Archive for September, 2009
September 30, 2009 – Commodity Harvest Begins
Harvest of commodity crops is just starting in this neck of the woods. In the field adjacent to our farm, our neighbor starts on soybean harvest. Soybeans have a shorter growing season than corn, and are usually harvested first. This scene will be repeated countless time the next month or so. one year ago…”Dried Soybeans”
September 29, 2009 – Mother Hen
Mother hen found a new cavity in the hay – yesterday I picked up 50 bales of hay and haphazardly piled a few misshapen bales near the door and came back to properly stack them and found the mother hen and her seven chicks had adopted it as their home for the time being. In ...Read more.
September 28, 2009 – Clean Garlic
It’s time to send garlic to market. This is our first time selling to an organic grocery store. After saving back 20 pounds or so for seed, a few pounds for ourselves, we’ll add a 30 pounds to the central Iowa local garlic supply. We’ll do this again and maybe have a bit more next ...Read more.
September 27, 2009 – Big Tomato Day
We started on tomatoes about 2:30 and with GJ and Martin cutting up tomatoes for about 3 hours, we managed to put up 28 quarts of tomatoes today! Tomatoes take a while as they need to process for 50 minutes, but there is nothing like the home-canned tomatoes. Martin had a long time to think ...Read more.
September 26, 2009 – Foraging Turkeys
It’s about time for a turkey update. After the skunk in the brooder house, we were left with 12 turkeys. One them had a badly damaged leg from the skunk and wasn’t moving around too well, so now that they are about big chicken size, we threw it in with the chicken butchering. The rest ...Read more.
September 25, 2009 – Photo Friday “the Face”
Photo Friday is a weekly photo challenge that offers up a theme and people post photos about that theme. I’m an intermittent participant, depending on the theme and what’s going on at the farm. This week’s theme is “the face” and my entry this week is one of pure joy from Emma on a whale ...Read more.
September 24, 2009 – Thingamajig Thursday #178
Here’s this week’s thingamajig Thursday. Also check out the last thingamajig answer. As always, put your guess in a comment below. Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer. one year ago…”New Wind Farm in Neighborhood”
September 23, 2009 – Fall Field Screensaver!
I took a few shots of the fall fields and even though I missed the golden yellow phase of this soybean field, it still looks like one of those screensavers you might get with a new pc – plenty of room for desktop icons! one year ago…”Fall Landscape”
September 22, 2009 – Golden Raspberries
The golden raspberries are particularly prolific this year. We only have about 15 feet of row, but it’s more than we can use at the moment. The flavor isn’t quite as good (to my taste buds) as the red berries – not quite as strong as the reds. However, I think this winter we’ll make ...Read more.
September 21, 2009 – Barn Update
I know this is getting redundant, but it’s a big barn! Here’s the latest on staining the south side. I’ve started cutting out and painting some of the trim boards ahead of making new doors. It’s still going to be a while, but progress is apparent. one year ago…”Monarch Bed and Breakfast”
September 20, 2009 – Inaugural Chicken Butchering
Today was the day we’ve been anticipating for quite some time. Two years ago the closest locker that butchered chickens (about 25 miles away) stopped processing chickens. Last year, the next closest locker (about 80 miles away) stopped doing chickens. Rather than drive even further – twice – once to drop off and a day ...Read more.
September 19, 2009 – Joint Birthday Parties
Since this is, in theory, Claire’s last birthday at home, the girls decided to have a joint birthday party this year. Their choice was to each invite 10 friends for an evening of fun like only high hopes gardens can provide. The night started out with a taco bar under the tent shelter, adorned with ...Read more.
September 18, 2009 – Scientific American Warns Biotech Companies
In the August 13, 2009Â issue of Scientific American, the magazine issues a strong editorial against the practice of biotech companies to NOT ALLOW independent research of the efficacy and safety of their products. Such statements are in stark contrast to the biotech industry that claims via many industry groups such statements as this one ...Read more.
September 17, 2009 – Thingamajig Thursday #177
Here’s this week’s thingamajig Thursday. What’s Linda knitting? Also check out the last thingamajig answer. As always, put your guess in a comment below. Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer. one year ago…”Apples, Apples. Everywhere”
