mom. South Georgia farmers are really suffering with the dry weather down there.
Their little fields of corn are crisping up, big areas of fields are toasted. And the cotton was looking spindly. But they were harvesting cabbages and the tomatoes were coming close to picking time. We picked up some really delicious white peaches and blueberries at the farm store along the road. I also saw fields of squash that were looking pretty good. They do irrigate a lot of areas so that helps. It made me glad that we have had enough rain here.

Dry fields

Cabbages coming to town

What I love about GA - tall pines, blue skies, fluffly clouds

Before I left, on Sunday May 29, Surprise had her baby calf. A boy. We got to watch the whole birthing, took her about 45 minutes total. And he is doing really good now. Will decided to milk Surprise (three times a day) and feed the little guy using a bottle so he is friendly. I have to say that Will is doing an excellent job at it and I'm really glad it is him and not me. The name? Hey Bud. At least that is what Will calls him. We aren't naming him as he will be food for us next year.

Surprise encouraging Bud to stand

His big sister Dini was not happy. She is two years old now and we'll try to breed her in another month. She stood around and watched the birthing, was very calm, but later she tried to push him around. We separated her from them with a single fence. After a few days Will put Surprise and Dini back on pasture and now brings Surprise up to the barn to milk. Dini bawls like a baby until Surprise comes back.

Dini not looking too thrilled with the whole thing

   With all the rain we are having (a few times a week) we are having to start a large weeding regime. We try to weed a few hundred up to a thousand feet of crops every day. Some days we get it done, some we don't. Yesterday we cleaned out the east hoophouse and replanted both of them. It took all day. Now they contain everything from peppers, cucumbers, mini cucs, herbs, bulb fennel, greens and tomatoes. A squirrel got in and nipped off all but five of our rare peppers - I have yet to catch the bugger! - so we replanted peppers and put crates over them until they are too big to munch off.
   On Saturday we had our Chef friend Deb from Frontera Grill/Topolobampo come for a donation luncheon. Deb runs the test kitchen at Frontera and we had donated a "tour of Spence Farm with lunch from Frontera" for the Frontera Farmer Foundation last year. The Frontera Farmer Foundation is a not-for-profit that gives grants to small farmers for capital improvements, helping them get on their feet the first couple of years or helping with special projects.
   We had recieved a grant for Will's syrup business start up and also one for the Iroquois White corn project. Our way of giving back for all they do for small farmers is to donate a day on the farm for their auction. It usually brings in an okay amount for them.
   Deb made delicious meals...absolutely blow out delicious! We had two visitors come for the tour and luncheon and we all had a great time. I have to say thanks to Deb for all her hard work, thanks to the people who support the Farmer Foundation with their purchase of the package at the auction, and thanks to the Frontera Farmer Foundation for all they are doing to help small farmers!
   Well...off to do chores and harvest for the Wednesday deliveries.

This is RE-DIK-YOU-LUS!

2011-05-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

Cold again! 50 degrees this morning. It is almost JUNE!!
And, where have I been? The farm is very busy right now with babies and more babies and planting and hoeing and cultivating and harvesting and all that other stuff. I started my summer schedule of getting up early and working outside from 7 to 10, inside from 10 to 5 and outside again from 5 to 9. But, today I would've loved to just stay under the covers where it was WARM!

Still waiting to be planted in the field...too cold and wet!

   Actually I haven't written due to a virus on Marty's computer that sabotaged our amount of GB for our internet mi-fi. Meaning - in my real world words...no internet at home. I'm sitting at the library now. And, since the library is in town and I work at home, that means I haven't been able to get in to do the blogging. Sorry folks!

   We had a nice visit on Sunday with the staff members from Gilt Bar and Restaruant and Maude's Restaurant, both from Chicago. They came down for a tour, provided a delicious lunch, and we had a great time with them. After lunch we sat in the 1860 schoolhouse talking as it hailed and 3/4 inch of rain came down. Then it cleared up again and was nice out. Weird weather. We were really glad they could all come. They are great supporters of local farmers, including us. Look up their websites and see what kind of great foods they have...then go for a fantastic dinner!

   Here's the latest animal news...no calf yet. She has her back legs clinched together and isn't letting it out. We'll keep you posted on that tho. Baby chicks and duckies and piggies are good. One little piggie got stuck under the cage fence and smooshed. We put her in the 'ever ready dog crate' for a day and then she was fine again. Almost can't tell which one she was. Didi piggy has been getting out and going for farm tours. She grunts really deep, sounds like a little boy. She hates being picked up, tummy touched, but we keep putting her back in and fixing the places where she gets out.

Didi and Marty having a chat about getting out.

Didi is having a story written about her by my mama. It is "Grandma Who and the Amazing Radiator Pig" complete with hand drawn pictures. Soon she will be famous! Or more famous anyway.

I have another story of an amazing animal...the Miracle Chicken.

Brahmama chicken

This is Brahmama chicken. She was named that because she is a Brahma breed and a mama to the others. If anyone is hurt, she takes care of them. If we get babies, she is right there to check on them. She is also dumb as a box of rocks. Slow and not too bright. And that is how it happened. The big accident.

This is the Villian of the story, the D15 tractor and the driver (without the piece on the back thank goodness). I was putting equipment away, using the D15 tractor and with Will to help guide my backing up and help unhook the equipment. We were almost done.
   Brahmama has the bad habit of being around the tractors, cars, whatever mechanical, and not paying attention or walking too slow. We usually yell at her a few times to get her to move and then she lumbers out of the way. You are starting to get the picture, right?
   I pulled forward and heard Will yell "You ran over Brahm!". I stopped, shut off the tractor, jumped down, and came around the back, and there she was flopping around. AH!!! I got down on the ground next to her and started to coo and talk to her to calm her down. Will went to get the gun to put her down. It didn't look good. In fact, it looked really bad. Her eye was closed, just one and the other was open, she was stopping the flopping but was breathing heavy.
   I kept talking and cooing and patting her lightly. Then I rested my hand on her back, just a little to let her know I was there. Her eye started to open. The other chickens had high-tailed it with all the yelling. She looked around trying to figure out where they were, where she was, WHO she was maybe. I waited.
   Will came back with the gun, Marty came to look. I told them wait just a minute. And, sure enough, when I leaned back, up she popped. She was a little disoriented. (You would be too if a tractor had run over you!) We watched her walk slowly, shaking her head some, back to the chicken house. She went in and rested. Later she was better and then the next day she was fine. Still shakes her head a little sometimes.
   The place where she had gotten run over has a divet in it, a detention or hole that was already there. The hole was NOT caused by her being squashed, but she was squashed into it. Apparently the wheel pressed her into the hole. Basically went over her. What a lucky chicken!

   That is why we call her our Miracle Chicken now. She has defied death! She has been run over and lives to tell about it (or lets me tell about it). NO...it did NOT make her smarter!

   I have to say that farming and having animals has helped my structured type A personality change to a laid back type whatever. Nothing surprises me anymore. Usually I adopt the "wait and see" attitude and the "shit happens" attitude and the "whatever" attitude, to mention a few. I don't get all whigged out like I used to. Maybe it is just that I'm older. But I like to think it is a valuable life lesson that my animals have taught me.
   Relax and enjoy it and just go with the flow...farming.

A Brrr! Birthday

2011-05-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTY!!

What is it with this crappy weather?! It was 44 degrees out yesterday afternoon! We put some wood in the little stove in the kitchen to keep that room warm for the cat. Okay, for us also. I turned the light on the little peeps (chix) in the chicken house. Gave straw to the duckies (baby ducks). Piled on our coats, gloves, hats, etc. to do chores. It is nuts!

Where I would be right now if I didn't love Marty so much!

   So, the news on the animals...little piglets are getting close to being weaned. That happens when Swee gets sick of them. She pretty much shuts them off (or shuts off her valves to her nipples) before the eight weeks and makes them eat grass. They are still growing and looking good. Four got out yesterday and were roaring around the barnyard until we coaxed them back in. We have five girls and two boys still, looks like one little girl might be sold soon.
   Baby ducks (I call them duckies) got moved from their small cage in the milk house into the duck house. We are putting the big ducks in with the chix at night and training the little ducks on the duck house idea. They LOVE it! They have room to run around, flap their stubby little wings, and play chase. In the next couple of days I will put a fence up on the outside of the door and they will learn to go out in the daytime and in again at night. At night I still put the old cage over them and a weight on top to keep them safe in the duck house. It still needs some wire screen over the windows and corner pieces on the outside fixed.
   Integrating the ducks will happen by training the little duckies to go in and out, letting them in the fenced area where the big ones can see and talk to them, and when the duckies are big enough (another couple of weeks) we will put all the ducks in the duck house one night and see how they behave. We have to wait until the duckies are big enough to follow the big ducks around without running their little legs off too much or getting picked up by hawks.

Dreaming of my feet in the nice warm sand....ah!

   For Mother's Day I got my chix...over 30 of them. Mother's Day for me is what I envision it to be like for a traditional Jewish kid in a gentile neighborhood at Christmas time. Everyone else is getting gifts, flowers, dinner out, etc. and I watch. That is what not birthing a kid is like sometimes...just watching others, listening to their cutsy stories, and wondering what it would've been like. But...I got the mother of all Mother's Days when the post office called (on a Sunday!) and said to come pick up the chix. So, I became a mother times 30 plus! YA on you all!
   We lost one tiny one, one with a crooked neck, and that was it. They are super healthy and a nice calm bunch. It is surprising what the one month difference made, and the week of warmer weather, for their overall health. They, already, are occupying the whole huge box, running and flapping around, and eating a lot.
   The chix are similar to the ducks when we integrate them. In a few weeks I will move the baby chix into a small metal building that has a screen on one wall. They will then have a fenced area around it, go out at day and in at night. The big chix will get to see and talk to them for a couple of weeks until the babies get bigger. Then when they are big enough, we will put the baby chix in the big chix house at night. Everyone wakes up in the morning and looks around..."who the heck is this little runt?!" is what most will say. But, then they work out their own pecking order. The babies usually fall to the bottom of the pecking order and it seems they stay that way most of their lives.
   I have to say, the poultry is good about figuring out who is in charge. We only have problems with some of the roosters as they get older. But so far we've not have bloody wars so I think it is working out okay.

That is the news for now...busy at the farm with orders, harvesting, chores, fixing flat tires, etc. I'm trying to take more pics so keep posted!

Only chix pic I have right now...more soon!

Birding Time

2011-05-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

It is time for our spring bird count. Every year we go out and see what birds are moving thru. And, we are sent a list to fill out and send back to the person that keeps track of all of it (as you can tell I know not much about all that!). So, we grabbed our list, our bird books, our binoculars, and set out this morning.
These don't count!

   But...wait - back up! - yesterday was our first REAL find! Actually I almost mowed over the poor guy. I was just mowing along, minding my own, and whoosh flew out the side of the mower. Or so I thought. Then I got a better look and it looked like I had scared up a female woodcock. It whooshed again into the pasture fence and it looked more like a duck of some kind. As I jumped up on the top of the mower (not a safe thing to do by the way, but I did turn off the blades first), and somehow made it over the pasture fence without breaking something including my fool neck, the whatever it was whooshed again thru the second pasture fence into the north east pasture.
   The sheep, needless to say, were a little freaked out. "What in the world! That crazy mama of ours is jumping fences and chasing ducks that aren't OUR ducks...baaaad woman!". I raced around the corner and into the north east pasture and the whatever was bashing itself against the far fence. So I ran up to it.
   Then I noticed it was grayish, or blackish, or shiny, well it kinda looked pidgeon like. YUCK! But, I reached down and picked it up. Having worked for a nature center and also having volunteered for a wildlife rescue place, I had a general idea of how to grab it. Altho my best lessons were taught to me by my own poultry. I looked down and...

Ahh! What the hell kinda feet are those??!!
Then, the demon eyes...

Okay, this is definitely NOT a pidgeon, or a chicken, or anything else I've ever seen up close. Get the bird book! I like my National Geographic bird book best so we grabbed that and the camera while the whatever was under a crate with a rock on top.

This shy little guy is an American Coot. No...not an old coot like you-know-who uptown, but an American Coot bird. This was a super great siting! I didn't have this on my life list, let alone ever had one on my lap!
Toooo Cooool!
   I was worried it couldn't fly since it had been crashing around so bad, but we took it out toward the prairie and let it go and it flew away. It must've got off track in the wind and rain last night and was resting, or trying to rest until I almost mowed his head off.
   That was the start of our bird count weekend. Today we went birding again thru our woods and saw lots of warblers (I hate warblers cuz they are so hard to figure out), robins by the hundreds, and a couple other good sitings. One, we think, was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. We also counted a couple of red-breasted grosbeaks, sparrows by the dozens, indigo buntings, and some regulars like blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers. Around the house area are lots of starlings (another YUCK from me), more robins, nuthatches, and goldfinches by the dozens.
   Then we took a drive to see some wetland birds. Lesser yellowlegs, another coot, and a couple of Least Sandpipers. I love water birds the most. I could watch them all day. They have such funny and unusual habits. The prairie areas showed us some bluebirds, tons of red-wing blackbirds, kingbirds, and an eastern Meadowlark.
   I'd like to go back out tonight for the owls and more night loving birds. The larger birds we saw included red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and great blue herons. But, one of the best sitings was to see four wild turkeys walking silently thru our woods...two hens, a young jake (male), and an older tom. I am sooo glad we have wild turkeys again and they feel safe in our woods.
   So...if you get a chance this next week - go birding! The migrants are flying thru and there are a lot of cool birds to see right now. Just watch out for the old coots (not the bird kind)!

Let me introduce...

2011-04-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

the chix...or at least the few that didn't mind having their pictures taken.
This is DeeDee. She is a Delaware and she's my buddy.

