Ken has been perfecting his broody hen management this season. The result has been several hatches of chicks. At first he put them together, but it seemed the older ones were picking on the younger ones. So now he has several small outside enclosures with chicken wire and fiberglass fence posts. There are the tiny chicks There are the chicks that a renegade hen hatched out …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, kohlrabi, onions, garlic, peppers, sweet corn, parsley, and basil. Field Notes. The tsunami of tomatoes has crested; early varieties are about done. Later varieties are still going strong. It has been an interesting season – cooler nights meant later hot weather crops and heavy dew meant more work to prevent molds, fungus and blights. Ken has moved up those seedlings pictured last …
The decades old expression here is, “By Labor Day the pigs become hogs.” We have raised feeder pigs for decades. They are a great help on a small farm. Each year Ken has a tilling project so he grazes them sequentially. On any given year they might expand a garden space, dig out the quack grass outside the garden, or clear a fence line. They eat garden culls and many things people won’t …
As summer wanes Wisconsin’s lush green changes to golden grain and beautiful foliage color. First we had ripe rye. Now as I walk to the field I see the first of the bright maple leaves on the path. And the poplar and basswood trees have the first golden leaf color Coming up the drive I see a few maples have started changing their leaf …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, cucumber, zucchini, kohlrabi, lettuce, basil and parsley. Field Notes. People often wonder what I mean when I say nearly every week that planting continues. Well this week I have a photo of several of the fall greens. Ken finds that in August it is often easier to start greens indoors where he can regulate temperature and moisture. Another advantage of transplanting …
When growing food, one always has some less than perfect fruit or vegetables. With apples some drop, some have flaws, some have insect damage or bruised portions. Once an apple has hit the ground, I steam juice it. Cooking apples in a steam juicer will pasteurize them. Of course we also make fresh apple juice from other culled apples. Processing apples in the steam juicer takes one and a half hours of cooking time. …
Each year when I start picking blackberries I think of my maternal grandmother, Flora E. Patch. When I knew her she was a farm wife. She and my grandfather had a dairy farm in Vermont. She grew up in a farm family and as a young single woman she taught school. My grandfather was the older brother of one of her students. After they married they lived in a small town and had a coal …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, celery, lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, onions. garlic. kale, corn, basil, and apples Field Notes. Ken is getting the short season fall crops in now. The long season fall crops are doing well. He got the year’s compost mixed for next season. And in his spare time it’s mowing, weeding, and harvesting. Weeds that aren’t mowed will drop seeds for a new crop …
Ken loves stone fruit like cherries and peaches. They top the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of food with high pesticide residues, so I only buy organic. Last year a friend got a couple boxes she had ordered; there was extra so I got some. This year I begged her to order some for me. Ken loves canned peaches, and people often ask how do I can peaches. First make a syrup. This …
Ken loves peaches so this year we ordered boxes of organic peaches to enjoy all year. First a few were ripe so I made jam. The large jars are apple juice from the steam juicer Then I froze some And today I canned one large batch and then a smaller batch to use up the syrup I had. Then I tried …
