(DF) SALVAGING THE GARDEN

Back in early spring, I tilled up the garden added compost and tilled again.  It looked great!  I then planted potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, peas and green beans, all in their appropriate time.  Other wonderful veggies were to be planted very soon, as the early root crops began to grow. 

All was well and things were growing nicely, including weeds and grass (as always).  The rows had been tilled and weeded once, and almost ready for the next round, as new rows were laid off to be planted.  Sounds great and productive, doesn't it?  But not so fast!!!

This is about the time it started raining.  It rained, and rained, and rained yet more.  Soon, my lovely garden was standing in water, and remained so for some time.  During this time of standing in water, grass and weeds grew quite well.  By the time the soil was dry enough to walk across, grass was chest high and the green beans were ready to pick (actually, many had gone past their prime and rotted).

Between the rain, work, taking care of animals, trying to get Anna moved and dealing with some health issues (both mine and Anna's), there just wasn't time or energy to get the weeds out and start over.  All that was harvested was a small mess of peas and a couple of mediocre pickings of green beans.

!Now, fast forward to autumn !

A couple of weeks ago, with thoughts of removing the grass and weeds from the garden, I waded through the tangled mess a bit just to see if it would be better to cut it all down first or just wait until it died and burn it.  To my surprise, I found potato plants rising up among the tall grass,  Very nice potato plants, in fact.  With that in mind, I vowed to wait until I had a chance to dig a bit, hoping that there were actually potatoes on the other end of those plants.

Yesterday, 17 October, I took a little time to dig.  YES there are potatoes on the other end.  It is not a record crop of record size potatoes, but there are potatoes.  Now I have my work cut out for me.  It will be difficult working among the grass, or cutting the grass first (that decision is yet to be made), but it will certainly be worth the effort.
.

Now there is the question of carrots and such.  They will be a bit harder to locate but I must look.   It would be so nice to have homegrown carrots and potatoes from our garden in the stew.  Wish me luck, and if your garden was also taken over, you might want to check before you till.

(DF) FOOD FROM HOME: Homegrown and wild harvested

With grocery prices (and prices of everything else) soaring, it is sometimes hard to decide what to cut back on to stay within budget.  However, on the farm, it is possible to avoid having to cut so many corners on food. 

As an example, last night I had a tasty, nutritious and satisfying meal, with very little outlay of cash.  By very little, I mean almost none.  All of the main ingredients were either from the garden or wild harvested on the property.  The only exceptions were a little butter, a couple of teaspoons of natural sugar, a dash of salt and a very small amount of flour.

The green beans were fresh picked from the garden, as was the garlic which was cooked with them, while they were spiced with stone mint harvested in the woods (I use it like oregano).  The mushrooms (chanterelles) were also harvested in the woods on the property.  The eggs and milk used in the batter were from my own chickens and goat.  The blackberries were picked in the pasture, and the milk they were served with was, once again, from my goat.

A little salt in the mushroom batter and beans, some flour in the mushroom batter, the butter the mushrooms were sauteed in and a bit of sugar for the berries, were the only ingredients that did not originate here on the farm.  Potentially, in the future, even those ingredients will be produced here (or a substitute for them) with the exception of salt.  Yet another goal in the journey toward self-sufficiency.

For now, this is pretty close to being a completely homegrown meal.  Did I also mention that it was delicious?  It was absolutely delightful, and made much sweeter by the fact that it was grown here on the farm.  The only thing missing was meat.  We haven't gotten to the point of major meat production yet, but it is cool and rainy today and the local wildlife better watch out.

As a caution, I must warn you to be careful when picking any wild edible.  While there are many plants and mushrooms that are edible and tasty, there are, of course, some that can be quite deadly.  Be sure you know what you are picking, and if there is even the slightest doubt, don't eat it.  There are no known antidote for the toxins in some of the bad ones, so be extremely careful.

(DF) PLANTING CORN IN A STUMP PATCH

Yes, I am serious, I planted corn in a stump patch.  About a month and a half ago, I decided to clear the trees at the north end of the garden.  The small patch of ground in question is good soil, and with a little work (alright, a lot of work) it will be a good addition to the main garden.  The first photo, is of the piece of ground in question immediately after I cut the trees into firewood, before the brush was burned.  In the background, you can see the trees, which is what the newly cleared patch looked like  the day before.

Over time, I burned the brush and moved the firewood, then marked off where it would need tilled in relation to the new fence line at the back edge.  Now it was ready to till, as soon as I could find the time.

