Seed Catalogs

If you buy seeds from seed catalogs, December is generally the time that they start arriving in your mailbox.  With the winter solstice behind us we can start to think about spring and start planning our vegetables - what goes where, and how much we think we'll need. Looking into the catalogs is a great way to make your mind feel the warmth of summer, at least until you look away from the catalogs.  Not that we mind the winter months either. It's been cold but we only have about 6 inches of snow on the ground, so chores are not a burden and it feels like winter should be. But for a real taste of spring in the winter I have been going into the high tunnel on sunny days.  I can't help but going out and marveling at the temperature. When the sun is shining the temperature stays in the upper 50's, and seeing the green carpet of rye along with the warmth and humidity, it's just amazing. We love showing it off, so if you feel like taking a step into spring in the deepest part of the winter, take a sunny day and stop out for a visit.

The Flavor of Local

We are really into the concept of eating what is grown close to home. For us the closer the better.  Local chicken, beef, vegetables and fruit are such a treat for us that some nights when we are sitting down to dinner, we can't help but give thanks for how blessed we are to have our meal come from our farm and local growers. I think that's why we're also such fans of eating wild game. When we take ducks, geese, pheasant, doves, deer, rabbit and squirrel, we think that it's such a blessing to be able to eat something that carries the flavor of its local habitat so strongly. If you live down South and take a deer that lives in the woods, they call it an acorn-deer, not just because of what it eats, but also because of the distinctive flavor of the deer from what it eats. Here we have the luxury of animals that are flavored by alfalfa hay, corn, soybeans and some small grains.  What a blessing it is. I hope that you get to enjoy some too.

High Tunnel Officially Open

Auto-roll-up side controller. Shows temp of 82.2F

Rye looks good.

The high tunnel is officially up and running.  Okay, its been up and running for a little while, but the rye that was planted inside has finally made it up high enough that pictures can show that the high tunnel is doing its job of keeping things warm enough to grow plants.  Today it was 82F and 93% humidity in the high tunnel when I went out this morning.  For sure, the night time temps are only about 10 degrees inside the high tunnel above the outside temps, so this is no green house, but with the daytime temps going into the 80's our lettuces, radish and peas have already sprouted.

Wendell Williams

Our neighbor and friend Wendell Williams pass away yesterday.  He will be missed by many, and very, very missed by our family. Wendell was someone who was often the first to know about our next "great" farm plan, and yet as unconventional and probably crazy as our plans may have seemed to him, he was always supportive and seemed to enjoy the uniqueness of our plans. He did our custom planting and harvesting, and could be counted on to have a solution to the crazy conditions and timing that made even us cringe.  Green alfalfa in the beans at harvest? Not a problem, he just said he took a nice cutting of hay with the beans. Small and misshaped fields? That was okay too - he made it workout. We really enjoyed his visits and I will forever remember and miss the sound of the kids yelling "Wendell's here!" whenever he stopped by.  I enjoyed working with him and knowing him. He was a good man and our family was very blessed to have known him.

Winter Greens from our High Tunnel

I can taste the fresh greens already! Why? Because the high tunnel is up and covered! It was a tough long process, but in the end we got it done.  We had to pull some long days, working into the night and starting before the sun came up, but when those greens are on the table, lightly dressed, we'll look back at all of the work with fond memories - I hope.  Mark and Harvey got us off to a good start, and Harvey hung with us through the project as electrician turned general labor, so we thank them both. The roll-up sides work great, but we have one other minor issue to work with on them, besides waiting on a new replacement temperature probe that the goats ate. Then the high tunnel will be auto-temperature controlled and the growing can start.

I've been so busy the past couple of weeks that I seem to just run from one task to the next which is great, and I love the work, but lately it feels like I go from one bump to the next.  We've been baling corn stalks for feed and for sale, but after about 30 bales I broke a couple of belts on the baler.  It looked like there was a rock that got between the belts and the baler so I ran to John Deere to drop the belts off to get them fixed and switched over to chopping stalks for a neighbor.  Then when the belts were done I switched back to baling only to run out of twine int he baler and have to run to town for more twine. Nothing major wrong, but every bump seems to make the jobs seem to run long.

