Latest Developments

Bryan and I have been helping Papa Steve harvest his industrial crop of corn and soy beans. While we are not interested in supporting this type of farming, we do acknowledge at it is this larger farm that allows our gifted sustainable farm to exist. The first week of driving the wagons was mildly interesting. Unfortunately after the initial training the whole process just became painfully banal. With the extra hours and the approaching winter we have not made that many improvements to the farm.


A small bit of news from the farm would be that we found our first cluster of eggs, while cleaning out the chicken house this morning. We are so proud of our little hens.

Was that a snowflake?

Our garden plans were interrupted this weekend by an early freeze. During our stay in Florida we had forgotten what a cruel mistress the Iowa weather can be. We were able to save most of the remaining vegetable crop and now have basins of green tomatoes and buckets of potatoes in the basement.



A few weeks ago we installed a plastic "green house" like structure into the garden in order to save the beets and the peas we planted late in August. It is a mystery how Bryan and I are still married after this endeavor. Take one sheet of 50 foot plastic and add 30 MPH wind. Result: shouting matches about the best plastic procedure and later rolling on the ground laughing so intensely that I burst into tears. Oh, and the plastic blew off the next day. It has since been retrofitted and reinstalled. Good times. We just have to focus on the prospect of beet wine this winter and search for another equally obnoxious project to begin.

The Tomato Harvest

I have been in the midst of remodeling my studio and apologize for my absence over the last two weeks. The studio looks great and the paint has almost worn off Marty's coat.




Two weeks ago we harvested half of the tomato crop and instigated a canning party at Papa Steve's house. Our love for peeling tomatoes grew with a smallest addition of midwest brewed beer. I would advise against "dry" mass canning sessions. If anyone is interested in our canning tally, we boastfully present our numbers:





12 pints tomato sauce
24 pints canned tomatoes
6 jars of apple sauce
4 jar of pear butter



The apples were picked on my grandfather's farm and the pears were from my father's farm. The second wave of tomatoes have ripened in the garden this week, plus I have three Publix bags of pears and apples in the root cellar. For the time being we are just ignoring the bounty of fruit that still needs to be canned. (shh, don't disturb the fruit flies)

Update on the Dandelion Wine

As I posted earlier, the dandelion wine tasted a bit like gasoline for the first six weeks of it's existence. However, I am happy to report that after three months it has developed quite a nice flavor. I can be quite particular about wine, about the cost of the wine that is, with a self imposed seven dollar price limit. So having admitted that I am no great expert on the subject, I would recommend the dandelion wine. In terms of cost it is quite recession proof, costing only a dollar a bottle. The only regret I have is that I only made seven bottles and have since run out of wine.

Here is a link to the dandelion wine recipe. I followed this recipe exactly. However, I would recommend that you do not leave the bottles open as the recipe suggests. I had a issue with fruit flies and have since read that you can attach a balloon to the top of each bottle to allow the gases of fermentation to escape when it expends while still restricting the admittance of flies.

I'm off to research beet wine so that I might restock my wine cabinet.

Harvesting the Butternuts

We have been harvesting the butternut squash now for three weeks. I cooked fresh squash, squash and apples, squash soup with dumplings, butternut bisque, and squash stir fry. So I guess the real question is, does anyone else want some squash? As I attempt to unload some "product" I begin to notice that my regular "clients" each have in their homes at least two uneaten squashes (the plural of squash is odd sounding) .




If you are in Iowa please feel free to stop by and pick up some squash. (we live one hill away from my childhood home in the blue house. E-mail me if you need directions.)


Bryan continues to harvest the carrots.

When farming becomes mundane there is always stop motion

Corrupted baby chicks

I had to repost the original video of the baby chickens. Here is shortcut to the video.

Coming Out Party

And from the refuse grew...

I was shocked to find these tomatoes growing in our compost heap. They have since been transplanted to a temporary pot. Soon we will be experimenting with vertical growing options.