In case you have never tried it, tilling or plowing in a stump patch can be an interesting process.  My first such experience with this concept was when I was very young (seven or eight years old).  My Grandfather had farmed all his life with a team of horses and I wanted to learn how.  He showed me how to put on the harness and hook up the plow, then we went to plow his garden.  There was a newly cleared area at the edge, and sure enough, the plow caught a root and jumped sideways, throwing me down.  My Grandfather laughed and explained how if I had been taller, I would have been kicked in the ribs by the plow handles.  Years later, while breaking a mule to plow, I experienced what he was talking about. No fun at all, I might add.

Over the years, I have also plowed in new ground with tractors.  There are no plow handles to kick you in the ribs, but it can make for a wild ride at times.  Also no fun at all.

Day before yesterday was my first experience using the garden tiller among stumps.  With a good deal of effort, some cursing and numerous stops to cut elm roots from around the tiller tines, the small patch finally got tilled.  Not a pretty job of tilling to say the least, but it was tilled deep enough to plant.  During this process, I found that under just the right circumstances, the tiller handles, like old fashioned plow handles, can thoroughly kick you in the ribs.  Yes, I have very sore ribs (bruised, not broken).  Almost fifty years later, and with different equipment, the process remains the same.  You guessed it, still no fun at all.

As you can see in the second picture, the small patch looks a little different.  What you can not see is that I planted corn among those stumps this morning.  The rows are not straight and there are skips where the stumps are, but given good weather (including a bit of rain), a bit of mercy from the munchers and, of course, a few good  blessings, there will be a bit of corn grown there this year.

It will take a few years for the stumps to rot out, but experience has shown me that it will get easier each time it is worked, and soon it will be as good as the rest of the garden.  I can almost taste the fresh corn now.  YUM!

(DF) WHAT HAVE I REALLY BEEN UP TO HERE ON DAVES FARM?

What I have really been up to here on Dave's Farm obviously has had nothing to do with posting here for the past couple of months.  I will not go into much detail in this post, but will instead, give a brief rundown and hopefully find time to fill in details in later posts.  If anything is of interest, mention it in a comment and I will make a point.  Basically I am mainly posting to show that I still live and haven't completely lost my mind (alright, that last one is debatable).

A while back, my older sister who is completely non-ambulatory, was diagnosed with cancer.  I have been taking her every day for five weeks of radiation which ended about a week ago.  They say the outlook is good, but there may be more treatment a few weeks down the road.

About three weeks ago, I left my job at the corporate retailer (Wal-Mart).  I am now self employed, currently contracting welding repairs, and actual rebuilding of trailers for my son's small trucking company.  The work is harder but, amazingly, I get home and am physically and mentally able to work here on the farm.  It also takes less hours to pay the bills, leaving more time to work here.

During my absence, the main garden has been planted, trees have been cut for expansion and some of the newly cleared areas have been tilled and planted.  Since we got carried away on the onion sets, the space is needed for sweet potatoes and corn, so wish me luck tilling around the stumps.

There is a continuing question of storage for all the food we plan to grow in the enlarged garden.  The answer, of course, is a big cellar.  A couple of weeks ago, I managed to get an acquaintance who owns a small excavating company to bring out a backhoe.  A couple of hours and a chunk of cash later, there is a big hole in the hillside ready for me to build a cellar in.  The drainage gravel and pipes are here, and ready for me to squeeze enough time to start building.

Certainly there are things I have forgotten to mention, but I think that is at least most of the high spots.  Hopefully things will settle down enough that I can spend a bit more time here keeping thing updated.  There are also pictures of some of the progress, which I will add to future posts (and yes, I finally got a decent camera so they should be clear).

NEW YEAR, SAME OLD CHALLENGES

The first week of 2014 has passed.  It has not passed quietly or gently, but we have made it through the beginning of the new year all the same.

We began the new year at Anna's Farm.  January first was a beautiful day filled with warmth and sunshine.  There was work to be done, as there always is on the farm.  Firewood need cut (though it was quite warm, it was still January after all). Despite the work, we spent the morning relaxing and enjoying the weather and each other's company.

Afternoon came and I cut some firewood while Anna started a fire outside to cook our new year's dinner.  Later, we dined on fried chicken (raised on Dave's farm), Okra (grown on Anna's farm) and corn cakes which were, unfortunately, not produced on either of our farms (maybe next year).  All in all it was a wonderful day, though it ended far too soon.

