Down on the Farm
By Patricia Parker
Week 10 (June 22nd - July 23rd)
photo by - rani urabi mustafa
In the last week a lot has happened here on the farm. Two new apprentices have joined the Ben’s Produce team. Their names are Meredith and Aaron. Meredith just moved here from Colorado and she’ll likely be heading to Nicaragua to work on a nonprofit agro-ecology project in the Fall. Until then, we’re very excited to have her on the team. Two of our CSA members (Bradford and Melody – Melody is Meredith’s mom) pointed Meredith our way and we are already so very thankful to have her help out here. We only hope we can give her as much as she is giving to us. Aaron, like Meredith, also found us by way of a CSA member, Adam. Aaron is going to school this summer, but will be joining us on the farm on his days off and before class when time allows. Both Aaron and Meredith’s extra help is already going a long way!
We also had the help of Alan Oswald, partner to Rene Oswald, author of Transitioning to Living Cuisine. Rene is doing a book tour up the East Coast from Florida on up to Montreal. Alan contacted Ben about a month ago to see if we would show him around the farm and to see if he could help for a day or two while they stopped in the Raleigh area. He just happened to find us online. Sure enough, Alan spent the day with Ben (I was diligently grading) doing all sorts of stuff. Ben said Alan kept up with him through the whole morning and afternoon. Alan is in his early 50s and he and Rene eat only raw foods. It seems the raw food diet provides quite a lot of energy, for Alan and Rene at least!
So, these are the folks that have helped us on the farm this week. And to get an idea of what’s been going on in terms of the farm itself, I thought I’d share with you all some of the things we’ve marked off of the do-to list this week.
1) Ben spent quite a lot of time prepping ground (about a ¼ of an acre) with the walk behind tractor (aka tiller) and then seeded cover crops including, millet, sorghum sudan-grass, and cow peas. The two former grasses scavenge nutrients. This means they take up nutrients in the soil and recycle them. The cow peas fix nitrogen in the soil.
2) Ben, Alan, Aaron, Meredith and I all mulched almost 3,000 feet of peppers with straw. This basically means you place straw in the pepper beds. You do this for a variety of reasons including to suppress weeds, to hold in moisture, and to reduce soil splash (which keeps the dirt of f the pepper plants so they’re pretty but this also helps with disease prevention). We used about 50 bales of straw.
3) We also cultivated (fancy word for weeded) melons, winter squash and eggplant.
4) Ben inter-seeded buckwheat with the okra, field peas, and summer squash. We do this to suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, add organic matter and prevent erosion.
5) Ben has been diligently staking peppers. We’ll be tying them shortly (to keep the plants from falling and/or breaking from the weight of the peppers).
6) Ben has also been doing quite a lot of tractor research. We were going to take a road trip to Charlotte last Sunday but after speaking with other farmers at market, we found out the tractor was way too pricey for what it is. So, we opted to float the Falls of Neuse with a few friends instead (and were able to do so thanks to Randy and Leza, who lent us their canoe for over a month!).
7) And finally, we harvest squash and cucumbers everyday and harvest everything else for the CSA and market every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Saturdays Leslie (and now Laura and Brian as well) pick up our goods for the Clayton Market and Ben and I have been taking two pick up trucks worth of stuff to the Western Wake Farmer’s Market.
Also, in all of that, I cook at least two meals per day, teach for my online Intro to Sociology course, write the newsletters, come up with recipes and type recipe cards for the market, do basic household chores including washing the never ending sink of dishes and laundry (including hanging it to dry and taking it down and in to put up), and every once in a while, also make samples for the Western Wake Farmer’s Market. This Saturday we brought quick cucumber kimchi and beef and cabbage bulgogi for beef day at market. Oh, and I forgot to mention we also had dinner guests on Wednesday night (CSA members Lara and Sam) and went to our neighbor’s 50th birthday party Saturday after market.
