Stirring the nest makes things happen. I've gotten a lot of response and some kind words of support from other farmers off my last couple of posts. Thanks. I'm really not a whiner. I live my life with intent and take action and make comment as I see fit. My experience has always been action = activity. Things are starting to flow again and I've received many verbal commitments to pay so it looks like we're back swing'n on a steady roll. Hopefully this week I'll have enough in to pick up our seed potatoes and a few other supplies.
The greenhouse shuffle is on. Constantly moving flats around and setting out as they become ready. It's been a little wet but we have the upper hand and have beds ready and waiting thanks to the earlier dry weather. Everything is looking great!
Direct sown peas are up and I was able to flame weed most of them right before they germed. I missed a coulpe of beds by a day, so it will be interesting to see the difference. Also the garlic we just planted is already up in full force! That was fast. I just finished my Sunday morning foliar spray and am very pleased how everything looks. I'll re- fill the greenhouse again today wth another round of starts. Not sure what yet. I'm thinking about basil and cucumbers. Early I know but I have a couple of ideas. we'll see. We'll be putting in our early potatoes this week too. Im going to put them in the very worst soil on the farm and mulch them with hay. I'll undersow with a low growing cover crop after they are established. That way Hopefully we'll get a crop and be adding organic matter to the soil at the same time. I'll keep you postd on that one.
Time to hit it. Bye for now
John
Saw more deer tracks this morning. Really gotta finish that fence or I'll be sorry. I have a couple of wascally wabbits awound here too. I'm thinking stew... or maybe braised with tender mustard greens.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
People Do Care
It's been an interesting couple of days. I've recieved some help from more than a few of you out there and it is greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank You to all of you. All I can say is it's just really nice and it's starting to feel more like what I have always invisioned and that's people really caring about their food source and actually having a relationship with their growers. Cool!
So, For me just knowing that people do care and are willing to take action is a huge boost. Huge. Sometimes I hit the wall and it makes me wonder why I'm doing this? To have a little help from the outside makes it loud and clear. So again, thank you.
Things are looking better. We still have a tough month ahead of us but I know it's all going to work out just fine.
Yesterday, we transplanted four beds of Bok Choi and planted out three more beds of fava beans, another bed of shelling peas one bed of arugula and another of mixed Asian braising greens. Did a little clean up, made a couple of sales and raked out some beds. Not a bad day.
Today we have a restaurant orders to fill and perhaps some more tansplanting and direct sowing. If we can make some more room and have time we'll sow up a few more flats of something.
Keep well,
John
So, For me just knowing that people do care and are willing to take action is a huge boost. Huge. Sometimes I hit the wall and it makes me wonder why I'm doing this? To have a little help from the outside makes it loud and clear. So again, thank you.
Things are looking better. We still have a tough month ahead of us but I know it's all going to work out just fine.
Yesterday, we transplanted four beds of Bok Choi and planted out three more beds of fava beans, another bed of shelling peas one bed of arugula and another of mixed Asian braising greens. Did a little clean up, made a couple of sales and raked out some beds. Not a bad day.
Today we have a restaurant orders to fill and perhaps some more tansplanting and direct sowing. If we can make some more room and have time we'll sow up a few more flats of something.
Keep well,
John
Monday, March 10, 2008
Anybody Out There?
Helllloooo, Uhhh, anyone? Bueler? What happened? Is that it? Well, sorry folks, gotta go off for a minute. Please, You cant be telling me that Orcas, A hip, progressive, forward thinking community of 5,000 plus people has less than 100 people that belong to a CSA farm. I'm not just talking just about MRF. I mean all of the farms on Orcas combined don't have 100 members. Shocking!
We're pretty much at a stand still here. There is no money. Bills are due, seed orders are on hold. We are in the middle of March. Our most difficult month. We have a ton of things to move forward on but are not able to proceed any further at this time without receiving funds. This is when we really , really need you to sign up. Not April, Not May. Now. I'm not putting any candy coating on it. If you like having local farms in you community we need for you to show us. Beggin aint my business folks, Growing food is. We need your support.
Here's the dirt. I need $5,000 to cover the month. How are we going to get there? Thats 25 members at our average payment of $200 or only 10 members at $500. Thats a totally doable number either way. Come on Orcas! I know you can do it! show me.
Your's truly,
John Steward
We're pretty much at a stand still here. There is no money. Bills are due, seed orders are on hold. We are in the middle of March. Our most difficult month. We have a ton of things to move forward on but are not able to proceed any further at this time without receiving funds. This is when we really , really need you to sign up. Not April, Not May. Now. I'm not putting any candy coating on it. If you like having local farms in you community we need for you to show us. Beggin aint my business folks, Growing food is. We need your support.
Here's the dirt. I need $5,000 to cover the month. How are we going to get there? Thats 25 members at our average payment of $200 or only 10 members at $500. Thats a totally doable number either way. Come on Orcas! I know you can do it! show me.
