Last Tuesday we took our first day off since late May. We were too tired to even take one of our normal road trips, and just wanted a good context to do & see something different while mostly relaxing and escaping the heat. So after getting up early to do milking & animal chores, we drove down to Jefferson City, and caught the morning train to Kirkwood (a suburb of St Louis), so we could indulge in our love of train travel while enjoying unique views of the Missouri River. Researching online, Kirkwood seemed like it had a nice downtown, worth spending a few hours in before heading back, so we went for it. This turned out to be a great, unusual, memorable day exploring interesting parts of Missouri, the type of day trip we love. Continue reading
The problems with drought relief programs for farms
Most of the attention in this ongoing drought is focused on how to help corn/soy commodity farmers survive their crop losses. I’m sympathetic to individual farmers watching their crops wilt in this brutal summer, but less so to the grossly tilted farm program landscape that focuses solely on commodity farms and ignores most of the other kinds. Here’s why we feel the emergency farm programs being thrown out there to help mean little or nothing to a farm like ours, and are problematic even for those they intend to help. Continue reading
A diversified vegetable farm in drought
As of July 17th, our portion of central Missouri is now officially in “extreme drought“. The National Weather Service expects most of the Midwest’s drought to “persist or intensify” through October. All of Missouri has now been declared a “disaster area“, with lots of hands being wrung about the real and potential crop losses for corn & soy farmers. Of course, very little attention is being paid to the state of things on other kinds of farms, like local dairies, orchards, and vegetable farms. So here’s a visual tour of the conditions on our farm, all photos taken July 18. It may surprise some folks how good many things look, and this is something to consider when reading about all the financial support given to commodity farms while the work it takes to achieve our relative stability & success is ignored by the government. This post certainly won’t cover everything we have planted, but it gives a good sense of the overall vegetable status, leaving out our pastures which are in far worse shape (but still somewhat greener than many that we’ve seen in the region). And we’re increasingly worried we’re reaching a tipping point where things really do start to go downhill regardless of our efforts. Continue reading
CSA distribution # 17 & newsletter
Our next CSA distribution will be Monday July 23 and Thursday July 26. There’s really nothing to add about conditions on the farm. We’ve gone over a month now with no meaningful rain; the 0.31″ that fell Wednesday night really didn’t make an appreciable difference though it’s better than nothing. It’s still absurdly hot with no relief in sight; next week’s temperature forecast is in the 103-104º range. We did take a day off this past week to do something fun and relaxing, which we’ll write about soon, but the day-to-day conditions continue to be stressful and exhausting. Read on for more about this week’s share & other on-farm stuff: Continue reading
CSA distribution #16 & newsletter
Our next CSA distribution will be Monday July 16 and Thursday July 19. We received not a drop of rain from the cold front that moved through this past weekend, and though temperatures are somewhat cooler, the sun is still intense, the days are still long, and no meaningful respite is in sight with temperatures expected back near 100 by the beginning of next week and little probability of meaningful rain. We’ve been short by 20 hours of employee/worker help this past week (about half with almost no notice), so our personal energy supplies are on empty. Some contents of this share are uncertain, as multiple crops are feeling heat stress and declining rapidly, though others are still coming on and looking good for now. This is the value of diversity: there’s almost always something that’s happy and productive. Also, don’t forget our Food Preservation Demonstration event on the farm this Saturday; it’s a great chance to see, learn, & share techniques for preserving fresh food, and to see the farm in mid-summer. If you’d like to come, please let us know (if you haven’t already). Read on for more on this week’s share and on-farm conditions: Continue reading
Bird list & natural events, June 2012
June was hot and dry, getting worse throughout the month, really a repeat of May in which we also didn’t have much to write about (or energy to do so). We did take a few more photos this month of interesting insects and wildlife, which we’ll share below. The ongoing drought makes us ever-more concerned about wildlife pressure on the vegetable fields, as these areas are now clearly the lushest parts of the farm and thus increasingly attractive to desperate deer, rabbits, coons, and more. In addition, our irrigation lines are one of the only sources of fresh water left on the farm and so draw in even more voles and other rodents, sometimes causing damage to the lines themselves and/or to crops along the lines. Here are some of the birds & other things we observed this month: Continue reading
Cucumber smoothie
Snacking on cucumbers right off of the plants is one of Joanna’s favorite ways to quench thirst on hot days. This recipe for a refreshing cucumber drink comes courtesy of her parents, and we’ve quickly become addicted to it as an almost-as-easy cure for thirst. Continue reading
Cucumber salad
Spring spinach salad is a distant memory, lettuce salads are done until fall, and slaw is about to wrap up for the season, too. So, it is time to move on to salads of summer vegetables, such as this cucumber salad. It is best if the cukes are sliced to near paper-thinness, though it is still plenty good with lazy thicker slices. A slicer attachment on a food processor is a good way to produce thin slices for a large batch. Let the salad marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to blend the flavors. Or, skip that step (as we often do) before the first serving, but make enough for several meals at once. Continue reading
Garlic oddities 2012: Is the weather messing with our heads?
This year marks our sixth garlic harvest at Chert Hollow Farm. Overall, garlic has been one of our most reliable crops, and it was a signature item at our market stand. We had some nervous moments a couple years back when we first discovered onion root maggots in the crop. This pest problem continues, but the levels of loss are generally acceptable, and our fingers and noses can usually detect heads that have gone bad before sale or distribution.This year some new concerns and oddities developed in the garlic crop. We suspect that these oddities are weather related, and we’ll describe our observations and reasons for coming to this conclusion. We’d love to hear if other growers saw similar features this year; we know of at least one in the region who has. In spite of this year’s strangeness, garlic will probably retain its “most reliable crop” status, but we’re very glad we’re distributing it through CSA rather than selling each head individually on its own merit at a farmers market this year.
CSA distribution #15 & newsletter
Our next CSA distribution will be Monday July 9 and Thursday July 12. It’s absurdly hot and dry, we’re tired and cranky, and very worried about many conditions on the farm. Everything, from plants to animals, is suffering. We’ve set up shade cloth over peppers & some of the tomatoes (with more ordered from Johnny’s to provide some protection to the rest of the tomatoes). This is an attempt to minimize damage from sunscald on what appears to be a spectacular crop of tomatoes & peppers if we can get them successfully through these brutal conditions. We have misting systems set up on the chickens and pigs, and are changing goat water three times a day, but milk yield has declined, egg yields have halved, and no one’s happy. Luckily, in the short term there are still lots of things producing and available so the food is as good as ever. Continue reading