2008---Our Fifth Season

In 2008 we met our 5-year goal of being a 100% CSA farm. No more standing around at market hoping the customers would come to buy, instead we were able to stay focused on farming, knowing that all of our produce was already sold.

Morning light in winter

As we plotted our future we realized that one thing we were not doing was getting the most out of the land we were cultivating. It seemed friends with home gardens were growing more in small areas than we were in long beds of crops. We decided to expand our operation by contracting - growing less plants and paying more attention to them.

We had been asked that January to coordinate a CSA Workshop at the Great Plains Vegetable Growers Conference in St. Joe. We immediately contacted Liz Henderson from Peacework Organic Farm to join us on the panel. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to show her our progress since those days in 2001 at her farm.

Rebecca and Elizabeth Henderson in January

We also took time to visit friend Liz Elmore who was working at The Land Institute in Salina, KS. This group of folks, headed by Wes Jackson, are working in a field they call natural systems farming. In what they state is at least a 100-year project, they are breeding perennial grains that can be grown in a prairie-like system. We suggest you visit their website to learn more, and to support their efforts.

Board at The Land Institute explaining some of their work

February was busy as we converted the Allis Chalmers G tractor from gas to electric. With volunteer apprentice Lorne Carroll's help and John Graff's welding ability we performed the operation lickety split. We had just started our blog and documented the progress there.



Lorne assembling new motor parts, old G gas engine at top of photo

Then there was Rocky. We knew that we needed help keeping the critters out of our fields and off of our crops, but were not sure what type of dog would do the trick. Livestock guarding breeds seemed to be the best choice - big and intimidating to a critter, but calm and sweet with people.  So when Tom Parker told us a local farmer had Great Pyrennes/Anatolian Shepherd cross puppies for sale we jumped at the opportunity. We brought Rocky home on February 5th. He was tough to resist.

 

Rocky and his brother Bandit

 

2007 volunteer apprentice Jen Baughman joined us for the year. Her sweet spirit and positivity kept us smiling during a difficult year.

 

Jen and Rebecca potting up fall crops

The fields in 2008 were drenched on numerous occasions. The potatoes were a total loss, as the trenches we cut to plant them in filled like irrigation ditches in April. The tomatoes did OK, but were diseased and dying by Labor Day. In September another gullywasher set back the Fall plantings.

 

Attempting to bail out the potato beds in mid-April

Effect of 3 inch rain in September

Typical 2008 harvest morning with CSA troopers

On the bright side, the strawberries loved the rain, as did the beans, greens, carrots, garlic, lettuce, sweet potatoes and cover crops. We harvested 587 quarts of strawberries that year. The Honeoye variety was a good choice...easy to pick, juicy, flavorful, not too sweet, and red all the way through. 

Our first harvest off the new patch

Fresh Tropea onions

Just dug carrots

Weeding crew at the strawberries

A colorful share

Kid Rocky

Though we did not necessarily need it, our solar powered irrigation system was installed in May. Missouri contractor Henry Rentz set things up and we took it from there. It came in handy in August, the only month without a downpour.

Our new solar panels and irrigation pump

The wetness of the year gave pause, as we realized that our farming methods were vulnerable to excess rain. Problems could occur with only 2 to 3 inches of precipitation, something we knew to expect in the future. So we worked on several strategies to address excess moisture.

Step 1: Take low spots in the fields out of production. Being so dry when we started farming in 2003, we did not know just how wet some areas could get.

Step 2: Mulch as much as we can. A canopy of hay or straw over the surface of our silt/clay soils does wonders to keep the plants and soil life from suffocating after a downpour. Hay also provides food for worms and eventually the crops. As we like to say, we have grass-fed vegetables.

 

Jen mulching with hay over a buckwheat cover crop

Step 3: Use the electric G to gutter our beds, keeping the crops raised and reducing the chance of flooding out the plant.

 

Step 4: Continue with our cover cropping and biological farming methods. It is a proven fact that organically-farmed soils handle water better in wet conditions, and provide drought tolerance during dry times.

Rocky enjoying a nice stand of buckwheat

And so we entered another winter on the farm. Back to the remodel. This time it was the kitchen and dining room. We do alot of cooking and canning, so a functioning kitchen was a huge improvement to the homestead.

Stripped down and ready to go

So what did 2009 hold in store...best season yet, bees, sheep and double the apprentices.

2007---Our Fourth CSA Season

In 2007 we reached our 5-year goal of 100 members. It was an accomplishment we were proud of, and it established a good economic base for the future. The next step...was figuring out the next step.
 

