We'll be back at the market this weekend with lots of heirloom tomatoes!

We're back from vacation.  We had a great time!

We came home to lots of ripe and ripening tomatoes!  I've been busy preserving as many of them as I can this week.  Bonnie says I will have lots more to take to market on Saturday.  Come and stock up for yourself!  It's really easy to freeze them.  Just core and quarter and place in a ziploc freezer bag.  Squeeze out as much air as you can, then close and place in freezer.  You just take out what you need, as you need them, all winter long.

Get them before they're gone!

Hope to see you Saturday!  Don't forget, you can now use your credit or debit card.

Great day at the market today!

What wonderful weather we all enjoyed at the market today!  It was a very welcome change after the heat wave we have all been enduring and the storm we got hit with two weeks ago at the market.  It was nice to see so many return to the market and so many new visitors.  We hope to see you all again this next week!

Beginning next weekend, we will be able to start taking credit cards.  We hope this will make it easier to shop with us. We will be able to take Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover.

Come see what the cooler weather predicted for the week does for the produce.  Hopefully the tomatoes will finally ripen.  We have 22 heirloom varieties growing in the new hoophouse, they are all full of green tomatoes that have been just staying green.  We've been told that they need below 90 degree weather to ripen so the forecast has us anticipating a bountiful harvest by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the basil and cucumbers have been loving the heat.  Even the kale and swiss chard have been surviving fairly well, at least when the bugs allow it.  If you got some of these from us today, Enjoy! 

Here's a recipe we've been enjoying lately.  It's a wonderful Summer Salad.  It includes kale, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and fresh basil.
 
Begin with the kale, wash in cold water, then remove the stems and cut into small pieces.  Cut the cucumber into small slices.  Chop  the tomatoes.  Finely chop a small onion.  Finely chop fresh basil.  Add minced garlic if you like.  Sprinkle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.  Toss it all together and enjoy!

By the way, if you missed us last weekend, we were at the Washington Fair.  Nate competed in the talent competition for the first time.  He played a ragtime classic, "Cleanin' Up In Georgia."  He wore a tux and we spiked his blond hair.  He looked adorable.  He got 2nd place in his age group!  We are very proud of him! He's looking forward to doing it again next year.  He's already started practicing a new ragtime piece.

We'll Be Missing From the Market For the Next 2 Weeks

Just want to let everyone know that we are taking a much needed little break from the market. We will be back on July 16th!
Hope to see you then!

HARD WINTER , HARDER SPRING

(As I was writing this, Denise had posted her own entry about Grandma…oh well she was worth the press.)

We had high hopes for this spring here on the farm…the new hoop house…all the planning…all the prep work last fall...we really thought we were going to hit the ground running this spring. But it hasn’t worked out that way.

It is with great reservation that I complain about the weather, considering what others are going through, but all this rain has washed away (sometimes literally) much of our work and many of our plans. Just about the time things dry out enough to do some work; here comes more rain. And all the while the weeds grow taller and thicker.



The darkest clouds this spring were not related to the weather.

As Denise posted earlier, this spring we lost our dear friend and adopted grandma Sally Murphy. Sally had truly become part of our family. She lived right on the farm in Great Grandma Gerke’s house which is just across our front yard. She was a fixture here. Her smile was always there. Everyone who knew her couldn’t help but love her. Though her body had been ravaged by cancer, I personally will remember her as being one of the “strongest” persons I have ever known. We will miss her very much.

The storm wasn’t over.

Early last fall Great Grandma Gerke (Denise’s grandmother) came to live with us in our home. True, it was an adjustment but it proved to be a beautiful experience for our family. Our son’s had opportunity to become so much closer to Grandma and the respect and compassion they learned for their elders is priceless. Although the doctors would report that her heart was very weak and frail, you would never know it by the love it held. The effect she had on others was evident during her last days as an almost constant stream of friends and family came to spend time at her side.

Grandma was 88 when she passed away on May 4th. She was at peace in her own bed, with her family at her side and my little sister Bonnie holding her hand. It won’t be the same without Grandma, but she and Sally shared the same unwavering faith in the Bibles promises (John 5:25-29). We look forward to seeing them again soon.

Down but not out.

Yes, it’s been a rough spring. But we are slowly making progress. We will keep at it and try to keep you up to date.
Thanks to all our regular customers for your support at the market.
Stop by and give Denise a hug. She could use it.

Dan

In Memory of My Wonderful Grandma

This morning the last of our third batch of chicks hatched and was waiting for me in the incubator when I came downstairs. All the chicks are so cute and so much fun to watch. A couple of them seem to think the water dish is a wading pool. Each time we check on them, there is one sitting or standing in the water.

I'm writing this in memory of Grandma. We lost her in death earlier this month. She loved watching as the chicks hatched. I have a funny picture of her watching with the kids. Each time she was able to get up, she would check the incubator and the chicks' box. Sometimes, I'd come in the kitchen and she'd just be sitting on her walker watching them. She said they were better than TV. One night, with the second batch, she beat me to the incubator and lifted the new one out and put it in the box. When I came down to check and do a chick count, she started laughing at the confused look on my face.

Grandma had a very good sense of humor. She liked to tease, especially Nate. The last few months when she would get up and the kids would ask, "Grandma did you have a good nap?" she would answer, "I don't know, if I did I slept through it."

We loved having her live with us. She always had a smile and a hug ready to share and something nice to say. We all miss her! She was a very important part of our family and part of our daily lives. Now, we look forward to seeing her and Sally again in the paradise. We hope that time comes very soon!

Baby chicks have hatched!

Yesterday morning the first chick for the year hatched with another following closely behind. Throughout the day, one by one, more followed. They were the entertainment for the day. My mom, Grandma, sister and her kids all crowded around the incubator to watch as one of the chicks was actually hatching. It was the first time any of them had witnessed a chick's arrival into the world. During the night and all day today more have been hatching. So far, there are 15 new little fluffballs in my kitchen and we have all taken turns just sitting and watching them. Hopefully there will be even more to greet me in the morning!