Dee likes her neck rubbed, and her waddles, and her beak, but definitely NOT her ears. She helps me with everything and is the only chick that doesn't really mind me picking her up. As a baby she had one of her legs broke. You can't hardly tell which one now. But, all the handling made her friendly to me. She's super smart, the real queen of the roost, and a lot of fun.

Sometime tho she gives me the evil eye and says "whaaa?"
This is Bubby...

We also jokingly (when he can't hear) call him Hop-a-long. He hasn't gotten used to his spurs yet so kind of hip hops when he runs or walks fast. He is our only rooster right now. And...NONE of our roosters are ever mean!

This is Dorky. She's a Dorking. She is also dorky. No - really!

When Dorky was just a few months old, she had something happen to her back (probably a rooster jumping on her). We thought it was broke. She could barely walk and when she finally did she propelled herself smacking into walls and everything. It seemed that her nerves were messed up somehow. We kept her inside for quite a while. Now she still propels herself unwillingly and plows into others. But, she is a great chick anyway and fends for herself pretty well.

This is Goldy...

Oops! Bad hair day. It was really windy when I took this pic and she was being blown over cuz her hair is soooo big. She's a Golden Polish. Can't see a blasted thing, but she is about four years old so she's doing okay with it.

And this is Spike...

Running away...
Okay, this is Spike...

Still running away...
Okay...this is Spike...

Okay...so that was Spike's butt.
Spike is a Hamburg. She is running away because we are always threatening her with death. Why? Well...she is really super annoying. She lays her eggs in the top of the barn, she has an annoying voice, she never does what she is supposed to, she is annoying to the others...etc.
For years we have said things like "Spike, why don't you go check out the worms on the road?" or "Spike, why don't you stay out and talk to the raccoons tonight?" She refuses to be tricked.
So, when I told her I needed a shot for the blog...she kept running away. Go figure.

The chix on our farm are too cool. All different kinds of heritage breeds. We have 13 right now and are gettting another 30 in two weeks. They are free-range, meaning they get to run all over the place all day long. Each have their own personalities. Some are motherly, some are smart, some are funny, some like to help in the garden...

They all go in at night by themselves and aren't a lick of trouble. We only have to feed them in the winter (November to March). They are great bug patrol, participate (as they can, except Spike of course) in the Egg Program, and help clean up any candy wrappers left by guests. And all of them are nice, none chase people even when they are chased first.
All in all, we are glad they are here. (okay...even Spike)

Stairway to...Heaven?

2011-04-28T07:49:00.000-05:00

Well, just a quick mushroom note...we found another 2 1/2 pounds of half-free morels on Tuesday. Yippee! (Sorry Cindy!) We are going looking again later on. We did end up selling the three pounds of the half-free to Thad at Bacaro restaurant in Champaign (eat there and taste them!) and keeping the blondes (which we promptly devoured). I also found out that what we call a "black" morel might really be a dark-morph blonde one. Interesting tidbit.
We are also continuing to work on projects. Here is the latest...a stairway in the small barn.

This is the small barn. Longer ago in the farm's history it was a small milking barn. The cows were brought into stalls and milked in here. Then the milk was taken to another little building for separation and cold storage. This barn was fixed up, thanks to mom, by Jim Yoder a few years ago. It was missing the east side, on the left in the pic, and leaning pretty precariously. He did a great job with it, new roof and everything.
The little white door you can see in the picture is the mill room door. We made the mill room a while back and it has washable walls, ceiling and floor. We mill all our flours and corn meal in there. But this is the area beside the mill room...

We want to make this area, where the work bench is, into a veggie wash room. That way we can bring the veggies in the door where Marty is standing (on the right), to the washing contraption (still need to buy it), and run it thru. The water would drain out the old dairy floor drain out the wall to the field. To the left of the post we will build a walk in cooler. We can wash the veggies and pop them right into this cooler. It won't have to be set as cold as our other walk-in so we can store root crops over winter for seed the next year.
But, here is Will working on the stairs...

The upstairs, which was the old hay mow, is huge. It is all open with a very large (5' or so tall) window on the south. Gets great light! The floor is a mess and we are careful not to fall thru. But, we store stuff up there for our operation. Boxes, water jugs to put over plants, bread trays that hold squash for drying for saving seed, garlic drying area, etc. is all up there. Unfortunately we had to always climb an old ladder on the wall and hand stuff up to each other. Now...

wha-la! We can just traipse on up there with our squash or whatever! Cool, eh? It is super great! Makes me sooo excited. I just go up and down, up and down, up and down, to get the feel of how easy it is now. Heavenly! Someday I dream of converting the hay mow to hold my loom and then have art classes on weaving, spinning, etc. ah! dreams...so many! Maybe someday!!
Next project? We'll put a sliding door on the side wall across from this staircase. The sliding door will block off the area where we back the grain wagon in when we unload it. I'll fix the cement floor in this area and we will have a nicer area for storing our grains before milling them. We'll also begin to work on framing in the new cooler space. Keep up to date on our progress by checking back!

Mushroom Madness

2011-04-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

Here they are! Morels.

We went shroom hunting on Sunday. It was really nice out, sunny and somewhat calm. And, wet. Great mushroom weather. After scavenging the woods for a few hours we ended up with lots of different mushrooms, including the morels.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in the picture above, on the left is the black morel, middle is half-free morel, and right is blonde morel. We found about 1 1/3 pound of the half-free all in one area near a dead oak tree. We also found these little guys...

Marty researching different shrooms

If we aren't sure what they are, we SURE don't eat them. We looked up and learned about three or four different kinds that we didn't put on the plate. Here's one that we do know and it is okay to eat, tasting a little like watermelon but kinda tough...

Dryad's Saddle (this one is too old already tho)

   We had a great time, just walking slowly around, heads down, waiting for the big find. It is so much fun! I get the giggles every time I find one. Like a treasure hunt. The black morels were on higher ground and not all in one spot, very difficult to see as they look somewhat like nuts that squirrels have chomped open. The blonde morels were in one area around a dead elm that Marty had put some micro-rhyz...whatever...bacteria around earlier in the season. We might check around that tree again later.
   Usually we don't find that many morels in our woods. And, we have NEVER found all three kinds at one time. That is unusual in that the blondes are usually a week later (being born blonde myself I won't mention the blonde joke that goes with that comment). The dryad's saddles come out all throughout the summer after rains but are only really good when they are a creamy white after they first come out. Otherwise they are a bit tought to naw on.
   We brought our treats back to the house and fixed this delicious spring meal.

Clockwise around...one o'clock is the blonde morel, half-free morel, asparagus, black morel, and YES! fiddleheads at 10 o'clock. With a (in the middle) delicious corn bread stuffing cake and drizzled with some kind of fancy sauce that my great cook of a husband Marty dreamed up.
Contrary to what SOME people believe - we DO NOT sell everything we grow and harvest. Some things are just tooooo valuable and tasty to give away at any price. The morels and fiddleheads are two of those items. Maybe, just maybe, someday in the future, on a day when you catch us in a good mood, we might, just might, sell some of the morels and fiddleheads. But, only after we get ours first!

The Amazing Radiator Pig

2011-04-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

This is Didi...oops those are the boys...

Now, this is Didi in the pic below.

She is the super tiny piggie second to the right.

   Didi is our Amazing Radiator Pig. She is tiny as you can see partly because she is from the third litter (the larger girls in the pic are from the second litter). She is also just small. And, very curly. But the small part is the important part of the story that caused the whole problem.
   Last Tuesday it rained. Many days lately are rainy. And, the pigs were out on pasture in the old tomato area which has some white clover in it. Our pigs are total pasture pigs, no grain or feed and just hay in the winter. So, springtime is when we move them onto the new clover. They do pretty well eating the clover, until it rains. Then the clover becomes a huge mud hole.
   I went out in the early eve to move the cages and say good night. Boys first as they were closest, all fine. Then to the girls and...no Didi! I saw the larger girls in the mud, mucking toward me, but no Didi. Then I saw her. All the way at the back and half in the mud just lying still. I climbed in.
   oops. I was wearing some boots that came from someone much larger than me, boots two sizes too big and slit halfway down the back also. I got stuck! I couldn't pull my feet up without the damn boots coming off! Finally, struggling, I got to her and pulled her up out of the mud. She was limp. I struggled back to the front of the pen and yelled YELLED for help. One boot came off and was lopped over in the mud and I was balancing with the pig on the other foot with my sock foot on the cage, trying to figure out how to get out.
   Marty heard me, thank goodness, and came to help. I took Didi up to the house and put her in the tub, thinking I would just start some warm water on her to get the mud off and see if she was okay. Her eyes were open and a little responsive, opening wide when worried and then drooping again. So, I knew she was in there. I started lightly pouring warm water over her along her neck and back, warming her up. She was freezing. She never moved. Every now and then I would lift her and let the water drain, still no movement but a widening of the eyes again.
   After a couple hours Marty found me. He didn't know where I had taken her as he had set out to get the cages onto some more sturdy grass areas. By then Didi was somewhat cleaned up and warmer, but I didn't know what to do. Every time I quit with the warm water she would begin to shiver and breath raspy. She had closed her eyes and was just lying there. I didn't know how much mud got in her mouth and nose, or in her lungs. So, I just kept the water going to keep her warm. I was exhausted by the time Marty found me and wondering if we should just put her down. It wasn't looking too good.
   But, we decided to wrap her in a couple of old towels and lay her on the radiator. She was tiny enough that she fit on it perfectly. Marty pumped up the heat in the house and she was staying warm. But, she was still rasping and not looking good. We considered just putting her down, but decided to give her the night and see how she was in the morning. Unfortunately, in the morning and for all the next day we would be in Chicago delivering. So, we had to decide by morning what to do.
   I got worried she would roll off the radiator if she woke up, so after a couple of hours on it when she was good and warm I moved her to the floor in front of it. She laid there and didn't move, sometimes opening her eyes, and sometimes rasping a little. We left her for the night.
   At 4am, my usual thinking time, I got up and checked on her. She had scooted herself around and out from under the towel, nose still under the radiator. She made a little grunt. Hm. Good sign. So I left her again. And, of course, Petie was concerned (he is very sensitive to others' needs) and he stayed outside the door the whole night worrying away about the radiator piggie and keeping watch.
   At 6:30 I checked again and she grunted more and was moving a little. I opened the cabinet and when the door squeeked she grunted more. Then Marty came into the bathroom and she popped up to see him. Weird! She appeared fine! She started trying to eat his socks. I got some wheat berries in a little water with a dash of milk and she gobbled it up, grunting for more. Whew! If a pig eats, it is okay!
   We still didn't want to put her out in the cold so kept her in the dog kennel all day. Mom came and checked on her and moved the kennel near the hall radiator when Didi looked cold. She fed her and the piggie gobbled that down too.
   The next day we took her outside and put her in a small cage while I cleaned out the kennel. She ate some grass, laid in the sun, and just grunted like normal. Now she appears fat and fine. We put her in with Pea (in the pic on the far left) and they are doing great now.
   That is how Didi became our Amazing Radiator Pig

Catching up

2011-04-18T09:21:00.000-05:00

We are finally getting some good rains, every other day or so. We went for so long without enough rain that we were beginning to worry. Now if we could just get some heat! Everything is just poking along. This is definitely the "shut up and wait" part of the farming. Last year we were harvesting green garlic the first part of April and this year it won't be ready until next week...maybe. One good spurt of heat and that would help. We were able to get a lot of things in the ground, now just to get them to grow faster. Come on Mother Nature...work with us here!
So, the last couple of weeks we have been playing catch up on some projects (aside from dealing with the surprise ducklings and other surprises like that). We did get the wood shed for the syrup done and it looks wonderful!

The proud new owner who doesn't
have to duck his head to get in.

Remember the pic on my previous blog of the
"exploded shed"? This is the new one from the same view.

Looking at it from the east. We can unload
right into it. The little door is on the right side.
The syrup house is also to the right.

   That was a major project. We haven't finished working down at the syrup house yet, still some clean up to do. It was postponed while we were getting the fields tilled and planted. We are still working in the woods however, harvesting crops. Yep, more wilds! Visit our website for a little write up about our "wild and weird" crops. We are now harvesting grapevine, wild onion, and wild blossoms.
   With a few wilds like the grapevine and onions, and a few regular crops like radishes and mustard greens, we are able to get enough orders together to head to the city of Chicago this week. It will be our first visit since syrup season and we are really looking forward to it. It is a nice day away from the farm, good visiting with our friends, and the whole day energizes and inspires us to try new crops.
   Our friends in Champaign at Bacaro restaurant (http://www.bacarowinelounge.com/) have been getting some of our wild goodies the last couple of weeks. So if you are down that way, drop in for some great food. They are located downtown Champaign on Walnut street. Don't forget to try their fantastic wine selection also!
   And, opening soon on Neil Street is Destihl Restaurant and Brew works (http://www.destihl.com/). We are all excited that they are able to finally open the Champaign restaurant. And, we wish them a huge success! Great people, great beer, great food.

Ducks? Today??!!

2011-04-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

Talk about a shocker to the system. The post office called yesterday at noon and said we had some chicks come in and needed to pick them up. What??? Those weren't supposed to come until May 9th. We didn't feel we could just send the little buggers back, so we got their cage area ready. Looks like this...

There is a cage that a box sits on. The box has linoleum on the bottom for easy washing. Then we have cardboard on the corners to round them and another cardboard piece across the middle to keep them all on one half until they get bigger. The heat lamp hangs on a rope and can be lifted up and down to
adjust the heat. We keep it around 95 for the first few days and can tell if they are cold if they huddle and hot if they are in the corners trying to get away from the heat. Then the screen keeps the big girls and boys from climbing in and eating the food and terrorizing the babies. As the babies get larger and warmer we can open the back door with a screen door on it and let some fresh air in.

We've used this system for years and I like it alot. But, the reason I like it the best is because the little babies are in with the big kids. They listen to each other, begin to recognize voices, and start to get acquainted. The transition of putting the babies in with the larger chicks seems to go pretty easy later.