Quick Chicken Update

The chickens are about four months old now. On the advice of a friend, we made a small pen out of snow fence behind the chicken house. We are allowing the chickens to acclimate to the whole "free range" idea, while establishing a home base. I sat with a video camera awaiting their first steps of freedom. However, all that we captured was twenty minutes of chickens ignoring us and then ten minutes of my hysterical laughter as Bryan attempted to "toss" chickens out of the chicken house. A week later the chickens are finally excited enough to come out. Although I must report that several have still never ventured into the light of day.

If you live in Iowa City be sure to support the IC Friends of Urban Chickens.

Operation Search and Rescue

There is a new sheriff back in town. While I was in Florida, teaching at UF, Bryan may have lost track of his inner farmer. My homecoming was dwarfed by button weeds that were taller then myself. Over the last week I've taken stock of what can be "rescued" from and weeds and what is a total loss. I was actually surprised at the seer tenacity of the vegetable crop and it's ability to grow right through the weeds.

I debated not photographing the garden from this point, however perhaps there is hope found in even the most overgrown projects.










We spent the last week unloading the u-haul and freezing 16 pints of sweet corn. The button weeds may have grown taller then the corn, however the ears are still delightful.

With a Sigh She returned to Florida

After two wonderful months on the farm I returned to Florida for six weeks to teach summer classes at the University of Florida. Leaving Marty was overly dramatic, I think I was more traumatized then the dog. Bryan is now in charge of blogging, Marty, the chickens and tending the plants. Watching my plants mature from afar fills me with mixed emotions. I am so proud of our crops, yet sadden because someone else will be consuming them.


Here are the photographs Bryan has been sending me from Iowa.


Here are the last of the peas that Bryan shelled.








The chickens are growing up so fast.

Jamming With Jill

Our friend Jill has been staying with us for the last week. The three of us pooled our collective intellect and attempted our first canning exercise. The result was eight lovely jars of strawberry jam. We of course borrowed all the supplies from my sister in law, Jenny. Which was amazing, since she had received all the canning supplies last Christmas and had not even removed the tags yet. We traded a small bowl of strawberries for the equipment loan.







This will not be the last batch of jam since the small patch of strawberries my mother planted two years of ago is pumping out strawberries like mad.

A Quick Chicken Up Date

The chickens are about three weeks old now. We have lost two turkeys, however all of the chickens are healthy and happy. All of the literature I've read cautions against raising turkey's with chickens because chickens are carriers of diseases that are more harmful to turkeys. Our friends have raised the two together and suggested that the turkeys would be useful for fighting off snakes and weasels when the flock was older. I wonder if we had medicated our turkey's if they would have survived. We really wanted them to be organic, but now they are just dead. Oh well, "so goes the livestock business", Papa Steve said during his postmortem consult.

And then there was Marty

Bryan and I had discussed rescuing a dog from the pound when I returned from Florida in August. Bryan had said that he would like to find a lab or larger mix that would function well on the farm. With that conversation in the back of our minds we headed out on a farm forging trip. A trip where we go to all the farms that surround us and pick through junk piles to find wonderful things like old chicken waterers. As we left that afternoon I had just told Bryan that instead of buying supplies we should just wait and see if the universe (another farmer really) would provide for us.

And then while at my brother's farm there was "Marty". Marty is an abandoned stray dog that had been living on my brother's farm for a few days. After a trip to the vet we believe he is a lab husky mix. If you look closely you can see that one of his eyes is partially blue.

Marty has some severe emotional problems which manifest in separation anxiety. However, when you are home he can be an extremely loving companion. He came without any basic training, and now after three weeks and a quick neutering Marty understands many commands. The first week we learned NO and OFF. Then week two we worked on Wait (at doors and roads) and Come. Then after a few chicken/pig incidents we learned LEAVE IT. Now we are working on establishing the boundaries of the farm and heeling on the leash. Honestly I've given up on sit and down. We are also struggling with leaving him in the house with out him tearing everything up (or breaking his metal crate for that matter). Marty hates treats, and won't eat any thing but his dog food. If anyone knows any tricks for training a dog who won't even eat a hot dog lying on the kitchen floor please let me know.