In Memory of Our Dear Friend Sally

This has been a very difficult time for all of us here at Kimker Hill Farm. Our wonderful friend, Sally, has been battling cancer for quite some time now. Earlier this month she lost the fight. We all miss her terribly. Many of you have benefitted from her hard work here at the farm. She used to come and help pick tomatoes. When she couldn't work in the garden anymore, she came inside to help. She started early in the spring, helping to transplant seedlings into larger containers. As the summer progressed, she helped sort vegetables for selling at the market. She also cut up lots and lots of veges for processing or freezing. Sally was very generous sharing her experiences and advice and many of her recipes. She was always able to look on the bright side of things and always encouraging to others. She kept me company through many, many long workdays. I loved hearing the stories of her life and I hope I can remember them well enough to pass them on. Now, as Grandma and I transplant seedlings, we reminisce about all the seedlings Sally helped us with in past years and how much she was looking forward to doing it again this spring. Even in the hospital we were talking about the seeds I had ordered and what other ones she wanted me to order for this year.

First winter market of the year this Saturday!

Hi Everyone! Hope you're enjoying the new year and the sunshine today! We're busy getting ready for the market coming up this Saturday. It sounds like it's going to be cold but otherwise a nice day.

We hope as many as possible will be able to join us. I've heard from a couple of people already who need to stock up. I'll be bringing lots of freshly ground flours and plenty of healthy mixes. I'll also have my healthy muffins to tempt your tastebuds.

If there is anything in particular you'd like me to be sure to have enough of, or if you'd like to place an order in advance, just e-mail me today or tomorrow and I'll bring it with me. The address is drwissman@sbcglobal.net.

It's been a very eventful fall and winter so far and we have lots of pictures to share. We'll try to post some of them soon.

Good News!

Have you heard? The Tower Grove Farmers' Market is being extended an extra two weeks to give everyone a chance to get the produce that is still being harvested. According to the weatherman, the rest of the month is expected to stay 15 degrees above normal. That gives us all a few more weeks to enjoy fresh, local, naturally-grown produce.

Come by and get some for yourself this weekend!

Fall is here!

Fall has arrived and we're enjoying the cooler weather. The flowers are still in full bloom and we're happily bringing in beautiful bouquets to brighten up the house. You can pick up a bouquet for yourself at the market. Bonnie has been doing a wonderful job making the arrangements in assorted colors.

It's been a very hectic summer but the harvest has been pretty good in all of the gardens. The tomatoes have been wonderfully delicious and most of the varieties are still producing. The okra went crazy this summer and are still covered in blooms to be enjoyed every morning. The cooler weather has slowed them down a bit, but they're still producing. The rainbow swiss chard is looking beautiful again. The bugs are finally leaving it alone.

It's finally time to harvest the sweet potatoes. We have two different varieties this year. Danny and Bonnie began digging them last Friday. If you had a savory crepe at Oh Crepes this past weekend, you got to enjoy some of them! This evening, I tried to duplicate the same mixture and filled tostada shells with it. It was delicious!

If you'd like to try it, come by our stand on Saturday and pick up some freshly dug sweet potatoes, an assortment of peppers and swiss chard. Then saute some chopped onions in a little olive oil, add chopped peppers (whatever kind you prefer) and cubed sweet potatoes. Cover pan and allow to cook on medium heat until sweet potatoes are tender. Add chopped swiss chard and cook just until chard begins to reduce. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Use this mixture to fill a tortilla shell and fold over. Then enjoy for yourself!

If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying our heirloom watermelons this summer, you'd better hurry. The Sugar Baby variety is gone now, but we still have the Desert King's. It's a deliciously sweet yellow variety with big black seeds. Bonnie picked the last of them and I'll be bringing them with me this weekend.

It's not too late to fill your freezer with tomatoes for the winter. We have 20 different varieties and they all freeze very well. Just wash, cut in half, take out the core and fill freezer bags with them, squeeze out as much air as you can and put in the freezer. Then take them out as you need them all winter. I love cooking with them. They taste like you just picked them from the garden.

There are only 3 markets left at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. Don't miss out! Hope to see you there soon!

The virtues of mulch!

Let me once again extol the virtues of mulch!

I'll use Garden #1 as an example. It's the tomato garden. All the rows are mulched with grass clippings. I have had almost no weeding to do in the rows themselves and very little in the walkways. The only walkways that have been a problem are the ones that didn't get a thick enough mulch, or the chickens got in and scratched the mulch away. But it hasn't been difficult at all to pull out the weeds and add more clippings in the open areas.

Other advantages are that there has been almost no need to water that garden. When you pull back the mulch, the ground is very moist underneath. The mulch also allows you to get in the garden and pick the tomatoes even when there's been a lot of rain. The mulch soaks it up and stores it, but you can still walk on it without sinking or getting stuck. It also helps prevents some soil borne diseases from infecting the plants because the soil doesn't splash up on the leaves when it rains.

On the other hand...

We decided to try something new in Gardens #3. We tried going without mulch at all in that garden. Danny bought a new wheel-hoe cultivator that does a wonderful job of getting rid of weeds in the walkways, as long as you use it every couple of days.

Our problem is that we don't have time to redo the walkways every couple days. So the weeds take off and grow at an alarming rate. Once they are more than a few inches tall, the cultivator gets clogged up and is basically useless. Then you have to pull the weeds by hand or use a regular hoe, either of which takes even more time and trouble.

After four long, hot days in a row of backbreaking weeding, just in garden #3, I must declare our experiment of not using mulch in that garden a total disaster. After weeks of intermittent rains, which thankfully kept us from having to water too much, the weeds in a large part of garden #3 were nearly as tall as Nate. The part in better shape took a lot of weeding the week before, and tomorrow I will be trying to uncover the rest of the zucchini and peppers.

The best looking areas of the garden are the last row of okra and the very first row with sunflowers and kale. They are doing so well because I went ahead and mulched them with grass clippings as they were available last month.