As you can see from this pic, the whole thing fits into one half of the chicken house. The large chicks still have their nice perches for at night and they put up with all the cheaping and the increased heat. There is a flip door on the side of the chicken house so we can keep the large door closed and the heat in. The big girls can come in and out during the day to put eggs in the boxes as part of our "egg program". (Most of them willingly participate in the program. Except Spike and she is a whole 'nother story!)
The babies arrived in a cardboard box. And Tom, the postman, mentioned that there wasn't that many. Hm...I had ordered 30 chicks. I opened the box and saw little black billed heads...ducks! They were due May 16th!
Our Cayuga ducks came early. OOOKAAY. I guess we could still use the same set up since the chicks wouldn't come until May. It would be too cold to set up the other area where we usually raise the ducklings and the turkey poults. We noticed two were already dead, but we took the rest home to get them warmed up.

This is the type of box we get our poultry in. We like to work with McMurry Hatchery in Iowa as they are so nice. When we got the babies home, we opened the box carefully and took them out one at a time. The ducks have little bands on their legs that are different colors according to their sex. We had ordered 10 female (ducks) and 2 male (drakes). The bands need to be removed before the ducklings get too large or the legs will be pinched by them.

We carefully removed the bands, and I dipped each bill into the water a couple of times, making sure that they got a good drink each time. This is pretty important for the poultry I think. It helps them find the water, hydrates them after a truly horrible experience, gives them some sustenance since they are just hatched, and calms them down some. We let them all be still for a while and soak up the heat and get their drinks. A small plate of food is available for them also.

I've noticed that the ducklings like to be shown the food. I dribble some onto the newspaper and they chase it like it is bugs. The newspaper keeps them from eating the pine wood shavings we use for bedding. I'll take the newspaper out after a couple of days a piece at a time, getting them used to the new stuff and making sure they aren't eating it.
We did lose two more later and I got really worried. I called the hatchery and they said they thought the ducklings got too stressed during shipping and assured me we could work out a credit for them. Like I said...they are really nice. The rest of the babies did fine all through the night. I check them every four hours and adjust the light as needed for the first couple of nights. Unfortunately we don't have that automated. It gives me a chance to make sure they are doing okay.
We usually order for delivery in May so the weather isn't too cold. I'm not sure if the mix up was mine or the hatchery, but the babies are here and doing fine. I did make sure the chicks were coming in May and that will give us plenty of time to get these raised up enough to move them out to another area by then.
As for the breed, Cayuga ducks are a heritage breed. You can learn more about them at the American Livestock Breed Conservancy website - link at the bottom of the blog page. I love the black ones...they are soooo cute! What about the other two survivors? One is doing great, the other we are still concerned about.

Can you tell which is which? Wish them luck.

Wildflowers at the Farm

2011-04-13T07:58:00.000-05:00

Here's some beauties that are blooming right now.

Trillium

Dutchman's Breeches
Cute little guys!

Bluebells

Bloodroot

And, here's some that will be blooming soon!

Wild tulips

Merrybells

Woodland Poppies

   Piglet news...all eight are still hanging in there, altho we are still worried for the littlest runt. He's still not very strong. Today we give them some soil to munch on. To answer a couple of questions...registering the pigs with the AGHA helps keep track of this breed in the U.S. And, since they are very rare (only around 1,000 now) it helps with knowing how the breed is growing, what problems it might be having with birth defects or such, and helps us know which lines of the breed are doing the best. It also helps keep cross breeding and dilution of the breed out of the picture.
   We don't get any government subsidies for our crops or animals. We aren't sure that would be the best for our farm to be sustainable financially if we couldn't have a market that supported our products without (variable and unsure of) government assistance. We just keep trying to do a really good job with what we are doing, on the scale we can do, enjoying our land and family and friends while doing it.
   Thinking of farming in the terms of marketing, instead of just growing something that we will get paid for even if the price isn't enough, makes it more of a challenge. It makes it more exciting to try to come up with the latest greatest for the chefs. It is also how the world of small business works...we are really a small family owned business selling our cool and unique products to loving wonderful customers! Ra Ra for small entreprenurial businesses!

Piglets are here...finally!

2011-04-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

When I started chores Saturday morning and opened the barn door I found the babies.

Swee had eight baby piglets that morn, I figure about 7am. Two still had yuck on them and were off to the side and she was nursing the others already. I left them for a little while in case she wasn’t done cleaning them up. Later Marty went back with me and he took out the one that wasn’t moving and was lying on its back. We thought it was dead. It was alive but very chilly so he warmed it up in the sun and rubbed on it. A little girl.

I climbed in with Swee and put the other yuck one on a teat as it couldn’t seem to find it. Then I moved the runt closer also. The one Marty was warming still had the umbilical cord on it. We put it back next to her belly. Later we checked again and it wasn’t eating yet but was staying warm. The runt was starting to eat a little by that time.

Later in the day, we were working on the back porch, jacking it up cuz it was sloping so badly, and I thought I’d better check on the babies again. We hadn't given Swee any food yet as we didn't want to disturb her.

But, what a scare! Swee was still in the same position and still grunting. The babies were still feeding. But she hadn’t moved and still had the afterbirth behind her. With her previous three litters she cleaned up the afterbirth pretty quickly. But, this was about 6 hours later.

I got worried and went in with her. I moved her tail aside to check and make sure she didn’t have anyone stuck. She just grunted and didn’t get upset with me. That got me even more worried.

I have to say that unlike all the stories I've heard of sows being mean, she is a really super good pig. She never gets upset with me if I climb in with her and the babies, at least not the first few days. She lets me pick them up, check them out, etc. If she doesn't want me to handle them she makes a little more assertive grunt at me and I back off. But, this letting me fiddle with her back end...well that was a real surprise.

So I ran back to the house and got the guys. I was pretty worried.

Marty gave her the golden treat - two apples - and she got up and ate them. Apples do it every time! Then she ate the afterbirth which makes me gag and I can’t watch it. I can deal with a lot of blood and gore, but not that! She wanted more apples so we gave her another three and then some turnips and she drank some water. Whew!

She must've been really wiped out.

We got a good look at the little kids. They are now considered the “babies”; the last two litters are the “boys” and the “girls”. This new litter had one runt and then the one that we thought was dead. The runt and the gimped up one that was cold can’t move their back ends well, but they were getting around some. That was a great sign. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we had lost them. But they must’ve got enough to eat and got warmed up. They all seem to be doing well. And this morning they are all starting to chase each other around.

Swee with her first litter. Look like little puppies!
They are only about 5-6" when born.

Our pigs are all American Guinea Hogs, a pretty rare heritage breed. Check out our website for more info on them. They are pretty small for a pig, Sam weighing just over 200 pounds maybe (we haven't ventured to get him on the scale). The babies are about the size of a large hamster when they are born. They pretty much fit in the palm of your hand. And, since they are a very hairy breed (ours have very thick, curly, wooly looking hair) they look a little like black puppies with their floppy ears.

Since Swee was a month past what we expected, that means she bred a month later, around December 22. We try to breed by the moon, which means we put her and Sam together four days before a full moon. I wrote it all down and have to go back and write down about the two that were smaller. When I send in the info to register them with AGHA (American Guinea Hog Association) they like to know how many runts and stillborn and gimped up ones. She has never had stillborn which is good.

When the babies are about four days old we give them some dirt from the garden area. That keeps us from having to give them iron shots like the conventional pig farmers do. At about four weeks (or when they are big enough that they can't get thru the fence) we put her and the babies out on pasture again. The healthiest litter she has had was the one that she birthed outside on pasture (instead of in the barn stall).

She had her last litter on my birthday, and this one on Rich’s. Happy Birthday Rich! Bet you never had piglets for your birthday before...we'll name one after you.

Swee is a great mom. This is her talking to Marty

and her second litter out on pasture at four weeks old.

Good Friday came early

2011-04-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

Teamwork is terrific! We are getting soooo much done lately by all three of us working on projects together. Yesterday we were able to get a lot more planting done. We started out by broadcasting our spring wheat into the south field. We use an old seeder wagon (thanks to Ray Meenen for selling it to us!). Marty and Will stood in back and poured the seed into the hopper which then flings it out, driven by the wheels turning.

Seeder wagon for broadcasting seed
(note that it is green!)

   After that was done, Will took the disc on the larger 190 tractor and covered the seed by pulling the disc thru. Works great. It almost looks like we use a new fangled drill to put the wheat seed in. But, nope...just old timey equipment like they used in the...1940's and 50's maybe.
   Then Good Friday came early this year. Even tho yesterday was a "leaf" day according to our Stella Natura calendar, we planted our potatoes. That is with the hopes that the rains will come in the next two days and soak them a little. I drove the D-15 (I drive the straightest rows) and Will put the potatoes thru the little planter. Marty cut the potatoes that were too large into smaller pieces and then he worked on hilling them up a little with the G after we were done planting. (See my previous blog for the tractor pics.)
   The potato planter is an old piece that was lovingly and craftily restored by our friend Warren Ulfers. I have to say thank you to Warren for giving us the seeder to use. It seems that very few people in our area have ever seen a potato planter like this. It is pretty cool.

This pic taken last year pulling with the C tractor.

Here's Will dropping potatoes into the coveyor slots.

   We joke about Will feeling like Lucy on the show "I Love Lucy" where she is in the candy factory trying to keep up with the conveyor. I have to drive pretty slow pulling it. The planter is powered by a chain on the wheel and we had some problems with keeping the chain on...until it broke! Then we shortened it a notch and it worked great.
   Will piles the potatoes in the box (as you can see) and drops the pieces into the conveyor in the middle. They go down a chute which is behind a plow. The plow creates a furrow, potato drops into it, and then another piece covers them.
   If you would like to see some of the equipment we use, we are having a Small Equipment Day at the farm on May 21. This program is sponsored by the Central Illinois Sustainable Farming Network (CISFN). Sign up at www.cisfn.org/about/join-the-network. Joining the network as a supporter or farmer gives you an opportunity to keep up with Central Illinois small farm news and programs throughout central Illinois.

Allis is my Girl

2011-04-01T08:17:00.000-05:00

We are "orange" people. Saying that in farm country is like saying we are Lutheran (been there) or Texan (that too). It defines a certain something about you. We happen to live in "green" country tho. Let's do some math with that...if green is to John Deere, then orange must be to...yep...Allis Chalmers. Our tractors are orange Allis tractors. Altho we do have a couple of green pull behind pieces.
Right now we have a small Simplicity lawn mower (Allis brand used for parts) and also a 916 Simplicity (FOR SALE $600, just needs a starter). Then we have the Allis G which is a spider looking tractor that is used for vegetable production. The G is a 1949. It is the one we use to plant (me sitting on the front with the little push planter). And mostly Marty uses it for cultivating the vegetable rows.

Allis G

The next size we have is an 1944 Allis C. FOR SALE!! $3,000. She's a beauty! Restored condition. Good tires and paint. Runs good. Side arm cutter works. Wide front. We've used her to cut and windrow hay and to pull Will around on various small pieces. (We need to sell this one to pay for the largest one.) I like this one because she is just darn pretty!

Allis C 1944

The next size up...Allis D-15. This is my tractor for planting and harvesting the wheat and corn. I like it because she has a little more power than the C and has power stearing (unlike our neighbor Tom's Ford loader tractor).

1961 Allis D-15

But, the D-15 wasn't pulling the spider cultivator easily. It was really causing the engine to work too hard. We weren't able to get the alfalfa plowed up and were getting discouraged with having to ask neighbors for help. So, we just bought this 1964 Allis 190. It pulls the cultivator and disc and we were able to get our alfalfa areas ready for planting our spring wheat. Will likes this one and he is good at driving it.

1964 Allis 190

Well, there you have it. Our Allis line up. We hope to never have to buy a bigger tractor than the 190. We actually never thought we'd ever have one that big. augh!
Thanks to Lynn Miller (author, editor, speaker - Small Farm Journal - great magazine!) for causing me to think more about sustainability. My dream tractor...a team of oxen! Maybe someday Lynn!

Me with the boys at Garfield Farm in LaFox, IL
Cool!!

Burn baby Burn

2011-03-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

   Ah, another sunny and beautiful spring day! Yesterday was pretty nice too. But really dry. And with dry weather in March, it is perfect for a prairie fire.
   Our prairie is about four acres in size and is a re-created one. There is less than 1/10th of 1% of original prairie left in our "prairie" state of Illinois. Augh! We planted over 100 species of prairie flowers back in 2001 and maybe in another 200 years it will look a little like it did 200 years ago. At least that tiny four acres will anyway.
   The last four years have been pretty wet for us and we haven't had a good burn to get rid of the weeds and help the flowers along. The prairie plants thrive with fire, so the weeds were really taking over.
   With the help of Darrel Coates from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, we were able to get a really hot burn this year. Darrel brought a drip torch and helped us get the fire going hot.
   We first burn a small area on the south side so the fire wouldn't get too hot and melt our hoophouses. That would be a really BAAAD thing! And, with the wind from the north and east, the fire would've really wooshed into the woods...right toward that wonderful new wood shed we are working on.
   So, after burning a strip along the south side, Marty and Darrel laid a strip of fire on the west side along the woods. This is called "backing". The fire blows to the west due to the easterly wind, but the fuel for it is on the east side so it slowly backs into the wind. That laid a "black line" which is a burnt area that helps keep the fire from crossing. No fuel...no fire. Remember those science lessons? Then the guys went all the way to the north side laying fire and that's when it really lit up.
   A truly good burn is one where no one gets hurt, and you don't have to work too hard for the fire to do what it is supposed to. This was great! Will and I pretty much stood around and watched little smoke tornados skip around. They always remind me of the Tazmanian Devil cartoon. Rabbits were running out of the fire area - nine were counted. And we counted a couple of Woodcocks also that flew into the woods...sorry guys.
   Thanks Darrel for helping us get a really nice hot burn. Most of the weeds are gone and it is pretty clean. Now the prairie plants can come on stronger. We are planting some prairie grasses today by sowing seed. The grasses will hopefully help the fire be hotter in the future.

