Sorry, don't have a tomato song

   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!

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

   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

   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

   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.