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Agrarian Harvest

Wholesome, Organic, Experience. Our small farm, food, and simple life.

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Produce Has Slowed, But Life Has Not

The days have cooled and are shorter. It’s been raining off and on most of the week which seems to slow us down. It’s now too cool to sleep with windows open at night, at least it is for us. The house is chilly in the mornings causing us to start our days a little slower. The kids like to start their day curled up in a blanket on the couch doing their reading lesson before breakfast. After breakfast, I busy myself with a baking project or canning to warm the house and take the chill off. It’s the start of another busy September day of harvesting, canning and homeschooling.

While the produce is slowing down getting ready to die off and be done for the year, our lives are still very busy in this season. There is the harvest of the red beans to be done. They have been cut and are waiting to be thrashed when the rain stops and they dry out. There is still the major harvest of the pumpkins, winter squash, daikon radishes, turnips and beets to be done. Most of the late season produce is slowing down except the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. They are still growing and producing strong. We are about done with picking beans for the season, the sweet corn, kohlrabi and cabbage are about gone, and the cucumbers, zuchinni, summer squash have slow their production significantly. The broccoli is about done for the season due to an aphid infestation.

September starts our fall juggling act as I like to call it. We are still harvesting and selling, there is more canning to be done, all the regular inside work and laundry needs to be kept up with along with all the yardwork. Then we add another year of homeschooling into the mix. The Other Half takes on most of the harvesting duties as of September. And I focus on getting the canning done and the family back into our fall and winter routine.

Although, September is busy it feels like life and tasks are slowing down. We are getting settled down for the year and getting ready for the cooler weather. It feels good to be settled! Although, I wish it would stay warm all year, but instead, we are forced to prepare for cooler temperatures and fall.

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Turning A Shed Into A Walk-In Cooler (Refrigerator)

Now that we are picking hundreds of pounds of green beans at a time we needed someplace to put them. It was fine with the neighbor to allow us room in his walk in cooler when we didn’t have that many pounds of green beans or produce that needed to be refrigerated when it is picked. But with having so many pounds of green beans and other produce we felt the need to have our own place to put them . The neighbor (he is a very generous and helpful man) didn’t say we couldn’t use his walk-in anymore, but we felt bad using so much room in his walk-in cooler. And the other half has been dreaming of building a walk-in-cooler, saying it’s simple, I can do this!

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So we cleaned out a small shed we were using for storage, ordered an air conditioner and cool bot, bought insulation and went to work. The shed was insulated. Then the hole was cut for the air conditioner. It was installed and the cool bot had to be hooked to the air conditioner. A cool bot hooks into the air conditioner to control the temperature allowing it to go below 60 degrees. We had to do a little work and insulating of the door since it was an old screen door with no latch. Next, turn the air conditioner and cool bot on, program it to proper temperature and we have a walk-in cooler.

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I’m the skeptic about everything. So, of course, I had my doubts about trying this method of making a walk-in cooler. And every day is so busy I didn’t know when the other half would have time to make it happen. But he did and I’m impressed. It is really an easy, cheap way to have a walk-in cooler vs buying an actually walk-in cooler or refrigerator.

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Being A Farmers Wife

Being a farmer’s wife means sacrificing a lot, working really hard, growing lots of food, preserving lots of food, cooking wholesome home grown food and being stuck on the farm all summer. You feel like you are doing good, rewarding  even though some people don’t appreciate it and complain about the price. In my opinion, then move on and go buy your food at the grocery store where you can get it cheaper and eat chemical ridden and engineered food. On other days, I feel trapped by what feels like a money sucking farm. We can’t go very far away during the spring, summer or fall because everyday there is irrigating, feeding animals, planting, harvesting or all five at once. It truly feels like a trap by late summer!

It means cooking a meal for a whole crew of helpers for harvest, going out to help with harvest, serving the food, clean up, then going back out to harvest rest the day. It means a full day of canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, then cooking a meal for your hungry family when you are exhausted wanting to simply sit down and put your feet up. It means sweeping your house three times a day because there this so much dirt and mud for the whole family to get into and no one will obey the rule of leaving shoes outside. It means maintaining a yard and garden on your own and then helping with the farm work. It also means the farmer’s wife will be sitting on the porch or deck by herself with no one to spend that special time with or to enjoy the view of some of your hard work with because when the farmer sits down he falls asleep. So he keeps going until well after dark and then collapses into bed. It means not having someone to talk to when you need to talk because the farmer is in the field, on the phone or sleeping. It means not spending a much time together even though you are on the same farm. There is no quitting time or weekend days off on a farm! For this farmer’s wife, it means working my tail off all summer with no vacation and then homeschooling for nine months before we start the whole vicious cycle over again. That means no real easy going down time for me, which leads to burnout and a grumpy wife some days.