My advice to anyone who will listen, take advantage of mulch!

Market tomorrow!

It's been another crazy, busy week here on the farm. It is so hot! Danny has worked out in the heat all day. He's been working on getting the irrigation system in place for the summer. For me, today has been all about getting ready for the market.

I'll be bringing lots of eggs with me tomorrow, both from our chickens and from nearby Sunrise Farm. Plus, we have fresh produce again this week. We have kale, swiss chard, yellow squash, zucchini, new potatoes and green peppers.

Did you see the interview with Michael Pollan on the news yesterday? Take his advice and come and get your locally grown produce from us tomorrow! Bear will be coming with me, come by and say "Hi!"

The sun is shining! and the gardens are drying out!

We had a great day at the market on Saturday. This time the weather cooperated.

We finally feel like we're back in business in the gardens. We're loving the break from the rain! I got a row of tomatoes in the ground yesterday and tomatillos transplanted today. I've got a whole lot left to plant, but it's a start.

Most of the tomatoes I planted before all the rain just drowned. I'll have to replant them. It's disappointing to see, but the plants in the hoophouse look wonderful, and are all just waiting to be put in the ground.

I'm on my way out to transplant more. Danny's been getting the rows prepared for me.

One new little chick greeted us this morning!

So far, it's still waiting for the others to hatch. We can hear them peeping, but we can't see any sign of pecking yet.

I won't be at the market today after all.

Change in plans. We woke up to heavy rain again this morning. Now it is storming. According to radar and the local weather forecast, by the time we could drive to St. Louis, the storm will be there too. It's supposed to last all morning.

So, I will plan to see everyone at the market next week.

Join me at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market Tomorrow!

The summer market got off to a wonderful start last Saturday! The weather was beautiful, just a little chilly and windy. The turnout was tremendous. I hope all of you who were there had an enjoyable time and will join us again. To anyone who missed it, I hope you can visit soon. Stop by and say "Hello."

I'll be bringing lots of tomato and pepper plants again. And I've been very busy grinding flours and making mixes this week. Why not try out something new? I hear there will be lots of fresh strawberries again tomorrow. You could serve them over my Healthy Pancakes or Waffles on Sunday morning.

You could even make them with our delicious Free-Range Eggs. Speaking of eggs, I be bringing more this year than in the past. We have added more hens on our farm and they are happily laying. We have also partnered with another local farm, Sunrise Farm, and I'll be bringing their eggs as well. They share our commitment to Naturally Grown and Organic practices, as well as Free-Range chickens for the best possible eggs.

Hope to see you soon!

The chicks are enjoying the great outdoors!

The chicks have all their feathers now and no longer need to be kept in the brooder. So, this afternoon the boys and I moved the old coop onto fresh grass and stocked it with food and water. Then, Bear and Nate helped me move the chicks one-by-one out to the coop.

Panda, our dog, stood by the garage door as we carried out each chick and waited to check them out. He sniffed each one as if he had to get to know them. Since he's not allowed in the garage, it was the first time he had seen them. It was funny to watch. After each sniff, he stood back and then patiently waited for the next one. After all of them were out, he followed us out to the coop and just stood and watched them as they got accustomed to their new surroundings.

Opening day of Tower Grove Farmers' Market is this Saturday, May 8th!

Come and join us! It promises to be nice and sunny and not too hot! At least that what the weatherman has to say!

Read all about it at http://tgmarket.org/

Opening day runs from 8:30am to 2:30pm. We'll be there bright and early.

I've been preparing grains and flours and mixes for days. I'll also be bringing lots of bedding plants. I have 18 different varieties of tomato plants, most of them are heirloom varieties. And I have several different varieties of peppers, both sweet and hot varieties.

I'll also be bringing lots of free-range eggs. We're getting two to three dozen a day now. Taste and see for yourself what a wonderful difference there is in the way they look and taste when the chickens are allowed to roam. And the nutritional content can't be beat.

…with a little help from my friends.

Thanks to the boys and a couple of their friends, Seth & Stuart, the mulch is finally over all the potatoes! These guys worked like champs and I think they even had fun in the process.

The mulch is a lot of work but we think it's worth it. It will help suppress weeds through most of the season, it will hold moisture in the soil, and it will protect potatoes that are close to the surface from sun damage. It also adds a tremendous amount of OM (organic matter) to the soil when it is turned under at the end of the season.

Our potato varieties this year are Desiree, a European red with yellow flesh, Caribe which has a bluish/purple skin and snow white flesh (reported to make amazing mashed potatoes), and Rose Finn Apple, a fingerling style with rose pink skin and deep yellow flesh that is great roasted. We will have them all at the market later in the season. If you want to come help dig them (yes, its all done by HAND) shoot us an email!

(Bear can confirm…it’s all done by hand.)

The Queen is coming!

This winter was very hard on the bees. Many beekeepers in the Midwest lost hives and we were no exception. Two of our three hives did not make it. Fortunately the one that did survive is doing very well. It has a strong queen and she is producing nicely.

David Sullivan (my “mentor” from the local beekeepers club) is going to help me make a “split”. That involves dividing a colony in two, leaving the original queen with one half and providing a new queen for the other. It sounds simple enough but there are tricks to it. I’m glad David will be helping. Our new queen is coming from Ohio and should arrive mid May. – Dan

(Nate wishes we had a bee suit that fit him better.)

Eggs for Sale on the farm!

Is anyone interested in buying true free-range eggs directly from us on the farm?

The summer market is open now. You can still buy directly from us, or you can get them at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market on Saturdays from 8:30 to 12:30. The prices are: One dozen large $4.00 or jumbo $4.50. You can e-mail us @ drwissman@sbcglobal.net for directions and available times for pick-up.

19 chicks and preparing for more

Well, no more chicks hatched. I guess 19 new little chicks is pretty good. Almost half of the eggs I started with actually hatched. I suppose that's where the phrase "don't count your chickens before they hatch" comes from.

Oh well, I cleaned out the incubator thoroughly on Saturday and put in another 41 eggs. Now we wait all over again.

