fall farm fotos

the back of my humble vehicle 

the pick-up

pumpkin close-up

sunlight, pumpkin, truck

harvest aesop?

(un)manageable tasks

saturday night it froze. as promised i was at the farm sunday to harvest all the pumpkins. 'sure thing. no problem.' i said to sarah last week, and then thought to myself all weekend.

well, about three hours into it i realized—not a job for one person!
thankfully i was not one person for long. thankfully person #2 had a truck. so while we sliced up our hands on prickly stems, the dog worked off some energy barking at the pigs, chickens and cats.

at some point i decided to let the pigs out to roam—which in hindsight wasn't so bad but a 200# pig galloping towards you takes some getting used to (trust me, some very girlish screams took place.) the closest thing to a disaster was a pig trying to climb into my car. in the end, no one got hurt and everyone got back to their respective homes happily worn-out.

two lugs of tomatoes were awaiting my attention at home and i just couldn't do it. so i did the next best thing, sorting the remaining tomatoes into various piles: pristine ones for canning, imperfect ones for roasted sauce, unripe ones for ripening, and firm, ripe ones for immediate consumption and distribution.

hopefully my efforts will pay off tonight in some streamlined tomato activity.

do frogs mean luck?

its been a frustrating week in the rest of my life. the kind where little, nagging, things keep going awry. just enough to make you want to curse, but not bad enough to make you want to cry.

the farm and garden has proven particularly therapeutic this week.
(last weekend the chickens ravaged some of my biggest, most beautiful tomatoes.)

tuesday i went out to the farm early and spent four hours harvesting for the CSA. we picked 12+ bags of cucumbers, a lug full of baby arugula leaves, heaps upon heaps of chard, and leaves of chinese kale large enough to constitute an outfit. and basil. sitting cross-legged in a patch of clover, gossiping and theorizing, picking spicy bush basil.

in the sink we found a small green frog.

today is wednesday, i still haven't made pickles or processes my peppers. or really done much of anything than be productive at the farm. things don't look good for tonight, i'll be indulging my country roots in a decidedly less productive manner—by hitting up the county fair.

thursday? my life outside of the kitchen/farm is really unpleasant this week.
so at this rate, i might take friday off. a long weekend is seriously in need.

farm chickens

today, mid-dream, i was awoken:
"good morning, i brought you coffee...lets move the chickens"

and, i'm up.

this morning we moved approximately ten of the chickens out to the farm, one rooster in tow. tonight i'll complete the move. i'll say, its an amazing feeling to suddenly have fewer chickens at the house.

tonight i'll move the rest out, bring home the couple that were mistakenly relocated, and then play in the yard in celebration. its a nice feeling when a project is brought to completion.

especially for me, one of the greatest delayers of them all.

its wednesday. i'll leave them in the coop a couple of days in an attempt to have them imprint on it. it will give me time to create their run.

i'm looking forward to a productive weekend.
looking forward to getting back on track.

playing catch up tonight

i spent the weekend imbibing and farming.
good for the spirit, not so excellent for the backyard.

it felt good to power through sarah's suggested tasks. planting melons and herbs, making sure everything gets the water it is so lovingly needs, feeding the piggies.

but today is a low-farm day i believe. maybe water potatoes? haul hay?
so i will play catch up at home.

1. move the bunnies
2. plant some squash, melons, etc...
3. plant more greens, harvest raab
4. tend chickens and their area
5. take pictures!

seems like a reasonable list.

garden blogging: now in color

the camera has arrived and the way the flowers from the previous post *pop* it only enlivens me to be more diligent on my photo blogging.

for today, a couple of pictures at the farm.

Brittany (or is it Megan?) the pig.

the barn. hoisted, straightened and ready to be raised.

Stay tuned, I'll be posting about my summer solstice dinner soon!

okay, guess what...

...i love my life.

i woke up at seven. yes, a.m. i proceeded to clean my kitchen, clean my fridge, clean my basement and clean my fridge all over again. i ate leftover tacos--by which i mean tacos made of leftovers. trust me, it was delicious.

but it only got better!

i hit up the farm and learn the irrigation sitch and i hit up the homestead and drank beer. and planted unusual herbs. ((shit if i could get people to do my grunt work!!))

and then i allowed my grandparents to feed me while i ranted politics and then i sped around town while mildly drunk and now i am in a basement typing after sipping and scheming and ...really in the end, contemplating bed.

guess what... i love my life.
yeah, i might have problems...but at least my life has character.
the fact that i sound like i should be on someones bumper is upsetting.

either way! its true!!!!!

kismet?

saturday it was sunny and warm if you weren't in the shade.
i spent the morning working on my rabbit hutch and the afternoon checking out the new farm. it was lovely. orchards. old crusty barn. birds. grapes.

spending time with sarah always leaves me feeling like my goals are attainable. that things will add up, fall into place. its a great feeling.

in this case, its not just a feeling, saturday it became fact.
i am going to become a chicken farmer on sarah's farm.

it was a wonderful and unexpected surprise and happens to be absolutely ideal. the farm is a (seriously) quick drive from my work, meaning daily upkeep will be convenient and the neighbor has pasture that he said he would consider leasing out to raise some beef on.

in one fell swoop, everything i've been wanting has fallen into place and all fifteen minutes from my door. i can't help but hum the johnny appleseed song.

a hint of spring

a hint of spring is in the air.
my seeds arrived today—how exciting.

yesterday i received fantastic news about the farm.
she has new land and wants to start up a chicken operation! that means i'll be getting to buy lots of chickens and can snag a couple of the more unique breeds that i've been looking for. i'm excited.

spring is starting to look so enticing.

lets get it on

things are running at a good clip in the right direction.

my farm partner and best friend has been in town and its been lovely. i will probably go into withdrawls next week (but luckily there are some more people in town too.) she met my farm mentor and they totally hit it off so i am feeling really good about our farming future, except for the problem of distance. hopefully we can find a way to resolve that.

i've decided to volunteer for them as well as join and become more involved in the activities they are holding—bike rides to farms and foodie book clubs.

i am eager for some down time and after a weekend in portland and seattle, i think i will be even more eager. it will be the perfect opportunity to catch up on the garden. i need to cut back the tomatoes and continue my intensive harvesting.

it also sounds like i might raise a cow for some beef with a friend. looks like he has access to pasture and i would love to raise some meat for myself.

lots of promising ideas in the works....

future farmers of america

my farming cohort and i are getting serious.
big article came out in the new york times recently about the area and now we have the fire under our feet. we need to be looking for land and getting up and running before we are priced out of the valley.

my spare time has been spent this week on research.
thus far it is going really well and looks promising.

we might have a potential business partner, i've found several snatches of land that could work, some opportunities to lease, a real estate agent and a good lead on a financing institution. all in all, while it is promising it is also a little overwhelming and definitely daunting.

so i have my notebook and my cohort arrives this weekend.
so hopefully next week things will be a little less frightening.

i have my practical hat on, instead of my fanciful one.
i am learning a lot and in that sense am feeling better about it. so in that respect it has all been very good.

if there is anyone out there with some advice—i'm all ears!