Simply Sustainable...My Life on an Organic Farm.

Farmer Dave's Blog about his illness

2009-05-20T09:46:00.001-04:00

If you want to get updates on The Farmer's health, visit

http://farmerdavesblog.blogspot.com/

STATE OF THE FARM ADDRESS MAY, 2009

2009-05-20T09:17:00.005-04:00

For those of you who follow this blog, I apologize for not posting in so long. It is crazy at the Farm these days, and not just in the fields. Some days I feel like I am being pulled by both arms, both legs and the top of my head. We are still dealing with The Farmer's illness, which is one of the harder things to deal with at the present time. I have a separate blog for updates on his illness, so I won't post a bunch of stuff about that here. I want to talk about the Farm for a change, so here we go.

THE FIELDS

Things are going well in the field, albiet slowly. Without The Farmer's strong and able hands, we are kind of like the Keystone Kops somedays, but mostly we are getting things done. We have two incredible people working with us this year (Brooks and Benjamin, take a bow) and they are so much help, it is like having a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. They aren't here everyday but put in double time when they are. It is such a blessing to have them and I thank the Universe for sending them every day.

Right now, we have so many things that are on the verge of something big, I can hardly contain myself. Green beans, edamame, corn, tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash!!!
We got our greenhouse finished this winter and it has made a tremendous difference for us because we have been able to get plants ready to put out at the times we used to plant seeds. Of course, we still are sticklers for everything being in the proper season, but we are now on the early edge of those seasons, instead of the tail end. The butternut squash went into the ground this week, and the okra will be in soon. I had to search for yellow wax bean seeds (most of the seed houses had very limited quantities this year for some reason) and I now have those in hand, so we will be planting them soom.
The green beans we plant are varied, from flat Italians to heirloom cornfield beans this year. Cornfield beans are called that because they were traditionally planted at the base of a corn stalk and allowed to climb the stalk, thereby getting two crops planted in the same space. We are going to try that this year but I understand that timing is everything (if corn is too small beans will pull down the plant, if corn is too big it will shield beans from sun....) so we'll see how that turns out.
I will be planting melons and cukes in flats this week, so that they will be ready to plant out in a couple of weeks. They grow incredible fast in controlled conditions and this way I can make sure that my specialty melons have a fair chance at making something. I hate to buy expensive, exotic seeds and them have them rot in the ground befor they come up, which happens sometimes. I have things like Crane melons and Charentais, something called a Toad Melon(because of the skin, I gather)
We have Moon and Stars Watermelons and our old favorite, Sugar Baby. We will be growing Armenian Cukes this year, which are really a weird melon that looks and tastes like a cuke but with less seeds and no "burping".

THE MARKETS

This year we are trying to be at three markets in our area, as well has having a small farm stand at here at our location. We have been open to the public in the past but it never worked out too well, so I am having a little bit of trepidation about that but I hope that it works out okay. We have invited other local farmers to bring stuff over and participate so that should be loads of fun!

We are in Davidson on Saturdays and will be in Charlotte on Saturdays, starting in mid-June. We are at the Huntersville market on Tuesdays and here at the Farm on Wednesdays, so that is a pretty full schedule. Of course, a number of years ago, I tried doing a market every day but Sunday and that didn't work out so well....but it did give me A LOT of diverse experience.

You can stop the rain dancing now...

2009-05-06T07:38:00.005-04:00

All of those rain dances I did out back, must have worked. Everything here at the Farm is so green and growing right now, you can almost see it happening before your eyes.

We will be picking strawberries for market this weekend. They are wonderful, as usual, this year. Might be a little gritty, though, because we don't have the mulch finished yet. Oh well, maybe that will be a deterrent to people eating them unwashed. That drives me crazy, by the way. Strawberries grow in dirt and sit on the ground, there is gonna be some dirt on the berries. Organic dirt isn't sterile...

I see that happening all the time at farmer's markets. People will buy some fruit and immediately start eating it while strolling the market. While I am a firm believer in the fact that being exposed to things makes your body become resistant to them, eating fruit that has pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and who knows what all else on them, just doesn't seem prudent to me. And I didn't mention all the handling they may have had to get to the table at those markets....

My hens are laying like crazy right now, but everytime it cools off, they do too, meaning that they slow down their laying a bit. It is okay, though, all those eggs go to much good usage.

2009-04-19T12:11:00.004-04:00

In some of my previous posts, , I mentioned that we were having some issues with the Farmer's back that has now it has become an even bigger issue. Four years ago, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. If that sounds like a big scary disease, it is. No question. It strikes like a cobra that has to be killed in one blow. With RCC, that blow is the removal of the kidney, where the tumor originates. If it hasn't moved on to other parts of the body, you are pronounced cured and sent home, told to get a CT scan once a year and have a nice life.

Sometimes it doesn't come back, only that rarely happens. This is a hard disease to fight. The problem is that it doesn't respond to normal chemo. Radiation as most people know it, has little effect on this cancer, but there are some cutting edge techniques being used not that may render the old info obsolete. There has been some real progress and some profound breakthroughs made in the treatment of this cancer over the last four years, provided you are able to obtain these treatments. While there is no "cure" there are at least some life extending options available now that were only experimental in 2005. Biggest problem with them, though, is that the possible side effects are pretty intense and QOL can be considerably affected by them. Plus, there are other stumbling blocks to the newer treatments, particularly cost, location and availability.