Today we moved the chicks out to the brooder in the garage. Bear told me it was time, one of them nearly hopped out of the box in the kitchen. I know it's best for them to be out there, but I miss being able to watch them while I work. They're contented in the brooder, and not too far away to go check on them frequently. They like being held. If you hold out your hand, they will climb on and just sit there and let you pet them.

3 more little fluffballs!

After my last post, 2 more chicks hatched yesterday. Another one hatched today! That makes 19 altogether.

They have had quite a few visitors. Everybody wants to see how cute they are!

There are still a number of eggs in the incubator, we'll see what happens tomorrow. As soon as the incubator is empty, I have another basketful waiting to go in.

16 baby chicks have hatched so far!

The first one hatched just as we sat down for supper yesterday. The next one hatched a couple hours later. At 5:30am there were 5 more waiting for me to let them out of the incubator. By 8:00am 2 more were waiting for Nate to find them and within a few minutes he got to watch as 3 more hatched. He was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

It's been very difficult to keep the boys focused on schoolwork today. They keep running in the kitchen to see if anymore are ready to hatch. We got to watch as 4 more hatched. Even Grandma Gerke was excited and got to watch 2 of them hatch. I took a picture of Grandma, Bear and Nate hovering over the incubator.

Baruch has been camera crazy. We have so many pictures of the chicks. They are all turning into cute little fluffballs and are providing the entertainment for the day. It's really fun, and relaxing at the same time, to just sit and watch them.

I'll keep you posted about the rest.

The chicks are about to hatch!

Tonight I took the egg turner out of the incubator and then put the eggs back in again. Within just a few minutes I could hear the chicks peeping inside their shells. It shouldn't be long now until they begin to hatch!

Incubating eggs!

Last Friday, I put 41 eggs in the incubator. We are all excitedly waiting to see them hatch.

My neice came to visit on Monday and saw the incubator. She got so excited. She wanted me to lift her up to watch them hatch. She asked which one I thought would hatch first. She was very disappointed to find out they had about 17 days left until they hatch. Last year, she was here almost every day and got to watch as most of them hatched. This year she's usually at school and she's afraid she'll miss out.

None of the hens decided to go broody. At least not yet. I'm still hopeful.

More sprouts!

I have lots more little sprouts in the basement. In the last two days, the sweet peppers, hot peppers, cilantro and more eggplants have sprouted. Soon it will be time to transplant them into larger containers.

To make room, Danny is recovering the hoophouse in greenhouse plastic. When he's finished, we will be able to move quite a few plants out there. It will help to toughen them up a bit before we plant them in the garden.

On Friday, the plan is to plant potatoes and onions and as many greens as we have time for. We also have to get ready for the market on Saturday, so Danny and the boys will be doing more planting on Saturday while I'm at the market.

I will be bringing tomato plants with me on Saturday. I'll plan to bring a few of each variety, but if you want very many of a specific type, let me know ahead of time and I'll bring extra.

I need more room!

I'm out of space for transplanting tomatoes. Grandma came and helped me transplant tomatoes a couple more afternoons this week. We got a lot accomplished, but we had to stop because we're out of room under the grow lights.

All the transplants are growing nicely and I should have quite a few ready to take to the market on April 10th. It will be the final winter market for the season.

It shouldn't be too long until I have more space to work with. Danny worked hard today getting the gardens ready to move the onions and kale and lettuce out from under the grow lights and into the garden. He got part of gardens #1 & #2 tilled and the raised rows ready to plant. He also got all of garden #5 tilled and hilled, ready to start planting potatoes and onions.

Our seed potatoes are ready to be picked up tomorrow. We ordered several different varieties through the Missouri Organic Society this year and they've finally arrived.

Enough for now, the timer just beeped, I have 3 loaves of my Honey Oatmeal Bread ready to take out of the oven. Mmmmm.....mmmm.......it smells wonderful!

Federal agent on the farm!

Yesterday, we had our first visit from the USDA Farm Service Agency. Actually, it was a very nice, friendly, helpful and informative representative of the agency here in Franklin County. She is helping us in our efforts to expand production capabilities on our farm. Our goal is to set up a rather large hoophouse that will allow us to extend the growing season on both ends.

We recently got to check out a friends' hoophouse nearby, and it got us excited about the prospect of getting one ourselves.

Time will tell.

Transplanting time is here again!

Last night, I transplanted over 200 tomato seedlings into larger containers. This afternoon, my Grandma came and helped transplant almost that many more. Tomorrow she is planning on doing it again. She says she can almost taste the ripe, juicy tomatoes she's been waiting for all winter.

Over the weekend, Danny got chard and basil and parsley and more eggplant started in flats. Last night, I finally got sweet bell peppers planted. Tonight, I'm going to plant several varieties of hot peppers. The only problem is that we're running out of room on the heat mats.

If the weather cooperates the way they're predicting, we should be able to get onions planted in garden #5 this week. That will free up a lot of space on the plants racks in the basement, so I'll have room to keep transplanting tomatoes out of the flats.

Got to get busy!

Getting prepared for chicks

Today was the first day we stopped collecting eggs from the chickens we have separated to try to hatch chicks. I'm hoping it will encourage one or more hens to go broody. If not, I'll hatch them inside the house, in the incubator, like last year.

I actually prefer having them inside so we can watch as each little chick hatches. Last spring was the first time I had ever watched as a chick hatched. If you read my post from that day, you'll see just how excited I was. But, in reality, I know it would be a whole lot less work if the mama hen did the work for me. It would also free up a lot of my time, and I wouldn't have to keep them separated from the rest of the flock for so long if the mama hen was protecting them.

Either way, we should have baby chicks in about a month.

Tilling has begun

What a cold, rainy weekend. Good thing it was such a beautiful day on Friday. Danny got the Eggmobile moved closer to the cows and he and Zach cleaned it out. Whew! What a smelly job! It will make great compost over the summer as he slowly adds it to the compost pile.