It’s been a busy week and we’re ready for more. My folks and my nephew are coming into town tomorrow. That means I have to finish grading final essays and cleaning the house by tomorrow at 7pm. Plus, it’ s my nephew Julian’s 13th birthday on Thursday, so I need to get some balloons and cake action on somewhere between today and tomorrow. Meanwhile, Ben is going to check out a tractor in Zebulon tonight after the CSA drop. Keep your fingers crossed for us. We need to find a quality, affordable tractor. Ben is busting his hump on that walk behind tractor and it’s taking him at least three times as long to do things he’ll be able to do once we get that tractor. And while you’re at it, please send some rain energy our way too! I think y’all helped us out yesterday – we got ½ an inch!
Down on the Farm, pt. 2
By Patricia Parker
Week 11 (July 4-July 10)
Well, another week has passed us by. And, as usual, a lot has happened in those seven days. My folks came into town last Wednesday, with my nephew Julian in tow. Thursday was Julian’s 13th birthday and he got to spend it weeding in the morning (we’re cruel, we know) and then we went shopping and baked a yummy red velvet cake (from Nancy McDermott’s book, Southern Cakes).
Julian is into the cake baking shows and wants to learn more about baking, which is why he baked his own birthday cake. My folks left Saturday morning to head back to Tennessee. Their visit was way too short, but I imagine we’ll be seeing them again soon. Of course, it was also Independence Day yesterday, so while Ben, Julian, and Meredith and I all worked in the morning (Julian only for an hour before he left with Beth and Eric and the kids to check out the Clayton parade), we spent most of the afternoon socializing. Beth (our neighbor, landlady and friend) had a 4th of July party that began at noon and ended sometime after 10 last night! Fun times were had by all, especially all of the kids J. So, that’s the fun we had, but we also managed to get quite a lot of work done too. Here’s the rundown from last week:
· Dad and Ben built our chicken tractor!!! We’ve been wanting to build the chicken tractor pretty much since we got the chick-a-dees last year, but time and money kept us from doing so. As many of you know, the poor chickens have been cooped up most of their lives to keep Charlie the sweet, but chicken-eating, farm dog away from them. We do let them out in the evenings and keep Charlie inside, but we’ve really wanted to let them roam more often. We feed them greens daily, but at this point, we’ve been having to bring the greens to them. Now, we’ll be bringing them to the greens. For those of you unfamiliar with what exactly a chicken tractor is, well, it’s basically a moveable chicken coop. We’ll be putting the chickens out to pasture and they’ll be able to eat bugs, eat greens, and fertilize our soil while they’re at it (we’ll move them daily). Now we just need to work on getting some electrical fencing so we can keep Charlie and other chicken “loving” critters away from them.
· Of course, we also did a whole lotta weeding this week. This is Julian’s least favorite farm task. I happen to think it’s not so bad, especially with our sandy soil. We weeded the butter beans, the field peas and the okra. We also all received bee stings of some kind. Well, almost all of us (Meredith managed to escape the wrath of the bees – but Ben, Aaron, my dad, Julian and I all received stings on Friday).
· Yesterday Julian, Ben, Meredith and I all took strawberry cuttings off of the spring strawberry plants. We cut plants between 2 ½ and 4 inches long (about 700 of them) and them Ben made soil blocks and Meredith and I potted up the plants. We’re hoping we’ll be able to grow some strawberries for the fall – keep your fingers crossed for our fall fruiting experiment (it means you’ll have berries too!).
· We also finished up staking and tying the peppers. There are plenty of peppers on many of the plants, but none of them are quite ripe – but you should start seeing peppers in your shares soon.
· Finally, Ben has been working quite a lot on the fall crop plan. Speaking of…since I have some room below, it’s time to start thinking about the Fall 2011 CSA...