This is Marty with the Prairie Central 5th grade students last fall.
They are collecting prairie seed and discuss the eco-system of the prairie as part of their program.

Beautiful prairie flowers.
Thanks to Lisa Predko (c)2008 for this picture!

B-52's anyone? Bright and Shiny today

2011-03-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

It's bright and shiny out this morning and a frigid 32 degrees. Ach! I'm going to be a wimp and stay inside today. Yesterday was cold also and we got pretty chilled working down in the woods on the syrup buildings.
Syrup update...I'm not done scrubbing the evaporator. Taking a break. Okay - wimping out on that also. But...we did get the lean-to on the syrup house. We also put a wall on the north side (the far back side with the horizontal pieces, wall not in the picture) to block the weather on the wood a little.

Looks pretty darn good and we are excited that it will keep a LOT of wood dry next season.

Here is a picture of the old wood shed that Will blew apart. He took out 8 nails and took off two pieces of metal and this is what happened!

I'll post a pic of the new one as soon as we get it done. We have the posts in, the horizontal pieces attached and the west wall on (wall would be on the right side of the picture). Unfortunately when we got to looking at the old walls, we weren't able to salvage them. Too rotted at the bottom. We wanted it to be 6 feet tall in the back so Will wouldn't bang his head on the ceiling, so we decided to just make new walls. We are saving the little old door tho. We also put the new shed on the same foot print as the old one (posts in the same holes) so it will look similar but not as "rustic".

Poultry news...I hear Bubbie, our survivor rooster, crowing this morning. Two of the three ducks are still hanging in there and we are keeping an eye on them. Everyone is happy to be in one house together. I think they feel safer together. They are definitely a little warmer!

Piglet news...she is the MOST stubborn pig! We haven't figured out how to tell when she will have the piglets. The pigs are pretty secretive for when they are breeding so we don't always get the date right for when she is going to have them. When she starts to look a little on the big side (not fat but pregnant) then we put her in the stall. Her first litter was two months late. So far this one is two weeks late. Hm. Any suggestions anyone?

That's the farm news for now. Have a great day!!

Just a Note

2011-03-26T08:57:00.000-05:00

   Thanks to all of you who have offered to help us get new poultry. We'll be getting chickens and ducks in May and Turkeys sometime in the summer. We really appreciate your offers and your support! Thanks! I'm so very thankful that we have so many good friends and such good family, and that we have so much.

   Putting it into perspective...

   It was hard to lose so many ducks and chickens to a blood bath by a mink.
   It would be devastating to lose EVERYTHING to an earthquake and radiation.
     If you pray...pray for the people of Japan and area. If you don't...send them well wishes and good energy. Send them whatever you can. To them...blessings...they need it.

Poultry Demise

2011-03-25T09:22:00.000-05:00

   Some days it is hard to write about what happens on the farm. This is one of those days.
   Yesterday we had a mink in the duck house. We lost all of the black Cayuga ducks. The three white Pekins are looking pretty tough. One is just sitting around but didn't want to be put down so we left him in the chicken house. The other two are walking around but we'll see if they get better. The carnage...well, you don't want to know.
   The chicken house, unlike the duck house, is on a cement slab. The duck house is wooden with a flip door and a dutch door also, and double walled with metal walls on the inside. The mink (smart little bugger, and that is not even close to what I've been really calling him today) chewed an area at the edge of the window. It was only about three inches long and about 1 1/2 inches high. If it is big enough for his head to fit through, he can get in. And, he did.
   When we realized the mink was still under the duck house, we removed the bales of straw around the outside and lifted it with the loader tractor. Marty looked under it but didn't see him. We had no choice but to just leave it. We left the duck house wide open and I'll clean it out today. So, we put the three remaining alive white ducks in the chicken house last night with the one turkey and about 15 chickens.
   At 2:30 am I woke up thinking I should go out and check the chickens. I had checked them at 9:30 last night. But...some of you will understand this...I'm a worrier. So, I laid there and worried. Marty always tells me everything will be okay. He is usually right and I am usually just lying there worrying for no good reason. At 4:30 I listened for the rooster crow. None. I thought maybe I was too early so at 5:30 I was still listening for it. Still none. By then I was too scared to go out and see. Not scared of the mink, just what I might find.
   At 7:30 Marty got up and went out. I watched from the house. Sure enough, he opened the door and then shut it again. He started toward the house. I knew.
   I got my coat and went back out with him. Eight lovely little chickens gone. All three of the "little kids" including my favorite chicken Belgie were gone. And, my big rooster Glory Be also. (Named so because I would tell him "Glory Be you got gorgeous legs" and he did.)
   We got the mink wedged in the wall. He had eaten a small hole, same size as on the duck house, in the bottom of the west door. He crawled inside the wall and then ate another hole into the chicken house thru the wall. Well...needless to say, he was beautiful. A male, and very stinky. Minks stink. In more ways than one. They just kill and don't eat the poultry after they kill it...they just kill.
   My second favorite chicken (or my favorite large one) Dee helped me count the casualties, line them up, and do the memorial. She's seen some pretty tough stuff in her five years. She's my girl friend chick and is always there to help me out. I'm glad she was okay. We'll clean the chicken house today too.
   To answer the question...we already have 30 chicks on order to arrive in May. I'll have to see if I have any money to get ducks. Maybe not this year. I'd really like more Cayuga ducks, so I'll have to save up some for them.
   Here's to my kids...Belgie, Glorie Be, Little Guy, Napoleon, Sister, Dot, Lang, Choco (the chicks) and Speck and her sisters and brothers (the Cayuga ducks).

Marty holding Belgie
(photo courtesy of Lisa Predko 2008)

The First Day of Planting (outside)

2011-03-22T08:34:00.000-05:00

   Wow, two days in one week! Surprise!! Sorry that I can't figure out how to get the new syrup label on here. I cut and pasted and tried different methods...I'll keep trying. It is in my Publisher program - any ideas you design artists? Once again - computer - 1, Kris - 0!
   Yesterday was a whirlwind. I didn't feel like working since it was a typical true blue Monday. The day started out like today, dreary and misty and colder. But, it brightened up later. There was the usual paperwork, errands to the post and the bank, and laundry. I was determined after all that to get my act together and see what could be accomplished. And, that's when spring happened all over again.
   For us, spring begins when syrup does. That is when we see the trees pushing up all that energy to create leaves, drip by drip. And, the birds begin to arrive and hats are a necessity. Then a whole month after all of that, we see spring all over again.
   Now the grass is greening up. I got the picnic tables out...I KNOW - 'they' are still predicting a light snow this weekend, but what do 'they' know. Another sign of spring was on my way to the syrup house to scrub a little on the evaporator. I saw some trilliums unfurling their leaves along the woods trail. That was really a nice surprise. I'll try to get more wildflower pics later when they are really going good.
   The ducks are leaving little piles of eggs in the corners of their house. I hate to take them out and am hoping one of them will set on the eggs and hatch them out. But, I also need to clean the duck house...really! I might just take the nest out and try to replace it again. Sometimes that works and sometimes they get finicky and don't want to use it. We have black Cayuga ducks and they lay dark charcoal colored eggs. Really pretty looking. When I wash the eggs the charcoal color comes off a little and the eggs end up looking spotted. Kinda gross looking, but it isn't poop stuck on them. I like the way they look before the washing.
   Yesterday we also cleaned out the pig stalls in the big barn. They were only used for a few weeks around the time of the blizzard so they didn't have a lot packed down. I pitch forked the nasty stuff (not too smelly) into a wheel barrow and took it out to a pile. Then Marty used the loader tractor to take it to the bigger pile down by the woods that we will turn into compost. I know that all you women are wondering why he got the easy job...brains! Mine. Yep...the wheel barrow has power stearing (me) and the tractor doesn't. And, he still had to scoop it some into the tractor bucket. My brain tells me I actually got the easier job. Besides, it was great exercise and I feel pretty good today. It enabled me to work off my three donuts from the morning.
   Cleaning the barn is a sign of spring for us. Now I just have the sheep stall to finish. They have their "bedroom" in the barn and watched me from the comfort of it. They also asked why I was being "baaad" and not clean theirs too. Maybe today I'll get to some of it. They are in it longer than the pigs so it will be packed down more and harder work. Have to beef up for it.
   Will worked on spraying an organic booster stuff on the wheat and then worked on fixing the sprayer. Another sign of the season...fixing equipment. The sprayer pump broke, the mower had a flat tire, and the loader tractor has an arm on the digger that needs welded today. Our neighbor says..."if you have equipment, you have maintenance". So true. Will is our mechanic and does a good job at all of that type of stuff.
   While Will tilled the new areas in the north field, Marty and I got out the Allis G tractor and the little push seeder and planted. (Sorry I don't have a picture of this method of planting. But I can't take the picture while on the tractor.) Marty drives. I sit on the front of this tiny tractor and hold the seeder in place. YES...this is NOT a good example of farm safety. He isn't going fast and I'm pretty wedged on there. It is WAY faster than walking the seeder and trying to hit a straight line between tire tracks. We got radishes, turnips, beets, and onions planted. The onions we just walked along and dropped onion sets in the row then covered them later. So...the first crops are planted in the field! Yippee!

This is the Allis G tractor.
I sit on that little triangle on the front.

And this is the seeder that I hold in place.
Tricky and takes talent!

Didn't Jack say something like..."I'm Baaack!"

2011-03-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

Okay...I'm not sure if Jack in the Shining said quite that, but here I am. It's been a while - eek! - okay a LONG while and we've been pretty darn busy. But, today is a nice slow (I'm lying) Sunday morn. I got up bright and shiny at 7am and mopped the upstairs after having swept it last night at 9pm. It is absolutely amazing how busy those bunnies are when I'm not using a room. I think I made one bunny for each room! We are trying to play catch up a little this week. That means catch up on cleaning too.
I have to say THANK YOU to all of you who were waiting patiently for the updates and who read this mumbo jumbo. You are a terrific group of moral supporters! And, it isn't that I didn't write the blogs when we were in the syrup house, I just couldn't get the time to dump them on the internet. I know...no excuse. I've never been very good at journal writing either. But, here is the update...

This is our chalkboard that we keep in the syrup house...say Hi to Donna's pigs (in the corner picture). What does all this blah blah mean? Weeellll....I'll try to decipher it for you. You'll see on the right side of the chart the number of trees tapped, when we tapped, when we collected sap first, how many total gallons of sap we boiled (2,255 is about two hundred more than last year), when we started boiling the sap, the number of loads of firewood (about one wagon full is a load, approx. one load used per day), how much sap it took before we could get our "base" and draw some syrup off for the first batch, and the supplies we used.

Then the bottom blah blah is our little notes to ourselves about the boiling point of water. Did you know that the boiling point of water changes according to the weather every day? Yep. So, every day we boiled water in the house in the morning and sometimes at noon to check it. Some days it was 212 degrees, some days not. Then we thought we would experiment a little and record the temperature we finished the syrup at and the barometer reading. We use a hydrometer to check when the syrup is finished. That way if the boiling point has changed, the syrup should still be the right consistency. The hydrometer, a weight in the bottom of a glass tube that has a paper with numbers on it stuck in it, is put into the syrup which is in a long tube and it will float at a certain thickness of syrup. Scientific stuff. So, anyway...that is what that is about at the bottom. And...the flues in the back pan hold 4 gallons of sap. The whole evaporator (we think) holds about 15 when it is at the correct level.

Onward...on the right...the days we finished syrup and how many gallons finished. Usually it is 40 gallons of sap per 1 gallon of syrup. That depends on a lot of other scientific factors tho. Our goal was to get 3 gallons per day and over 50 gallons for the season. Darren Ropp's Prairie Central high school agriculture classes came out a few times to help (that is the number of kids that came out total) and there is a tiny HS next to the days they came. The number of visitors is recorded and a "V" next to the days we had visitors.

We are truly sorry that we couldn't do a public program or programs for other groups this year. It was just too much with our already long and tiring days. We are really glad that all the visitors that came out helped collect sap and firewood some and were part of learning the process. It made for a nice exchange, giving us a little break from the work while they got to learn what was going on. Thanks a ton to all of you! We hope you enjoyed the time in the syrup house.

At the very bottom is the nature report: Redwing blackbirds arrived on 2/19, killdeer arrived on 2/27. Not reported were the peeper (little frogs that make a peeping noise) that started the day we began to clean up on the 16th. It was a nice farewell to the season...their send off. Or...maybe they were chearing that we weren't tromping around their woods, who knows.

So...the total (not on the chart when I took the picture cuz we were trying to sqeeze out another 1/4 gallon) was 53 gallons. More than last year (50), but not as much as we wanted (100). We learned this year that our evaporator just can't do more than we are doing. It is the size of it. We run it super high boiling all the time for about 12 hours a day. It just can't go faster. Another scientific thingy...the rate of evaporation only occurs at a certain rate due to the surface area and such. So, we determined that we need to come up with about $4,000, sell our evaporator for $3,000 and get a larger one (2'x8' is the dream size costing about $7,000). Then we could produce more than twice as much, possibly even four times as much. That would be WONDERFUL!! And, wonderful for all of you who aren't getting this delicious stuff.

All of the syrup was delivered on Friday. I made cool new labels that read "Uncle Willard's Sticky Yum-Yum" and have a picture of Will's great-great-grandfather, WD, and his buddies next to the old syrup house. (Thanks to Riley for the great idea!) Marty and I trekked to the jungle of Chicago to deliver gallons to the chefs and Will went around home and to Champaign to deliver. We have a few jars to send out to people on Monday. But, the season is done...sorry we didn't have enough for all of you...maybe next year.

