Archive for the ‘Crops - Vegetables’ Category

December 1, 2009 – December Lettuce

OK it’s December 1.  It sounds like winter, but there are still crops in the garden, unprotected.

There was a big lettuce harvest as the weather is supposed to turn colder at the end of this week.  But what a treat to get lettuce from the garden in December – that means that this year, we ...Read more.

October 30, 2009 – Fall Mushrooms

Because the weather has been so cool lately, I didn’t think of looking for a fresh flush of shiitakes on the logs we spawned.

But surprise, they’re there!
So tonight we had another high hopes exclusive meal. Shiitakes and onions from the farm sauteed in sesame oil. Walleye caught in the BWCA this summer, along with ...Read more.

October 23, 2009 – Late October Potatoes

This week we dug up the last of the potatoes.  Linda planted these at the end of July after seeing the seed potatoes on closeout for pennies on the dollar.

It will certainly extend out potato storage season by taking them out of the ground so late.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #138″

October 21, 2009 – Garlic Planting

When the girls got home from school, I decided it was time to make a rush to get some garlic in the ground.  Garlic is a great crop as it doesn’t need to be put in the ground in the spring.

The garlic cloves, recently separated from their bulbs.

The girls planting a furrow of garlic.  We ...Read more.

October 20, 2009 – October Stir-Fry

It’s nice that on October 20, the garden still supplies an all-farm stir-fry.

This dish contains carrots, cabbage, broccoli, fresh from the garden and onions and garlic from recent harvests.  The days of eating straight from the garden are quickly coming to an end – about all remaining are lettuce, spinach, kale, beets, and brussels sprouts.
one ...Read more.

October 6, 2009 – Squash

This is the week for squash harvest.  We’ve had a pesky problem with squash vine borers over the years, so squash has always been hard to get to maturity.  For some reason, this year, the vine borers seemed absent – not sure if it was the weather, some other cycle, or having more chickens roaming ...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 summer.
one ...Read more.

September 11, 2009 – Carrot Harvest

It’s time, er, maybe too late, in some cases, to harvest carrots.

The short, stubby carrots are an example of planting a variety suitable to soil conditions.  One of the gardens has very hard, clayey soil and that results in planting a variety that is short and fat to ease getting them out of the ground. ...Read more.

September 7, 2009 – Garlic Cleaning

It’s time to clean the garlic for sale.  How best to get it out of the barn?

Get the loader bucket…

put a couple of girls up in the loft and bring the garlic  down…

in bushel baskets.

My mom and a friend came down for the long weekend and graciously hopped into life on the farm and here ...Read more.

September 5, 2009 – Tomatoes Finally Arrive in Bulk!

It’s been a lousy year for tomatoes so far.  We had the bad combination of getting them in late and a cool summer that delayed their growth a couple of weeks.

The Roma tomatoes aren’t ready yet, but these are ready to eat and hit the canner.

Martin works on cutting up the tomatoes before processing.  He ...Read more.

September 1, 2009 – Mandan Bride Corn

We’re probably about the only ones in the state who don’t plant sweet corn in their garden and instead plant old variegated varieties and sorghum instead.

Here’s an update on the progress of the Mandan Bride variety.
one year ago…”Blackberries”

August 16, 2009 – Bean Trellis

Here’s another use for 16 foot cattle panels.

This is the top of a bean trellis – it’s just a cattle panel looped over kept in place with half a steel fence post on each side.  It always seems like a pain to get in during the spring rush, but this time of year, I always ...Read more.

August 7, 2009 – Tillage Radishes

We’re trying a new cover crop this year – tillage radishes.

We planted some just a few days ago, covered them with a layer of fine compost since the ground was too hard and dry to work up and it only took a few days for them to germinate. The idea behind tillage radishes is ...Read more.

July 27, 2009 – Curing the Garlic

After the garlic is harvested, it needs to dry and cure in a warm, dry place.  The hayloft of the barn is the best place on the farm to do just that.

Part of the fun is getting the garlic up to the hayloft.  First, we open one of the trapdoors on the loft and send ...Read more.