After that Danny started tilling with the tractor. He was able to till all of garden #5, where we will shortly be planting potatoes. Then he got part of garden #3 tilled, but the rest of it was just way too wet. What we didn't need was more rain.

Tomato Seedlings

I am so excited! I have hundreds of little tomato seedlings in the basement. I just finished watering them. Almost every single seed I planted last Sunday has sprouted and quite of few of the ones I planted just 3 days ago are up too. I'm really pleased with the germination rate of this year's seed.

Next comes the tedious part of transplanting each of them into individual pots. My Grandma is coming to help, she's been looking forward to this for a while now. I took her downstairs yesterday to see the progress. She says this is the best time of the year.

Triple Trouble!

I can't believe it! Trouble got out of the fence 3 times today! We left for just a little while and got a phone call that he was in the neighbor's yard. My dad had to get it back in for me.

Danny had to come home and put up the electric fence after work today. Hopefully that will solve the Trouble problem.

Trouble

Sir Loin of Beef has a new nickname, Trouble. He escaped again this afternoon. He was roaming down by the Eggmobile. When the train went by and blew its whistle, he went running back to where he got out and jumped back in.

He saved the boys a lot of time and trouble, they had just gotten outside to try to coax him back in. They weren't quite sure how they were going to accomplish the task.

Friday, Danny and the boys are going to have to run a line of electric fencing with the existing fence to keep him where he belongs.

I've started planting!

Gardening season has officially begun for me now. I have 16 different varieties of tomato seeds planted in seed trays in the basement. Just 2 to go. I'm going to try to finish them tomorrow.

There are a number of veges we'd like to get in the outdoor gardens but they are just still too swampy. Even with going no-till on beds 1 and 2, they're too soggy to walk in.

Hopefully, with a couple days of sunshine and warmer temperatures being predicted for this week, they will dry out enough to get at least a few things planted.

Friday, Danny is planning on moving the "Eggmobile" over by the cows. The plan is for them to follow behind the cows in the rotational grazing. The chickens will help clean up after them and keep pathogens from having time to multiply.

There is never a shortage of things to be done on the farm.

New members of our farm

We now have three really cute additions to our farm. Last week we got three young steers, a black one, a brown one with little horns and a black one with a white face. They are all a Beefmaster/Angus cross. To be sure we don't get too attached and they become pets, my guys have named them all, Sir Loin of Beef, The Duke of Hamburger and The Secretary of Steak (lol).

We have now become cattle farmers, on a very small scale of course. They will be grass-fed using rotational grazing to take advantage of and protect the nutrient cycle of the grasses. Using this method will take longer for them to reach market weight, but they will be much healthier and happy. They will not receive routine antibiotics.

I'm enjoying waking up each morning and watching them out the window. For the time being they are just roaming the field freely and they seem to want to be as close to the house as possible, so they stay very close to the fence most of the time. Yesterday, the one with white face decided he wanted a closer look. Somehow, he wiggled through the fence and it took Danny and Zach quite a while to coax him back where he belonged. Hopefully he will stay where he belongs now.

Next comes pigs, Danny is doing the research and preparing the area.

Planning time is here!

Planning time is upon us! We can't put it off any longer. Our break is over. We've been pouring over seed catalogs and taking stock of our seeds on hand. My brain hurts from trying to decide on what kinds of veges we want to plant this year. Even more difficult is deciding on which varieties of each kind of vegetable we want to try. The choices are overwhelming.

We are very pleased with the ever increasing number of heirloom varieties available. More companies are contacting us with their varieties of heirlooms than ever before.

If you would like to influence our final decisions, please let us know what you are interested in us growing for the market. Were there any varieties you particularly liked that we had last year? Any we didn't have that you were looking for?

Please feel free to leave a comment on here. Or, we have a new way for you to stay in contact with us. We are now on Facebook. Zachary set up the account recently and convinced me that it's the way to reach more of our customers. It's all new to me, but I'll give it a try.

I'm looking forward to hearing your input. We'll be putting in our seed orders over the next couple of weeks.

Winter is here! Join me at the market on Saturday.

The calender may not agree, but winter has arrived. I can't believe how cold it is outside. Danny finally gave in and cleaned out the flue last week so he could start a fire in the wood stove. The house feels so much more comfortable now, there is just such a different feel in the air with the wood heat as compared to electric. We're all wanting to be in the basement to enjoy it. Danny and Zach moved all the plant starting equipment out of the way, and then set up the ping pong table and they've been playing ping pong and board games and watching movies and hanging out as much as possible. They even want to work on their schoolwork near the wood stove.


Out in the gardens, there's isn't much left. What the cold hasn't killed, the chickens have shredded or devoured in most of the gardens. We have quite a number of chickens that are impervious to the electric fence. No matter how often I move the fence, they still escape within just a short while of letting them out of the coop. At least they fertilize while they eat.


Over in the far garden there are still beets and turnips that have survived. We're enjoying them, I put a couple turnips in the Mixed Beans and Peas Soup that I made today. I love having fresh veges in December!


I'm hoping to be able to bring some turnips with me to the market this weekend. I guess it will depend on the weather. It sounds like we're going to get rain and ice maybe even snow this week. I sure hope it warms up a little before Saturday.


This Saturday, December 12th, is the next winter market in Tower Grove. Bear and I are planning to be there and we hope to see as many of you as possible. Remember, I won't be at the market in January, so you'll need to stock up enough to last until the February market.


Tomorrow I start filling bags for the market, so if there is anything in particular you would like me to bring for you, please let me know asap. Special orders get priority. Larger quantities are available if you e-mail me in advance.

I just updated the list of available products and prices. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the chickens are in full egg-production now. I will have plenty of fresh, free-range eggs on Saturday as well.

I've been told it's time for an undate.....

So much has happened since my last post. The summer market is over, the Harvest Festival on October 24th was a success. Our whole family went to the market that day. The boys kept me very busy the day before making muffins. Nate had a ball selling them. It took him all day, but by the end he didn't have a single muffin left. Now he can hardly wait for the opening day of the market in the spring, he wants to do it all over again.