The high tunnel is done! Okay, not actually done, but everything but the cover is on. Harvey DeGraw came over this week and wired the control box for the auto side curtains and we even tested the motors.  We missed the warm, sunny, windless days by one day, so we're waiting on a day that fits that description to pull the plastic over the top. Its been a long building process, but I think we're ready to go as soon as the weather cooperates.

Today I should be hauling corn for a neighbor.  He combined my corn for me and we did really well. The corn hybrids these days are amazing, the way that they can handle the drought and still produce a decent yield.  George will finish baling stalks today.  We should have well over 100 large round bales.

Corn and High Tunnel

We've been flying along on the high tunnel.  We're down to the final pieces that are needed to hold the plastic on, and then we'll be putting on the automated roll up side curtains parts. I'm hoping that this coming week we'll be able to pull the cover on.  Now that we're nearing completion I can see all of the ways that I could have made things go a little faster and smoother, but that's always the way when you do a project for the first time.  I've made some major changes to our high tunnel based on the input from other guys who have had their high tunnels up and had serious issues with manufacturer design flaws.  Weak side walls and zippers were a major complaint that we heard from just about everyone, so we've installed hard sides made of fiber glass panels and wood framing to overcome that flaw.  We've put in sliding doors and a man-door on the west side of the high tunnel as well.  Regulating temperatures was the other issue that we have heard regularly so we went ahead and invested in the temperature controlled automatic side curtains.  This was a huge expense, but we figured that if we lose one set of plants because of our inability to manage the temperature, it would more than pay for the side curtains.
We'll take a break from the high tunnel today to combine and haul our corn.  We're hoping for a good crop and we'll know by the end of the day how we yielded.

High Tunnel

The high tunnel is nearing completion.  Having learned from those who have them up in the county we decided to put solid sides up instead of having the soft poly type sides that come with the high tunnel. We ordered auto-rollup curtains for our high tunnel as well.  They came last week but some of the materials were damaged in shipping so we'll have to wait for the new parts to arrive.  In the mean time the plan is to finish some of the minor detail items to get things ready.  Our goal is to have everything in place before the weather cools too much, because the plastic poly type cover that is the main covering needs to be added when it is warm or it will stretch when the weather does warm and can cause all kinds of problems with our winds here in NW Iowa.

2012 Chicken Days

The last batch of 2012 chickens is more than half completed.  We finished up yesterday afternoon later than we'd hoped. It's not that things didn't go well, it just seems to take a very long time to process the chickens to our satisfaction. I think we have the scalding, plucking and cutting-up moving at a very efficient pace. It's the gutting that seems to take the longest amount of time. We've seen how others process more quickly, we're just not happy with how they look when they're processed that way. Maybe we'll change our minds - some day, but for now we're sticking with what gives us the best looking product. On the subject of efficiency and best look, we purchased a poultry cutter this year to make the cut-up process just a little neater.  Based on yesterdays processing it makes cutting up much quicker, but I still like the way a knife takes the thighs off of the chicken better than the cutter does it, so I use a combination of the cutter and the knife.  Using the cutter is nerve-racking. You can send your hand or arm into the cutter without much effort, but it makes a split breast look great and it has definitely made the cut-up process more efficient than it even was before. Today should be a nice day to finish the last of this batch. I started the scalder at 5AM and we should be in full swing by 7.  Oh, and of course we have to thank the Boernsen's for their help with chicken processing. Okay, and it wasn't all work yesterday.  Once we had cleaned up we switched to some real redneck farm fun with the Boernsen kids. We jumped rope with a long lariat (this was group jumping at it's finest) and then shot some clay pigeons before going out and catching today's birds under the moon light.