To our dismay, Anna woke up the following morning with the flu, and has been trying to deal with it ever since.  As anyone on the farm knows, the animals have to be fed no matter how bad one feels, so she has been struggling this past week.  It breaks my heart that I haven't been there to help.

The two days after new years day, I was off work.  Thursday and Friday, I spent trying to finish projects left over from 2013.  The old barn I was tearing down in the spring when I injured my foot, is now finished except for some minor cleanup.  A solar panel I started pre-injury also got finished, and the garden is now tilled up.

Saturday found me back at work but feeling unduly tired and achy, which I chalked up to pushing through projects.  Sunday morning was cold and a couple of inches of snow covered the ground.  I also woke up knowing why I felt tired and achy the day before, I had the flu.  Though I could not afford to miss work, the rest of the week has been spent trying to recover and doing only what what is necessary here on the farm.  As an added bonus, it turned really cold, with night time lows around 0 and highs in the teens.

During this first week of 2014, I predicted that we won't reach our goals this year without a fight.  Since Anna and I never planned to go down without a fight anyway, we are confident that this will be a good year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(DF) LATE FALL RAMBLINGS AND UPDATE

The past couple of weeks has been very busy.  There has been little time for the computer, only enough for checking mail and such.

Work has taken up most of the time.  Of course, with cooler weather (and really bad weather coming), days off have been filled with cutting and hauling wood and buying and hauling hay for the goats.  Throw in a few appointments, flat tires and dead batteries and you can start to see why I haven't been writing.  It is amazing that I have been able to spend even a little time (not nearly enough) with Anna.  Somehow, I have also managed to squeeze in some tilling of the garden, though only a little at a time and not quite finished.

Also, the Thanksgiving holiday fell within this time frame.  No, I didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with Anna, or my (now grown up) children.  There was no time for smoking the turkey and brisket or making pies.  I didn't get to spend the day hunting either, though I did end up wasting part of one day off searching my property for a deer that was wounded by a careless hunter on adjoining property.

I spent thanksgiving day and the day after with co-workers, preparing for the "black Friday" sale (in this case called the "blitz" because it actually starts on Thanksgiving day).  In all fairness, my employer DID supply a nice meal for us on Thanksgiving and the two days following, but it just wasn't the same as having it with family.

Now, Thanksgiving and black Friday are over and work has shifted to the Christmas commercialization season.  It is a shame people can't focus on what these holidays realty represent instead of just making and spending money.

Here on the farm, l the focus has shifted toward preparing for winter weather.  With the forecast calling for single digit temperatures and a good accumulation of ice, sleet and/or snow, there are plants and small trees to protect and animals to provide extra hay and windbreaks for.  This is also part of the reason I have been pushing to finish tilling the garden before the snow and freezing weather.

We will soon see if the forecast is correct or not.  Either way, like it or not, it is now winter.



UPDATE:   I drafted this post last night (Wednesday) but didn't get it posted.  Now it is Thursday night and the garden (and everything else) is covered with a mix of ice, sleet and snot (sorry, that was supposed to be snow), with a current temperature of 20F and a nice Northeast wind.  Yes, it IS now winter, but as much as we dislike the ice and low temperatures, we need the hard freeze and winter precipitation mess, both for the farm and to help us appreciate the warm gentle breeze of the coming spring.

(DF) FALL GARDEN? Ok, so it's a little late

Like a lot of people, I grew up with garden planting time being in the early spring and again in the fall.  Well, not really fall, but more like summer (early to mid August) for a fall crop.  Based on how things were done when I was a kid and how things worked with the climate here, I have continued that practice all of my adult life.  So why am I planting in October?

There are a couple of reasons.  The first, and less logical reason is that I have been unable to work in the garden all summer and simply couldn't stand not having something growing.  Lets face it, the ground needs worked up in order to get a handle on the grass anyway.  It is hard for me to have nicely worked garden soil in warm weather and not plant something in it.  The second, and more logical reason is the simple (or more complex, depending on how you look at it) fact that the climate here is not at all like it was when I was growing up.  There is now no way of honestly considering when the first hard freeze will be, or the rainy and dry seasons either, for that matter.  My memories of seasonal change in the past are certainly not what we are living today.  In recent years, I have seen some strange things, like picking vine ripe tomatoes for Thanksgiving salad.