I know this is very lengthy but the rest of the update is this: no Spunky return (I really miss her), no more crazy stupid people driving through our yard, no piglet babies YET (hopefully soon), lots of little "frankenstein" greens (as Scot would say) in the basement coming up nicely and being watered and tended daily (throughout the syrup season also), and lots of clean up to do.

The syrup clean up takes a while. Marty got all the 300+ buckets cleaned (and lids and taps) with help from mom (thanks mom!). Will sprayed the floor and walls, cleaned out the big tank, and has done lots of other clean up. He also started work on the new lean-to on the syrup house and exploded the wood shed. I say exploded for a good reason...but that might be another story.

And me...I just sit and supervise...NOT!! It looks like that in the pictures cuz I take the pictures. But my job this season is cleaning the evaporator. Call me the Fool for volunteering to do that! I did the buckets last year and that was back breaking. The evaporator tho is another whole back breaker. It is a huge job of scrubbing for hours and hours and hours.

Try this...turn on your oven to 200 degrees or so, then constantly dribble watery syrup on the bottom, letting it evaporate and harden. Do this for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 4 weeks. Hm. You will begin to notice after the first few hours and couple of days, a very hard mineral deposit building up. It got about 1/16 thick this year in spots. That is the easy part to get off, just soak some vinegar on it and it chips off. The HARD part is the little thin residue of minerals around the edges...AUGH! Jack from the Shining looks sane compared to me when I'm scrubbing!

I have worked on it about 7 or more hours so far and got one bottom (there are three) and four sides (there are twelve cuz of the dividers) in the front pan. That's just the Front Pan. The back pan I started on and Will has been kind enough to help some. It comes off a little easier as it boils thinner sap. Thanks to mom Willa for the Shaklee scrub stuff that smells like raspberries and works like Comet but is all natural. It is helping a TON. I figure now it will take two weeks to finish instead of two months. Well, we'll see.

We hope to get the syrup house lean-to and wood shed done before moving on to the next big projects of field work. And, that is as soon as it dries enough to get the tractor in the field. Hoophouses are weedy as it was too wet to get in there and walk around. The water had run under the sides from all the snow melt. They are drying out and, of course, it is to thunderstorm today and tomorrow. We'll try to get them weeded soon. Stuff is growing super slow so far, green garlic is being slow and that is the next large crop we will harvest. Animal pens and houses get cleaned out this week (peee-yeww!). They will be very happy about that. And I'm on a cleaning rampage, getting the house done and starting on the buildings one by one. We've been so busy the last five years with all the extra-curricular projects that we just piled stuff and now it is piled to the ceilings. I'm cleaning out so check back for the latest goodies on sale soon!

Oh yeah...Our Allis Chalmers 1944 "C" tractor, with side arm mower is FOR SALE for $3,000 (see picture on home page "cool equipment"). Email us thru our website if you are interested.

And, Will's diesel truck (has used bio-diesel) is FOR SALE. Contact him thru the email on our website if you are interested. Here's a pic...

Ranting about Country Respect

2011-02-26T13:51:00.000-06:00

   Okay...time for a good rant!
   If you've been following this blog, you might remember me writing about people going off the road by our house. This morning was another one of those days. A friend and neighbor of ours went off the road and flipped her car. And the most unfortunate thing is that she was hurt. She was able to call for help on her phone and Marty was still doing chores so was able to be right there also. The sherriff deputy showed up. Then two fire trucks, two ambulances, about six EMT's, and about a dozen firefighters came. They were able to get her out okay. (You guys are AWSOME!)
   But, here's my rant. Who was that idiot that was coming from the south (you know who you are babe!), that couldn't wait for the emergency vehicles to get our neighbor out of her car and to the hospital, and decided to drive thru...yes, through...our yard to get around them.
   Then she got her car stuck in our yard while doing so.
   Now...the deputy, bless his heart told her to stay put and Marty also asked her what she was thinking. Her response was...get this!..."this is how we do it in the country". SAAYY WHAAAT?! Oh yeah, if I'm stalled behind a life threatening emergency I tend to drive thru someone's yard to get around also. Would she do this in town? Is my yard less valuable than someone in town? What "country" is she from anyway? Are the firefighters and EMT's not having to worry as much about our neighbor's life and go push this lady's car out because we are in the country? Is she some kind of friggin idiot?
   Well. All I have to say is that it is a very good thing - no a GREAT thing - that I wasn't there. I tend to have a temper with stupidity, not to mention disrespect for personal property, not to mention disprespect for another's life. I think I could've come up with a handful of charges such as 'willful distruction of property' and 'impeding emergency personnel', just to name two. I think the cop let her off pretty easy.
   I also think I would've let her sit and think about those charges while she waited for the tow truck to come pull her out and she could pay for that as well as the property damages.
   If she was truly from "the country", she would've known she could turn around, go less than a mile south, east a mile, then back north and into town, taking probably less time than it took for her to sit there in our yard. Idiot.

   Now...with all that said, PLEASE pray for our neighbor's quick recovery from her injuries. We are really really hoping and praying that she is okay and can go home from the hospital soon.
   And, if you are the lady that drove thru our yard, you might want to thank the powers that be that I wasn't the cop there at the time. Or that I wasn't there at all. And, also that you weren't the one in the car that flipped over and are being sent to the hospital. And, you should thank those firefighters for pushing your car out of the yard and taking time away from them doing their jobs!
   It's all about respect people. RESPECT for others, "country" or not.

Cat Tracks

2011-02-25T15:06:00.000-06:00

   Cat tracks this morning in the snow. I follow them to the basement door, to the bushes where the birds are flitting, to the shed, the chicken house and around the side. Then they lead me to the small barn door, under the hog hut, to the old hog shed. I lose them there.
   On the way to the big barn I pick them up again, stopping at each of the three doors. Then they lead towards the woods, along the prairie path and turn in towards the syrup house. A little jaunt around the syrup tank to the syrup house door and then turn and peek into the shed, then back to the prairie trail.
   Off and on the trail, thru the woods on a deer path, up a branch and down the other side. On and on I go - hope in my heart, trying not to cry. At the gate to the road I stop as they get lost on the road. I peer across at the neighbor's house, call a couple of times, then give up.
   Was she looking for me? Was it her? Or was it just the other farm's midnight watch cat doing its rounds. Disappointed I go back to the syrup house to start the day. Spunky...where are you? Are you okay? Will you be able to come home?
   I miss my cat.

Spunky Brewster...missing Thursday, Feb. 23rd, 2011.
Farm cat extraordinaire. Very much missed.

The Exciting Days of Syruping

2011-02-23T14:19:00.000-06:00

   It feels like weeks since I last wrote. We are really going at it now, twelve to fourteen hours a day of syrup making. It is long days but well worth it!
Here's a typical day for us right now...
   I get up at 6:30 and get my breakfast put together, load up with stuff, and head for the woods. When I get to the syrup house I work on opening the roof vents, clean the evaporator flues and take out some of the ashes, and get a fire started. Then I start up the little generator borrowed from our friend John Carroll (thanks a ton, John!) and fill the blue barrel full of sap, sucking it out of the large steel tank that sits outside the syrup house. While that fills and the fire gets started, I quick wolf down my waffles (with syrup of course).
   When the guys get the chores done, emails answered, and heat the houses, etc., they come down to help out. We all take turns watching the evaporator as the sap boils so it doesn't boil over. We also take turns with putting wood in and cutting more wood, an ongoing task. And, yes ladies...I run the chainsaw also! (A regular old Rosie with the muscles here!)
   The idea is to keep the sap boiling as hard as possible without boiling it over and out of the pans. When the sap in the front pan is thick enough, we all work together to draw it off into a bucket and filter it twice into the finisher. Everything works a lot easier with the three of us working together. While Marty continues to watch the sap boil and control that part, which he is very good at, Will and I work on the bottling part of the operation.
   Will is really good at testing the syrup to make sure it is done. We do this with a hydrometer that tells us just the right amount of water (or not) to have in the syrup. Too much and the syrup spoils, too little and the syrup crystalizes. It is a very exacting science, and also dependant on the weather. After Will gets the syrup at the right consistency, we work together on the bottling. I fill the bottles and then later clean them off and label them at the house.
   At lunch time Marty fixes something spectacular and we all eat together picnic style in the woods. In order to not have the sap boil over, we crank it down...that means we cool it off by either adding more sap or closing the front damper. It really takes a lot of keeping an eye on things. And, even tho it might seem that watching sap boil would be boring, we are going on our feet almost all day.
   We keep track throughout the day of the sap boiled, the wood used, and the gallons of syrup made. We also write down the weather conditions and little things like when the first redwing blackbirds start singing. That all helps us the next year to do a better job with the syrup and to make sure we pay attention to spring coming.
   At 5:00 we start to shut down, not adding any more wood to the fire. The guys go up to the farm to do chores. I sweep, close the vents, wait for the fire to go down, clean the counters and equipment, make sure chairs are hung on the walls and trash taken up to the house. We keep everything as clean as we can. That is what I'm good at. Then I pack up my stuff and track up to the house to help wash filters and equipment, to have dinner, and to collapse.
   Up again the next day for the same. But, the syrup is heavenly tasting! Buttery and rich. No sugars and additives, just pure maple syrup. It is well worth it...did I already say that? Well, it is!

Marty and Will watching the pans.

Buttery tasting beautiful brown sap...almost syrup!

Lunch time in our office in the woods.

One day worth of firewood...maybe.

The best days for boiling are days like today. A little sun, cold and in the upper 30's and with dry dry wood. Wet wood makes the process a real chore. Today is ideal. So...back to work!

Syrup season 2011

2011-02-17T16:03:00.000-06:00

   Once again, I've been waiting for our internet to get fixed so I could tell you the news about our syrup season. We are trying another method for hooking up to the internet, having the little internet box on the first floor. We'll see if that works. But, in the meantime, things have gotten extremely busy.
   On the 11th the Prairie Central Community High School Ag classes came out to learn about the syrup season from Will. Will does a great program with these classes every year thanks to the coordination with their teacher, Darren Ropp (thanks Darren!). The kids helped tap the 151 trees on the 11th and then Will, Marty and I finished tapping the other half of them over the weekend. The total trees tapped are around 322. (We ended up with some extra buckets so we'll have to do a recount at the end of the season.)
   We always have questions about the tapping of the trees and the most popular one is...does it hurt the tree? So, here is what we think. It is kind of like giving blood. You go in, get jabbed in the arm and it hurts for a minute. You give some blood, then go home and the blood helps someone else. The trees give us their supply of sap (blood, in a way) that helps us make a living so we can continue to live here and take care of the farm and the woods. And, take care of the trees. It is a nice support of each other. I like to (yes, I'm one of those) hug the trees and tell them thank you for their support and participation in making the farm a great place to live. I know! Sounds corny! Or maybe I should say sappy.
   After tapping the trees, we began putting out big 55 gallon blue barrels and measuring 100' between them. Last year the mud bogged us down and we were having to carry 5 gallon buckets of sap through the mud to the syrup house from over 600' away...did I say thru the mud? The mud was ankle deep in some places. So, this year we got brightened up and decided to put out these barrels. We got a new hose to syphon from barrel to barrel with a little generator and a pump. That will help tremendously to cut down the back breaking (and ankle breaking) work of hauling the sap across the woods.
   We dump all the sap into a huge stainless steel tank that holds 400 gallons. The kids came out again today and collected sap, just about filling the tank. Then they'll come back again after we begin to boil it down into syrup and see that part of the process. We had to order a piece for the evaporator so won't be able to begin boiling until it arrives, hopefully this weekend.

This is our syrup house down in the woods.

This is our small wood fired (door in the front) evaporator.

We'd like to get a bigger one. Maybe next season, they are kind of expensive so we are saving up.

And this is a tap in a tree, the bucket is hooked to it.

The tap is "tapped" into a hole drilled just barely 1" into the tree.

The days are getting longer, not just the daylight but also our work days. We typically work 14 hour days and 7 days a week during syrup season. But, the time enjoying the woods with spring coming, and the time working together as a team and family, is definitely worth it. Last year we were able to make and sell almost 50 gallons of syrup. This year we hope to be able to double that. It all depends on the weather tho, as does all farming. We need days in the upper 30's at least and night below freezing for the best syrup season. The freezing causes the sap to go back down the tree into the ground, the warm weather up into the tree during the day. Our 2010 season was only three weeks long. We are hoping for double that also!
I'll work on getting some more pictures so you can see the process as it happens.

A great cache of carrots!

2011-02-07T17:04:00.000-06:00

What a glorious day! Well, it was about three hours ago. (Now it is 15 degrees and snowing!) We were in our shirtsleeves and sweating it up earlier. It was sunny and balmy…at least 70 degrees. That is in the hoophouses...of course!

The west hoophouse is going to have early potatoes. The goal is to harvest them the first of May as new potatoes and then put our peppers in that house. We cleaned out the carrots that were still in there. Boy was that a surprise!

The tilling went great!

Marty tilling the west house for potatoes

The soil was nice and soft, beautiful. But, getting the tiller from the equipment shed to the hoops was a challenge. Will got his wooden toboggan and he and Marty sled the tiller to the houses. They lifted it over the threshold as we haven’t gotten our ramp built yet. But, it started up okay and the tilling was done.

Looking at the barn from the hoophouses...the four foot snow drift!

Then we cleaned up the yucky smelling greens in the east house. We checked our Stella Natura calendar and today was a “leaf” day, meaning we should plant leaf plants. Great!

We tilled the middle section as we still have onions and garlic on the west, a few herbs, and some arugula on the east side. We planted a row each of red mustard, komatsuna, rapini, and cress. It’s an experiment to see how they do. We’ve never had a hoophouse in winter so we are testing everything this year to learn all we can.

