Rock & Roll Farm

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Saturday! Jun 04 2005 // 5:00 pm // permalink

Hoes I’ve Known: Standard Hoe


The classic heavy-duty soil breaker.

It’s been said that the only tool a farmer needs is a hoe. It’s also been said that, along with being a farmer, a farmer has to be an engineer, carpenter, mechanic, and several other things to be successful. This hoe was in the tool shed but I’ve never used it. Actually, one time I used it to mix cement for the foundation of the distribution shed. I guess that makes me a mason.



Wednesday! Jun 01 2005 // 9:42 pm // permalink

We’ve only just begun


CSA, Day 2; Market, Day 1

Market was awesome today. Now I just have to do it 39 more times. Most of my favorite regulars showed up and some new faces that I look forward to seeing again. Things were a little slow for my taste, but it’s still early in the season. I’m sure by September I’ll be singing a different tune. I can’t wait to go for the first Saturday of the season in only two more days!

The first distribution went well. The share boxes were beautiful. Four heads of lettuce, and bunches of asparagus, radishes, green onions, arugula, mixed spicy greens, and spinach. On the side (what we say when things won’t fit in the box) were parsnips and two quarts of potatoes. While packing boxes a few of us were saying that we were jealous of the members. Even though we’re around the food all the time and have the luxury of eating it right from the field, the members get a goodie box full of surprises.

We distribute shares at the farm, at the Chelsea Farmers’ Market, and the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market. Around a third of the people pick up at the farm over four days, two people pick up at the Chelsea market on Saturday, and the rest are split between Wednesday and Saturday at the Ann Arbor market. We split each week’s distribution into two packing days (so nothing is sitting around for days waiting to be distributed). As the Farmers’ Markets go, Ann Arbor is much busier, so we have to harvest more to sell at the table. Also we distribute most of our wholesale orders from the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market.

One of the biggest improvements we’ve made to the system is having separate coolers. One for Chelsea/Farm and the other, much larger cooler, for Ann Arbor and for recently harvested or unpacked produce. Packing in the new packing shed is a delight. The new gigantic cooler right there makes things much easier, as is having tables on which to pack the boxes. Up till now the boxes were packed on the ground under a big tree in the front yard, far from the cooler. And loading the van for market is a breeze. No more sorting everything on the lawn (at 4:30 a.m., with headlamps) and we can pull the van right into the well-lit shed (out of the rain).

Other updates (quickly, because it’s so past my bedtime): Tomorrow we will be planting some eggplant, cucumbers, and melons. Today we planted a few more rows of corn. The cow is in heat. I got my snake, and he is the coolest snake there ever was, and he still needs a name if anyone wants to make some suggestions. This past weekend JPB visited and we had a great time. If anyone else ever wants to visit, we have lots of extra room and really good food. If anyone knows anyone who needs a summer job, send them our way. We could use the help!



Wednesday! May 25 2005 // 9:43 pm // permalink

Any way you slice it


Most of what we’re doing now is weeding. I spent the entire day on my knees yesterday. It seems like I am always on the ground with face nearly in the dirt. Over the winter we were discussing what it would be like to work in an orchard, reaching for the heavens all day. I mentioned this to a coworker last week and with a smirk he said, “yeah, I bet that wouldn’t get old, too.”

Today we planted a few rows to corn. It’s been a Wednesday thing for the last few weeks. Mondays we do the arugula and spicy greens. Last week we planted the last greenhouse to tomatoes, that brings the total to four. The peas and beans are getting big, so trellises have been put up. The asparagus is coming in like crazy. The strawberries are small and green. The swallows are back, leaves are on the trees, and weeds are taking over every inch of dirt. There’s no turning back.

In one week we begin the distribution for the CSA. The first share will be something like, lettuce, parsnips, potatoes, asparagus and a couple other things I’m not sure of yet. We also start going to the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market next week. This, I am extremely excited about. Nearly all my social interaction is at the farm. Now I’ll get to be out in public. I wonder if I remember how.



Wednesday! May 18 2005 // 10:34 pm // permalink

Hoes I’ve Known: Stirrup, or Scuffle, or Shufflehead, or…


Today I asked Christine why she likes the Scuffle hoe so much.

“Because I don’t know how to use any of the other ones.”

Used for light to medium jobs, the stirrup hoe works like a weed mop. Able to get close to the plants without causing damage. Backward motion moves weeds away from the bed. Three, five, seven and nine inches. Sharpen well for best results.



Wednesday! May 11 2005 // 7:24 pm // permalink

Guter Laden hier.


This is the sign out in front of the farm. It is a color adaptation of the logo. Check the farm photos section for photos of some other signs I painted for the farm.

In other news, I’m getting a snake and learning German. Not in that order.

Oh, and in general the farm is going okay. It has sort of been raining, a little. We got a new worker this week, Eileen, who is really diving in head first. It’s nice to have another set of hands, especially such hard working ones. We’re catching up but still not out of the woods.

