Perennials

Jill and I just went and saw a talk by Wes Jackson of the Land Institute. Very interesting -- he talked a lot about how when we think of cool local agriculture, we are thinking about the cool farmers who are growing vegetables and fruits. He thinks that's totally great but the problem is that 68 percent of our agriculture is devoted to grains and it is mostly in the midwest where there is not a lot of opportunity to grow lots of veg. So while he is completely in support of the current trend in local agriculture he wants to also focus on overhauling the way we grow grains, primarily by breeding (not using genetic modification) perennial versions of our staples (primarily wheat, which seems the easiest). These perennials will have longer roots, thus less erosion and water run off anbd less need to fetilize. basically he would recreate the prairies, but with grasses that produce seeds in bulk that we could eat.

Carrots

Started a new tradition : Easter carrot delivery. Yesterday I dug all the carrots we'd overwintered in the ground under straw. about half were rotty and gross but the rest were perfect, probably about 80 pounds in all. As it was a nice day I loaded some up into my bike chariot and biked little bundles of carrots to all the neighbors. People were delighted to get sweet garden fresh carrots in April. Gene and Kathy Garthe were so appreciative that before I knew it I had a plate of Easter ham and homemade raspberry sauce in front of me. Delicious.

Old ones

Went to visit Grandpa Fiebing a couple of days ago. He wanted to know all about what we are doing at his farm but also was anxious for me to make sure all the tractors start. I did get the bulldozer running and moved a ton of compost to right in front of the hoophouse in about 5 minutes. At the dining table next to us an old man over heard our conversation. As we got up to go he stopped me and asked about the farm and a little about my background. "I never thought I'd meet a young farmer!" he exclaimed.

Covers

Sunday promises to be one of the most important days on the farm yet. That's when we pull the plastic layers over the hoop house frame and turn it from a bunch of metal bones into a warm microclimate perfect for planting even in the cold north. The sheeting goes on in two layers and a fan blows air between then, inflating the whole thing and making an insulative pocket of air. This modern technology will allow us to have plenty of produce by may and (crossing my fingers) tomatoes by the fourth of July.

Lots of seeds poking up

Even little tiny tomatoes are starting to poke up from the seed trays. Jill's cat Stella has displayed curiosity in green leafy things and I worried that she might start grazing on the seedlings. Using some old window screens I was able to construct a barrier around all the seeds that lets in plenty of light but it too tall for her to jump over. Plants protected.

Used Pickup truck

The 1980 Dodge Pickup truck that I might buy is the right price. It's got beautiful black side paneling and classic chrome lines. But the battery is dead. And the muffler is rusted off. And the exhaust pipe is rusted through. There are no brakes, but fortunately, there is no accelerator pad. The fuel tank leaks. And the points need to be retuned, whatever that means. The engine is in good shape, but we couldn't get the crank shaft to turn over.

I'll think on it.

Decay

Our produce, if left uneaten usually returns to the earth as fresh compost, perfect for little microorganisms and young seeds. If only all food behaved the same. Apparently a Happy Meal, like a diamond, is forever.

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/17/happy-meal-is-ageles.html

One year old. And still as disgusting as ever.

Seed starting early

Seed starting has begun. Tomatoes, kholrabi, cauliflower, broccoli raab, onions, spinach, chard. More things soon. The weather is so nice it makes me want to start a few peas and some greens outside. I'll probably do that on Monday. Tuesday our first batch of chickens arrive.

Country Living

Scary:
Coming home late at night to your cottage in the woods to find your power off but the neighbors power on.

Scarier:
Going out in the dark with a flashlight to see if the main breaker is tripped or a power line is down and hearing a pack of coyotes howling and wipping at the end of the driveway.

Scariest:
Running back inside to flee the coyotes... only to have all the power come back on just as you enter the cottage.

Jill and I slept lightly.

Warmth?

This year Jill and I moved up on March 6th to open the farm. There is already less snow than there was last year in April. Today it is 50 degrees and sunny out. We can't quite get the car in the driveway (too muddy) but I bet we'll be driving in before the week is out. The cottage made it through the winter in fine shape. One of the most exciting things to find was the bushel of potatoes I left down in the cellar. They've sat there in the cold and dark since we dug them in October. They look as though they were dug yesterday. Potato leek soup please!

The next bit of discovery will be out at the farm. Abra and I left a row of carrots in the ground to see how they would over winter. The ground is still too frozen to dig them up though. Down in our garden there is already some seemingly indestructible claytonia poking through.