This weekend are “root” days so we will plant our potatoes in the west house and the radishes in the east one. This is soooo exciting! We had a great time. It felt so much like April in there!

Our delicious hoophouse carrots

There were over 34 pounds of juicy carrots about 6” long and about 1” in diameter. Nice orange ones that we planted last fall. We thought they would be a little soft due to the freezing temps, but they were fine.

Sorry Boys

2011-02-07T09:14:00.000-06:00

You boys out there might not want to read this one. It's a sorry fact of farm life tho. Today was the day...the big cut. Yep, the five little boy pigs got the wack. Ouch.

The little boys in nicer weather.
They didn't suspect a thing!

   About a year and a half ago, Will and I went to the vet with our first batch of three little boys to get them casterated. We had heard two different stories. One was that if you casterate them, they won't taste as strong and musky. The second was if you didn't casterate them up to a year, you would be okay and they wouldn't taste too strong. hm. We opted for the first on the first batch, just to be sure. We took them to our GREAT vet, Dr. Susan Albright in Chenoa, IL (Hi Dr. Susan!). She is the best vet we've ever had because she listens to our organic needs. We don't do the usual shots for our livestock, we use herbal remedies for them, and she is a holistic vet. Not to mention super nice.
   Well, she taught us how to hold them up by their back legs, make the incision, and do the dirty deed of taking out the testicles (like I said...ouch!). It wasn't hard to do. She squirted them down with disinfectant and we put them back in the dog crate, brought them home, and they were fine. We kept them on clean straw in the barn for three days and then they went back outside.
   Then the second batch we sold the two boys as breeders to two other farmers. Got lucky there. But, this third batch had five boys. We are going to butcher them all for food for ourselves and a chef friend. So, we decided we'd be on the safe side again and casterate them. When it came down to it, Will and I looked at each other and said "nuh, uh!". We cringe at the idea of trying it ourselves. Call us wimps... we are.
   So, today Will took the boys to Dr. Susan and got them done. Now they are home again. Doesn't take but a quick minute. They are in the barn because of the snow drift over the outside cages and because it is to be really cold the next couple of days, so they'll be fine.
   Maybe sometime we'll try one or two without wacking them and see what the taste difference is. Maybe we'll wait until we have quite a few on hand tho so we aren't stuck if it is nasty tasting!
   Oh...and thanks to the super nice lady at Verizon Wireless (Latesha - I think) for helping us get back online!

The Triangle

2011-02-04T09:30:00.000-06:00

   You may have heard of the Bermuda Triangle. And how it sucks up technology and ships get lost in it and never come out...it's here. Yep, our farm is the techno triangle of Central Illinois. There must be something about the word "historic" that makes technology think it shouldn't set foot here.
   The last few days I've been struggling with getting online so I could write these delightful blogs. No such luck. Marty called the server (Verizon Wireless) and spoke to some very nice people that finally decided to send us a new box, thinking this one has a problem since it "roams" for 3/4 of the time. We are still waiting on the box. But, after five hours of trying to get a book order through...I did it! And now, strangely enough, it is still working. If I blip off, you'll know it.
   I was trying to update some of the pictures for you to see our farm family...got Swee on there! I'll keep trying over the next few days. This year one of my goals is to get a new smaller camera and take more pictures. The techno stuff isn't my strong point anymore and I think the internet hates me. I used to work ten hours a day on the computer. About ten years ago, when I moved here, decided to be free of all of it. We don't wear watches, we don't carry our one cell phone that I can't remember the number for, and we only get online about once a day for a little bit to do some research and business. Needless to say...the techno demon is getting back at us. We basically live like people did when I was a kid...no computer, no internet, no phones that didn't have a cord, etc. The problem is now that we are in the age of everyone using it...we are struggling with it.
   But, anyway...here's the news...if you want pictures and a description of the blizzard, check out the Midlife Farmwife blog (to the left). Donna has great pictures and a funny description. And, since she isn't that far from us, you'll get a very good idea of what it looks like at our farm also. We had our neighbor, Tom, plow our two lanes and out to the barn yesterday. Thanks Tom, you're GREAT!! We still can't get our tractors out yet, but will work on that today. And, there is a five foot drift between our north and south lanes.
   We had moved the pigs and cows into the barn before the storm...thank goodness. But, my littlest runt piggy, Feobe, wasn't feeling good anyway and the move was too much for her. She died on the 2nd. Everyone else is doing okay so far. And, they are loving the warmth since it was -1 degrees yesterday morn and only 8 this morn when I looked out.
   Being a sustainable farm is great! We have food for months in our freezers and canned in our pantry, we have firewood for about a week and then can find stuff around, and we have stuff to do. We are loving it! Being snowed in is a great vacation and a great excuse to just hang out. There are the chores, and the nice walks outside in the sun (like today), and the knitting/reading/furniture fixing. I was able to finally finish fixing the bathroom floor yesterday and then took apart a chair and am re-upholstering it today. Marty is going to play in the snow and try to get the loader tractor started to bucket out the massive drift. Then he's enjoying his hobby of cooking (I need to get out in the drifts and lose the weight tho!).
   I hope to be able to write more again later...wish me luck!

Preparing for the Blizzard

2011-02-01T11:49:00.000-06:00

   They are saying on the radio and online that we are in for 14" of snow, some sleet, thunderstorm, cats, dogs, frogs, whatever. We don't tend to get too excited about the weather, but we are smart enough to prepare for it. Yesterday we cut and brought in three loads of red elm firewood. I hated cutting that tree down. It was hu-mun-gus! I kept the wedge from the cut and counted over 100 rings, or over 100 years old. I had wrapped my arms around the log and still had over a foot to reach. It was 14 feet to the first branch. Now that large, majestic tree is heating my house.
   I asked Marty to keep the log out of it so we can mill it into lumber. I just couldn't bear to know that it would be burnt up and not enjoyed as beatiful wood. I'm not sure what we'll make from it, but I'll think of something. I also kept the wedge and plan to sand it smooth and re-count the rings to make sure of the age. It will go in my honey house as a piece of art...nature art. Simple, majestic. The closest I have here at the farm to the sequoia.
   We also decided to bring the cows into the barn yesterday. Luckily, as a small homestead farm, we only have two. And, even though Dini's attitude makes up for about three more, we were able to get them into the barn stall with some hay. Then today we decided to move the pigs into the barn.
   Stalls were planned and started late last year but we hadn't finished them. We got the post pounder out and finished putting up the oak pen sides, tied to metal posts driven in the soil and lime floor. Lime was put down many years ago and has hardened into an almost concrete substance, so getting the posts in took some work. Then I tied the pen sides to them while the guys attached little gates to the front of the pens. The pens for the little boys, little girls, and Swee don't have to be extra sturdy. Sam, however, is another story.
   For Sam, we put up the sides in the corner where I will build the turkey house later this spring. We added an extra post, attached a more sturdy gate, and found a large crate and cement block to put against the gate. He is super strong and smart. His pens and gates have to have a much stronger construction.
   We then grabbed each of the five little boys and the five little girls and popped them into the pens. We just picked them up. They squeal like crazy until you start to rub their cheeks and then they calm down. They are so like little dogs. For Swee, we opened her cage, offered her an apple and she followed us into the pen in the barn. She's great.
   Then Sam. Not a problem. The guys distracted him by rubbing on him until I could get his cage clips undone. Then he followed Marty into the pen in the barn, following the bucket of apples that Marty was carrying actually. What a great pig!
   I think our animals are very easy to take care of. I gave the chix and ducks extra food, the cows extra water, the sheep extra hay, and that was that. It is great to be a small homestead so we can get all the animals into the barn. I plan to build a couple more pig pens later this year so we can put more pigs in if needed after Swee has her next litter. As soon as the weather clears...hopefully soon...they will go back out to their cages and the cows to their cow area.
   Then we got two more loads of firewood from the stack by the barn, collected the extension cords, brought the gas generator up to the garage from the syrup house, and got extra gas. We have lots of our own food so don't worry about running to the grocery store. The generator will help run the heater's blower outside and keep the downstairs freezers from thawing if we need it. Otherwise, I've collected my books, my knitting, my tea and have snuggled in for a nice snow storm.
   Hope your weather is better than ours!!

Just the Daily

2011-01-23T09:16:00.000-06:00

   It's been exciting here lately. We've been pretty busy with a couple of furniture orders that Marty needs to get done, trying to finish them up by the end of the month. The wood shop is at Marty's mom's (Willa) house five miles away so we rush over there and work when we can. We were able to get the body frame of this cupboard put together yesterday and are hoping to get the back in it today. Marty has built reproduction Shaker furniture for over 30 years. And he is great at it! (I know I'm biased...but this is true.) He is now almost a full time farmer but still does special pieces in the winter sometimes.
   The other day the chicken catalogue came in the mail from Murray McMurray hatchery in Iowa. They have a wonderful selection of heritage breeds and their service has always been terrific. We haven't gotten chicks in a couple of years due to my not having the time to care for them and not having the extra cash to buy them. But, this year I've been saving up money and time (HA!).
   Will and I sat down and picked out the breeds we like the best. After years of having many different kinds, we've come to recognize the temperament of our chickens depends on the style of body. With that in mind we picked out some larger breeds and some of the "smarter" ones we have had...like Delaware, Araucana (green egg layers), Wyandottes, and Speckled Sussex. Those are the smarter ones we've had. I also picked out some of the banties (little ones) like our Quail Antwerp Belgian named Belgie. She's just too cool! Talk about an attitude. She bosses all the bigger kids around.

Marty holding Belgie...of course she
was giving him hell about it.
Photo (c) Lisa Predko 2008, used with permission.
Great picture...Thanks, Lisa!

The weather is still pretty cold. Only supposed to be 18 degrees high today. I'm watching some Starlings out the window sitting in the big burr oaks. They are really puffed up trying to keep warm. There is to be some snow tomorrow and warm up a little. I heard the birds really chirping it up today and the deer have been pawing in the yard looking for treats under the inch of snow we have already. Maybe we will get more snow than expected. I'm looking forward to it warming up. This armchair dreaming of chicks, plants, building repairs, tilling fields, is getting to be a bummer.

Coming up green

2011-01-22T18:04:00.000-06:00

   Spring is happening right here at our farm...in our basement! About a week ago we planted some herbs in trays, the first of our planting for the year. I have wooden shelves set up in the basement with shop lights hanging over each shelf. We planted 12 trays of 36 cells each with herbs. Nine of the trays were placed in home made heat trays. These are wooden boxes lined with foam insulation and then a heat cord run back and forth across the bottom. We can fit three trays of plants in each heat tray.
   Every other day we water the trays and see if any little green guys are sprouting. A couple of days ago I noticed the dill coming up. Yippee! They are now about an inch or so tall. I moved that tray off of the heat and put the sage on. The heat trays help the germination a LOT. Today I also noticed the parsley starting to come up...and a few little sprouts of weeds which I plucked out. We re-use our soil if we can and also incorporate some of our composted leaf mulch. It saves a lot of money, especially when we are planting close to 75 trays in the spring.
   Since the basement is still a little chilly, I set up a small heater to help bring the temp up to 65 degrees. That way the trays that aren't on the heat will still germinate. We try to keep track of which seeds need higher temps. Some of the seed catalogues and some of the packets list the heat requirements on them, but not all. In another week we will begin to plant our peppers and rotate the herbs off the heat and the peppers onto it. It is really fun to go downstairs and see all those little green leaves coming up!

Locusts...not the insect

2011-01-16T10:25:00.000-06:00

   It is sunny and very cold today. We woke up to 0 degrees. At least the sun is shining and there is almost no breeze. Tonight is supposed to get to -1 degrees and then we are looking at the internet forecast of more snow. So...off to the woods for more firewood!
   The last few days we've been working on locusts...honey locusts. They are not the insect kind, but a tree that grows in our woods and along the fields. The honey locust is great firewood, burning hot and easy to split. But, the trees are a menace. They have large thorns in them and are somewhat invasive. We have seen trees that are only five feet tall with thorns as huge as four inches long. And, yesterday when Marty split one piece for firewood, there was a thorn growing in the middle of the tree, two inches long...right in the middle! Crazy.
   The honey locusts in our woods were spread in 1970's by the cattle and earlier by hogs that were let to walk freely in the woods. They ate the pods of the honey locusts and of course left a trail of seeds wherever they walked. The pods are large, sometimes eight inches or longer and have fairly good size seeds. There haven't been any animals in the woods for over 30 years. But the locusts, once established, will spread themselves very easily. So, in order to keep them from coming up all over and crowding out other trees, we have to do some maintenance.
   We ring the larger ones, the "mother" trees by cutting two rings around them. The rings are cut with the chainsaw about two inches apart and a couple of feet up from the base. The cuts are about an inch deep, going thru the cambium layer. This stops the flow of sap to the top of the tree and the tree dies. For harvesting locusts for firewood, this is really helpful as the bark drops off and the upper branches fall out over the period of a year or two. No thorns when cutting firewood! (At least on the outside.)
   Then we also went around the fenceline of the south field and cut all the little trees out. They will sometimes come back up from the stumps, so maintenance needs to be done every couple of years to keep them down. We don't like to spray chemicals on the stumps since we are trying to farm organic. It only took us two hours to cut all the little trees around the south field and the weather was sunny and mild. It was a wonderful day for being out and working on a project like that.

I must say that honey locusts are not the same as black locust trees. We have beautiful black locusts in our yard. They do not have thorns, have delicious smelling whitish blossoms that flower in mid-May, and they have very small pods. The two trees are different species altogether. The black locusts were brought here by the settlers as they provided great material for fencing. They were also planted around our buildings to get the lightening strikes as they became taller than the buildings (or so the story is told to us). We like them a lot and the honey bees do too!