A rare chance to skate on the old pond in February

 

Exterior work on the farmhouse before the season starts

Pre-season Core Goup meeting at Kelly and Rick's

We decided to approach the season as if we were starting fresh. We pretended that all the work in the previous years had been done by a different couple we called Rachel (a common misnomer for Rebecca) and Joseph (my middle name). For all the good things we saw on the farm we thanked them, and for all the things that broke or had to be redone we sighed and assigned them the blame.

St. Patricks Day was spent working on the barn, fixing the east loafing shed roof and walls with the help of fellow farmer Tom Parker and members Jim Markley and Victoria Wert. Working on a barn with the farm community is always fun.

Jim Markley, Tom Parker and Rebecca

Weather again played a unique role in the season, as it was the year of the "Easter freeze." After the third warmest March on record with literally everything blooming, the buds of Spring were killed off by two overnights of record low temperatures in the upper teens.

We fulfilled our contractual obligation to the CSA, doing everything in our power to protect the many beds of plants we had out in the fields by covering them with up to 3 layers of row cover. All the while we were battling high winds and the urge to take a shortcut or two. Our efforts paid off, as by June much of the broccoli we had protected headed up beautifully.

Row cover mid-April

Spring broccoli

The combination of high winds and temperatures in the teens made keeping the row cover on a never-ending chore for us and Libby Negus, who started her apprenticeship with us that week.  Working hard at the farm, moonlighting at Green Acres Market, and going to school to become a Montessori teacher kept her busy that year.



Picking peas with Libby (photo by Lorne Carroll)

April was also when we planted the strawberry patch. Members had voiced their opinion in our yearly survey that they wanted us to add berries to the shares. We felt that strawberries were the best choice, as they are sturdier than bramble fruit and, based on earlier trials, seemed to grow well here.



Strawberry patch humble beginnings 4/19/07

In general, 2007 was a good year for the crops. The tomato harvest topped 5,000 lbs and we picked over 5,000 individual summer squash. We planted some of the potatoes where we had run the chickens the year before and had our best yields to date. Beans, carrots, and the Fall brassicas were standouts.



Happy lettuce harvest led by 2013 apprentice-to-be Lorne Carroll and long-time member Betty Marcus

Picking summer squash

Members with the harvest

Thanks to the scarcity of wild fruit after the Easter freeze, the raccoons and opossums feasted on our successes in the field. We used a live trap to catch more than 30 racoons that summer, sometimes catching two at a time. They seem cute, but I will tell you that picking up a metal cage with a snarling wild animal in it at sunrise wakes you up for the day, and gets you thinking of alternative methods of predator control.

 

One of many

In June my Mother passed away. She was a grand lady, the source of my German blood, and a role model like no other. I'm glad Rebecca had a chance to make her aquaintance.

 

Mom would have been thrilled that August, as we were honored as the Clay County Farm Family of the Year. We have the local University of Missouri Extension Council to thank for nominating us for the award, and recogznizing a sustainable farming operation for the honor. They won us a free trip to the State Fair to pick up the award, where the orators noted that "farmers are the backbone of democracy." That's us! Love that quote.

 

 

We had a great Fall harvest with little to no frost until late in November. 

 



Fall cauliflower

The year ended with more home remodeling before heading to Italy in December.  We visited Rome, then took the train to the southern tip of the continent, Calabria, the ancestral home of the Ruggieri's.

 

Working on the back porch

In Calabria...the land of Persephone

Next up...electrifying the G, strawberry bonanza, Rocky, solar irrigation, adding mulch, and toooooo wettttt!

Snow on the Farm, February 2013

Let it snow is what we are saying at the farm right now. We think we have the animals, structures, machinery and rations in hand for a day or two of staying at home. We are hoping for some nice runoff into the pond, so we can start the Spring with the meximum water supply.

Chicken coop in the snow

Working in the high tunnel on Monday

The main impact of the snow out here is the drifts. Winds swirl around the buildings and vehicles depositing thigh high dunes. This weather is not favored by the chickens or cats, but is loved by the dog. Rocky is built for days like this and it is a pleasure to see an animal so at home.

Work is progressing on more infrastructure work, as we are in the midst of expanding the packing room and wash area. Part of this is the construction of a new cooler, double the size of the old one. We are also trying to use up every scrap piece of wood, doors, siding, insulation and caulk to empty out the barn through repurposing.

