tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53961220356055927572024-02-07T07:16:49.239-05:00Karl's FarmUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-41156167212234425792013-10-18T13:27:00.001-04:002013-10-18T13:30:18.967-04:00Maple Glazed Turnips in a Mizuna Nest
Scrub the turnips, there is no need to peel them, but they look a bit fancier if you do. Cut into 1 inch chunks.
Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the turnips (as you can see I did this in reverse, either way works). Cook for about 2 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Stir a couple of times to make sure all sides get seared.
Add the juice, maple syrup and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-24534942471561563102013-10-15T09:46:00.000-04:002013-10-15T10:08:42.124-04:00How do you like your Jalapeños?
Do you like your Jalapeños pickled so you can savour them, or do you make a batch of poppers and devour them all in one go? We eat a lot of pickled Jalapeños, but I will confess they are mostly store bought. Sometimes if I am too lazy to make poppers I will slice up some Jalapeños and put them in the pickle jar - they don't keep too well this way, but I find that is not a problem - Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-19907542826064380832013-10-02T12:50:00.000-04:002013-10-02T13:02:11.712-04:00Happy 1st National Kale Day!
It's wordless Wednesday, but the people over at National Kale Day have so many ideas and recipes and a mission to celebrate "kale’s incredible health benefits, highlights kale’s culinary versatility, and promotes eating, growing and sharing kale throughout America." If you need help celebrating this wonderful vegetable, why not hop on over to check them out: http://nationalkaleday.org/
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-61144025051253086072013-09-25T17:37:00.001-04:002013-09-25T17:37:48.683-04:00Eggs
One of my favourite tasks on the farm is candling and sorting the eggs. When I hold the bright light up against the eggs they glow like old fashioned Christmas lights. With the green eggs I can see the yellow of the yolk through the shell, on others it shows as a faint shadow and on some I can barely see it at all. Sometimes I can make out the tiny air sac at one end - if I want toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-1855285435011991162013-09-13T11:29:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:31:43.073-04:00Inside Okra World
I think okra has the most beautiful flowers of any vegetable.
and it seems I am not alone in that thought.
As we picked the okra pods this morning it was impossible to ignore the buzzing!
Honey bees do not stay still for very long!
This is not a honey bee!
And nor is this!
Or this! But it does look like he is spreading pollen Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-26430094503368121002013-08-21T13:24:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:30:34.400-04:00Missing Peaches!
Every year we try to add a few trees to our small orchard in the hope that one day we will be able to eat homegrown fruit along with our homegrown vegetables. Last year we harvested our first peaches - 1 each - and we just knew this year was going to be wonderful! The cool wet spring had us worrying about late frosts that might kill the tender blossoms, but no, they held on. We watched the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-42776104537269008202013-04-06T17:00:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:31:03.766-04:00On the way back in for that cup of tea...
I spotted this and wondered, errant beaver or teenager with a machete?
Yes, it was the latter. Karl has slowly been clearing the brush along the side of the field and asked Jack to help. I think he meant for Jack to clear the small saplings so Karl could bring down the bigger trees with the chainsaw, but this way works too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-43990213403409956472013-04-06T16:30:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:33:21.244-04:00Po-Ta-Toes!Yes, it's potato planting time again! As cold and wet as it has been, the weather is perfect just now for getting the spuds in - the soil is moist but workable, and cold but warming up. We have a few warm days forecast and then rain - if you were a seed potato you would be very happy with that forecast!
Karl opened up the trenches to warm the soil more and to add amendments before planting. The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-91102716418501843602013-03-26T17:02:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:34:22.139-04:00Outdoors is Really Scary!Today was the first day outside for this year's chicks. With great excitement opened the chicken house door and... well nothing. I was ready with camera in hand (a rarity for me) but these were no divas.
They seem to have noticed the open door...
...but they do not trust it.
I've seen enough.
One brave girl makes the leap.
The rush starts.
Stampede!
That's enough, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-13063290936968476082013-03-14T12:05:00.000-04:002013-09-13T11:34:54.320-04:00Chicken Tractors?
I had really wanted to move the chickens into tractors so they could clean up the field, eating the spent vegetable plants, bug, grubs and weed seeds, and at the same time we would know where they were laying their eggs. It seemed ideal and totally fitting with our sustainable method of farming, in theory. We built, or started to build, a couple of different styles of chicken tractors, but Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-44364965083403802132012-12-01T09:04:00.004-05:002012-12-01T09:04:59.840-05:002013 Shares2013 is our 10th year running our CSA. We started off very small with Karl still working off the farm, but in 2006 we went full time and haven't looked back.
2013 shares are available now. If you sign up before January 1st we are guaranteeing you last year's prices. After January 1st we may raise the price as we do not yet know what our seed, nutrient and gas costs will be for next year.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-83981555653938317242012-11-05T19:45:00.000-05:002013-09-13T11:35:45.060-04:00Frost Warning
Karl harvesting pan di zucchero by lantern light.
