Archive for the ‘Crops – All’ Category
August 23, 2010 – Moon and Stars Watermelon
It has been a good year for watermelon. It’s the first year we’ve successfully raised a bumper crop of these guys! This is an heirloom variety that we bought from Seed Savers. Now we can indulge in watermelon! one year ago…”We Know People”
July 9, 2010 – Buckwheat Already
Although it might look small or not apparent here, there are thousands of tiny buckwheat seedlings starting to grow. After we pulled the garlic, we replanted just 5-6 days ago with buckwheat and it’s already up! Buckwheat is a great summer cover crop because it loves the heat, provides good late summer forage for the ...Read more.
March 23, 2009 – Rhubarb Emerges
One of the sure signs of spring is the emergence of the rhubarb. Here’s a particularly stunning photo of the wrinkly rhubarb – the leaves look suspiciously like the egg from yesterday’s entry! one year ago…”Happy Easter”
February 12, 2009 – Thingamajig Thursday #153
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…”Mystery Package”
September 27, 2008 – Harvest Table
A few weeks ago a school tour came and I neglected to show the “harvest table” that shows some of the goods and products harvested from our farm. This table, set September 14, shows apples, onions, potatoes, raspberries, blackberries, garlic, tomatoes, beans, shiitake mushrooms, eggs, watermelon, lambskin, peppers, flower bouquet, and a bunch of canned ...Read more.
August 22, 2008 – Late August Garden
The harvest, preserving, and selling season is in full swing and it is time for weeding to fall by the wayside. This is our best looking garden – one weeding professional Linda has managed to keep in check. It’s hard to make the switch from tending to harvest, as it is hard to let go ...Read more.
August 16, 2008 – Moldy Hay
I’ve finally looked at the local Craigslist ads and I think it will be a dangerous thing for me! Our first purchase was about 50 bales of moldy hay for fifty cents a bale. A storm a few weeks ago ripped a roof off a hay shed and soaked the hay – it started molding, ...Read more.
August 5, 2008 – More Garden Space
It’s time to consider more garden space. We are also looking at some less labor-intensive space. Here’s our plan. We mowed four foot wide strips with four foot wide grassy areas. The spacing is such that we’ll till up four foot strips and have grassy steps in between so we’ll be able to do tractor ...Read more.
July 30, 2008 – New Aerial Applicator No Spray Signs
After the rash of organic and sensitive crops being mistakenly sprayed by aeriel spray planes (not to mention the large crew of field workers as well), IDALS, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, has implemented a sensitive crops directory that aeriel sprayers are asked to consult before spraying. The department provides the signs ...Read more.
December 31, 2007 – Oak Creek Canyon, Sunset Crater & Wupatki
The day dawned clear, crisp and cold. The first stop was Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon. A great natural playground of water, red rocks, deep pools, and smooth red rocks. Another view of Oak Creek. Fifteen miles upstream is the top of the canyon wall. Oak Creek is at the bottom of ...Read more.
September 24, 2007 – Hops Harvest
The hops experiment has been somewhat successful. The vines didn’t cover quite as much of the trellis as I’d hoped, but it did produce hops in year one! Check out what it looked like on May 11 from the same vantage point. So, now I’ve got to figure out what to do with them. (Actually ...Read more.
July 23, 2007 – Hops Progress
The hops we planted this year are making a tentative start. The experimental hops we planted this spring are making their way up the trellis. I’ve been rather surprised that we are having a bit of a pest problem with these – as there are not many hops around to breed pests. There are tent ...Read more.
April 17, 2007 – Coming out the Deep Freeze
The last few days have been back in the 70s after the long early April cold snap. We still are not sure how far along the fruit tree blossoms were when the cold weather came (teens at night and 3 days without getting above freezing). We should know in a few days to week or ...Read more.
January 9, 2007 – Pasture 2.0
Here’s a look at the furthest east side of our pasture. You can barely see the rows of Christmas trees on the far side and you can see the fencing of the hardwood trees on the left side. For now we’ve decided pasture is not the highest and best use of this ground since we ...Read more.