Being a farmer’s wife means working twice as hard as the farmer himself because she has all the inside duties and is also the one and only farm hand. I don’t think the farmer even realizes how hard the farm wife works even though he has been told several times. We farm wives or at least this one would like to be appreciated more than just hearing, “I appreciate what you do.” This farm wife wants to be a princess for awhile! Some days I would feel like a princess to have something as simple as a clothes dryer to use instead of having to line dry all the clothes. This farm wife wants to be the one being taken care of instead of doing the taking care of! Especially since it’s my birthday!
Note to Readers: I love my farm life and my husband, but farm work can be hard on a person. Especially when your birthday turns into just another long, hard day of work on the farm.

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Garlic Harvest, Part 2

Three weeks after our first garlic harvest, it is absolute crunch time to get the remaining quarter or so acres of garlic out of the ground. This time there were not near as many caring, hardworking souls willing to volunteer their time to work their behinds off to help us harvest garlic. I can’t say as I blame them either, if I had a choice or someone to go do something with I would have willing to do anything too as long as it didn’t involve garlic.

Any guesses how we got the garlic out of the ground; the easy way (mechanically) or the hard way (by hand)? The other half refused to try using the tractor and renovator or cultivator to get it out of the ground. So, of course, that left us with the hard way, the way we do most things and learn on this farm . . . .  hand pulling all that garlic one plant at a time. Part of the ground was so hard and crusty the garlic would break off or just stay stuck in the cement like ground. We got out the hose and started running water on the garlic in front of us as we hand pulled it. That made it a bit of a mess to trudge up the rows and irritated the arms a bit to have the wet weeds rubbing against our arms and legs.

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After garlic harvest, part 1, the other half went out with the hedge trimmers cutting off all the garlic scapes. Trying at the last minute trying get a little bit bigger heads. It has been three weeks since our first harvest so the garlic is dried down completely, with sharp jagged tops, now that they have been cut, that snag and scratch the crap out of my arms. I know I could avoid that if I would wear long sleeves, but when it is 100 degrees outside there is no way I will wear anything more than a tank top and shorts. Since I had shorts on the weeds and garlic also scratched and injured my legs. Even with wearing gloves I still ended up with four blisters on my fingers. On the plus side, I discovered that my homemade coffee soap works very good at scrubbing the rough skin off and deodorizing. It gets rid of the garlic smell with one shower.

After two full, long days of hand pulling garlic in 100 degree weather, I have blistered hurting fingers, a tired back, scratched up arms and legs and a body that is just plain exhausted and sore.I am so sick of garlic and all the work and heartache that garlic has cost our family.  I will not plant another clove of garlic to sell unless the price significantly increases. If the other half decides to plant more garlic, he is on his own. I’m done planting, growing, and harvesting garlic to sell. There is just too much labor involved and there is no way to make money growing garlic without doing it mechanically. Whoever else in world does grow garlic doing the work by hand, my hat is off to you. I’ll leave garlic production to farmers with more money to hire the work done or have a way to do part of it with tractor and machinery.

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And now it’s time to handle everyone of those individual heads of garlic again . . . . .   to cut the head head off and bag the garlic.

Needless to say next time I need to buy garlic, I will be more than willing pay an absorbent price for it. I now know the work, sweat, and unpleasantness that goes into planting, growing, harvesting, cutting, and bagging of garlic. It is worth way more than what is sold for, that’s for sure. All organic produce that is grown and harvested by hand is worth more than what is charged for it. Maybe I’ll go into that next week.

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Earthworm Test

I have been very observant of earthworms this year or at least in the spring and early summer when there is lots of planting to do. I have read about how beneficial they are to the soil so now when I put my trowel in the ground or move a clump of earth or pile of wood chips, I like to see and count all the earthworms. They are the earth’s natural rototillers.  The thought of all those worms under my feet doing their work just amazes me. They naturally till the land, compost, aerate and increase water infiltration.

And I have had the chance to put my trowel in the ground several times this year. We seem to have an issue with keeping the chickens contained in their pasture so they are spending a lot of time in my yard and garden rearranging and killing flowers. I have had to replant flowers so many times this year and I don’t think they are going to survive. So now I’m going with the idea of planting roses instead of small annuals. The fact that all the chickens won’t stay in their pasture has made me realize I should give up trying to grow small, delicate flowers. I’ll should get my enjoyment from chasing chickens and counting worms instead of enjoying the view of colorful flowers. By planting roses, I can now chase chickens, count worms and smell the roses!