Your's truly,
John Steward
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Only Good Rat Is A Dead Rat
Snap!..... Got ya. Finally, you little bastard (the rat) The rat thats been stuck in the attic above our bed tormenting us for days or should I say nights on end. All night back and forth, up and down the walls. Ooohhhh I hate rats! I was starting to get worried, having visions of that of course being a female rat and doing what they do oh so well and then having a really serious problem on my hands. All attempts to trap the rat had failed. The elctronic evictor thingy thing proved to be worthless. I refuse to use bait anymore for two reasons. First off I don't want our cats to die if they eat the poisioned rat and secondly last time I did that, the freakin rat crawled down into the wall and died. Oh my god the stench. Hey wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. This is supposed to be a foodie sight not a gross out fest. Sorry, sorry. I am just happy I got the damn thing. Just part of life on the farm folks.
The photo up top is a sample of whats on right now. Cabbage, kale, mizuna spears, turnips, potatoes, collards, broccoli and eggs. pretty nice early March harvest.
First transplants are in the ground and this next week we'll be seeing quite a bit more of that action. We'll be sowing just as fast as we set things out, both in flats in the prophouse and direct into the field. It's perhaps a little early but I'm sowing beets and carrots direct today. I normally sow these guys around the 3rd week in March. It's just too nice to pass up. I have a big seed order coming in any day now and I'll be picking up seed potato here in a couple of weeks. We are well into the swing of things.
Still amazingly dry. I'll try and get some more groundwork done today too.
That will have to do for today. Keep well,
John
The photo up top is a sample of whats on right now. Cabbage, kale, mizuna spears, turnips, potatoes, collards, broccoli and eggs. pretty nice early March harvest.
First transplants are in the ground and this next week we'll be seeing quite a bit more of that action. We'll be sowing just as fast as we set things out, both in flats in the prophouse and direct into the field. It's perhaps a little early but I'm sowing beets and carrots direct today. I normally sow these guys around the 3rd week in March. It's just too nice to pass up. I have a big seed order coming in any day now and I'll be picking up seed potato here in a couple of weeks. We are well into the swing of things.
Still amazingly dry. I'll try and get some more groundwork done today too.
That will have to do for today. Keep well,
John
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Transplanting Begins
Today we begin transplanting the first of many flat trays into the fields. First off will be spinach and chinese broccoli. These will be covered by by low hoop cloches. Something I rarely do. I gave up on floting row covers of "remay" about three years ago. I just hated using all of that non recycleable oil based product and frankly find it to be a huge pain in the butt to deal with. It does work but I am still able to grow high quality early vegetables without it and my life is easier. Plus I don't carry the guilt of throwing the stuff away.
The cloches we are using today are built 100% from recycled material that I already had on the farm. I did not have to make a single purchase and am turning junk into something useful Now that makes sense in my world!
Getting transplants in the ground is always symbolic of success and new beginnings. It's insta-gratification. The big thing is it will open up some space for us to sow another 50 flats or so. Probably lettuce?
With exception of the peas and favas, all of the outdoor beds I sowed direct in mid February have all germinated. The weather has given us a real brak here. It's allowed me to work all but the wettest areas of the fields and has put us way ahead of where we were last year. I'll be working on ground prep and sow another round of outdoor greens this weekend.
CSA? Pretty lackluster couple of weeks. Trying not to get too discouraged. It's gonna be a rocky month. Fortunately we are making deliveries and we'll start seing a little flow come in here soon. I'll have to spend more time off the farm working so progress is going to slow down.
Allright, Time to work.
Keep it real,
John
The cloches we are using today are built 100% from recycled material that I already had on the farm. I did not have to make a single purchase and am turning junk into something useful Now that makes sense in my world!
Getting transplants in the ground is always symbolic of success and new beginnings. It's insta-gratification. The big thing is it will open up some space for us to sow another 50 flats or so. Probably lettuce?
With exception of the peas and favas, all of the outdoor beds I sowed direct in mid February have all germinated. The weather has given us a real brak here. It's allowed me to work all but the wettest areas of the fields and has put us way ahead of where we were last year. I'll be working on ground prep and sow another round of outdoor greens this weekend.
CSA? Pretty lackluster couple of weeks. Trying not to get too discouraged. It's gonna be a rocky month. Fortunately we are making deliveries and we'll start seing a little flow come in here soon. I'll have to spend more time off the farm working so progress is going to slow down.
Allright, Time to work.
Keep it real,
John
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Holding Pattern
Things are on cruise control right now. Need a week for things to catch up to themselves. The prophouse is full to the gills and we can't sow anything more until we start transplanting. Perhaps later this week we can pop in the spinach and chard and maybe even our experimental beets. I've never sown beets in flats before. Heard of a couple of folks doing it. Just thought we'd give it a go, it appears to be working so far. We are trying a round of carrots that way too. Labor intensive to transplant but the end result could be some nice early root crops. Chinese broccoli is ready to put out. I think I'll build a cloche for that one, just to spped it up a bit.