I will reserve the memories of past climate for another post, but with the erratic climate in mind , it makes some kind of twisted sense to keep planting as late as possible.  No I am not planting corn, green beans and okra this time of year, but things like turnips and beets can take a lot of cold without much damage.  I did plant a few blackeyed peas a couple of weeks ago (though I doubt they will have time to make) simply because they are good for the soil and if they freeze, I can till them under.

Yes, it seems late even for turnips, but if the extreme weather holds off a bit, a good mess of turnip greens is always food on a cold evening.  And who knows, they may even make turnips.  As for the main garden, It is not tilled up yet but hopefully will be in time for planting a LATE cover crop of rye or winter peas.

(DF) NEW GARDEN TILLER (UGH!!!)

For the record, I don't really like garden tillers.  The reasons are many.  The rotary tines break up and spread grass roots, the engine requires fuel, though the emissions are cleaner than in the past, they are still not good for the environment.  On a more personal note, the engine noise is irritating and I don't like the smell.  Add to this list the fact that it is a less self-sufficient means of gardening than more primitive methods and I'm sure you get my point.

From a more practical stand point, however, there were other considerations.  One big one is the fact that I will not be able to even start using a shovel for quite some time, much less turn the whole garden.  With this in mind, there would certainly be no cover crop this fall, and with the garden gone native, it would be difficult to have it ready for spring planting.

Under normal circumstances, it is possible (though not easy) to raise enough vegetables for home use with only hand tools, but surplus is another matter.  Anna and I have been planning to raise enough for our own use and plenty to sell for part of our income.  The fact is clear that it is not physically possible to work as much ground with a shovel and hoe as with a tiller.

All these factors came under consideration when Anna and I were deciding whether or not to buy a tiller.  Of course, we also considered that Anna doesn't share my aversion to small engines.

Anna and I had been discussing this matter while I was unable to walk.  As soon as I could drive and spend a little time on my feet, we started shopping a bit.  We did not want to get a used tiller and end up having to work on it all the time.  With new equipment being so expensive, we had to shop around some.

With fall approaching, the selection was not as large as in springtime.  Most were not as powerful as we needed and prices were pretty high even on sale.  VERY FRUSTRATING!!!  We needed a tiller that would suit our needs and at a good price.

Finally, when it seemed we might have to settle for less than we wanted, my tightwad self had a thought.  The local equipment rental company sells their equipment after a period of time.  They are also very particular about how their equipment is maintained.  It turned out that they had exactly what we needed (actually, it was the only tiller they had available).  It had been rented out once, but had obviously not been used much.  The price was substantially reduced, helping my tightwad tendencies.  As an added bonus, it came with full factory warranty.

Though I am still not overly fond of rotary tillers, it does make it possible to work up the ground.  Don't get me wrong, I will still keep a good shovel and hoe, just in case the machine breaks down.

(DF) RECOVERY AND RECLAMATION

During the past couple of months, while I have been down with a bad foot, very little work has been done here on Dave's Farm.  Not only have things not progressed, nature has taken its course.  Un-mown lawns and un-worked gardens not only don't get better. they actually grow up. In this case, the grass has grown quite well and is now four to six feet high.

Yes, maintenance is right out the window here.  The worst of it is the garden.  It has been a perfect summer here for grass and it has really       gotten established.  In short, it has become a major reclamation project.
Reclamation has begun.  I am using a scythe to cut the tall grass, a little at a time as my recovery allows.  The work is very slow as I am still unable to walk well and can only stay on my feet for a short time before having to stop and rest awhile.  This process makes me feel a bit lazy and worthless, but I try not to say it too loud because Anna gets onto me for saying such things about myself.

Once the grass is cut and allowed to dry, it is being hauled in the wheelbarrow to the barn and stored for winter goat feed.  After the grass is hauled away from the garden, I am gradually tilling up the garden in preparation for planting a cover crop (probably winter peas this time).  When the garden is finished, the lawn can be reclaimed in the same manner, mowing the stubble when the tall grass has been removed.  A slow process, but a necessary one.

Reclamation and recovery will be slow.  The doctor told me last week that it will be at least two more months before I can return to my job, and from the way it feels, he is probably right.  I am having to move slow and only a little at a time, so it will take some time for both recovery and reclamation.

When I am finished with reclamation, I can then start catching up.  Thank goodness other things like building fence and farm buildings actually DO just sit there instead of having to be reclaimed. 

Wish me luck.