Fire Ring Farm High Tunnel

Our NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) High Tunnel was installed this Tuesday, May 1st in the rain.  We are so excited to finally have it  part of our farm so it can help us to extend the growing season into the fall and let us start our season earlier in the Spring.  We have a lot to learn about growing vegetables in a High Tunnel because it changes the planting plan on the farm - figuring out the crop rotation will be interesting.  Growing in a high tunnel as the advantages of warmer climate, wind can be stopped and heavy rains and hail will not hurt the crops on the other hand the closed environment can cause higher humidity and excessive warmth that could be a negative

I realize it has been a while since I wrote on the blog and a lot has happened.  The Lower Garden South is just about all planted.  The Peas are up, carrots are in, the Shallots, Field Onions, Scallions, Leeks, Chard, and Celery are all in the ground.  The Garlic is up in the Lower Garden North and now we are prepping the rest of the north bed to grow the Tomatoes, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage.

The greenhouse is full of seedlings of Greens, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Herbs, Summer Squash, Celeriac,  and  cut flowers.  More seeds need to be started and more starts need to go in the ground..  The weather is really confusing - it was really warm in March and early April.and now the weather has turned cool like it is March.  It will be interesting to see if the soil will warm up in time for the seedlings to go in the ground the end of May.

More later.
Nancy

2012 Season has Started!!!!!

Yesterday the 2012 Growing season began at Fire Ring Farm with the initial seeding of 780 Leek seeds. The picture, in the greenhouse, shows the seeds all nestled in their 1 1/2" soil blocks in their growing medium trays, labeled and on heat mats set @75 degrees to keep the soil warm so germination can happen. I am also adding a 'Special Potent" to the soil mix which are tiny biologicals mixed in water. This will help the soil be more eco balanced and help the roots get the nutrition to the plant easier. Why start the seeds so early? Well, Winter Leeks take between 18-20 weeks to mature and be ready to eat. They are a cool season biennial . I am growing 2 varieties this year, " Bandit" which forms a very thick base with little bulbing, making cleaning easier and offering more weight per plant. It has deeply colored blue-green flags that stand upright, In order to get long white stalks they needed to be hilled up as they grow. The second variety is "Tandorna" which is a stock, medium length with large green shafts that size up well and are very uniform and grow well in the North East.
So what is next on the farm. Starting Celery and Celeriac root. That is next Monday. Yes, the moon will still be in Virgo which is optimum time for planting root crops. I am trying a new kind of Celery called "Golden Self Blanching" Celery. Introduced in 1886. Golden Self Blanching Celery produces thick, crisp, juicy, deeply ribbed, tasty celery without the strings or bitter flavor of some other celery. Reaches 18-23"s in height with ample water. Golden Self Blanching is a strong disease resistant variety that is obviously self blanching. Celery hearts are thick and crunchy. I am hoping this will be a tastier and wonderful improvement from the celery we have been grown in past years. The Celeriac Root is "Mars" and always is a welcome addition to the root vegetable mix in the fall.
We are working on ordering our first baby layer chicks, pruning the fruit trees and shrubs and planning a new Harvest Pavilion since the snow storm last October devastated the existing one.
I attended a NOFA Mass Soil workshop last Thursday Feb 9th and learned a lot more about timing of mineral applications and balancing the minerals in the soil. It was a good presentation by John Kemph. This Sunday I am going to White Gate Farm for the first part of a 2 series Nutrient Density Workshop refresher course put on by the Real Food Campaign. Then on Saturday March 3 is the CT NOFA Winter conference at Manchester College.

Thank you to my 2012 CSA Shareholders for joining this year and supporting our Organic Local Farm. We are here for you producing the best high quality produce we know how.

Nancy

Now Spring

It is seed ordering time. Looking through all the seed catalogs gets me excited for spring. Lots of new vegetables to try too. After doing our seed inventory and seeing if I had any usable seed Bruce and I made out the list and then hunted for our seeds writing down catalog # , trying to figure out how many seeds are in one packet verses 1/32oz. Then going on line and ordering. The confusing part comes when you need a little more than 1 packet of seed but 2 packets costs more than 1/4th oz and you get twice as many seeds. New things we are trying this year are Broccoli Raab, Hon Tsai Tai flowering greens, and Rutabaga. Then there are always things to improve on each year. i learned at NOFA Mass Winter conference about starting onions early April 1st and growing them under plastic low tunnel hoops . The same for greens and carrots so hopefully I can perfect this and have early greens, carrots and green onions
I buy my seed from High Mowing Seed Co, Johnny's Seed Co. and Fedco Seed Co. Things to try to find are Heirloom, open pollinated, non hybrid seeds. These seeds make flowers that help and keep the honey bees happy and they have not been messed with. Hybrid seeds are OK and can be organic which is good but not as good as non hybrid. Then there is all the diseases that a plant is resistant to. It takes time to read all the write ups about the seeds so one has to prepare to get into what I call a 'Zen" mode and relax and enjoy.

The NOFA Mass Bulk order is where I get my organic seed potatoes, shallots, and onions. They come from Fedco Seeds in Maine. The Fedco Seed catalog is fun to read with lots of background and history to the seeds. I order my Sweet Potatoes from the Maine Potato Lady. I am also going to get potato onions to plant in the fall for next year.

The Garlic is already snuggled in the ground staying warm under all the snow. I order them from Gillie Brook Farms.

