there are new pictures of the farmers on the website....much more attractive and less wintery:
http://www.wolfpinefarm.com/farmers.html
Monday, May 26, 2008
guess
so, in an attempt to engage my readers (and to see if there are any readers), I present you with an opportunity to win internet prestige and possibly a fabulous prize (it might depend on if the winner lives nearby...) to the first person to correctly answer the following question:
What is the first trouble-shooting method used by myself and other wolf pine farmers when an implement will not come off (or go on) to the tractor?
(Our tractor has a three-point hitch and all the different tools we have to till the soil have to be put on the tractor to be used...you are welcome to do research...)
You can answer in the comment section....
What is the first trouble-shooting method used by myself and other wolf pine farmers when an implement will not come off (or go on) to the tractor?
(Our tractor has a three-point hitch and all the different tools we have to till the soil have to be put on the tractor to be used...you are welcome to do research...)
You can answer in the comment section....
resting
Memorial Day is a farm holiday (one of two for the season), so I have the day off and my body is pleased about that. The weeks of bending over to transplant have finally taken a toll on my back and my chest. The work no longer wears me out, we have fewer and fewer meals at the cabin full of exhaustion and just staring at one another, but I am aware that I need to be taking care of my aches more.
This week tomatoes went into the ground...they are also planted on black plastic. Next week will be potatoes, so we spent a couple of quiet afternoons cutting seed potatoes into pieces the size of 'a hen's egg' so they would be ready to be planted. I also had asparagus fresh out of the garden for the first time in my life. It was amazing, amazing and entirely worth the effort it takes to grow asparagus. It was a glimpse into the fresh, delicious food to come.
This week tomatoes went into the ground...they are also planted on black plastic. Next week will be potatoes, so we spent a couple of quiet afternoons cutting seed potatoes into pieces the size of 'a hen's egg' so they would be ready to be planted. I also had asparagus fresh out of the garden for the first time in my life. It was amazing, amazing and entirely worth the effort it takes to grow asparagus. It was a glimpse into the fresh, delicious food to come.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
what a cucumber is worth
I worked my first Saturday yesterday, Saturdays will always be half days, making the idea of working on the weekend significantly more bearable. We spend the whole morning on one project: cukes and zukes.
And as it turns out, a lot of work goes into growing any organic food, but your cucumbers and squash are especially spoiled. The tractor pulls an implement which lays down a bed of black plastic. So, picture a whole 180 foot bed with a path of any black plastic bag. Then we poke a hole in the plastic every 18 inches, and plant the cuke or zuke inside the whole. After being transplanted, all the beds have wire hoops placed over the beds every 5 feet or so and then we cover the beds with floating row cover (remay, as its called).
The black plastic is to keep the soil warm and the weeds out. Since plants in the cucurbit family don't grow straight up, but wander and spread out on the ground, they are much harder to weed by hand or with tractor implements. The remay and hoops are there to protect the young plant from the cucumber beetle (beasts that would be fought with pesticides on a conventional farm). The cucumber beetles eat the plants (no good) and sometimes infect the plants with a funky bacteria (also no good). So the remay stays on until the plants flowers, and then the remay comes off so the plant can be pollinated by insects (yay bees!)
And as it turns out, a lot of work goes into growing any organic food, but your cucumbers and squash are especially spoiled. The tractor pulls an implement which lays down a bed of black plastic. So, picture a whole 180 foot bed with a path of any black plastic bag. Then we poke a hole in the plastic every 18 inches, and plant the cuke or zuke inside the whole. After being transplanted, all the beds have wire hoops placed over the beds every 5 feet or so and then we cover the beds with floating row cover (remay, as its called).
The black plastic is to keep the soil warm and the weeds out. Since plants in the cucurbit family don't grow straight up, but wander and spread out on the ground, they are much harder to weed by hand or with tractor implements. The remay and hoops are there to protect the young plant from the cucumber beetle (beasts that would be fought with pesticides on a conventional farm). The cucumber beetles eat the plants (no good) and sometimes infect the plants with a funky bacteria (also no good). So the remay stays on until the plants flowers, and then the remay comes off so the plant can be pollinated by insects (yay bees!)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Things going through my head during the three hours I was on a tractor, rototilling:
- Lyrics to "Through the Dark" by KT Tunstall
- Lyrics to "I'm Gettin' Married in the Morning" from My Fair Lady
- Rototilling
- What to write on my blog
- Lunch
- Chips
- Whether or not there are contests at country fairs for who can make the most perfect crop bed with a tractor
- That I'm pretty sure that I drive a tractor straighter then the other apprentice and would win a country fair contest of that sort
- Hoping that because I was on the tractor so long someone else set up the irrigation for the Far Barn Field
- How tan my arms are. Or is that dirt?