Our Allis D-15 tractor and grandpa's wagon

On our way to the woods

This honey locust
is hairy with thorns

Check out how long these thorns are!
There is a pile of them on the ground
on the left

Marty cutting a large
honey locust

Easterly Winds

2011-01-10T17:32:00.000-06:00

   This past week has been quite busy, mostly not at the farm. We took a jaunt down to Springfield for the Specialty Crop Conference this past Thursday and Friday. Sitting in on the social media seminar was helpful and solidified my feelings that the internet is a foreign language for me. Unfortunately I'm not seven years old anymore and am still struggling with learning a new internet language. But, we also found the organic soil and weed seminars helpful. And, it is always enjoyable spending time with our farmer friends that we get to see once only a year at conferences.
   The weekend proved uneventful at the farm except for minor pig mishaps. Sam decided he would take a chunk of Swee's ear off to get her away from his hay and turnips. He did that a couple of mornings in a row and her ear wasn't healing. Then Swee decided he had a good idea and took a bite at his. Okay! Time to separate them. Obviously they are getting tired of each other. We pulled our spare cage up next to Sam's, gave him an apple, opened the cages, and offered her an apple in the new cage...she walked right in. Wha-la...separate. Then we put her cage beside his so they could still talk and not bite. Other than that we collected more firewood, put more hay in the small barn for the cows, and enjoyed the pleasant weather.
   Then the easterly winds came. On the farm we pay attention to the wind and the birds to tell us the weather. Well, not entirely. Marty gets the weather report on the internet and that tells us what is coming seven days out...maybe. But, if we didn't have internet we would still be able to tell a day or two ahead. When the wind is from the south it will get warmer, maybe rain or thunderstorm in a day or two. When it is from the north, bitter cold and put more firewood in. When it is from the east...well that is bad weather coming. The stronger the east wind, the worse the storm.
   Today was strong east wind all day. And...the birds were really creating a ruckus this morning. The birds get really worked up if there is snow or ice coming, getting ready for it by flocking and eating as much as they can find. Marty looked at the internet and sure enough they were predicting 100% snow tonight and up to six inches of it. It will blow from the east until the storm gets here and then swing around to the west and blow through.
   We are looking forward to a little more snow. Sounds crazy, but it blankets our wheat and garlic and insulates them from the cold, keeping them from freezing out. As long as it is only a few inches we can still get firewood easy enough. And, it is much better than ice that breaks the orchard trees and is difficult to walk and drive on. (Remember those ditch divers?) Besides, it gives us a great excuse to keep working on fixing the inside of the house and begin our planting downstairs. So...come on snow!

Armchair travels

2011-01-05T08:55:00.000-06:00

   I once wrote to myself "a true journey is only as far as walking out your front door". That was in an old travel journal. This winter I've come to learn that it is as far as the armchair. Maybe I'm getting older. But, we have been watching the National Park DVD by Ken Burns and really enjoying it. I'm seeing places that I will probably never be able to go. We don't tend to have the kind of money to travel to Yosemite or places as wonderful as that, nor is it easy to find the time with the kind of farming we do. Not yet! Perhaps someday.
   The show has inspired me to do some reading though. I have been looking up the famous people mentioned in the show, such as John Muir, and have realized I have been remiss on not reading their words sooner. Such eloquent words describing our natural wonders. I have also been inspired to read a book entitled "Eight months in Illinois" by William Oliver, written in 1841. If you are interested in what Illinois was like, wild and natural as well as agriculture and commerce, this is a book for you! Wonderful descriptions of landscape and natural beauty, farms and their products, the way of life on the prairie.
   With all of this inspiration to get out in nature more, I've been thinking about how so many people don't get to go to fantastic sites around the nation, and for the same reason as us...no money and no time off of work. But, to be able to see it on t.v. or read about it helps. However, Marty and I tend to travel our own back yard (so to speak). Once in a while, and not often enough, we go for a drive. This time of year is best as the foliage is off the trees and we can really see the architecture of the farm buildings and the lay of the land. We drive for hours sometimes, seeing wildlife and nature from the car, stopping occasionally to walk or visit an historic site in some town.
   Statistics show that most museums and nature centers have the majority of their visitors from further away, not from towns nearby. But, with the rising cost of gas, Marty and I are travelling closer and closer to home this year. I look out the window and see the trees of the woods, the deer eating our alfalfa, the little birds in the driveway...it really is just outside the front door.

Farms like ours are teaming with life and nature, livestock and wild animals, mushrooms and leaves, and worms. Our friend Mark Edwards used to come and tell us about a view on our farm, a vista that he had seen. We would go look at our farm through his eyes and not see the work needing done or the caretaking, but the beauty. We really appreciate visitors showing us our farm in a different light, helping us look past the every day-ness of it and into the beauty. Some think it might bother us to stop our work and visit with them...think again! It makes us take time from work to enjoy visiting with someone and take time to see the farm anew again. It is a gentle reminder of how blessed we are to be able to live on such beautiful land, giving land. And, how we must be doing an okay job taking care of it to still have the wildlife, native plants, worms, etc. Not every farm can say that today.

So...I encourage you to look at the world right outside your door, be an armchair traveler if you must, but don't forget to see the world right in front of you also. Enjoy a drive in the countryside, see places that have been there since before man came, see the historic sites, enjoy the landscapes and farmscapes. Or take a walk down the city street and notice the flowers, trees, insects (yes, there are insects in the city), birds, and architechure. Don't struggle to go to another state or some popular amusement park if you can't afford it, enjoy the amusement park of nature all around you. And, if you are out this way...stop by and say hi. We'd love to stop and visit with you!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:17:00.000-06:00

   What a wonderful day! A blank page, draw what your want, paint if you like, write the new year into your life! This is my second favorite day of the year, after December 21st when the days get longer again. I don't get caught up in regrets of the past year, but plans of the coming year. What to plant, what to knit, what to read, who to meet, what friends to make, what passions to share...the possibilities are endless.
   The weather is strange today, 20 degrees and windy. The past two days were in the upper 50's with rainstorms and tornado warnings. All of the snow, a foot or more, was gone overnight and the grass greened up. It looked like April 1st yesterday - April Fool's! Now it feels like winter again, but it isn't as beautiful as the white Christmasy feel that December was. Our once a week trip to the woods for firewood continues tomorrow.
   The ducks refuse to come out, the chickens squawk with complaints, the cat shivers and runs for the barn. I spent a few moments enjoying the cooler weather and picked up the corn cobs left by the chicken house. I look around the yard and think of snapping off the dried weeds, picking up sticks, and then I get chilled and come inside again. It is still winter - I have to remind myself after the nice weather yesterday.
   Cold days during the winter are great for planning. And this day is one of those days. During the planting season we don't do much paperwork as our days are sun up to sun down (5 am to 9 pm sometimes). We keep track of what we sell, where we plant, etc. and then at the end of the year when we are stuck inside we put it all together into a plan for the next year. We take our maps from last year and decide on where our crops will go this year, rotating them to avoid bug and weed problems. The sales data kept during the growing season is compiled into a chart that we use to determine what we can expand on, do less of, and what seed to buy. It also shows us the seasons of the plants so we can let our customers know what to expect and when.
   Planning what to plant is really exciting. It is such a promise of a prosperous year to think of all those green plants coming up. Marty puts together a list of what to start downstairs under grow lights, and then I begin the process of putting the trays together. We work together on a seed order from three or four heirloom seed companies, ordering the necessary seed for sales and then ordering some fun stuff to try out. We try to grow new things every year to keep our customers excited and on the cutting edge. And, to make it exciting for us.
   We took a walk through the hoophouses yesterday (in the balmy weather) and got excited about what we were going to leave and what areas to replant. We are testing the mustard, swiss chard, arugula, kale, and cilantro to see if they will come back up again. Some look like they might so we will clean out the dead leaves around the outer edges, cover them with a row cover (fabric like material over small hoops), and see what happens. It is a test to see if we can get another early season harvest from them without tearing them out and replanting. It would save on time, labor and seed if it works. We are learning so much!
   We wish you a fantastic new year with lots of love and laughter, green growing things and delicious foods, and precious time filled to the brim with blessings! Happy New Year!

Paintin' Place

2010-12-30T14:04:00.000-06:00

Wow, where did I go? Well, I've been working on paperwork...a lot. That is another farm story though for another day. Besides paperwork, we've been sprucing up the house a bit. Every year I work on "re-doing" one room in the house. So, far I've repapered, painted, or worked on minor woodwork in every room. It's great exercise. And, since we work sun-up to sun-down during the planting season (Feb. to Nov.), winter is for in house repairs. Unfortunately, in some ways, our winter season gets smaller and smaller every year as planning crops, planting seedlings in the basement, and boiling maple syrup gets bigger and bigger.

This year we decided to work on our small bathroom. Over the years it has had a board in the floor slowly rotting away so we lifted the linoleum, dug out the rotting board and nails, replaced with a new board, and glued the linoleum back down. Then we took a look at the walls and realized they needed a paint job. We chose a nice tan color and I set about taping, rollering paint, and doing the brush touch up. Now the room looks pretty good. Unfortunately the beautifully painted walls make the cabinets look old and ratty. Ah, well now the cabinets need painted...

Isn't that usually the way of repairs? You get one thing started and it leads to another to another and to another. I really enjoy working on buildings, painting, drywalling, and just fix it stuff. I'm pretty okay with plumbing also. Finding the time to enjoy this hobby is the hard part for me.

Our farm has 19 buildings plus the big farm house. We had someone ask one time what we do with all of the buildings...another farm story I suppose. But, all of them are in use in some way or another. Instead of paying Grandma rent, we trade the work on the upkeep of the farm. Every year a building, or two or three or more, are needing some work. Sometimes we hire this out, but a lot of the time we do it ourselves. We have jacked up buildings to replace the sills, straightened buildings that were falling over by pulling them back into shape, and rebuilt failing walls. We've also built a couple of buildings (including the chicken house). Then there is the ever present need of paint.

My most recent work of restoring a building is my little "Honey House". Someday I plan this to be a small workshop for me and a small area for our garden items. We moved the building to the farm a few years ago by jacking it up and placing it on a trailer, driving it about 20 miles to the farm, and setting it on new sills. Last year I was able to get it mostly straightened (it was crooked due to a bad wind storm the first year here), put in a new ash floor, and start work on cutting window spaces in the back wall. It is definitely a work in progress. Why is it called "Honey House"? Originally we were going to use it to process our honey. But, then I realized that my "honey" (Marty) paid to move it for me. Great guy, so I named it for him!

The Season of the Ditch Divers

2010-12-21T17:23:00.000-06:00

This is definitely the season for ditch diving. And, it is NOT a laughing matter!
   Living on a country road that has a slight curve in it can sometimes be exciting. It can also be somewhat scary during wet weather and snowy ice weather. We are seeing the latter of the two right now. With another 2 inches of snow yesterday and a potential blizzard on the way, we are beginning to expect this to be a ditch diving year.
   The weather today was beautiful, a balmy 34 degrees. I walked around with my coat unzipped and without my gloves. It was great weather for getting our orders together to deliver tomorrow. Horrible weather for going to the woods to get firewood. And, apparently even more horrible for driving. It got very slushy by about 10am. We heard the snow plow backup beeping noise this morning and looked out the window to see one large plow in the ditch almost on its side, and another two plows hooked up trying to get it out. We aren't sure how he got there, but they sure couldn't get him loose. They finally called in the big boys with the semi-tow truck and got the plow pulled out.
   Later on we decided to head to Bloomington (Illinois) which is about 40 minutes drive to the south. The roads were very slushy so we carefully wound our way through the better country roads and onto the highway. Thankfully Marty is an excellent driver and we made it there and back just fine. However, about 10 minutes after getting home..."schreeeee!" then "whoomp!" then "zzzipt, zippt". We looked out to see an SUV in the front ditch.
   Since this is nothing new - we averaged one new mailbox per year from 2000-2005 - we walked out and calmly asked if the guy was okay. He was but was not going anywhere fast. Marty hooked up the tractor to his front end and pulled him out. He was thankful for us saving him the tow truck expense. We were more thankful he wasn't hurt.
   We have had a couple of very close calls in the past years. One huge truck, a heavy duty Mack construction truck, slid off the road on a rainy day and slammed into our front tree. It hit so hard that the engine was totalled and the drive shaft was shoved out the back. The two guys lived, but it scared all four of us nearly to death. We called the ambulance just in case. And, to this day when we see them in the grocery store, they still say "all I could see was that tree coming straight at me...straight at me".
   Another time we had a younger teenage girl, new driver, go off the road in rainy weather. She went all the way through the front yard, missing a dozen huge trees and our large historic stone marker. Talk about frightening! Her grandmother told us later that the girl didn't drive for months afterward.
   So, I suppose the word is - be careful on the country roads! Their pavements aren't made the same, they have drop offs on the sides and gravel that can catch you, and ours aren't allowed to be salted (only sanded). The snow plow workers do their best to keep the snow off, but the country roads get drifts even with a light wind. And, the mailboxes and trees - they can come straight at you if you aren't careful. Don't be a ditch diver!

A Winter Day in the Life of a Farm Cat

2010-12-18T14:45:00.000-06:00

She works in the basement at night, catching those pesky little mice. It helps keep the mice from nipping off the little plants that are coming up. Occasionally she jumps too hard on a pipe or crashes something over, but she is busy doing her night job. Then toward daylight, all tuckered out, she crashes for some well earned sleep on her blanket on the work bench.

Spunky Brewster, farm cat,
before the big snow

When everyone begins moving around upstairs, she grabs a nibble of cat food and then screams to be let outside. It's time to do chores! Racing outside into the snow, she catches little somethings and jumps and twirls, showing off her agility (something her inside cat brother doesn't possess). Off to the chicken house! The door is opened and she jumps at the chickens, trying to scare them! They look at her, bored, and then look away. They know that she isn't allowed to hurt them and she is just playing. Having grown up with them, and having the chickens bigger than her, has made her cautious about being too close to them.

