Our pork is slaughtered on farm. We find it means less stress for the animals, and the waste stays on the farm lungs and stomach to be fed to dog, lungs to the cat, and guts are composted. Ken eats heart and tongue; I eat liver. So, although we are not quite nose to tail, we work to respect the animal and use as much as we can and waste as little as we can. …
Ken has been moving portable shelters and coops to the garden. Why? Well, it is not only easier to feed everyone in one location fairly close to the house all winter, but also each of the poultry breeds by their nature will help us grow vegetables more easily next season! Geese will take out weeds. Chicken also take out weeds and weed seeds and any remaining insects. Turkeys will scratch the soil and …
Greetings from the Garden! This CSA box has pie pumpkins, garlic, onions, peppers – some hot, sweet potatoes, winter kohlrabi, Napa cabbage, greens and parsley. Field Notes. As the prior blog entry indicates we have had a 70 degree temperature shift in three weeks. October was unseasonably warm and last week was unseasonably cold. We are working with and around the weather. We need temperatures above freezing to harvest greens or they simply turn to …
This fall has presented challenges. We had some unseasonably warm weather – 73 degrees in October. This meant it was tough to keep the root cellar cool enough for the roots. Too warm and vegetables will either rot or start growing. Neither helps flavor of nutrition! Once it cooled off, temperatures plummeted. this made harvest tough. The weather needs to be cool but above freezing or the vegetables thaw and turn to mush. This week …
I keep all my receipts and invoices in a box. Today I sorted all the paper and organized it. Now I know what we spent on feed for the pork report. Soon I will get all the figures compiled for the tax lady, Jeanne. After that and the seed orders are finished, I start weaving!
Yesterday while Ken was at a bee workshop, I moved the squash and onions inside to the north east corner of the main floor. The forecast of low temperatures below twenty degrees provided incentive! The squash had been on racks covered with a tarp and with a light inside the racks for heat. I packed bulb crates and got them inside. Then I opened the hay enclosure Ken had made for the onions and garlic …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has salad mix, braising mix, stuffing tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, winter squash, salad turnips, onions, garlic, and herbs Field Notes. The “Big Dig” as I call it is well upon us. Spring and fall are the busiest times for a farm. In spring it is planting and in fall it is harvest. This year we have some help. Last Tuesday it was beets, carrots, …
Last week we had harvested the bulk of the carrots. This week we harvested the rest of the carrots, beets, and celery root. Today I got the celery root in sand in the tubs in the root cellar and the rest of the carrots sorted and in tubs over the barrel of carrots we harvested previously. Tomorrow I will get the beets in the next barrel. Then we will bring in the kohlrabi, rutabagas, and …
Each fall there is a period of frost, but days with enough heat so plants can survive and remain alive. Ken erects what he calls hoopettes over crops that will take some cold weather. The season can continue for quite some time. It all depends on the weather! If the snow falls and covers the soil like a blanket, and the frost does not creep in and freeze the soil in the hoopettes, …
This fall has been warm. The root cellar is now cool and the crops need to come out of the fields and into the yard. We cover them with tarps as I fill the root cellar for winter. Here is this year’s winter kohlrabi, rutabagas, and cabbage. Thank you, Suzanne for all your help.