Drifts to your thighs

Up at the pond

2006---Our Third CSA Season

By 2006 Fair Share Farm and its CSA were here to stay. We continued to work on making our farming operation viable well into the future. Certain things we could control, like how and what we fed our soil, what we planted and when, and how we integrated the farm into the lives and health of our membership.

 

The fields at rest

What we can never seem to control is the weather.  January 2006 was the warmest on record, February the driest, and April the third warmest.  A good reminder that our job is to be ready for whatever weather comes our way. Wet, dry, hot, or cold, we cannot act like we are suprised by anything. The conditions in 2006 required us to start irrigating in April, something we had never had to do before.  What ever happened to April showers bring May flowers?

By 2006 it was becoming clear that the climate was (and still is) changing. For me, 20 years of work in industry and environmental engineering, coupled with over 10 years as an farmer, and the on-line availability of raw data showing such things as higher than ever-recorded atmospheric CO2 levels and a polar ice cap that is losing both area and volume every year, is enough to cause concern.




From Fox 4 WDAF (click to enlarge)

While these conditions caused some problems, they were also quite beneficial to certain crops. Warm, dry weather is what tomato, pepper and eggplant thrive in, as fungal diseases don't get established. We also had one of our best harvests of winter squash. 


Carnival winter squash

In scrolling through these old photographs we are reminded of how far we had to come.  The infrastructure still left much to be desired, especially when it came to good ergonomics in washing and packing.  CSA members from this time period will remember squatting in the grass hosing off vegetables.

Cleaning beets on a CSA morning

Rattlesnake beans

Distribution at the new 39th Street Market

2006 was also the year of the pond. In February, Graff Properties hired local expert Howerton Ditching to turn a gully into an irrigation pond. The pond drains a rather large area (10+ acres) and even with limited rainfall it filled up by April. We hope this tendency repeats itself this Spring, as the pond is down by about 50% right now.

Pond outlet structure



Finished pond---February 27, 2006

Filling pond---April 30

Among the visitors to the farm that Spring were Mary Meyer and Richard Cartwright from Michaela Farm. We worked with the two of them when we apprenticed, and learned much about biodiversity and sustainability. I always remember Richard noting that everyday he touchs the earth with his bare feet. Even in shoes, it is a good habit to get into.

Rebecca, Mary and Richard

Once again, we were fortunate to have lots of help through our full-time and volunteer apprentice program. The full-time apprentice position was split between Brenda Raygor and Lindsay Medoff (the latter of Fair Share Farm tote bag fame). 2007 apprentice Libby Negus, Peas on Earth farmer Julie Coon, neighbor Jen Basuel and farm-girl Kathy Plant filled out the crew. Bad Seed mistress Brooke Salvaggio also helped out on her way to loads of her own fun.

Brenda, Jen, Libby, Julie and Kathy, a great crew

Planting garlic with Farmer Brooke, before Bad Seed, Dan, Percy or Urbavore

Lindsay's wonderful tote bags

This was also to be the first year that we integrated animals into our farm operation. Previously unknown Liz Elmore moved back to KC from Pennsylvania and gave us a call inquiring about raising broiler chickens on our land. The plan was for it to be Liz's business operation and we would provide the land and some labor. In return we got a few chickens, the fun of farm animals and lots of chicken poop.

Chicks in the brooder

Chickens in their movable pen

Long story short, the soil made out the best in this venture. As this was before Rocky, the racoons were a major problem, and the 95 to 100+ F degree summer was not conducive to fattening up chickens. The next animal operation at the farm would have to wait until 2009.

2006 was also the year of The 100-Mile Diet. A term you may be familiar with, it became especially popular in 2006 as people across the country began focusing on eating meals with ingredients grown and raise in their immediate locale. In KC we helped spearhead a group of 8 to 10 folks who wrote a series of article on the experience in Present Magazine. This on-line publication was the brainchild of friend Pete Dulin. His 2005 article on the farm is still our favorite look at what we do. Our fun culminated in a CD with copies of the articles, our favorite recipes, and resources for buying local.

The year ended with what has become our favorite mode of transportation---Amtrak. It had been 5 years since Rebecca and I met, and I left Rochester after 20 years of living there. It was nice to get caught up with friends and with the farmers at Peacework. We then hopped the train downstate to stay with my brother and his family in Brooklyn.



Rebecca NYC

When we returned, we found our 1947 Allis Chalmers G tractor.  While it looks like a feather-weight, it is best tractor on the planet for smaller, organic vegetable farms like ours.

Arrival of the G

And next year...growing for 100, Easter freeze, starting the strawberry patch, and steady as she goes.