If you were hoping for more active blogging, well wait for winter when less is happening on the farm ! You can follow me on Instagram at jon_of_wisco (https://www.instagram.com/jon_of_wisco/?hl=en) , the barrier to snapping a photo, and thumbing in some commentary is low and overcome more frequently than the activation energy “To Blog”… which seems a lot more like writing, which I try do do cogently.
Weather and crops…
I must really be farming because I’m obsessed with the weather, and with signs of turning towards actual spring weather pattern this Sunday I’m upbeat, but it’s been a cool and frustrating spring for my first full time farming, with typical highs in the mid forties and lows in the thirties every night. Good weather for alfalfa and not bad for grass, and fortunately that’s more than ½ our cropped acreage. I’ve got chore lists for heavy rain, light rain, and no rain. The no rain list has been suffering badly. The weather has held back work opening my ‘new ground’, 5 acres A formerly christmas trees gone wild at 25 years ( I prefer my monoculture edible…). This plot needs love, attention, organic matter from the ewe barn, removal of woody organic matter from the former occupants, some pH and micronutrient attention from my ‘friends’ at FS, and some vigorous rock picking. 1 acre will get ½ a unit of leftover corn seed (not saved seed mind you MON) lto raise grain corn for the sheep, and 1 acre may get oats, to harvest as hay, or spur on my dream of buying an Allis All crop pulled combine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Crop_harvester). So much great technology from the first era of combustion powered ag ! . My alfalfa over wintered okay, considering we had a solid week of -20C lows, but it would like some grass and clover knifed in, which I’m equipped to do, and now that I’ve had some roundup over the top to check those nasty weeds.
The garden is a bit more forgiving of this tough weather as I can get in there with my awesome 2 wheel tractor, from BCS… sweet peas are sprouting, cabbage and lettuce transplants have been waiting patiently for the warm weather. Some overwintered Kale was promising a few salads but has obeyed it’s biennial habit and is instead going to be a saved seed crop. Potatoes are in, though my carefully selected certified seed potatoes arrived in the freezing weather and turned to disgusting black mush (ah, that’s what smelled so bad in the closet). Fortunately Amanda had been tending last years sprouting potatoes and they stepped into the gap. So far the only veg from the farm is foraged (ramps and feral asparagus) and canned but I’m hopeul that in two weeks we’ll be self fed.
Livestock-
The chickens are just banging along at 4 years old, feeding themselves foraging, managing to escape tragic predation by the local wildlife, and putting out almost an egg a day. We’ve been selling out to friends and family and are considering picking up another four from the rather desparate looking, formerly day old, now month old (and highly discounted) chicks at the farm and fleet.
The sheep are mostly well, the annual bottle lamb (orphan) has managed to consume the profit potential of about 5 lambs in veterinary bills, one of the challenges of our values based approach to livestock rearing, where finance is not the value measure. We aim to provide appropriate care while there is still a possible positive outcome, and only kill for harvest, or when pain cannot be managed. So far that’s been viable.
The milk line is threatening to get going next week for experimentation with pasturizing and recipes, but we’re still not licensed so none of that’s leaving the farm this year. My pig dreams have been frustrated by interstate veterinary transport rules, as well as practical matters and logistics, but I’m still hoping to finish a couple of pigs this year. We’ll see.
Stay tuned and thanks for your interest !
Plain living book recommendation of the month: The Foxfire book. A great education experiment, turned literary franchise that captures Appalachian life skills and the voice of the practitioners.
Jon’s Land Ethic Journey 