Oh July, you are cruel sometimes.
I know it's only been a few weeks of 90 degree heat, but I'm already considering moving more up north. I'm not sure where, just a little more north. Somewhere colder. Somewhere cloudier.
I guess I should just remind myself that this is sweet corn, tomato, and melon growing weather. I'm pretty sure my eyeballs are sweating though.
I'm at an odd spot in the gardens. The early crops have kicked off and now I'm just waiting for the "45 days" the backs of the seed packets promised me for the next wave of harvest. Come on little veggies. You can do it! Grow grow grow!
I think the heat might have taken the wind out of my sails, or I'm just a bit exhausted, but my brain is in slow motion now. I'm just going to call it a heat haze. My dog is asleep, my sheep are being baaaad, my goats are constantly complaining, and as soon as I get out of the water, I want to jump back in and go swimming again.
This is the point in the season, middle of planting, where I just need to re-focus and get back on track. Concentrate. I still need to plant shelling beans, second round of lettuce, kale, beets, broccoli, kohlrabi, onions, get all the rest of the tomatoes in the ground and peppers and herbs... and here's where I lose focus again. It must be the heat. Concentrate, janeé.
Ah, concentrate. Good thinking. I'm finishing up my last round of meat birds and probably going to stop doing them. I need to focus and I can't charge people what it actually costs to raise them... especially with my losses to predators this year. Dang dog found out she's rather sleep inside than guard the birds, and I can't blame her for that. So no more meat birds.
I also lost an insane amount of baby turkeys this year. I hope to have just enough for my returning orders and my family, but it's been a rough year. Boo raccoons.
I have to admit though, I loved the burgers I just cooked up from my beef. The roasts are amazing and I think that might be the one meat that I'm going to keep on the menu. I'm still toying with the idea of pigs, but not this year. Chickens are too much work. Turkeys think dying is a sport. Sheep are a pain to fence. But man, grass fed beef is delicious.
My sister took some down to my aunt, who bought the biggest hand made buns from the bakery ever. So my sister, not knowing the fat content of my beef, made massive pattys... but the actual fat content was so low that they didn't shrink at all, but were massive, medium well, and delicious. I just had Monday night taco night and holy cow, that was good.
So, CSA, beef, and maybe turkeys. And maybe a new -not so lazy- dog. Sorry Pepper. You're retiring at the ripe old age of.... 3?
Oh, and CSA members, I'm starting to post the newsletter and recipe on the CSA blog if you happen to miss it or if it rains to the point of non-readability. Email recipe ideas or anything that you'd like to plant for this year still. There's still time, I've just got to get out there and keep planting!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
beautiful Tuesday
Alright. I'm doing deep breathing and meditation this morning (oddly enough, combined with lots of coffee) in order to prepare myself for the daunting, daring, and dangerous task of....... raspberry picking.
I should keep a bee keeping suit around just for the raspberry season. I put on flip flops and I don't think that's going to cut it unless I really want to take my chances at the new poison ivy remedy pills I just got as I trounce around in the woods.
Ok, some Regina Spektor on the radio is increasing my meditation for CSA pickup week 2. Feels oddly like the hymns I grew up with, piano in the back and a nice vocal melody on top. I'm ready for anything today.
So I've been weighing out and looking up glyphosate, the chemical that kills weeds in products such as Roundup. I see people spraying their driveways with this stuff, which makes me kinda giggle because I can't bring myself to care that much about a perfect driveway. If that energy was only spent growing potatoes instead of spraying their gravel... but anyway, back to glyphosate.
Europe is having their bouts of love and hate with this chemical. They've banned imports of Roundup Ready genetically modified corn and soybeans from the US. We're in love with genetically modifying things to take the weed killer Roundup because it does make commodity growing easier. The rest of the world isn't as sold on it as we are.
Here's a nice fact sheet which seems to give the pros and cons of glyphosate. And I like that they put in that bit about the endangered toads. I love toads.
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/glyphosa.htm
I have a feeling there's going to be quite a few heated battles behind closed doors about this product. It's less toxic than weed killers in the past, but it's like -well, drinking bleach isn't that bad, we used to drink battery acid back in the day, bleach is waaaay better-. And it's odd that trees in hedgerows are dying on the edges of Roundup fields. Makes you wonder what's really happening to the microbial community that we can't see but rely so heavily upon.
The wind is picking up. It seems like excellent weather to lay out in the grass and stare up at the sky... well, after checking the grass for sheep poop.