Now on to the planting calendar, the crop rotation in the gardens and when the seeds arrive getting to play in the green house starting seeds.

Nancy

2012 January Snow

We finally got some snow in January. Yea! The gardens need some covering on top of their stand of Oats so this is a good thing. The picture is of our Mongolian Yurt covered in snow. It is a new addition to the farm fun.

We are busy now ordering seed and organizing the green house to start our leeks. I just got my North American Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar so I can figure out my planting schedule. This guide helps me to plant by the moon by giving me optimum days for sowing, pruning and harvesting varoius plants and crops,, as well as working with bees. Another job to do when the snow flys is revising the garden plan for crop rotation. Crop Rotation is important in order to control insect and disease problems.

Ir is also recipe gathering time and putting together the recipes for the CSA weekly shareholders.to have when they start their pick ups in June. I am also going to put together a monthly calendar of events for the Farm. I hope to have a monthly garden morning where people can come and get their hands dirty in the soil or help with another farm project.

Cut Flowers are going to be a new attempt this year so there hopefully will be a time to come and make your own flower arrangement.

The big rock garden is going to become my Medicine Wheel Garden for all my herbs. I am excited to have this garden to help me in my herbal adventures.

Lots to do in the winter for the farmer.

Nancy

CSA Pick up Nov. 17, 2011

This is the last pick up of the 2011 Season. There are a lot of lettuce and greens, Kale and chard. The Brussels Sprouts while small are good because they have had a frost on them which makes them sweeter. The same is true for the carrots in sweetness. The snowstorm knocked over the Brussels sprouts so I had to stake them up i think the snow storm also slowed down their growth. There will be a little celery in the pick up it seems to have rejuvenated from the summer insects so there will be a little stalk for you to put in your stuffing of your bird for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, the sweet potatoes suffered too much from the ground hog who ate all their leaves off while also eating the Broccoli this summer and even though they tried to come back there was not enough growing season for them to make big enough tubers :( .
The gardens are almost ready for winter the oats cover crop has grown nicely and the landscapers are delivering chopped leaves to cover the beds that held the late season plants. The garlic is all planted and ready to start sprouting next spring. We are also getting contracts for our NRCS grant approved High Tunnel and hope to get it installed before the snow flies again. We will see. This will give us a jump on the 2012 spring growing season and also help us extend our growing season into the fall. I am putting together information about or plans for the next year and hope to be able to give it to you when you come for pick up tomorrow.

NOTE: I have posted 2 new recipes on the blog one is for preparing Horseradish and the other is a delicious recipe for Honey Mustard Brussels Sprouts.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Nancy

Weather and the Farm

WOW! it has been a long time since I wrote on the blog mainly because we have been through a winter storm starting Saturday night October 29th that blanketed the earth with over 7" of snow. The poor trees, shrubs, and plants were so waited down with Ice and snow mainly because they still had all their leaves on them that a lot of trees, big branches and limbs were touching the ground if not uprooted or broken off. Of course this led to massive power outages as well and we were with out power for 8 long days. At first if was fun being part of what was it like in the olden days cooking on our wood burning stove. Using my mothers cast iron chicken fryer and learning how to regulate the wood burning stove to keep it stews cooking and not burning but then the excitement wore off and we learned to cope. Thank goodness we had a generator so in the morning we could make coffee, cook eggs on the grill then in the evening have light and water to see and brush our teeth before going to bed. The other clincher was the Internet, cable and phone lines were also out and we did not get service until yesterday Tuesday Nov 8th at 5:00pm. So that is why you have not heard from me in a long long time.
The gardens survived as best they could. The lettuce, Kale, Chard, Brussels Sprouts. Greens, carrots and celery are all OK an hopefully will be in good shape for the last CSA Pick up on Thursday Nov. 17th.
As life on the farm continues now the hawks are attacking our meat birds. With only one and a half weeks to go before processing they have attacked and killed 5 birds. Soooo we are scrambling to get them under more permanent cover so we don't loose any more. It is a sad thing but part of farm life.
I will confirm the CSA pick up veggies next week.
Enjoy the beautiful fall weather now that we have had a taste of winter.

Nancy

Last CSA Pick up Date Changed

The last CSA pick up date has been moved from today to Thursday Nov 17th from 4 to 7pm. The reason for the change is the Brussels Sprouts are not ready. They are growing but ever so slowly. Also it they go through a frost they will be sweeter and taste better. speaking of frost that is suppose to happen tonight. The Kale and Carrots will also be sweeter to the taste and be bigger.

All the greens, lettuce, carrots, and chard are covered to protect them from the frost. I guess we are truly getting to the end of our growing season. I have cover cropped all the beds with oats and some with a combination of oats and Buckwheat. The picture shows the oats on the Garlic beds. Yes, I planted 1200 cloves of garlic in amongst the Oats. 600 Rieslig Hard Neck and 600 Italian Red Soft neck (good for braiding) I think I will be up to snuff on the garlic share next year provided everything grows without a hitch. The rain today will help get them nestled in for the winter. Why plant the cloves in with the oats? Well, the oats provides a winter protection for the garlic and the soil while nourishing the soil. Then in the spring the oats have died down forming a nice mulched bed for the garlic to grow up through and this helps to suppress the weeds. It is so exciting to think about how the plants survive through the cold and wake up in the spring and provide us with yummy food.
Well I have to go out in the rain and feed and water the chickens.
Have a fun Halloween.

Nancy