3rd Cutting of Alfalfa

I took a 3rd cutting of alfalfa yesterday but I left at least half of it uncut. I just couldn't bring myself to cut anything that was too thin to make it worth my while. What I did cut seems to be dry already, enough to have baled today, but I didn't want to rake it into windrows with the night time temperatures in the 40's and low 50's and have to roll it to get it dry throughout. I'll rake it tomorrow first thing in the AM and maybe I'll get it baled tomorrow as the dew comes off. If not I'll get it baled tomorrow evening when the humidity hits it's magic 84% reading on my weather station. Either way it should put up very nicely even if it was in full bloom when I cut it. The rest of the alfalfa I plan on letting the cows graze once they come up from the back-9 field.

Rain Delay

Hightunnel work interrupted by rain. What a shame! (yes I'm kidding, I'd take about 10 more days/nighs just like it)

Hightunnel End Wall Frame

The work on the hightunnel has begun again. We've learned a lot from others in the county who have had theirs up for a couple of years or more. We have noted those things they wish that they had done differently and definitely those things that have caused total catastrophes. This week has been installing wooden posts to support solid side walls. Without exception, everyone who has a hightunnel has said that the sides are the most problematic. We know of one guy who had a failure of the sidewall that caused a total collapse of the entire hightunnel including bending his frame. This is why we've chosen to go with solid frame sidewalls and adding plastic panels similar to metal panels that we are attaching to a wood frame.

The produce is finally really coming in.

Unloading in the heat

Awesome Grass Hay

Only got 70 bales but the quality is awesome. So green it looks artificial.

What happens when your tractor cab is too quiet? Anything, and you'll never hear it. I had a shaft pop off of my hay mower but I never hear it crashing around inside of the mower the other night. When I went to stop at around 9PM I looked the mower over and discovered that the shaft was missing and the hydraulic pump that drives the main conditioning rollers was leaking fluid. The parts should be here today to make the needed repairs, and needless to say it was an expensive cost to have such a nice quiet cab.

Orchard Grass, Alfalfa, Clover Hay

To day is the day we take our first cutting of our orchard grass, alfalfa, clover hay. It is plenty thick, but since I don't know how it will react to being cut I'm planning on cutting it kind of high. The honey bees won't know what to do without all of the clover flowers, but it should make some pretty hay. And this week looks great for it until Friday, if the weather man is to be believed...

First veg sighting of 2012

We spotted our first tomatoes and zucchini today. They must have been on the plants for a few days, but today is the first day that I got down on my knees and really looked at several of the plants. The first tomatoes take a long time to grow and ripen, but the squash usually fires off pretty quickly so I guess it shouldn't be too long until some produce starts coming.

Mink

A mink got into the chickens night-time predator-proof pen and killed 3 chickens. We thought it was a skunk. No big deal (other than we're sold out of this batch of chickens and we don't want to lose any but...) we just need to set a live trap to catch it. But during the day when the chickens are loose on the pasture George was out working on the high tunnel and saw the chickens running wildly and squawking across the field. He yelled for someone to get a gun and took off toward the chickens with the shovel he was using. He eventually found a mink chasing the chickens and dispatched it with his shovel.

Going High Tech Weather

I decided to get a weather station that I can connect to the home computer to start trying to get more detailed in connecting weather variables to farm processes.  You can check out our weather on Weather Underground. 

First Hay Cutting with New Rollers

Yesterday was a great day for cutting hay.  I got to try my new rollers from B&D Rollers that I installed over the winter.  Everything worked great except that I didn't tighten a bolt tight enough when I put everything back together this winter and a u-joint shaft fell off while I was running.  Not a big deal, but I'm sure I would have been more upset if I would have had someone else do the install and the part fell off while I was running.  It's not the first time and I always hope that I remember that when things do go wrong after someone has done work on something.

End of May

The corn looks really good and the alfalfa is ready to cut, but the rain never seems to give me a window of opportunity to cut hay.  I know that after the dry spell we had from late summer through the winter I shouldn't complain, but haying is all about timing the weather, so I complain.  An on the subject of hay.  My orchard clover mix isn't popping like I think it should.  Didn't figure I needed any nitrogen applied to the fields since it's been in alfalfa or beans for over a decade, but the orchard grass sure looks yellow.  I guess I'll have to break down and do a soil sample to see what's going on. 

