Ups and Downs

Holden enjoying fresh-picked berries and cream.

The end product of our first beet harvest.

Getting ready to dress chickens.

Unpacking our new arrivals.

Our gourmet salad mix.

I know it has been a long time since I have written. It has been a very busy time on the farm. Although the rain has kept us out of garden much of the time, we are still in there every chance we get. Dan had suggested that we never complain about rain. I am very thankful for the rain, even though we are a little behind on some extra planting we wanted to do. The wet conditions have also made prime conditions for bacterial plant diseases to thrive. I believe our peppers have bacterial spot and our squash have angular leaf spot. The weather, coupled with the fact that these are heirloom varieties, make some of this inevitable. I am not too worried, I will just have to keep my eyes on it and try to keep it under control.

The squash also have some other pest munching on the tiny seedlings that emerge. I have since replanted. I thought the cutworms were to blame so I have been vigilantly placing three toothpicks around every seedling I can see. There is still some damage so I am not sure if my diagnosis or my treatment are incorrect. Perhaps it is both. Either way, the damage to the replacements have not been as extensive so I am sticking with my plan for now.

We also had to replace about 64 of our tomato plants that we lost to what we think is a rabbit. Why do we think this? When I went to take pictures of the crop damage to send in to the extension office early one morning, I was met at the gate by a lovely rabbit munching happily. Needless to say, we (meaning my cousin Lincoln) have rabbit-proofed, and no more tomato plants have been lost.

Now for some good news. The beets are doing beautifully and seem to be be bothered very little by any pests or diseases. They are quickly rivaling the tomato as my favorite garden vegetable. They are so beautiful, come in so many colors (and shapes), and you can use every part of the plant. Plus, what else tastes so much like the earth it comes from? I have ordered so many more beet seeds and plan to have a continuous supply during the growing season as well as enough to pickle and can for winter use.

As you can see, our broilers are ready to dress. We have spent the last rainy days dressing chickens and freezing them or eating them. Some of our lucky CSA members bought a chicken minutes after it was dressed and was able to enjoy the freshest chicken you can imagine. If you have never had a fresh chicken, it is quite different from eating a frozen chicken, especially one that has traveled many miles. We had a new batch of broilers arrive just this week so we will be able to enjoy our chickens all winter long.

It has also been a big week for the family. My parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. At this point, they have spent the majority of their lives together, truly been through the best and worst times, and still manage to get along most of the time. I find that highly commendable. We also had a great father's day as well as my dad's birthday, which happens to fall on the summer solstice. This first day of summer almost always coincides with the first wild raspberry harvest.

In true summer fashion, mom and I donned our plastic rain pants, long sleeved shirts, and plenty of mosquito repellant in order to gather these jewels from amidst the nettles, thorns, and voracious guard mosquitoes. It was worth it. When we walked back (because we had gotten the truck stuck in what I can only describe as a swamp), we enjoyed fresh berries and whipped cream. It made me forget my mosquito bites and bleeding knuckles.

All in all, it been an interesting time on the farm, full of ups and downs. However, at the end of the day, if we are able to put fresh food on our table and yours, we consider our efforts a success.

A Dandy Time After the Storm

Well, we finally got our rain. And lightning, and hail, and wind gusts. Luckily, the garden came out fairly unscathed. We lost our newly planted pole bean seeds to a wash out. We can only imagine where a nice pile of beans is going to spring up. We also lost a couple of cucumbers and a lot of our edible flowers. Everything can be replanted but the flowers may have to wait until fall. It is a reminder to be careful what you wish for.

As some of you know, I have become very interested in foraging. There are many things I have faithfully gathered every year...morel mushrooms, wild raspberries, mulberries, wild grapes, and even gooseberries from time to time. I have discovered some new things to add to the list, mainly weeds. While most people are trying to rid their landscapes of lamb's quarters, stinging nettles, and dandelions, I have decided to embrace the virtuous side of these plants and eat them. My newest love...dandelion bread. If Ray Bradbury dedicated an entire novel to making wine out of these weeds, I can surely take a moment to discuss their benefits in baking as well.

Dandelion bread is exactly what it sounds like. A simple bread recipe livened up with dandelion petals. This honey sweetened bread tastes similar to cornbread but the real treat are the eye-catching yellow petals. It reminds me of sunshine in a bread loaf. However, don't let the prevalence of dandelions fool you. Gathering these treats is bit more technical than you might think. First, you have to get over looking like a crazy person in your neighbor's lawn at 7 in the morning searching for the weeds. If you would like more of a visual, picture orange rain boots, clear buckets, and unbrushed hair. Next comes choosing the right flowers. I have heard gathering early in the morning is best but next year I am going to challenge this theory. The flowers are still closed early in the morning, making it very difficult to tell which petals are mostly yellow and which are mostly white. Finding the very tightly closed buds is a real treat because the petals are all yellow and a bit easier to clean. Finally, there is the tedious task of separating the petals from the green portion. Luckily, we have relatives visiting from Trinidad to help. (Our relatives happen to be fishers and and when comparing dandelion separating to shrimp deveining, dandelion cleaning was crowned the most difficult.) The result, of all this: baked sunshine.

Calling All Rain Dancers

Well, the last couple days have been very busy, and a little disappointing. You see, we spent two hard days planting in the garden trying to get everything in before the storms. We were successful in getting everything planted, which is great. Not so great...no rain. Not even a little. And no rain in the forecast. So the next day was spent watering all the delicate plants. And the seeds are just sitting in the ground patiently awaiting the rain. Same as me. Except I don't think the plants are checking accuweather every five minutes to see if the forecast has changed. It looks like our best bet for rain is Sunday. I would greatly appreciate everyone doing a rain dance starting now with our garden in mind. I know our plants and seeds would love some rain, and maybe even a little lightning. I hate to be picky, but no hail would be nice. I am not really sure how rain dances work, but get out your sage, take off your clothes, or just send rainy thoughts our way. I am sure anything will help.