We were happy that we had fresh, ripe produce for the market right to the end. As each thing ended, Danny had something new starting to produce. The last day we still had swiss chard, kale, bok choy, Michihili chinese cabbage, green and purple beans, tomatoes, potatoes and more.

If the chickens leave the gardens alone, we will even have fresh greens for the first winter market next Saturday, Novemeber 14th.

We had enough of a frost a couple weeks ago to put an end to most of the summer veges, but the winter veges love the cooler weather. The excess of rain in October made it impossible to harvest the last of the beans, they could only pick the one outside row. Bonnie said every time they tried to step in any of the rows they sunk. Danny tried putting boards down to walk on, but they sunk, too. We had such a productive fall harvest of beans that we didn't feel too bad about it.

Since the end of the market season, the boys and I have been concentrating on schoolwork. I'm still playing catch-up on grading and logging their schoolwork and trying to organize everything.

Danny finally has time to do some projects around here and work with the boys on school projects.

Were all happy to have a break from the gardens for a while...before we know it the gardens will dry out and it will be time to clean them up and put them to bed for the winter.

Hope everyone's enjoying the beautiful fall weather this week!

The bounty continues!

Do you like the pictures? They give you just a little glimpse of what the gardens are like this year.

Right now, everywhere you look there seems to be something that needs to be picked. The okra is growing like crazy. It's well over our heads. Mom & Bonnie picked it again this evening & they said they had to reach way up to get it. I'll be bringing lots of it to the market this weekend.

The cucumbers are all finished now. Danny pulled up the last of the vines this evening & took down the trellis & t-posts. He tilled up the whole area around it & started hilling up new rows to get ready to plant more lettuce & spinach.

The tomatoes are still producing quite well, although certain varieties seem to be about finished for the year. We have a new variety that started producing this week. It's a yellow cherry tomato that came up on it's own in the front flower bed. They're delicious, I'm hoping to be able to bring some to the market Saturday. (If I can keep the kids from eating them all.) That makes our 18th variety of heirloom tomatoes for this year.

Are you hungry for zucchini? The new row of plants started producing last week. There are several varieties & they look really pretty together. I'll bring extra of my Zucchini Muffin Mix this weekend to go along with it. (I ran out last weekend, sorry if you missed out.)

The cantaloupes & honeydews are gone now, but the watermelons are going strong. They were all so delicious this year. Mom was telling us this evening that she just heard you have to have really good soil to get a good tasting melon. Since this is the first time we've planted in that particular garden plot, we feel very appreciative that it was so rich & provided us & so many others with such wonderful melons. We thought our favorite variety of watermelon was the White Wonder, but tonight Bonnie talked us into trying a Sugar Baby. It's a red variety & every bit as delicious.

The amaranth is beginning to flower. It's not as tall as we expected, but I guess that will make it easier to harvest. We have to wait until after the first frost.

Our second biggest producer right now is the beans. The Fortex green beans and the Chinese Long Red Noodle Beans are way up over the 8ft trellis & are covered in beans as well as blooms. The new rows of bush beans are all covered with blooms & should begin producing any day now.

All the flowers in the front flower beds and in the garden are covered in bright, beautiful flowers. The zinnias are a rainbow of color & the cosmos is a whole variety of pastel pinks & purples, now that the onslaught of Japanese Beetles is over. The lack of beetles has also allowed the Marigolds in the gardens to break out in blooms. They are a bright splash of color among all the shades of green in the gardens.

Fall is in the air now, I'll keep you posted as things continue to change.

Summer's harvest is keeping us very busy!

I suppose you've noticed the lack of recent posts. The gardens have been in full production and it's taking all my time to keep up with the bounty of the harvest. Bonnie and her helper, Katie, come twice a week to pick. My mom and Danny and the boys pick too.

My friend Sally has been coming on two other days to help me with the processing. My Grandma helps out as well when she's able. Today, another friend came and picked tomatoes and okra for me. (It's hayfever season for me now, so I don't venture into the gardens very often.)

The okra is finally producing, it seemed to take forever. Up until last week we were only getting about a handful at a time (off of two 70 foot long rows.) Now, it's needing to be picked every couple of days. I should have a nice basketful again this weekend at the market.

You would be surprised to see how much all of the chicks have grown. The ones that hatched in May are almost as big as the adults. It's getting hard to tell them apart. Of course their coloring is different. We love seeing all the variety of colors as they walk around the yard. My mom commented on how much she enjoys them when she was here this afternoon.

The second batch of chicks have grown a lot, too. Except for two of them, they are still tiny little things by comparison. One of them is dark brown and black, the other one is mostly white with little dark spots. The white one is our newest pet. It loves to be held. It comes up to your feet and just waits to be noticed and picked up. It wants to be petted and carried around. Nate carries it all over the place. Last week he brought it in the garden with us while we were weeding the squash. It just walked around eating bugs and enjoying being near us. But, when Nate walked away to get rid of some weeds, it tried to follow him and started peeping loudly when it couldn't keep up. We named it Peeper. It is so cute!

The gardens have changed a lot since the last pictures. The cucumbers and beans are over the top of the 8 foot trellises. The tomatoes are almost all to the top of their trellises as well. The okra is almost taller than Bonnie. And the new variety of sunflowers Danny planted are taller than all of us, even Zach . I think one of them must be close to 15 feet tall!

We got the first of our watermelons last Friday. We've been getting cantaloupes and honeydews for the past few weeks. They are so delicious! I remember now why we planted all heirloom varieties. I've even discovered that I love honeydews. I had a man at the market complain that everyone brings them before they're ripe, that they need to split open before you pick them. Well, I came home and tried one that was split open...it was the best tasting melon I had eaten in a long time. He was right. I suppose other people knew that secret as well, because I brought a split one with me this past weekend and it was the first one to sell.

All the potatoes have been dug now. Danny and Bonnie and all the kids, even little Phillip, dug the last of them Monday. This time they got some really big ones. I'm pleased because the final ones they dug were from the starter potatoes I saved from last years harvest.

