It's been a while since we've shared much news from the farm. One
very visible project we've been at work at through the winter has been
felling trees. Our property is over half woods so we're slowly trying
to open up land that is closer to the house and barns to convert to
pasture. Of course, livestock require a lot more care and time than
timber, so it makes sense to keep the animals closer. We were also
motivated to start working on clearing land adjacent to the electric
line right of way after the power company came through to do their
periodic clearing. We realized that by clearing land adjacent to the
right of way we weren't just gaining more usable land there, but we were
also eliminating the need for the power company to run its big equipment
through the right of way itself, allowing us to make better use of that
space as well. We generated a lot of firewood from the project which
will keep us warm for a long time. Some of the wood was put to good use
inoculated for shitake logs. And some of the logs headed to our
friend's sawmill where he's sawing them into boards to be used for a
number of projects on the farm, including better housing for the
combine. Other logs, like sycamore, walnut, and cherry we have hopes of
selling to furniture makers or possibly doing some fine woodworking
ourselves.
But for as many trees as we've cut, we've probably planted even
more. Eric has a continuing passion for fruits and nuts and continues
to plant the farm to edible trees and bushes. You can't walk far on the
farm and he'll point out something he's planted or grafted in place to a
volunteer seedling. Persimmons, figs, pomegranates, hardy citrus,
improved black walnuts, chestnuts, mulberries, apples, pears, pecans,
jujubes, pawpaws, blueberries (20 different varieties at that!)... most
anything that might be able to survive and produce in our climate is
being trialed, and we're expanding those plantings that have already
shown promise. So this early spring included walking around to find
space for more, and then more planting and more grafting. The tame (but
thorny) blackberries have proven themselves easy maintenance and
delicious so we planted a long row of them near the now cleared power
right of way. Figs are a great treat but the chickens think so, too.
So we found a space for more of them in a fenced in garden space.
Unfortunately, for the second year in a row now, winter was cold enough
to seriously injure the figs, so they've been set back again.
Another winter project was to finish raising up a hog. This is the
second time we've raised hogs and we were quite encouraged this time
especially by how little feed we needed to give him that was grown
specifically for him (i.e. grain). Instead, he feasted on discarded
vegetables (pumpkins with bad spots, too small sweet potatoes, over-ripe
watermelons...), whey from cheesemaking, the milk from the day the cow
stepped in it... enough acorns collected in just part of one afternoon
to provide the main part of the feed for over a month... To see our
waste turned into lard and bacon was to see the real usefulness of a hog
on a farm like ours. Empty milk glasses and every other dish in the
kitchen were first rinsed into the slop bucket for the hog before
washing. (Throwing scraps out on the compost pile doesn't feel as
rewarding!) We then had a group of friends help us butcher him on the
farm. It felt quite like the community butcherings of back in the day
must have felt. Doing it ourselves, nothing went to waste. We even
cooked up the head, heart, trotters, and snout into some of the best
tasting scrapple we've ever had - it was pretty much the only scrapple
we've ever had! We rendered the lard which has been a treat to pop
popcorn and for frying in, especially hush puppies and sweet potato
chips. Some of the meat we froze and some of it we canned. And some of
it we cured - one ham, the jowls and the bacon.
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| Just some of one year's seed saving efforts |
Sorting seeds is another routine of the colder days. The floor of
the upstairs room was completely covered in jars and envelopes swollen
with seeds as we went through and decided what to grow this year, what
seeds to store away, and which were old enough to retire (either to the
compost pile or to animal feed or to eat ourselves as with peas and
beans). Germ testing at this time of year helps us decide which seeds
are good. It's a false high to see bean and corn seeds germinating in
mid-January! We continue to hone our seed saving skills and would say
we are now planting about 75% of seed we've saved ourselves. This is
extremely rare among vegetable farmers like ourselves. And it's not
easy by any means. Planning ahead where varieties will go and making
sure isolation distances are enough between varieties, not harvesting
crops for market because they are for seed saving, making sure to
actually get the seed harvested and processed before weather or insects
make it unusable... the challenges are numerous. But when it's all laid
out on the floor like that mid-winter, jars of seeds that we've saved,
varieties that we've grown to love that won't just disappear at the whim
of some big seed company, seeds that have been handed down from people
we know... it's all quite the opposite of patent protected seeds owned
by big chemical companies. And it's really nice when the seed order for
the whole year is less than $100 (and much of that is for new varieties
and new crops that we just want to trial, varieties from which we can
save seed if we like them.)
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| Can you guess which one is the goose egg? |
The daily winter project is chores, even when winter hits it's most
miserable. Eric likes to say the cow can wait to be milked until it's
above freezing, but whether it got above freezing soon enough or not,
she still needed to be milked twice a day. It often takes extra time
and care in the winter to make sure the cattle, goats, chickens, geese,
and dogs are all fed and watered.
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| Red corn tortilla chips and salsa |
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| Slicing sweet potatoes to fry for chips |
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| Frying sweet potato chips |
Our winter to-do list is long and ambitious each year. It's the
time of year to build and repair, to study and plan, to clean and
organize, to visit and host other farmers. And of course to eat well.
Come Christmas time the garden crops had frozen out. But the larder was
full: canned goods double stacked on the shelves, freezers jam packed,
big bags of peanuts hanging from the ceiling, boxes and boxes of sweet
potatoes, pumpkins, squash, yacons, and turnips, and a daily supply of
milk and eggs coming from the barn. Yes, we feasted through the winter,
but now it's time to earn another year of eating. We're looking forward
to seeing you all more regularly very soon. Or make plans to come see
us at the farm.