I'm picking up my beef on Wednesday and splitting it Wed. night for the 8 families 1 cow program. I can't wait. I love making burgers with cream cheese or chevre worked into the patties with some fresh herbs. It's like a cheeseburger with cheese in the burger. Gormet right there. Heh.
Ok, berry picking time!
I should keep a bee keeping suit around just for the raspberry season. I put on flip flops and I don't think that's going to cut it unless I really want to take my chances at the new poison ivy remedy pills I just got as I trounce around in the woods.
Ok, some Regina Spektor on the radio is increasing my meditation for CSA pickup week 2. Feels oddly like the hymns I grew up with, piano in the back and a nice vocal melody on top. I'm ready for anything today.
So I've been weighing out and looking up glyphosate, the chemical that kills weeds in products such as Roundup. I see people spraying their driveways with this stuff, which makes me kinda giggle because I can't bring myself to care that much about a perfect driveway. If that energy was only spent growing potatoes instead of spraying their gravel... but anyway, back to glyphosate.
Europe is having their bouts of love and hate with this chemical. They've banned imports of Roundup Ready genetically modified corn and soybeans from the US. We're in love with genetically modifying things to take the weed killer Roundup because it does make commodity growing easier. The rest of the world isn't as sold on it as we are.
Here's a nice fact sheet which seems to give the pros and cons of glyphosate. And I like that they put in that bit about the endangered toads. I love toads.
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/glyphosa.htm
I have a feeling there's going to be quite a few heated battles behind closed doors about this product. It's less toxic than weed killers in the past, but it's like -well, drinking bleach isn't that bad, we used to drink battery acid back in the day, bleach is waaaay better-. And it's odd that trees in hedgerows are dying on the edges of Roundup fields. Makes you wonder what's really happening to the microbial community that we can't see but rely so heavily upon.
The wind is picking up. It seems like excellent weather to lay out in the grass and stare up at the sky... well, after checking the grass for sheep poop.
I'm picking up my beef on Wednesday and splitting it Wed. night for the 8 families 1 cow program. I can't wait. I love making burgers with cream cheese or chevre worked into the patties with some fresh herbs. It's like a cheeseburger with cheese in the burger. Gormet right there. Heh.
Ok, berry picking time!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
diapers
Holy Frack! How can this be legal???
I'm continually amazed at the amount and scope of chemicals that we interact with in everyday life without anyone being worried about the consequences.
Anyway, my new niece is due in a week. She's not doing well. She's tiny and the doctors are worried. I can't even imagine how nervous I would be in my brother's situation. There's nothing the doctors can do except hope for the best now.
I'm continually amazed at the amount and scope of chemicals that we interact with in everyday life without anyone being worried about the consequences.
Anyway, my new niece is due in a week. She's not doing well. She's tiny and the doctors are worried. I can't even imagine how nervous I would be in my brother's situation. There's nothing the doctors can do except hope for the best now.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
symbiosis - mushrooms and beef
While walking through my yard this morning among bottomless pens housing rabbits, I found the cutest little mushrooms springing up everywhere. There's a path from the rabbit cages - the farthest is super green lush grass that's got new growth on it and the next square is eaten down to nubs and is just starting to green up and the next square is just rabbit pellets and eaten down to nothing and then the next square is the rabbit cages.
What if instead of using Scott's Weed n' Perfect Yr Lawn chemicals, we used bottomless pens housing rabbits. The pellets seem to work wonders for the grass, and these little mushrooms make me feel good about restoring the symbiotic nature of... um, nature. I like to think about the bacteria and fungal life forms that I cannot see. I like to think about the network of earthworms below the surface that are working to aerate the soil and the microbes breaking down the earthworm poop and the mushrooms that feed on the freshly fertile soil.
I like to think about the soil web while I pay my bills online using this odd man made internet which of course humans first used for only spreading the most carnal images, but of course it's ascended into a higher calling of social media and congressmen sending "joke pics" to college girls. We may be smart, but we're still oddly simple minded sometimes.
I also got some garden oyster mushrooms for putting in my tomato beds this year. Double your crop with the mushrooms breaking down mulch into nutrients for the tomatoes and bonus - this is one fertilizer that you can eat too! Starting trials this week to see what these mushrooms like. I love mushrooms.
Anyway, the farmers across the street were running three tractors with all their lights on to plant corn last night. It looked like aliens took over and were running lines up and down this barren wasteland searching for something.
