Quick update

I haven't forgotten about the blog or anything. Jess and I have been working on getting the garage finished. The garden is really getting into it's stride and the baby chicks are coming of age. Now that major painting operations have finished I hope to spend more time in the garden and orchard and updating the blog with pictures.

Current happenings.

I am still trying to catch up with the garden from being away. The weeds are definitely getting the better of me right now. There are lots of weed grasses going to seed in the garden as I type this. I plan to cover the garden in mulch and hope to start winning that battle back this week.
We harvested our first few tomatoes as well. The Beefsteak tomatoes that we grew this year have really impressed me. The romas are still coming along however. Also the baby chicks are quickly approaching adulthood. So summer is proceeding, Winter is looming. So much to do.

Rick

A smashing evening.

So apparently we should have stayed on vacation for a few more days. Jess and I managed to sneak away from the homestead for a whole 4 days. Time was spent sunning and fishing and chatting with friends. I was very relaxed until we started to head for home.
We had just traded drivers and Jess was taking over as we got close to rush hour traffic in the cities, so as not to burn my zen away prematurely. We were south Monticello when I noticed something on the road under the semi trailer in front of us. I must have been quite relaxed as I recall thinking "Hey, that's a piece of plywood." Then it took to the air and headed straight for us and I thought "Nope It's OSB" Then, "Gee I hope it misses us". It didn't.
It is a credit to Jess that she closed her eyes in time before the glass sprayed her and then had the presence of mind to get us safely to the shoulder. I think we were also lucky that while the window smashed a bunch the piece of wood was too large to go through the window. Apart from a scratch we are unharmed and the car is in the shop, but man I think I should have stayed at the lake.

Drive Safe,
Rick

Harvest update

We harvested 2/3 of the shallots yesterday. The bulbs had been pushing out of the soil and I had put a bit more soil on those bulbs. It seems like they didn't like the attention as the ones that I added the soil to were the first ones to start wilting. We had a few really nice looking bulbs but I plan to save those for next years planting. If I can successfully store and plant those next spring I will have closed that circle. I think that is one of the main principles I need to demonstrate here on the farm. The ability to start with a crop or livestock and be able to bring up multiple cycles from the same initial starting material. To that end I am also planning on harvesting seed from some of the plants this fall.

I'm no potato farmer

I have been watching the potatoes wilt a bit as of late so I decided it must be time to dig them. I turned them out unto a tarp. I was less than impressed with the amount of potatoes. I think I wasn't providing them with enough extra water. The soil near the bottom of the bin was quite dry and there were no potatoes in the area of additional soil that I added. I am not sure about that, but I think perhaps if I was going to do this again I might put fewer seed potatoes per bin and keep them watered better. I watered all the other bins well and will hope for better results with those.

Weekend update

Things are really picking up now. We are definitely into squash season. We have been harvesting Zucchini like crazy and Jess has already made 2 zucchini breads and a batch of zucchini cookies. We are also seeing a few delicata squash starting to form. The delicatas are a sprawling squash. The kubocha is also coming along nicely. We have also harvested a few beets this last week. Jess roasted them and we had them in salads and zuchini stirfry. This morning we had a fritata made from our eggs and green beans flavored with our herbs.
I also have been going out nights and picking slugs off the rhubarb. I probably harvested a few hundred the last few days. I add them to a bucket along with some chard that had gotten long in the tooth and give the whole thing to the chickens as a midnight snack. I also placed a few beer traps out in the garden to drown the slugs. The rhubarb already seems to be doing better. This afternoon I did some digging in the garden and gave the dog a bath.

Always something to do
Rick

Vampire Defenses Ready

I picked the garlic yesterday evening. I was afraid it was too soon but I think everything is about right. So now I am drying it on racks and getting ready to store most of it for later use. I will also have to save a few of the best garlic bulbs to replant. I am really looking forward to roasting some of this garlic this fall. I had hoped for 52 heads so as to have a bulb of garlic a week for the next year. I think taking the cloves I will need to start next years bed into account, I fell a little short of my goal but I am still happy with this years harvest.

Food Saturday

Today was a food day. Jess and I took a spin down around lake Pepin to dine at a few restaurants we had heard of recently. First we went to the Rabbit Bakery in Lake City. I had a frittata with summer vegetables and Jess had their Roast Beast sandwich. We also got a loaf of bread to take home. Then we continued to Wabasha and toured the town a bit, to include picking up some gourmet chocolate before continuing on to Nelson. We stopped into the Nelson Cheese Factory as is the law. Every year it is more and more crowded but also has such great foods it is worth the hassle. But the real treat of the trip was the Stone Barn. It is an old barn foundation that has been turned into a gourmet pizza restaurant. I really liked their pizzas it was a shame there were not more of us as we had to settle for tasting just two kinds. I also loved their massive raised herb garden. We came home with fully bellies and lots of good food and drink.

Rick

Dodged a bullet

Last Thursday we had a heck of a storm role through the area. Jess and I were at work where we lost power and had all kinds of mechanical issues. Jess told me it had looked bad in our neck of the woods. For some reason I felt unconcerned I was sure we were doing fine. But as we got closer to home I began to see corn field striped down to ribbons on a string the way hail does. Then as we got closer we began to see bean fields beaten down to mush and the occasional down tree limb. Then we got closer and we saw whole trees down and sheds and a roof with a tarp. Then as we got close to Cannon there was less damage in the valley but I was still a bit concerned. As we got closer and closer the conditions improved. I still figured we were going to lose a tree but that happens about every other year so I figured we were due. To make a long story longer, we got home and had only a few branches on the ground and some severely leaning sunflowers. I had heard that a tornado had passed close by in Vasa and Welch. So I went to Red Wing on Saturday and was shocked to see whole barns blown down not 5 miles from my house. As I continued in to Red Wing I saw grain bins that looked like they had been punched by giants and trees snapped off as if hit by low flying aircraft. Now 5 miles may seem like a long way off but remember that around here that is perhaps only as many neighbors as a city block or two. So I feel close to these people, but close like you feel to a neighbor a couple blocks over. Close enough to be concerned but not close enough to know the families or feel right in stopping. So I just drove on. Besides there were so many damaged homes and farms. I guess like my hail storm a few years ago, all you can do is mend what you can mend and hope for better weather tomarrow.

Stay safe,
Rick

Another picture post