This past month Danny started tilling the areas where the potatoes and a few other veges were and began planting the fall crops. We have a new crop of beans and zucchini and yellow squash and a lettuce mix that are off to a good start. Tomorrow, he's planning on pulling up the last of one row of cucumbers and planting peas. I'm looking forward to the fall peas because the spring ones didn't do well at all. We did get a few to eat as we worked, but not enough for a meal. I'm hoping to be able to get some in the freezer for winter.

Well, there's so much more to tell ... but this will have to do for now. I've got to go finish up for today. There are still tomatillos and cucumbers and okra and eggs waiting to get put away before I can go to bed.

Great day at the market!

What a wonderful day for the market! The temperature was perfect, there was a slight breeze and there was a wonderful turnout of shoppers.

I hope everyone enjoyed all the fresh produce. This was our first week with a good selection of fresh produce. We dug our first two rows of potatoes, Yukon Gold and a great red variety that I can't remember the name of. We had some of the Yukon Gold for dinner tonight, they taste amazing. I think Bear ate four of them. I'll have more of them at the market next week.

We also had lots of colorful Rainbow Swiss Chard. We had that for dinner as well.

I brought the first toteful of peppers, large bells, poblanos, jalapeno, anchos and more.

I brought lots of cucumbers, they're really busy producing now. We got a little basketful of tomatoes this week too, but they disappeared very quickly. We had a cucumber and tomato salad. We've all been waiting impatiently for them to ripen. It looks like there should be enough ripe next week to be able to take some with me to the market. Of course, the cool weather being predicted for the week may slow them down again.

Yellow squash and zucchini are in full production now too. I brought plenty of them with me today as well. We've been enjoying them for several weeks now. One of our favorite ways to fix either one is to thinly slice the squash and an onion and cook them with just a little butter and seasalt. Or, we make larger, thicker slices and Danny grills them after brushing them with olive oil, garlic and italian seasoning and sprinkling them with seasalt.

I've been chopping up lots of them and putting them in the freezer for winter, and spring. I use the chopped squash in my salsas and use the chopped zucchini in my Zucchini Spice Muffins and Zucchini Bread. I package it in ziploc freezer bags in the quantity called for in the recipies, and then it's easy to defrost and use all year long. I love putting it up while there is so much fresh, organic produce available. I highly recommend the practice to others as well.

I also had lots of our free-range eggs. The hens aren't laying quite as well as in the spring, but I'm not complaining, the ones they are laying taste so wonderful.

I took some new pictures of the chicks when we moved the coops a couple days ago. They are growing so quickly. The first batch of chicks are getting close to the size of the adult chickens.

Have a good night!

Summer's bounty is beginning!

Squash, squash and more squash..Bonnie keeps on picking and bringing it in. Plus, cucumbers, swiss chard, a few peppers and just enough beans to eat while she picks. This evening I found the first two ripe cherry tomatoes, I was nice and shared one with Bonnie, Danny was jealous. I discovered them while we were all busy pulling weeds and weaving the tomato plants through the cattle panels.

I'm still trying to get the transplanting finished. This past week I transplanted three more rows of Rainbow swiss chard and Bonnie planted a few more eggplant. And this evening, I finally put in the marigolds at the end of each row of tomatoes. Danny's been taking pictures so you can see the progress.

You should see how hard the bees are working. They seem to be everywhere. Danny says they're very busy filling the hives with honey. He added another hive body to one of the hives last week. Unfortunately for him, he found out firsthand why the longtime beekeepers warn about being careful around the bees when it's too hot or the weather is changing. Friday, he went down to check on the bees without putting on the beejacket with the veil. The first two hives were just like usual, he picked up a handful to "pet" and let them crawl all over his hand. But when he got to the third hive, they were not in a good mood at all. They swarmed all over him and he got stung four times. He said he went running away shaking them off as he ran. He had quite a bad reaction in one arm. But, he's much better now, the swelling's gone and he said it's finally stopped hurting. I bet he'll remember to put on the suit the next time he goes to "pet" the bees.

We were all happy to see rain over the weekend, the excessive heat wave was about to bake everything in the gardens. It came just in time to save us from having to start watering all the gardens. The plants all look so much better, they've really perked up.

It was just too bad the rain hit on a market day. It was storming so hard here we decided not to try to make it to the market. I'm sorry if I disappointed you by not being there. Unfortunately, I won't be at the market this weekend either. This is the one weekend I told everyone I would be missing. I'll be back at the market on July 18th!

Chicks on the move!

This evening we moved the coops again onto fresh grass. This time we got them moved before they killed the grass under them. It's getting easier and quicker as we're getting used to the new routine.

Afterwards, I got the great idea to try to lure the big chicks into the Eggmobile. Only a couple of them followed the trail of chicken feed I left for them, so I deciced to wait until dark to try again. I closed their old coop so they would have more of an incentive to follow the chickens in to roost and we all went in the house. After dark, Bear and I went out with a flashlight and started catching them and putting them in one or two at a time. When we got down to the last two, we got tired of trying and decided to just wait until later.

The idea behind this new move for the chicks was to make room in the old coop for the baby chicks. We were planning to move them tomorrow afternoon, but we decided it would be easier on all of us to just get it over with while they were calm and it was cooler. It didn't take too long to get them all set up and now they can wake up to their new home in the big outdoors. They're still pretty tiny, but I think they'll do better in the coop than they would staying in the brooder, cooped up in the hot garage.

After we finished moving the little chicks, we tried again to catch the last of the big chicks. We got one easily, but the other one just kept alluding us. After too many trips around the yard to count, we gave up. But I couldn't quit worrying about it out there by itself (and Bear couldn't go to sleep.) So, just before midnight Bear and I went out to try again. We must have looked hilarious following it around and around. Bear finally gave up trying to be quiet and sneakily try to catch it and starting running after it while I followed them both with the flashlight. I couldn't help laughing. But it worked, the chick finally decided to try to escape out of the fence, as it wiggled its way out, Bear just reached over the fence and picked it up. Whew, I hope we don't have to do that again! As we came inside still laughing, Bear told me I had to get this in writing. So now you get to enjoy it too!