At the duck house she waits for their water dish to be filled and takes the first drink. She doesn't like drinking after the ducks...duck spit, yuck. The ducks clamber out of their house, sliding like penguins across the snow, scooping the wheat berries into their bills and sucking them down. They wait patiently until she is done drinking and then they take over the water bowl, slurping and clacking happily. She doensn't pay them any attention as it's time to continue chores.

   Off to the small barn! She races away, running fast then screeching to a halt to check out some little something in the snow, then racing away again. She is non-stop, keeping her energy at top level and her prowess as a hunter on high alert. In the small barn she scouts for mice, looking into empty crates, jumping up on the grain bins to check behind them. No mice can get by her - the fearless hunter! But, she sees none. She waits until the hay is collected from inside the barn and tossed to the cows outside, then she races away to the big barn.
   At the big barn is a great scratching post. She climbs up and down and all around it. Then she walks over to visit the pigs, jumping into their pens and walking around like the lion queen. She likes the big boar and chats with him, even though he is ignoring her and grunting for food. She doesn't like the little pigs as they are always screaming for their vittles. When she jumps out, her damp feet stick to the wire fencing for a moment, freezing on it temporarily. It's still very cold out!
   Inside the barn she visits with the woolies (sheep) while they are fed and their door to the outside is slid open. She balances on the wood fence, showing her skills to the wooly girls. They try to sniff cat toes as the toes walk by. Done with the sheep chores and the animals are all done.
   The rest of the morning is spent in the semi-warm barn, hunting for mice. When nap time comes, there is a nice cozy hole she has made in the hay. She snuggles in and curls up for a few hours until evening chores. Then in the evening the chores are reversed again. She races from the barn through the barnyard snow and back up to the house where she waits to be let in. Then back down the stairs to become the "monster under the stairs" and to hunt at night. Ah, a full day at the farm for the farm cat!

Firewood for heat

2010-12-12T15:44:00.000-06:00

   It is 5 degrees outside and blizzard conditions. I have to say I am very thankful for our firewood! It is work, but I think of it in a different way. Instead of spending eight hours working in a store or office to make money to pay for my propane or electric heat, I spend eight hours working in the woods cutting and loading firewood. It is more enjoyable to me to be out in the woods, especially on a beautiful winter day (not today).
   We wish that we could have a better source of energy to use, something better for the environment such as solar power. But, until we can figure that out and afford the costs involved in setting it up, we rely on firewood to heat our huge farm house. We hook up our largest tractor, an Allis Chalmers D15, to an old truck bed on two wheels that serves as our wagon. We take two chainsaws just in case we get one stuck in a pinch while sawing. A pinch is when the tree moves a little and pinches the blade of the saw. It takes talent to know when to cut on top, from below, avoid a pinch, avoid the tree rolling, and etc. Marty is our chainsaw operator. He has been cutting firewood for over 30 years and is very good at it.
   I'm the loader, or I sometimes think of myself as the pack mule. I load the wood into the wagon while he is cutting. It is physical work to be sure, but it is great exercise. We have some simple rules we follow to keep us safe. We wear ear protection all the time, are always aware of where the other person is, fell trees with two people around, don't pick up pieces that are too heavy but cut them smaller, and don't take off our coats and get chilled when it is too cold. We take a second saw in case of pinching, keep the tractor out of the way of where we fell trees, and we watch the tops carefully. The second person helps watch the tops. Sometimes the dry tree branches will break out as it is falling and we are careful that the chainsaw operator doesn't get bonked on the head.
   We only take trees that are already dead. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all we love living trees. Second, the dead tree is already dry so we don't have to wait weeks or months before burning it. Sometimes we will "ring" an undesirable tree. That means we will cut a ring around it through the cambium layer, about an inch or so deep. This is also called "girdling". It will kill the tree after a while as it cuts off the flow of sap going from the roots to the branches. Undesirable trees for us are locusts. They have thorns and are very prolific, coming up and shading out better trees such as maples (for syrup), oak and walnut (for furniture). Usually a girdled tree will be ready the next winter for harvesting for firewood.
   Our favorite firewood is red elm. It is nice because the bark peels off and it is pretty uniform around, easy to carry and stack. It doesn't leave a lot of ash in the firebox, burning clean. And, it burns hot so provides good heat. The elms are susceptible to a disease that kills them when they are smaller so there are usually quite a few dead ones every year. We also like ash, oak (although we don't have much of this), walnut, locust, and maple. We save all the smaller branches from the tops for the maple syrup making, as the evaporator uses wood to heat the pans and boil the sap into syrup. We try to save the nicest size logs of walnut, maple and cherry for furniture making. We use nice size logs of ash to cut 2x4 wood for building repair (although it is very hard to pound nails into!).
   Firewood is a great renewable resource for us, keeps us fit and healthy, and provides hours of enjoyment. And...it heats twice. Once when you cut it and load it, and again when you enjoy the heat in the house!

Farming in Winter

2010-12-07T14:40:00.000-06:00

It is really winter now! We have about six inches of snow on the ground. The animals are doing good and staying bedded down in their straw. The chickens won't set foot outside in the snow, but I opened their door today so they could get some sun anyway. The cat is loving the snow, burying her face in it and trying to find the mice underneath. Chore time has gotten a bit longer as we have to trudge through the snow carrying the water buckets and hay. We also took time to wipe the snow off of the pig tarps so the pigs wouldn't get the smart idea of climbing on top of the tarps. Sammy the big boar is the bright one that would think of that to get out!

During our tours and programs in the warmer months, people ask us what we do in the winter. I guess it seems a strange question to me sometimes, but I suppose I can see why it would be confusing to some. Nothing is growing, right? Well, we do still have the greens, beets, carrots, and onions in the hoophouses this year. We harvested some today for orders. And, we will be able to continue to plant in there all through the winter as long as the ground isn't completely frozen.

As for the rest of our time...there is A LOT to do! This is the time of year that we buckle down and do a pile of paperwork that has been put off all year. We plan our next year's seasons based on how we did this year, totalling figures, and researching new crops. We also sit with our seed catalogs and write up our dream orders, then cut them in third for the realistic order. Our dreams for the next year are always bigger than our daylight hours! We also work on the inside of the house, painting, plumbing, and fix it stuff. And, we are still filling orders every week for corn meal, wheat berries, whole wheat flour, sorghum flour, and turnips.

We also go around the state giving talks to other farmer groups, for seminars, and educational talks to non-farmer groups. That leads me to talk about the Spence Farm Foundation, a not-for-profit founded in 2005 that teaches about sustainable farming. We volunteer, along with a great group of other folks, to provide the educational programs for the Foundation. We host talks and programs in the winter also, including maple syrup making, building soils, organic gardening, and other farmer and consumer training. You can check out their website at http://www.spencefarmfoundation.org/. There will be some updates on the calendar soon and also updates to the website, so keep checking to see how the organization is growing!

Other work we do during the winter includes cleaning seed for planting the next season. We save some of our heirloom seed for that purpose, growing heirloom plants so we can save the seed. We also research new equipment, plan new buildings (1830's cabin project is underway for Spence Farm Foundation), and work on our existing equipment and buildings. We are creating a washing station in the small barn to wash our vegetables in an enclosed area next year.

In a couple more weeks I will begin planting in the basement. I have shelves set up with lighting and heat tables. I start hundreds of tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, leeks, and all kinds of varieties of plants in plant trays that have small compartments for each plant. I reuse some soil from the year before and also use some of the compost we created two years ago. Some of the plants will be transplanted into the hoophouses in February and some will be transplanted into the fields in April, May and June. The planting downstairs is time consuming as is the watering and care taking, but I love going down there on freezing days and seeing the little plants sprouting up. It is like having an early spring!

That's just some of what we do in the winter. There is a lot more, but that gives you an idea. Farmers keep farming all winter if they are growing the kind of produce and foods like we are. Keeps life interesting all winter!

Going Away

2010-12-03T15:13:00.000-06:00

It is great to be able to visit farms in other areas of the state and nation. Today we are in southern Illinois for a short farmer conference in Carbondale, Illinois, hosted by an organization called FoodWorks (eatsouternillinois.org). We've enjoyed going to restaurants and cafe's that feature local food from farmers within a 100 mile radius. Tonight we will be able to meet a large number of farmers who are getting together to learn more about cooperative work that will benefit them all. It is exciting for us to see how other farms operate and to talk to other farmers who also grow food. It is always inspiring! We see a lot of great ideas that could help on our farm, including new equipment and planting ideas. We love looking at the cultural differences in agricultural buildings (barns, cribs, etc.). This part of our "farm research" is really a lot of fun!

But, you might be wondering who takes care of the farm when we are away. Farms, the kind with animals, unfortunately don't take care of themselves. So, we don't often get a "vacation" of a week or two. Usually we are able to take a couple days off at a time. Will, our son and partner in the farm, is working at the meat locker this winter. He has agreed to take care of the animals while we are gone for three days.

Our animals are very easy to take care of. We usually just open the doors for the poultry in the morning and then after they go in, in the evening, we close the door. In the winter we give them a scoop of grain (wheat, barley or oats) and keep their water dishes filled. If it gets freezing cold, I have heaters that their water containers sit on to keep them from freezing. Water is most important thing to have for all of the animals.

Each cage of pigs and the two sheep are given a "brick" of hay (about 4" thick piece of a square hay bale) in the morning and again in the evening. They have rubber water dishes so if the water freezes we can break the ice out without breaking the dish. They get new water morn and eve and sometimes we will give the pigs a treat of apples, squash, wheat, or turnips. The sheep don't like treats but love their hay. The cows have a water tank that we fill with about 30 gallons of water and then put a water heater in it to keep the ice from forming. They also get hay, but usually it is a bale a day for the two of them.

Other than that, we make sure the tarps stay on the pigs cages, the doors to the poultry houses are open for the poultry to get in out of the cold if they want, and the sheep can come in the barn if the weather is bad. The cows have a shelter they can get into if the weather is too icy. Most of the animals like the cold weather, but the chickens don't like to walk on snow. The ducks love the snow and go belly flopping on the snow. They also like skating on the ice!

All in all, we find that farm animals can be easy to take care of all year round. We don't have a lot of animals, don't have to buy our own feed, and most of them can stay outside in all kinds of weather. Housing can be pretty minimal for the hearty breeds and for poultry also. If you are interested in getting livestock, do some research to find the heartiest breeds and it will make your life a lot easier. And, if you are wanting to have them in a town or city, research the requirements of your town. You might be surprised to find that you can have your own eggs, meat or milk even though you live in an urban area.

Winter has finally arrived

2010-11-27T09:58:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
   The weather is cold! In the 30's during the day and the frost is settling in. We are working at getting all of the animals hunkered down to stay warm. This pigs are lined up in the barn yard in their cages with straw bales around them. The cows will be brought in from the field to the front barn yard this weekend. More straw was added in the chicken house and duck house. The sheep love the cold weather and want to go out every day no matter how cold it is. And, we are working on getting more firewood brought up.
   Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and is very unappreciated by many people. I notice some stores put out product for Halloween and then go right into Christmas, skipping Thanksgiving completely. I, however, am extremely thankful for so much in my life, that I can't imagine skipping Thanksgiving day. I live in a beautiful place, have fantastic family and friends, get to do the things I love in life, and am healthy. There are a lot more things I am thankful for, too many to list. And, I try to be very aware of all I am thankful for every day of the year, not just on one special day. Thanksgiving Day, however, means people all across the nation recognizing the need to give thanks. I'm thankful for this special day for that reason!
   Thanksgiving this year was a "traditional" day for us...with "traditional" food that is. Some years we have had five or six different kinds of soup, or quail, or mexican, or whatever fancy strikes the cook (Marty). This year we were given a very nice turkey from a farmer friend and paired it with all the traditional foods, such as stuffing (or "dressing" depending on your background), mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, pies of all sorts (including pumpkin), and on and on. Marty brined the turkey in a mix of salt, sugar, sage, and water overnight. Everything was delicious. And, we are still eating it!
   We also had the traditional Thanksgiving day festivities of Sam the big pig getting out and then having to be put in the barn on "lock down". And, then there was our last little turkey...Gimpy. She walked around and chipped at the cat and enjoyed being a Free turkey.
   Here's an interesting question I was asked on Thursday...do turkey hens gobble? Ours never have. They typically make a chip chip noise. Our tom turkey, before he died, would gobble and it sounded like he was laughing at us. But, our hens haven't. Our turkeys are Narragansette turkeys, a heritage breed. I'm hoping to get some more poults (baby turkeys) this year so Gimpy won't be alone.
   Gimpy likes to chip at Spunky, the cat, until it drives the cat nuts. Then Spunky will chase Gimpy and both will get in trouble for teasing each other. We aren't worried about Spunky catching the chickens or turkey as she grew up with them all. When she was little, they were much bigger than her, so she has a good respect for them.
   Something else I was asked...where does the wax for rutabagas come from and when during their harvest or shipping is it sprayed on? Good question. I understood it is a parafin, but I could be wrong. And, since it is used to keep them from drying out, I would think they would be sprayed soon after washed coming out of the field. I could be wrong about that also. It would be a good question to ask the big rutabaga growers. I'm glad that we can grow our own or have neighbors we can get them from, or even at the farmers market. That way we don't have to be concerned about the wax, what it is made from, and if it is safe for us. I suggest every one try to find a farmer market, local farmer, or...ask your grocery to see if they can get "unwaxed" rutabaga. That might start a trend toward them carrying them.
   And, here is something else fun about rutabaga. Two days after my Baga blog, I found a book in a used bookstore. It is titled "Rootabaga Stories" by Carl Sandburg and copyright in 1922. It is more of a children's book. The titles of the short stories are funny...such as "Five stories about the Potato Face Blind Man" and "Two stories about corn fairies, blue foxes, flongboos, and happenings that happened in the United States and Canada". Say what? I thought it would be some light reading this winter!
   That's the news for now.