When I see all those worms, it feels like I’m passing a very large good stewardship test, like a final exam in college. In early summer, it makes me proud and happy to have gotten all those slivers while pulling weeds out of the wood chips in the garden for going no-till. I’m doing a good thing for the soil, the earthworm population and this earth; even if it is just in my little patch of earth. I’m helping the earth little bits at a time if I can keep the chickens out my little patch of earth so they aren’t eating my proud little test or harming my visually appealing flowers.

Now that the weeds are out growing my energy level and ability to pull them, I don’t feel near as good about myself or my ability to take care of this little patch of earth. I feel that I’m failing this test, part because I can’t keep all the weeds pulled or at bay. But then I think about all those worms at work under my feet. That brings a smile to my face and reminds that worm are doing good even if I don’t feel that I am. It still doesn’t give me any more energy, but does make me feel better! I can pass this test even if I don’t get an A+++, which this overachiever would prefer but will settle for a lesser test score.

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Garlic Harvest

Garlic harvest is underway! And as with most things on this farm, we learn from experience. Our whole garlic growing season has been a learning by doing experience and now the harvest is too.

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We have learned that you definitely want to get all those scapes cut off (it will produce bigger garlic heads) or at least the major of them. It is nice to leave a few in the field to watch and monitor the curling and uncurling. After the scapes curls twice, it then uncurls and points straight up again. Some say that is when you want to harvest and in our area that usually happens around the 4th of July. Others say wait until the bottom two leaves dry out. So we enjoyed watching all our scapes curl and uncurl and then we couldn’t get a crew together to help get the garlic out of the ground until the bottom two or three leaves were dry.

We started harvesting by pulling it out of the ground by hand. Then decided that was going too slow and there had to be a better way. So out comes the tractor and hay crowner. That worked good for the first couple of rows where the ground was still moist, as long as we went slow and kept it deep. But then the ground was too hard and dry in spots and we couldn’t get the crowner deep enough. We were cutting lots of garlic and cutting into the other half’s patience and temper. So back to hand pulling the garlic we went! It actually went pretty quick with the help of lots of hands of friends and family! We are so appreciative to have so many loving, helpful, kind-hearted, hard working people around us!

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We are only about half way done with the harvest. I’m positive getting rest of garlic out of the ground will be another fun learning experience. There is already talk of using a cultivator or renovator, which will still result in hand picking it off the ground, bundling and hauling it to the shed to dry . . . . . . . if one of those methods of getting it out of the ground works. We are learning that growing garlic requires lots of time, labor and a strong back. Every step of the process of growing garlic requires handling it by hand or hoeing it by hand.

Once the garlic dries, we cut the head off and bag it. Then it’s ready to go. And hopefully, we will forget how much work, frustration, and back pain is involved in growing garlic for rest of the summer so we will be willing to plant more of it again this fall and start the whole garlic growing cycle over again.

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Seasons of Farming: Our Organic Farm Roller Coaster of Hopes, Dreams, Hard Work and Ambition

I don’t know if anyone else or other farmers are like this, but here is the small, organic farm roller coaster we ride. This is the ride or the seasons of hopes, dreams, hard work, and ambition this farm family endures.

In winter, we look out the window yearning to get outside and grow something. We read lots of inspiring books and blogs. At this point of the year, we seriously feel we can farm by hand at least 100 acres, no problem. Keeping it weed free with beautiful, neat rows with a very, large variety of vegetables growing perfectly, with perhaps even plants that aren’t normally grown in our area. Then starts the arrival of all those forbidden catalogs, making the yearning get worst. So we give in and start ordering seeds. Not just seeds we need and know will grow, but seeds of all those plants that are suppose to be able to grow in our zone although no one has ever grown or seen them here before. The sinful pictures in the catalog are so beautiful we just can’t resist because we are going to grow a new fruit or veggie and have something really unique this year. These catalogs cause you to spend hundreds of dollars you most likely shouldn’t have spent, like what a fieldman does to a conventional farmer. Conventional farmers have a fieldman to convince them to spend extra money on fertilizer and chemicals they don’t necessarily need and we organic farmers have seed catalogs. We don’t need verbal convincing, we look pictures and we are sold. I compare the seed catalogs to what I believe the Sears & Roebuck catalog used to be to past generations.