More corn and potato planting this week. Also we transplanted some brassicas into the field and finished planting the greenhouses to tomatoes. The procedure on tomatoes is kind of extensive and smelly. Dig a hole with the post-hole digger, add a quart of guano, a handfull of chileated minerals, throw some dirt back in, gently slip in the plant, and top it off with two quarts of diluted seaweed um, goop. Yeah. Smelly. I had no idea that guano could be from birds and not just bats. This guano was easily identifiable as being from birds due to all the feathers. For some reason that made it grosser to me. That’s right, grosser.

Stay tuned for a new feature later this week called, “Hoes I’ve Known.”



Wednesday! May 04 2005 // 8:46 pm // permalink

spring?


The good news is my wrist wasn’t sprained. The bad news is I have tendonitis. Meh.

A few weeks ago we had a burn (see above photo). When I have more time and energy, I’ll link to some info on controlled burns. They are awesome. Maybe I’ll get into that kind of work for a while.

We’ve been planting like crazy. Corn and potatoes today. Over the past weeks, beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, mustard greens, kohlrabi, cabbage, radishes, and a few flower seedlings. Some have been direct seeding, some from seedlings.

It’s been a fairly stressful time lately. If you haven’t noticed, spring sucks. We never thought we’d have a rainless spring two years in a row, but here it is. And what the f#@* is up with 29F last night? We’ve lost a lot of stuff because of this weather.

Planting is definitely my favorite part of farming. Peeling off a row with the tractor, raking out the soil, setting down the seeds, covering (and in this weather, watering). I could spend days on end preparing beds - which is exactly what I’ve been doing. To prepare a bed you have to make sure the dirt is free of weeds, rocks and other debris so the precision seeder can move through easily. It takes an incredible amount of control to weild a 36in. wide rake and sift the top few inches of soil.

Now that my hands have acclimated to the workload, I can type again. I hope I can find the time and energy to make regular posts now that the season is in full swing. It’s 8p.m., and I’m going to bed!

 



Tuesday! Apr 05 2005 // 4:12 pm // permalink

interruption…


Hey, I almost look like a farmer!
Sorry for lack of updates…sprained wrist…can’t type…no updates for a while…



Tuesday! Mar 22 2005 // 2:18 pm // permalink

Mixed bag


Senators voted to keep $2.8 billion in ag budget cuts. “Congress and the President made a commitment to rural America in 2002 to adequately fund farm, nutrition, conservation, research and rural development programs thru 2007,” said [National Farmers Union President] Frederickson. “Passage of this budget reneges on that promise and re-opens the 2002 farm bill after just three years of the six year commitment.”

*****

“…the widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant cultivars…has dramatically impacted weed communities. Weed population shifts to naturally resistant species and to species with inherent biological characteristics that make the populations difficult to manage (e.g. delayed emergence), as well as the evolution of herbicide-resistant weed populations are real. Another problem is the emergence of the herbicide-resistant crops themselves as volunteer weeds. The speed at which these changes have occurred is cause for significant concern.”

From a press release by Third World Network.
The paper, “Herbicide-resistant crops and weed resistance to herbicides” is available from the journal Pest Management Science

*****

“…fast-food giant Taco Bell Corp. has agreed to work with a Florida-based labour organisation to increase the wages and improve the working conditions of thousands of workers in the state’s huge tomato industry”

*****

Science-Based Organic Farming: A Resource for Educators, a reference from the Universtiy of Nebraska Extension.

*****

Vermont could pass legislation to hold seed companies, not farmers, liable for crop contamination by bioengineered crops

*****

“Confidence in government and particularly in government regulation is compromised whenever the independence of those making decisions, including those empowered to regulate, is called into question.” The Revolving Door, a searchable database about people who have worked in/for both government and industry, with emphasis on those connected to the biotechnology industry.



Tuesday! Mar 22 2005 // 1:55 pm // permalink

Monsanto update


Monsanto won’t return to work on Roundup Ready wheat


*****


“Monsanto, the world leader in genetically modified grains, is pursuing fines and jail sentences for farmers who use their seed in noncontractual ways-such as saving it and sowing it the next season.” An article in Sojourners, compiled the following statistics from the Center for Food Safety report, “Monsanto vs. U.S. Farmers 2005”.

*500: The number of U.S. farmers under investigation annually by
Monsanto.

*$10 million: Monsanto’s annual budget (plus 75 staff) devoted to
investigating and prosecuting U.S. farmers.

*$15,253,602: The total recorded judgments granted to Monsanto for
farmer lawsuits.

*$3,052,800: The largest recorded judgment in favor of Monsanto as a
result of a farmer lawsuit.

*8 months: The prison sentence given to a Tennessee farmer convicted of
violating an agreement with Monsanto.

*90 the lawsuits filed against U.S. farmers in 25 states, involving 147
farmers and 39 small businesses or farm companies.

*****

aside: Sojourners, “a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice,” is interesting to me on many levels. Especially considering the recent visit to the farm by eleven Loyola Chicago students. More on that experience later.



Thursday! Mar 17 2005 // 6:02 pm // permalink

Grace Before Dinner


Article in Orion magazine by Deborah Madison (one of my favorite cooks/cookbook writers). She recently traveled to the Terra Madre conference. “In an Italian city, five thousand farmers, fishermen, ranchers, honey gatherers, bakers, and cheese makers from around the globe gathered for the first time.”

 



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