I drove past it on my way to escape the craziness and stress that weight heavy on me right now on my way up to Akron just to sit on a porch in "the city" thinking about life if I live in "the city" instead of in the country. I drove and thought about a cold beer and good conversation and just sitting without thinking of all the lists that I have to do. I had Nick Cave playing, which is both agitating and soothing at the same time, and I could almost taste the cold beer and fresh city air.
About the time I drove into downtown, I got a call that the cops were at my house trying to keep my little hoodlums from causing mayhem... aka, my sheep were out and standing in the middle of the road. Crap. Turn around, half hour drive back to the country, past the 3 tractors driving in circles, back to mend the jailbreak with the help of bright headlights while the sheep all look at me like -what did we do?
I know I love them, but man did I contemplate reaching for the 22 and making lamb burgers.....
Speaking of burgers, the beef is at the butcher now. If you still want to buy in to 8 families: 1 cow program, there's still spots left. Email me!
I'm really excited to see how an actual beef animal will do after being pasture raised. I like reading what other people are doing with feeding animals grass (novel idea) but I really want to taste it, not just read what other people think.
I am new at this, which probably is a good thing because I'm looking at the whole idea with fresh eyes. So far, the holstein is winning the taste test (cow A for you last year meat share members) but it doesn't yield that much meat. The marbling was great though and it was tender as can be.
I went to a seminar on grass feeding beef cattle this winter and this beef cow was at the perfect age according to this grass fed rancher in Southern Ohio for maximum yield and tenderness. I'm happy because the only thing left in my freezer is a goat leg and a couple hams from 2 years ago which I'm saving for I don't know what occasion. While I'm at the butcher, I might just see if she can get a couple bad lambs on her schedule too. That might make the rest of them stay in line a little better.
CSA starts in only a few weeks. Grow little cucumbers! Grow!
What if instead of using Scott's Weed n' Perfect Yr Lawn chemicals, we used bottomless pens housing rabbits. The pellets seem to work wonders for the grass, and these little mushrooms make me feel good about restoring the symbiotic nature of... um, nature. I like to think about the bacteria and fungal life forms that I cannot see. I like to think about the network of earthworms below the surface that are working to aerate the soil and the microbes breaking down the earthworm poop and the mushrooms that feed on the freshly fertile soil.
I like to think about the soil web while I pay my bills online using this odd man made internet which of course humans first used for only spreading the most carnal images, but of course it's ascended into a higher calling of social media and congressmen sending "joke pics" to college girls. We may be smart, but we're still oddly simple minded sometimes.
I also got some garden oyster mushrooms for putting in my tomato beds this year. Double your crop with the mushrooms breaking down mulch into nutrients for the tomatoes and bonus - this is one fertilizer that you can eat too! Starting trials this week to see what these mushrooms like. I love mushrooms.
Anyway, the farmers across the street were running three tractors with all their lights on to plant corn last night. It looked like aliens took over and were running lines up and down this barren wasteland searching for something.
I drove past it on my way to escape the craziness and stress that weight heavy on me right now on my way up to Akron just to sit on a porch in "the city" thinking about life if I live in "the city" instead of in the country. I drove and thought about a cold beer and good conversation and just sitting without thinking of all the lists that I have to do. I had Nick Cave playing, which is both agitating and soothing at the same time, and I could almost taste the cold beer and fresh city air.
About the time I drove into downtown, I got a call that the cops were at my house trying to keep my little hoodlums from causing mayhem... aka, my sheep were out and standing in the middle of the road. Crap. Turn around, half hour drive back to the country, past the 3 tractors driving in circles, back to mend the jailbreak with the help of bright headlights while the sheep all look at me like -what did we do?
I know I love them, but man did I contemplate reaching for the 22 and making lamb burgers.....
Speaking of burgers, the beef is at the butcher now. If you still want to buy in to 8 families: 1 cow program, there's still spots left. Email me!
I'm really excited to see how an actual beef animal will do after being pasture raised. I like reading what other people are doing with feeding animals grass (novel idea) but I really want to taste it, not just read what other people think.
I am new at this, which probably is a good thing because I'm looking at the whole idea with fresh eyes. So far, the holstein is winning the taste test (cow A for you last year meat share members) but it doesn't yield that much meat. The marbling was great though and it was tender as can be.
I went to a seminar on grass feeding beef cattle this winter and this beef cow was at the perfect age according to this grass fed rancher in Southern Ohio for maximum yield and tenderness. I'm happy because the only thing left in my freezer is a goat leg and a couple hams from 2 years ago which I'm saving for I don't know what occasion. While I'm at the butcher, I might just see if she can get a couple bad lambs on her schedule too. That might make the rest of them stay in line a little better.