- Lunch
Thursday, May 8, 2008
a first
Last night we had our first river swim of the season. Well, it wasn't so much a swim as a dip with a bit of cleaning (we all brought down soap and wash clothes.) The water was cold, cold, but welcome after a long day of sun and dirt.
All the onions are in the ground...we planted two beds of spring onions (the wee green ones, scallions if you will) and eleven beds of storage onions and leeks. The beds are about 230 feet long with two or three rows in each bed. Its amazing to think all the onions for the season are all planted.
A lot of the food for the season is already growing, either in the ground or the greenhouse, now its just a matter of taking care of the soil and waiting. In her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kinsolver imagines a season of vegetables as one large plant, the vegetannual. Once she pictured a growing season as one growing entity, it was easier for her to understand why we don't have tomatoes in April. When a plant first begins to grow, it is all greens, hence, collards, kale, lettuce, cabbage and chard in the spring. Next grow the young fruits (summer sqush, beans, peas), followed by more mature fruits (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) which is the height of summer. After the soft flesh fruits, things harden and in the fall we harvest pumpkins, butternut squash and gords. After a full fruit, the plant can put the rest of its energy back into the roots...and that gets you all the beets, carrots, potatoes and onions. I liked her image and I think its a good tool for people to use when they begin to learn what it means to eat seasonally.
We are still busy getting all the fields ready for planting, and today I took a break from tractor work. Not willingly, mind you, but I had a system full of benedryl, trying to cope with the black fly bites that I have acquired. I've always reacted badly to any insect bites, but there is something about my west coast blood that cannot handle the black flies. My left ear is swolllen to about twice the size of my right. Not very cute.
All the onions are in the ground...we planted two beds of spring onions (the wee green ones, scallions if you will) and eleven beds of storage onions and leeks. The beds are about 230 feet long with two or three rows in each bed. Its amazing to think all the onions for the season are all planted.
A lot of the food for the season is already growing, either in the ground or the greenhouse, now its just a matter of taking care of the soil and waiting. In her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kinsolver imagines a season of vegetables as one large plant, the vegetannual. Once she pictured a growing season as one growing entity, it was easier for her to understand why we don't have tomatoes in April. When a plant first begins to grow, it is all greens, hence, collards, kale, lettuce, cabbage and chard in the spring. Next grow the young fruits (summer sqush, beans, peas), followed by more mature fruits (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) which is the height of summer. After the soft flesh fruits, things harden and in the fall we harvest pumpkins, butternut squash and gords. After a full fruit, the plant can put the rest of its energy back into the roots...and that gets you all the beets, carrots, potatoes and onions. I liked her image and I think its a good tool for people to use when they begin to learn what it means to eat seasonally.
We are still busy getting all the fields ready for planting, and today I took a break from tractor work. Not willingly, mind you, but I had a system full of benedryl, trying to cope with the black fly bites that I have acquired. I've always reacted badly to any insect bites, but there is something about my west coast blood that cannot handle the black flies. My left ear is swolllen to about twice the size of my right. Not very cute.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
oh the things to plant
plow. rototill. fluff. dibble. transplant. cover. repeat.
This is my past week (and this week) in a nutshell. We are working around the bit of rain we've had to get more plants into the ground. Some fields were almost dry and ready to till, but we had rain over the weekend so they are wet again. So in the meantime, we are working non-stop in the fields that are dry.
Happy plants in the ground are:
leeks
storage onions
lettuce
hard cabbage
napa cabbage
chard
There are still seeds being sewn in the greenhouse, most recently cucumbers, summer squash, basil and more lettuce...it is packed!
Our days go by so fast and there is beginning to be much more work than there is time in the day. We will be starting working Saturdays (half days) in a couple of weeks. I really enjoy my time on the weekends in Portland, it will be hard not to be there for a full two days. It seems like right now my weekends are just long enough for any achy muscles to rest, for all the nicks on my hands to heal and to actually get clean again.
This is my past week (and this week) in a nutshell. We are working around the bit of rain we've had to get more plants into the ground. Some fields were almost dry and ready to till, but we had rain over the weekend so they are wet again. So in the meantime, we are working non-stop in the fields that are dry.
Happy plants in the ground are:
leeks
storage onions
lettuce
hard cabbage
napa cabbage
chard
There are still seeds being sewn in the greenhouse, most recently cucumbers, summer squash, basil and more lettuce...it is packed!
Our days go by so fast and there is beginning to be much more work than there is time in the day. We will be starting working Saturdays (half days) in a couple of weeks. I really enjoy my time on the weekends in Portland, it will be hard not to be there for a full two days. It seems like right now my weekends are just long enough for any achy muscles to rest, for all the nicks on my hands to heal and to actually get clean again.
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