Goodninght everyone.

The first of our squash is here and delicious!

Monday, Danny picked the first basketful of yellow squash and zucchini!! We've already had it for dinner 3 times and had the leftovers for dessert. We love it!

This evening, Zach picked two more basketfuls of yellow squash and it looks like there will be even more ready to pick tomorrow. This will be the first market this year that I'll be able to bring fresh produce with me.

I sure wish this heat wave would let up, the weeds are going crazy. It's hard to get motivated to go out and weed when it's this hot. I so much prefer the air-conditioning, but I have to set a good example. We all went out again this evening to weed and mulch. When we all work together, it doesn't take too long to see definite progress.

I was hoping we'd at least see the rain the weatherman's been predicting for today. After all the weeks of endless rain, you wouldn't think we'd want or need any more, but the gardens are getting rather dry. If it doesn't rain tonight, we're going to have to start watering tomorrow.

Hopefully we'll be able to do some more planting tomorrow evening. Danny has quite a bit of swiss chard that's ready to get in the ground. The initial row of rainbow swiss chard is just about ready to begin picking. We got it all weeded and mulched again this evening. It looks so pretty with all the different colors.

Oh, here's a warning for all the tomatoes growers reading this: It's time to check your plants for hornworms! One discovered our extra plants on the back porch and devoured most of the leaves before Danny stopped it. They're not the only pests attacking the gardens though. My parsley suffered the same scenerio from a parsley caterpillar. Potato bugs are out in full force and Japanese beetles have arrived.

Danny's fighting back with organic remedies for each of these pests. I'll keep you updated...

Update on all the chickens!

Shortly after my last post, two more chicks hatched but two others didn't survive, so we ended up with 28 new little chicks. All of them are doing well in the brooder in the garage.

It's hard to believe what a difference six weeks can make. When the last batch of chicks hatched, we had to keep the brooder heat lamp plugged in to keep the chicks warm enough in the garage. This time, it's so hot we have to keep the big fan running to keep them from overheating.

Thursday, after Bear and I finished moving the last of the new chicks into the brooder, I decided to try letting the big chicks out of their coop to run around with the rest of the flock. Surprisingly, the older chickens didn't seem to bother them at all. I suppose our plan worked. We've been moving their coop alongside the "eggmobile" as we move it around the yard in hopes that they would all be familiar with one another. So far so good. At night, the chicks go back in their coop and the rest go in the eggmobile. I haven't even had to separate them. Its turned out better than we hoped.

Now I'm hoping that the chicks will all be ready to move into the eggmobile by the time the new chicks need to get out of the brooder. Time will tell....

More "little peeps" are here!!

Wow! What a busy day for the chicks. Nate woke me at 5:56 this morning with the news that there were more chicks in the incubator. He said they were so loud that he heard them all the way up in his room.

When I went down to see, there were seven fluffed up little chicks waiting to be let out. I put them in with the other chicks and went back to bed. When Bear woke up, there were three more waiting to greet him. As the day has progressed, eight more have hatched and we can see several more eggs rocking in the incubator.

The nine that hatched yesterday have been moved into the brooder in the garage and are happily snuggling together. The ones that hatched today are still kind of sleepy and several are still wet.

We are enjoying watching them as they learn to get around. First they just kind of lurch forward toward the others. As they dry off, they start to heat up and want to get away from under the brooder light. Then they start walking around a bit with a lot of time to rest in between attempts. After a couple hours they begin looking for the food and water. The more they move around the more fluffed up they get until they look like little fluff balls, especially the buff colored ones.

So far, four of the chicks look like the buffs, most of them look like "chickmunks," and some of them are really dark like the Silver Wyandottes.

I'll keep you updated!

It's hatching day again!

This morning, about 10 o'clock, the first chick hatched as Bear and Nate watched excitedly. Two more hatched just a short time later. Then we waited all day, peeking in the incubator as often as possible....

We were gone for a few hours this evening and when we returned there were four more waiting for us. They were already dry and fluffed out. Within a few minutes of our arrival, another one hatched. Now, there are ten more that have broken through their shells and are "peeping to one another," but they haven't hatched yet.

Some of the excitement from last time has waned a bit, and it wasn't too hard to get the kids to bed, but they did have to come and check "just one more time" more than once. It is pretty amazing to watch as they hatch. Now it's my turn to go check "one more time before bed."

My camera is working again so we'll be taking pictures to post.

You should see the gardens now!

It's always amazing to me just how fast everything changes in the spring. I love looking out the upstairs windows each morning and taking note of the progress. Some days, especially after its rained, you can almost see the plants getting taller.

Most of the gardens are planted now. Just a few open spaces left to fill.

This evening we decided to add a couple more rows of tomatoes. The first ones I planted are about two feet tall now and Danny has started weaving them through the cattle panels. Some of them even have blooms on them already. The last ones to be planted haven't fared quite as well. They were planted when it was way too wet and I've had to replace a few of them, but they are growing. I'm starting to visualize picking vine-ripened, juicy tomatoes in all different colors. I think all together we have 17 different varieties this year.

We also decided to add a row of tomatillos. We have some planted in with the tomatoes, but they are coming up all over the gardens. We took Sam's advice (from Sunflower Savannah) and didn't start any from seed this year. She said the ones that come up on their own will be stronger and healthier. Last year, after the hail damaged all of mine, she gave me a lot of volunteers from her garden and they did great. So, Danny prepared a row and filled it with nice healthy transplants.

A few days ago, we planted more watermelons, bush beans, and sunflowers. We also planted amaranth. We're excited about trying to grow a new kind of grain, and I'm looking forward to the beautiful flowers it's supposed to have all summer.

My camera is not working right now, but we'll post pictures soon...

Oh, I also have another 41 eggs in the incubator. Hopefully, we'll have little chicks again in about two weeks....