Season 2 -- Reboot

Hello everyone. I just got back to the farm for the 2010 season. One of our goals is to keep the blog and yes, twitter, up and running. Please look here for REGULAR updates. if they stop coming, please browbeat me.

Jess

chicken a star

Today one of our chickens is starring in a movie! Mr. Snugglesworth, a barred rock, has a starring role in a film trailer that will promote the state of Michigan. The promo will show before movies at the Traverse City Film Festival.

Sweet press

Check it out -- we made the paper!

http://leelanaunews.com/drupal/?q=node/9396

Rained

Hey it rained.  Now I can go back to weeding instead of watering.  Oh farm, your variety never bores me.  This rain will cause things to shoot up super fast.  We completely sold out of vegetables at the last farmer's market.  Next week we'll have peas in addition to beets, chard, kale, arugula, cilantro, radishes, turnips and mustard greens.  July 4th we are hosting a potluck at the farm.  Come on by -- we are making sausage.

Going dry

Well it's been a hot start to summer.  We haven't had rain in about 10 days with none forecasted.  We've been watering a lot, which is a bit tedious but absolutely vital.  With the heat many of our leafy greens are bolting (going to seed).  Tomorrow we'll be selling at the Traverse City farmer's market for the first time to offoad our extra arugula.  We hosted a solstice dinner which went off without a hitch, though we were nearly overrun by one of the biblical plagues.  Can you guess which one?  I've actually had a harder time uploading the pictures than growing the damn vegetables, so you'll all have to wait for images of the dinner.  Everything in the garden is growing super fast.  Peas are flowering and the fava beans are about to bean up.  Yesterday we planted all the cucumbers.  Way to many.  We'll have pickles for sure.

Summer

What a wonderful weekend at the farm.  Gauri and Laura were up to visit.  We had a huge harvest from the garden -- kale, spinach, spicy salad mix, turnips, braising greens, and tons of radishes.  Abra's dad dropped off this totally awesome puke green 1970 Ford pickup for us to use for the summer.  You can see the road through the rust holes in the floor.  Awesome.  We all worked this weekend hauling rocks and setting them into a rock wall for our herb bed.   We've also finally been able to plant the tomatoes (10 rows!) and soon the peppers will go in.  Late, I know.  We are keeping the plants covered at night -- we hope that a little bit of extra nighttime warmth will jumpstart their growth.  Already I am doing the mental addition... "It's June 16th today and these squash need 100 days to mature, so that means they'll be ready by September 25.  That's two days before the first average frost, so we should be okay..."

 

This weekend we are hosting our first dinner.  Abra put together a great five course meal featuring some local rabbit.  We orginally had hoped to use the chickens, but fortunately for them, they aren't quite plump enough yet.  Too much running around and not enough confinement I guess.

 

For anyone interested, we are planning a July 4th potluck at the farm.  Then into Northport for fireworks.

Obama's organic garden

I thought the Obama's putting in an organic garden at the Whitehouse was super inspiring.  Not the pesticide industry and all their blind foloowers.  They wrote a letter complaining about being ignored:  http://www.croplife.com/news/?storyid=1657

not a joke.

Jack Frost

It's been cold.  Unseasonably cold.  I'd complain, but that isn't what farming is all about.  It isn't supposed to frost in June.  But it did.  I realize as I write this that all of you who questioned the feasibility of  farming up here in this frigid wilderness are having your doubts confirmed.  But it normally isn't this cold.  Also, we are prepared.  The veggies in our cold frames are doing wonderfully.  We've covered up the rest of our rows with long sheets of spun polyester called floating-row covers.  They rest lightly atop the plants at night and keep the ground warm.  Things that aren't covered up are killed.  Things under the blanket keep on keepin' on.  It's a pretty good system, but stressful.  I'd rather things were warmer.

Market tomorrow

We planted beans today.  It was the first nice day after a couple of much needed rainy ones.  Tomorrow at the Suttons Bay Farmer's Market we'll have radishes, ramps, salad greens, turnips and soap.  Tomatoes and pepper plants can probably go outside in a couple of days, just as soon as I get up the courage to risk them overnight in the cold. 

facebooked

Hey everyone -- after numerous requests and slowly coming to grips with the reality that this networking phenomenon is unavoidable, we are now on facebook.  Come be friends with the Bare Knuckle Farm.  No word yet on twitter.  I remain skeptical. I'm also doubtful about these newfangled phones with the why-fi and so-called horseless carriage.