We're expecting a heavy frost tonight. Rather than wait until late morning for the crops to thaw out, we began harvesting this evening. The fancy light system is a Coleman propane lantern on an upside down 5 gallon bucket - it throws light a lot further than you might imagine. With two lanterns I think we could have worked a whole row at a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-18123784548198154662012-05-17T14:33:00.000-04:002012-11-05T19:56:10.461-05:00Delivery Routes and TechnologyI am supposed to be drawing up the final delivery routes. I promised Karl I would have them finished today, but I am going cross-eyed (and the new specs really don't help, I am better off not wearing them at all).
I am a bit of a tech geek but I don't think technology is helping me as much as it should. I have addresses in the accounting software, in two different email programs, on private Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-80321373708724957692011-07-02T18:44:00.000-04:002011-07-02T18:44:23.620-04:00Royal and the Big Hale BaleWe bought some huge round hay bales last week but the cows haven't been very interested in eating them. People say you can feed cows a low quality hay, but ours are a little picky. We supplement with fresh vegetables from the farm and alfalfa and all sorts of treats, so we aren't afraid that they are going hungry or are short of protein or other nutrients. At the same time, we have all this hay Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-21470973727962034982011-05-24T13:52:00.002-04:002011-05-24T13:58:13.383-04:00Not a fig!Can you spot the skink? I don't think I have ever seen quite such a colourful one before. His red throat should make him very popular with the ladies!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-15992572254236489972011-05-22T18:01:00.000-04:002011-05-22T18:01:11.016-04:002011 CSA Season Opener!That's right. The 2011 spring/summer share season (try saying that three times quickly) begins on Tuesday. If you are a subscriber for this season and have not received an email from me this week, please check your spam filters and spam folders. If you still do not see mail from me, please let me know so I can re-send them to you. Farm pick-up people should have received 1 email, delivery people Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-83954021892046552462011-04-02T15:20:00.009-04:002011-04-02T15:44:47.067-04:00The RainmakerEvery time I set foot outside today, it rains. Well, perhaps that is an exaggeration - it did hail once and there was that thunderstorm. It is sunny again now (and thundering), but the drill needs recharging. Not the seed drill, though I can see why you might think that. This particular drill is a very picky little battery powered drill-holes-in-the-wall type drill. I am using it to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-20398733253868913092011-04-01T14:59:00.002-04:002011-04-02T15:46:05.698-04:00Onion PlantingWe are planting onions today, lots and lots of onions. We ordered 3600 plants this year, but we didn't count to make sure they were all there!
Most are a little smaller than a pencil.Karl and Dan got half of them planted today, the rest will go in tomorrow. It is backbreaking work and it's cold outside. I am glad I chose the blogging option.
Can you see him?
A Spring Peeper
When I came out Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-44993819563472720942011-03-23T18:25:00.001-04:002011-04-02T15:47:04.480-04:00Finished Greenhouse
The greenhouse has been just about finished for a while now and is already home to some lovely cabbage and onion seedlings.
There are a few more things to do - install more shelving, paint the inside walls, fix the spot where the rain comes in if the wind is blowing from the south! It's a very specific leak - luckily for us, the weather has been a bit odd of late and we found the problem Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-3692821573185728292011-03-02T14:04:00.000-05:002011-03-02T14:04:55.230-05:00Soil Test ResultsMy inner nerd loves to pore over the soil test results. Most farms do not test every year, but we like to keep a very close eye on things. Yearly soil tests mean we never guess at how much lime to apply or exactly which nutrients are needed. Our fertilizer is custom blended - and certified organic - by Countryside Naturals in Waynesboro,Virginia.
Marking the boundaries
Soil testing beginsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-20198591259383858882011-02-06T14:57:00.000-05:002013-04-07T10:55:01.727-04:00Greenhouse Progress
It is starting to look like a greenhouse. We are using old storm windows that we found on Craigslist. Hopefully it will be warm enough tomorrow to get the frames painted. We still need a few more windows, but will block in the spaces with plywood for now. We have an old storm door that will go next to where Jack is standing and another glass panel that we will use on the back wall to allow Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-10998524767311597532011-02-04T23:38:00.000-05:002011-02-04T23:38:13.118-05:00Seeds Ordered Early This Year.I decided to order our seed potatoes today. I don't usually order this early, but something told me today was the day. In retrospect the day should have been about three weeks ago!
Our usual potato supplier - Ronnigers - merged with another farm and is offering fewer varieties than usual. Worse than that - they have already sold out of the best ones! It's ok I can always buy organic seed Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-70039146016225459052010-12-24T07:30:00.000-05:002013-04-07T10:55:44.012-04:00Kizzie and Achilles Leave HomeToday is the day for Kizzie and Achilles to go to their new home. We will miss them lots but they are going to a good home and I know they will be well taken care of.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-25485368976749472222010-12-02T14:23:00.000-05:002010-12-02T14:23:07.265-05:00Mum, Look What I Found!Sometimes things grow that we didn't plant. Sometimes your children come running in to ask what they have just touched. Sometimes that child is old enough to go back outside with a camera and document the event. Today was one of those times.
Some of you may have seen one of these before, for those of you that haven't I apologize.
The thing my son discovered and touched is known as - I don't Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5396122035605592757.post-84755185077474849292010-10-07T14:34:00.000-04:002010-10-07T14:34:56.499-04:00Important Info about Fall SharesOur fall season begins next week. If you signed up for a fall share you should have received 2 emails from me today. If you signed up and did not receive an email, please contact me asap.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0