We have a few deliveries going out today. Nothing major but it's nice to see the tide begin to turn. Overwintering crops like purple sprouting broccoli and cabbage are just coming on. Beautiful! Salad greens are gorgeous. We just keep eeking by on filling orders. They seem to grow on about the same schedule as we cut. This is the hardest time of year to have product in any quantity so I'm thrilled when we actually can meet the demand. Next week we'll most likely wipe out the cabbage with St. Patricks day and all. Call early to place your order!
I love March. It's 6:30 and it's already lite enough to go outside and work. Day length makes the most dramatic change of the entire year this month.
So, I'm taking a step back this week. I have off farm jobs planned for the remainder of the week. Gotta put some duckets in the ol piggy!
Take Care,
John
We have a few deliveries going out today. Nothing major but it's nice to see the tide begin to turn. Overwintering crops like purple sprouting broccoli and cabbage are just coming on. Beautiful! Salad greens are gorgeous. We just keep eeking by on filling orders. They seem to grow on about the same schedule as we cut. This is the hardest time of year to have product in any quantity so I'm thrilled when we actually can meet the demand. Next week we'll most likely wipe out the cabbage with St. Patricks day and all. Call early to place your order!
I love March. It's 6:30 and it's already lite enough to go outside and work. Day length makes the most dramatic change of the entire year this month.
So, I'm taking a step back this week. I have off farm jobs planned for the remainder of the week. Gotta put some duckets in the ol piggy!
Take Care,
John
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Feeling Smart And Not So Smart
I'm feeling pretty good right now. The weather has reaaly been cooperating and I've been able to do quite a bit of groundwork. I'm using a moldboard plow this year to do the preliminary tilling. This is somewhat of a new tool to me. Not exactly my first choice but far superior to my prior method of just using the rotovator. The plow penetrates deeper into the soil than the tiller. Anyway, having the new plow (which is actually very old ) is opening my mind as well as the soil. Looking back on the history of my tillage techniques I feel like I could have made some better choices in equipment. Thats one disadvantage of being self taught. The learning curve is longer. I need to spend some money on aquiring the proper tools here. Thats always been one of the problems. Not having enough money but having equipment that will do the job, just not do it in the best possible way or give the best performance. So Im feeling smart in using the plow, and not so smart for the past, but I've always just been that way. Do the best with what you have. And so it goes.
My new equipment wishlist goes like this. Offset disc harrow, Chisel plow, ripper, new tiller/bedshaper with a bed roller/packer and lots of assorted cultivating tools, hillers ond so on. Most of this I could find used if I put my mind to it and was able to spend a few days off island. It all has to wait. No money to do anything right now. So I'll keep using my current set up for a bit longer.
It's been a fantastic start this year. We are further down the road than we've been in years past and everything is running smoothly in a non hectic manner. We have alot of our early outdoor crops in already and the greenhouse's are full and overflowing. I'll tell ya, that's one thing I feel smart about. When you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, you don't make intelligent deciscions. Poor decscions are usually expensive.
Csa memberships have slumped again. We did well in February. I had some big expenses and the farm paid them all so at least we are not in the hole. March is the hardest month of all. I still have a couple of large seed orders to place and some minor supplies to pick up so expenses are fairly normal, We just need about $5,000 to come in for the month. We are starting to have some sales so we can cover the rest from that. So once again, If you are planning on joining and have not. This is it. This is when I need you. Our CSA goal for March and April is $10,000. If we can hit that, Maple Rock will pretty much be standing on it's own two legs for the first time in history. We can do it, but we need your help. ( I'm going into public radio if we don't ) :0)
Smartly yours,
Farmer John
My new equipment wishlist goes like this. Offset disc harrow, Chisel plow, ripper, new tiller/bedshaper with a bed roller/packer and lots of assorted cultivating tools, hillers ond so on. Most of this I could find used if I put my mind to it and was able to spend a few days off island. It all has to wait. No money to do anything right now. So I'll keep using my current set up for a bit longer.
It's been a fantastic start this year. We are further down the road than we've been in years past and everything is running smoothly in a non hectic manner. We have alot of our early outdoor crops in already and the greenhouse's are full and overflowing. I'll tell ya, that's one thing I feel smart about. When you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, you don't make intelligent deciscions. Poor decscions are usually expensive.
Csa memberships have slumped again. We did well in February. I had some big expenses and the farm paid them all so at least we are not in the hole. March is the hardest month of all. I still have a couple of large seed orders to place and some minor supplies to pick up so expenses are fairly normal, We just need about $5,000 to come in for the month. We are starting to have some sales so we can cover the rest from that. So once again, If you are planning on joining and have not. This is it. This is when I need you. Our CSA goal for March and April is $10,000. If we can hit that, Maple Rock will pretty much be standing on it's own two legs for the first time in history. We can do it, but we need your help. ( I'm going into public radio if we don't ) :0)
Smartly yours,
Farmer John
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