In short we love Marty and are happy to have him in our lives.

Super, crazy, cute chicks

Our friendly mailman delivered twenty eight darling chicks and three bratty turkeys to our farm last Thursday. Everyday they seem to double in size and produce more feathers. It is delightful to watch them test their wings and hop around their little enclosure.

Be warned, if you are naive and allow the hatchery the select your mixture of chicks, you might want to inquire about the price before the chicks arrive. $108.00? Seems a little high in my book. The owner of the hatchery is rumored to say " you'll really like these chicks!" I feel like there was most likely a wink attached to this statement but we will never know.

And in case your wondering what kind of chicks these are, I have absolutely no idea. A mixed batch of egg laying chickens is how Bryan ordered these little guys.

Reposting the Baby Chicken Montage

"It's beginning to taste a lot like gasoline," she hummed.

In honor of Bryan's Grandmother Louise, we attempted to make Dandelion Wine the other day. Bear in mind the "wine" is meant to cure over a period of three weeks. After sampling it this morning, two weeks later, it has indeed fermented. Wow. Perhaps another week will take the edge off.







According to family lore, Grandpa Siebels was known to say that he could start his tractor using Grandma's Black Berry Brandy.






Isn't there a Berenstein Bear book where Papa Bear makes a stew just like this one?

Planting

We have been planting now for the last two weeks. We may have started our seeds a bit on the late side, but it feels wonderful to finally have the garden all planted. Well, the first wave any way.


Planted in the first wave:

squash, watermelon, zucchini
potatos, sweet corn, beans, snow peas, peas, carrots, onions, cauliflower, broccoli,lettuce, spinach, artichokes, peppers,
AND OF COURSE heirloom tomatoes


Leanne transplanting squash



















Ok, technically all our plants in the mini greenhouse still need to be planted, but we can pretend the garden is planted for now.

The Great Mushroom Hunt

After two weeks of devastation being unable to locate a single mushroom, Bryan and I finally hit the mother load. We are conservatively estimating our haul at five pounds. Some of which we gave to the farmers that owned the land. Fried mushrooms last night, morel biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight, and then we are out of ideas.









Bryan cooked the 1st batch in bread crumbs, they were amazing.

We get by on a little help from our friends

Feeling overwhelmed with the gardening, a call was placed early Wednesday morning. An hour later a massive John Deer tractor arrived at our house detoured from it's trip to a near by field. Bryan and I made ourselves comfortable sitting on the fence while Alex disked our garden in a matter of minutes. There is nothing like calling Papa Steve on his iphone over your morning cup of coffee.

Fence Row seating.

Snake Proofing the Chicken House

With the baby chicks estimated arrival date two weeks away and our recent snake incident, we decided to spend the day snake proofing the chicken house. We filled all the cracks along the floor and placed chicken-wire over existing holes. Alex, my father's farmhand, keeps warning us about rat and snake attacks. We will be prepared, however I may still sleep in the chicken house just to be sure that everyone is safe.

Fence Row Foraging

Icecream bucket and paring knife in hand, Bryan and I scoured the ditches for wild Asparagus. I would like to report that we had keen enough "asparagus eyes" to find it on our own. However, our hunt was more like a tour led by family members.

"What Asparagus?" The daughter and the son-in-law asked quizzically.

"Your standing on it." The farmer replied gleefully, hiding his laughter behind a nonchalant shrug.

After being led to three local ditch patches of Asparagus, Bryan and I were able to find two patches on our own! Driving at 20 mph while I hung out the passenger side yelling, "Stop! Asparagus." "No wait, maybe." Erratic is the best way to describe our behavior, driving forward, backwards, with frequent u-turns and us jumping in and out of the ditch.

The hunt is now on, we will be careful to always carry our bucket and knife in the car when we go out.



After a short rain shower, the sunset was amazing for the drive home.

A walkabout in May

After settling in, I grabbed my camera and headed out into the great beyond. Sorry, this whole project reeks of cliche.





Our closest neighbors.