Happy Campers...

Literally. The broilers are roaming free in the vineyard with a unique shelter-a camper shell I got for free on craigslist. They are so happy. In just a few weeks, they will be ready to dress and we will get a new batch of broilers. I am debating whether to get more chicks or some turkey poults to raise for Thanksgiving. I have a little more research to do on raising turkeys but if anyone wants to add their two cents I will be happy to listen.

The garden is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, the weeds are growing as fast as the plants and we have been so busy planting, weeding has been put on the back burner. As soon as the rain lets up, weeding is next in the list. And our tomatoes are aching to get into the ground. Today was supposed to be tomato planting day, but it it will have to wait until the weather and ground get a little drier. In the meantime, we will weed.

And I have saved the best news for last. We had our first CSA pickup and I feel it was a success. As soon as I figure out how, I will post the newsletter for reference. The bag was heavy on the greens and we tucked an unlikely green in there- our stinging nettles. This year, we have learned to love the nettles despite their sting. Sometimes it just takes a little patience and care to realize the true potential of something. So it is with nettles. Despite the rain, and in part because of it, the chickens are happy, the garden is growing nicely, and it was a great start to our CSA...I guess there are a lot of happy campers at Old Nelly Farms.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the honorary and biological mothers out there! I hope your weekend was wonderful and relaxing. Market on Saturday was cold, cold, cold. The bright side is that I know our brassicas in the field were so happy in the cold. However, the wind was another story. The wind took out a couple of our cabbage seedlings, which we will likely replace with broccoli. It made me very glad I planted some extra cabbage. We also got to meet some of our CSA members on Saturday, which definitely made our day. Thank you for coming out and know it made us even more excited to begin filling our CSA subscriptions.

Today brought some lovely rain for our plants in the garden and gave us a little break to do some of our rainy day activities. I am brewing some worm tea in order to fertilize our indoor seedlings and outdoor transplants. I have included a picture of the process. It involves using our vermicompost, molasses, and a water pump. I am pretty excited to see its magic. We also used some of our surplus rhubarb to make some delicious jam. Lucky for us we had about half a pint that did not get canned and was going to stay in our refrigerator until we could eat it tomorrow morning. Needless to say, it did not make it until morning. It didn't even make it a half an hour. I will keep the ingredients a surprise but I will tell you it is delicious. Today we are thankful for the rain and the break, but a little anxious to get back into the garden and get back to planting.

First Day at Market!

Well, the first day at market was definitely interesting and what I would consider a success, for the first day. Despite our best intentions and our pledge to be organized every single day before market, we ended up staying up half the night (Mom stayed up all night and cleaned the chicken house...because she couldn't sleep), in order to prepare the little produce we had for market. Actually, we were also digging out items from last year, most of which were stored where there was a sleeping baby. Fun night. But we made it out on time, without one of our items, but on time, nonetheless.

At market we had some eggs, green onions, baby arugula, herb pots, asparagus, garlic chives, and stinging nettles. We have some baby lettuces and spinach ready but we are saving those for our dear CSA members. It was a beautiful day, the vendors were excited and chatting about making it through the winter, the customers were pleased with the fresh produce, and everyone was very friendly. Well, almost everyone. There was a market goer who was, shall I say, less than pleased with the prices. To make a long story short, when asked about my sign for chemical free produce and free range, antibiotic and hormone free eggs, I was excited to reply with my standard answer of how our chickens get the very best feed, and the grass and bugs they forage for make their eggs not only higher in beta carotene and omega-3's but also tastier than anything you find in the store. Apparently, we had a difference of opinion. Usually I welcome this type of dialogue wholeheartedly, however, it ended poorly. Mostly with him saying "I was just a kid and didn't know what I was talking about," asking my mom if we "thought city folk were stupid," before storming away, leaving us a little confused.

Now, I would like to take the time to say this: Our belief at Old Nelly Farms, happy and healthy chickens=happy and healthy eggs. Furthermore, I would like to thank both the city folk and country folk who we do not think are stupid, but actually quite smart for thinking critically about the food we grow and how it affects the health of ourselves and the planet. I started this venture to make sure my family had the healthiest food I could provide and feel so fortunate that others not only support this venture and dream, but can reap the same rewards as I do. I am young, believe I do know what I am talking about, and would even go so far as to say your choices are brilliant. Thank you.

The fence is complete!

As promised, this entry shows our completed fence. I also need to say I have changed my perception of chain link fencing. I am completely serious when I say putting it up was somewhat of an art form. I definitely have a special appreciation for every chain link fence I pass. When I was doing some internet research on dismantling chain link fencing, there was a comment about people in the Midwest standing around with beer coozies admiring their new cyclone fence. It's true...and I totally understand why. This fence was difficult to put up, and so rewarding when finally done. Again, a special thanks to our fence building team and Paul for tirelessly helping us and coaching us. We are now ready to begin planting in the garden we have spent all winter planning and I can not wait. The one vegetable we don't have to fence in has begun growing, and I think we are going to enjoy our first three asparagus spears in a wonderful spring salad. We are also going to try a newfound delicacy...stinging nettles. I hear they have medicinal properties, lose their sting once cooked, and make a wonderful soup. I will let you know how it goes, as long as I am still able to type seeing as my fingers may be blistered from the nettles. (No need to worry, I will wear gloves) Now if you'll excuse me, I have a coozie to grab and a fence to admire.