In the spring, we set out with our high ambition level, hopes, dreams, several boxes of seeds (some that never should of been ordered, that darn seed catalog is just too tempting), rolls of plastic, gloves, hoes and shovels to farm this land (except with just 20 acres, not the 100 we dreamed about in the winter). There are lots of hand drawn plans and computer spreadsheets that we end up not following or even look at after the first couple of days planting. To start, we plant thousands upon thousands of seeds in the cold frames and house. We work the land up using a disc and rototiller not shovels (hoping to achieve the goal of going no-till some day) and start planting outside. The arrival of irrigation water is an exciting day. That is like the starting bell going off signalling the official growing (farming) season is underway.

In the beginning of summer, we are still planting, weeding, watering, harvesting early season produce, marketing and working like crazy with no rest. We are going strong and not tiring yet, loving this lifestyle we chose. By mid-summer, we are exhausted, the weeds out grow our ability to pull them, everything needs harvested and water at the same time. There are not enough hours in the day or energy left in our bodies to function properly. By late summer, we are looking forward to winter and that early frost, not really wanting the frost for income purposes but our weak and weary bodies could use a nice, long break.

With Fall comes the cool down and a little renewed energy for us so we manage to function until that frost does hit. And with the prediction of frost, there is a long day of scrambling to get all the produce covered to extend the growing season just a little longer. Now wait, weren’t we asking for the frost not that long ago. I don’t know if this a normal human reaction or just crazy, torture we do to ourselves. Of course, plants can only hang on for so long and then they are done for the year too. So there is the last harvest, field cleanup and the storing and marketing of all the winter squash, pumpkins, onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, rutabagas, and sweet potatoes (new crop experiment for this year, one of those seed catalog temptations). Then starts that long awaited rest for us. Which is great for about a month, then we get our energy back. We start to go stir crazy with the cold weather and being contained to the house most the day. And the cycle starts all over again with winter.

As the old sayings go, “you learn from your mistakes” and “history repeats itself.” This little piece of farming history we are making keeps repeating itself every year. So I guess we aren’t making a mistake by living this lifestyle because we keep doing it again and again. It may be with different plants, seed catalogs, hopes, dreams, ambitions and temptations but the farming seasons will repeat every year.

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Summer Balancing Act

How does a person balance work, play and rest when you farm? On the farm there is always work to be done. A farmer works from sun up to sun down and lots of times in between in the dark. I know that is true on our farm. We are getting pretty talented at working in the dark while holding flashlights in our mouths.

So the fourth of July is upon us, the summer is flying by and what have we done all summer long? Any guesses? You got it! We have worked, worked, worked!!! I am convinced that life is too short to work so hard and summer is for fun. So I’m trying to convince the Other Half that we need scheduled hours for work and scheduled hours for play and rest. The crops will grow even if there are weeds growing among them. Would they have produced better if we pulled every weed within a foot diameter around every plant? At this point, I don’t care. They are producing, there is a crop to harvest, now let’s enjoy life! Life, fun and memories will pass us by if we insist on getting all the work done before we take a break. Farmers need to observe holidays too. In fact, farmers should have a holiday just for them. They, of all people, deserve a break. Yes, I do think highly of farmers. We grew up in agricultural communities and on farms so we have experienced the “farm life” all of our  lives. Farmers work almost everyday of the year no matter what the weather does; there is always water to change or animals to feed or care for. Farmers work, work darn hard, and feed a lot of people without ever hearing a simple, “Thank You.”. No, your food didn’t grow on a grocery store shelf, it all started on the farm. Well, at least all the food that is not in a box started on a farm. To all the farmers out there, listen up, take a day off. It’s okay! Oh, but you may still need to irrigate and feed the animals unless you can get someone else to fill in for you.

We are starting by taking a couple of hours a week to take the kids fishing at a local lake. Maybe we or should I say the Other Half  and a lot of other farmers I know can work up to taking whole days off as a family. As for this weekend, I’m ready to have some fun and enjoy these wonderful summer days. I’m taking the weekend off and I’m positive the farm and weeds will still be here when I get up Monday morning. Happy Independence Day! And don’t let the summer pass you by!

Update: We were able to enjoy a day of fun, local festivities together as a family.  Not a full day off from most people’s  opinion because there was irrigation water to change and animals to feed so just a little bit of work. Or as a farmer views it, this part of farming is not work, it’s just a normal function of everyday life like breathing and feeding yourself breakfast. So we officially called this a “day off.” And the weeds are still here! We will get to work on those today.

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