Corn and Beans - Sweet and String that is...

We got the sweetcorn and string beans planted.  I guess I went a little overboard with the beans.  Sharon and the kids were not pleased that we'll have such a quantity of string beans.  That means on hands and knees picking and not much return for all of the labor.  I'm sure they're hoping hail in a very selective spot.

Eggmobile Back In Business

It took some doing and some luck, but we got the eggmobile back on its wheels and the chickens were back happy in their home.  And best of all, no hens were lost and no human was injured.

Storms Took a Toll

Eggmobile sitting on its roof.

We had quite a storm last night.  .65in of rain and 68mph winds.  Took its toll.  One of the egg mobiles overturned and is sitting on its roof, and a pasture raised chicken pen was blown about 40yrds.  Only a few chickens were lost.  Today we attempt to recover the egg mobile.

First calf of 2012!  Cow #50 had the calf unassisted.  We'll try to take a closer look tomorrow to see whether it's a bull calf or heifer after the cow has had a chance to settle in with it.

Early Warm Weather

How many times will we lose a cutting of asparagus this year?  Yeah, we got a few cuttings early but the amount being lost to the frost is starting to add up...

Frost on the Asparagus

I know that the asparagus came up early this year because of the warm weather, but the frost that we keep having is definitively having an impact on harvest.  We've been taking orders and have one for the weekend, but if we get frost again, we won't be able to fill it on time.  At around 4AM this morning it hit 32F, and that will turn any spears of asparagus into a rubber textured veg.  Good enough for our table, but not for our customers.  We're hoping for some sun and warm weather to get more up.

Exploring the Small Farm Dream Course

Sharon and I enjoyed speaking at the Exploring the Small Farm Dream course last evening.  We hope that we were inspiring and were able to bring real world successes and failures that we have had to the group.  We saw ourselves in many of the attendees.  We were worried that we wouldn't have enough to talk about - wasn't a problem...

Prairie Grass Burn

Yesterday was a great day to burn, so we decided to burn a small chunk of prairie grass that runs next to the lane.  It went great, with only one of our little pine trees getting burned.  We waited until the green grass was good and high before we burned it, so that the grass is stunted back and the natives will get a better chance to take over.  I can't wait to see how it comes in this year.

Easter Asparagus

With the early spring weather our asparagus has taken off.  I was checking on the fields last weekend and was surprised to see that there was asparagus up, so we jumped on it and after picking some for the table, burned off the ferns and weeds from last year.  Then with the soil black, the asparagus took off.  We've had great production for this early and if you were one of the lucky customers to get in an order, you're probably looking forward to enjoying fresh asparagus with your Easter meal today.  Happy Easter and enjoy!

2012 Goat Kids

Sara's goats are just about all kidded.  We have two sets of twins and one set of triplets.  The Nubian, Val, has yet to kid, but she should be any day.  If you haven't seen baby goats, you've got to see them.  They are one of the cutest baby animals and are very playful within days of birth so they're fun to handle too.

$.67 = $260

During my yearly baler maintenance last week, I found a couple of broken bolts on my JD 567 pickup where they go through the pickup cam. I guess somebody rammed through some gopher mounds at high speed last fall and broke things loose. Anyway, I pulled the pickup group apart and replaced the broken hex bolts and put it back together. No problem. I ran the baler to make sure that all was well and when I got down out of the tractor to looked at the baler running at speed, I noticed that chunks of the cam were now laying on the shop floor and the pickup was jumping around! I took everything apart again and wouldn't you know, someone put a hex bolt though the wrong direction where a standard bolt should have gone, and it was in from the wrong direction. So a $0.67 bolt caused $260.00 dollars worth of damage. Okay so it wasn't the bolt that caused the damage it was the maintenance man's fault (which is me) for putting the wrong bolt in the wrong place in the wrong direction. After that mess I gave the maintenance man the rest of the day off. It's hard to find a good mechanic these days.