Farm (and Off-Farm) Life
By Patricia Parker
Week 12 (July 18-July 24)
Since last week was our last week with Julian in town, it was an even crazier whirlwind than usual. I remember when Ben and I first moved to the Raleigh area, we were amazed at how many people rarely, if ever, went to the beach. Now that we’re rooted in our place, we’re beginning to understand why that’s the case. Pretty much the only time Ben and I leave the farm (barring holidays or other family celebrations) is to go to the CSA drop, go to market, go to school, or run errands – and that’s just to go to Raleigh. The beach is much farther away. However, Julian gave – at least me – the excuse to go to the beach. Last week here’s a recap of what we did:
· Monday: Julian and I went to Kure beach. We packed a picnic and swam, dodging jelly fish as best we could, boogie boarded, built a sand castle with moat, and collected sea shells. We also stopped at a seafood place on our way back home to bring home some NC shrimp and scallions – YUM!
· Tuesday: Ben, Julian and I harvested for the Tuesday CSA folks and Farm it Forward. Julian and I set up the drop and then packed up to head to the last Cooking Matters class for Farm it Forward. Julian had an awesome time and the Inter-Faith Food shuttle gave him a Cooking Matters cook book and nutritional information packets for his enthusiasm. After the class, Julian and I headed to CSA members and friends, Cate, Jeff, Ally, and Josh’s place for Josh’s 5th birthday celebration. Josh loves fireworks, so our lateness was sort of perfect timing – just in time for the fireworks and cake.
· Wednesday: Ben and I harvested for the Wednesday folks and Julian played with kids over at Beth’s place. Beth has yoga at her house most weeks and mamas bring their kids in tow. It’s free yoga for the parents and playtime for the kids. They also usually have snacks and lunch in the afternoon. Living on the farm is so cool! J
· Thursday: We all harvested and then we met up with CSA members and friends, Emily and David, to check out the Carolina Mudcats game. It was Julian’s first baseball game (that he could remember). He bought a foam finger and David brought Julian a glove. It was quite cute seeing him with one on each hand ready for a foul ball (glove) or a homerun (foam finger). Hot dogs and peanuts were had. Julian even got Muddy the Mudcat (the team mascot – who is a catfish, if you don’t know) to sign his foam finger.
· Friday: We all harvested for the Western Wake Farmer’s Market and the Clayton Market. We finished up early so we could make it to the 4:40 pm last Harry Potter movie. Julian even had time to fashion himself a wand to take with him. I’ll confess – I went to the grocery store prior and bought soda and snacks to sneak in to the theater. I carry a large purse and that can be particularly handy when going to see over-priced movies and smelling all of that over-priced popcorn. I think Julian was a little embarrassed when our soda cans popped loudly, but when I suggested he buy us some snacks from the concession stand, he got over it J.
· Saturday: We all headed to market. When we got home, we made lunch, ate and packed Julian’s things up. His flight was scheduled for 6:35pm. This was Julian’s first flight and his first flight alone. I spoke with my mom (his Oma) after he arrived and she said he was ecstatic about the flight. After we saw Julian off, Ben and I went to the Bavarian Brathaus for dinner. I bought a Groupon last year for Ben’s birthday and Saturday was the last day it was usable.
· Sunday was fun day. Ben and I slept in and picked some of Beth’s blueberries and Ben made blueberry muffins. I’m not sure how many he made, but we’ve already eaten them all! We spent Sunday relaxing.
Now, on to more farm stuff! Here’s what happened on the farm more specifically:
· We cleaned about 300 pounds of onions. When they’re curing, we keep the green tops on. Once they’re finished curing, we have to cut off the tops, one by one, for storage. Since this is something you can do sitting down and in the shade, this was one of Julian’s favorite farm tasks.
· We made and seeded up to 40 flats of seedlings, including:
o Kale
o Kohlrabi
o Chinese cabbage
o Tatsoi
o Scallions
o Fennel
o Cauliflower
· We cultivated, staked and tied the second round of tomatoes – or rather, Ben and Kevin did these things.
· Ben, Meredith and I put up our newest edition – the high tunnel. We put shade cloth on it so we can keep the seedlings in it (and keep them away from the rain, so we can control the water, and the bugs). This first tunnel is about half the size of the other 2 or 3 we would like to construct this year. It’s 54x12 feet and it cost us about $450 to purchase the materials (which is about $0.72/square foot).
· We also purchased and received a truck load of compost (38 yards) for the fall crops.
· That’s all folks!