CSA starts in only a few weeks. Grow little cucumbers! Grow!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
100% Pasture Raised Angus Beef, coming right up!
8 families: 1 cow begins!
I am the luckiest girl in the world right now. My boss has a 100% pasture raised Black Angus cow for me that's ready in a month! Wohoo!!!! Just in time for burgers on the grill. My freezer was getting super low on beef and I'm really happy to pick back up with some amazing grass fed beef again.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring. I'm dancing around thinking about sunshine and fresh beef and a very happy growing season this year. Wohoo!
I am the luckiest girl in the world right now. My boss has a 100% pasture raised Black Angus cow for me that's ready in a month! Wohoo!!!! Just in time for burgers on the grill. My freezer was getting super low on beef and I'm really happy to pick back up with some amazing grass fed beef again.So we now have beef shares available.
8 families: 1 cow is our way of splitting up the whole beef into manageable portions that will fit into regular sized freezers and give you access to some locally grown, lean, pasture raised beef. The beef will be ready in a month and I'll bring it back here to the park and split it up equally between 8 shares. Each beef share will have a representative sample of the whole cow including some roasts, stew meat, burgers, soup bones, and steaks.
Shares are reserved when payment is received and spots do fill up fast. I'm not sure when I'm going to have another beef ready so let me know if you want in.
What the heck and I doing behing a computer on this beautiful day. I've got to get out and get planting! We're so far behind. What a totally weird spring, but CSA members --- prepare for a super bountiful fruit harvest this year. The plums actually made it and the apples and pears didn't get nipped with that frost either. Wow. I've got gooseberry plants to get in the ground now and potatoes and beans and cucumbers and tomato plants and and and......
Sunday, May 1, 2011
love the dandelions
So it's been a lazy Sunday after a very enjoyable, but busy Saturday. I uncovered the carrots to see how many sprouted, kicked a couple chickens out of the greenhouse as they love laying eggs in there all the sudden, and went back to bed after waking up at 6am to put the sheep in out of the rain. It's raining again.... What a crazy spring where not much is in the ground yet. And I just looked at the calendar and it's MAY 1st!!!!!!
Whoa. Goodbye April showers, right. Right?
I had a fun time at the plant sale yesterday. I really enjoy my customers and I continually am amazed at the variety of really cool people around here that come out. I guess I just forget that sometimes as I'm either staring at sheep with Jason or in my own little world at the vineyard with the only human interaction being at the grocery store with people buying mass quantities of tv dinners standing under fluorescent lights. Feels really detached to me so it's nice to see people coming out and trying to grow their own food and get back into contact with the dirt. Kudos, Massillon.... & Canton & Akron too.
Anyway, I've got a nice list of flowers for the Mother's day plant sale next Saturday. I'm drinking some nice herbal tea with local honey in it right now and contemplating trying some buckwheat recipes. I have some mushrooms sprouting from a maple log in the orchard that are really enjoying this weather. Everything else is a bit tired of it though.
I don't mind it. It's spring time in Ohio. The dandelions are up and are beautiful as always. Everything is starting to grow, the apple blossoms are bursting, and I think I can finally say winter is over, I hope.
I'm grabbing my digger and planting up some sweet peas and calendula now and seeing what the sheep are up to. Tshirt weather!
Whoa. Goodbye April showers, right. Right?
I had a fun time at the plant sale yesterday. I really enjoy my customers and I continually am amazed at the variety of really cool people around here that come out. I guess I just forget that sometimes as I'm either staring at sheep with Jason or in my own little world at the vineyard with the only human interaction being at the grocery store with people buying mass quantities of tv dinners standing under fluorescent lights. Feels really detached to me so it's nice to see people coming out and trying to grow their own food and get back into contact with the dirt. Kudos, Massillon.... & Canton & Akron too.
Anyway, I've got a nice list of flowers for the Mother's day plant sale next Saturday. I'm drinking some nice herbal tea with local honey in it right now and contemplating trying some buckwheat recipes. I have some mushrooms sprouting from a maple log in the orchard that are really enjoying this weather. Everything else is a bit tired of it though.
I don't mind it. It's spring time in Ohio. The dandelions are up and are beautiful as always. Everything is starting to grow, the apple blossoms are bursting, and I think I can finally say winter is over, I hope.
I'm grabbing my digger and planting up some sweet peas and calendula now and seeing what the sheep are up to. Tshirt weather!
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