This is one insidious cancer, because it is always lurking in the background of your life, waiting to rise again from the ashes. But, unlike the mythical Phoenix, it has a much more sinister purpose and it usually comes back with a vengeance. So, you have to decide how you are going to live your life...sitting in the house waiting for the ax to fall or live your life like there is no tomorrow...always in the moment and looking forward to the next. Luckily for us, we chose the latter.

The last four years have been up and down for us but we have never waivered from our mission of growing the healthiest food we possibly could and to get it to the people in our community. Our committment to our brothers and sisters under Mother Earth has always been at the forefront of everything we do. We live our own lives with that committment to excellent stewardship always at the forefront (by example is always the best way to teach) and try to never waiver from our goals of sustainability, self-sufficiency and simplicity. In some ways, that has made us outsiders, not quite fitting into the flow of what is happening around us.

Sometimes it almost seems like people are hinting to us that we should apologize for how we live and I can't imagine why. Our life here is one of relative peace and harmony and if that sounds hippyish, that is because it is. There was nothing wrong with those lofty ideals that so many had in the 1960's and early 70's, just with the means to the end and so it didn't stick. Humans are pack animals and we are hardwired on some levels to always try to fit in, which usually means taking the path of least resistance. Ergo, the old hippies became wealthy opening health food stores and record companies. Personally, I became a financial advisor and spent 25 years on that rat wheel before I could get off and save myself.

Finding ourselves in this present position, that of knowing basically nothing about what the future holds, has left us bruised and battered but underneath all that, we know how strong our bond is and know that we will deal with it as best we can. Hopefully, our best will result in only positive things and we will continue along the path we have chosen. Love really is the answer and we have that in spades.

During the next several weeks and months there is a lot of work to be done both at the Farm and to fight this illness, so I may not get to post here at this blog very often. I may be wrong about the postings, though, because I find this is a good place to vent, let out feelings, etc. especially since this blog is about my life on an organic farm and this is all part of that life.
Namaste

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2009-04-13T08:37:00.007-04:00

Whew! This spring has been one wild weather ride after another. So far, I have covered, uncovered, sprayed with water, shaded, opened and closed doors (on the greenhouse) and put up barriers to keep the wind from blowing seedlings out of their little pots. And that was just last week. But all kidding aside, this has been one of the springs that we usually have around here. I guess with the last couple of years of drought we forgot what a real spring season in this area can be like. At least it is warming up now. APril 14th was the last average date to frost here in our zone, so keep your fingers crossed that the average is the norm this year.

EXCITING NEW ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT 2009 SEASON

2009-03-26T12:30:00.004-04:00

I am excited and pleased to announce that the Farmer and I have decided that we are going to be open to the public this year. Granted, it will only be for one day per week, but it will be all day and mid-week on Wednesdays. Hours will be from 9am until 5 pm, starting June 3rd, with hours to be extended for July and August, maybe even into September. The last open day will be October 28th. We chose Wednesday because we are very limited as to when we can be here all day, due to the rest of our market schedule.

This is also kind of an experiment and if it works out, we will expand for next year. I admit that we have resisted doing this in the last several years because frankly, the last time we tried to have a produce stand at the Farm it didn't work out so well but I am optomistic that things will be different this time around.

Also, we are adding Wednesday at the Farm as a CSA pick up location, for those folks that live
too far from Charlotte, Davidson or Huntersville. It appears that there is a lot of interest in Salisbury, Statesville, China Grove, etc. and this location will be much more convenient for them, especially with the extended hours. I wish we could have extended hours at the other market locations where CSA picks up but we are bound by the constraints of those market hours.

The Farmer is still recovering from his back surgery. It has been nearly 7 weeks and while he is still experiencing some pain and weakness, overall he is making progress. He had 3 weeks of radiation treatments and that took a toll on his energy level and general well being, but that is over now and he is getting a little better every day. We don't start the next round of treatment for another 3 weeks and so are trying to enjoy this break. The therapies he will be undergoing are extremely hard on the body and we have our fingers crossed that he will have minimal side effects. But, like everything else, it is a "wait and see" scenario. His doctor is an expert in the particular type of rare carcinoma that the Farmer has and we feel very blessed to have been accepted as patients. Also, the incredible outpouring of volunteers, coming out to help on the Farm has been wonderful and we are thankful for them everyday. Things are going pretty well, although we are slightly behind in planting...although that is due to all the rain we have been having lately. Hope it dries out soon...my chickens are starting to get webbed feet.

Latest information about CSA

2009-03-12T12:21:00.004-04:00

(Our website is still in limbo because of the new server switch, so here is the latest on CSA.)

Charlotte CSA pick up is completely full.

Huntersville CSA pick up has room for about 5 more members.

Davidson CSA pick up has room for about 4 more members.

Possibly adding a CSA pick up at THE FARM on a weekday but no decision on that yet. Check back here this weekend for more detailed information about that.

Thanks!

2009-03-02T06:47:00.003-05:00

Affirmation and validation is always a sweet reward for hard work and dedication, especially when what you are doing is something slightly controversial. Take what I do for a living....I grow organic, heirloom vegetables, which I sell at farmer's markets. It always made perfect sense to me that anything that hadn't been too hybridized had to be better than something that had been tinkered with until it barely resembled the original, even if much of the differences were at a molecular level. It seemed that if something had been bred for long storage, firmness, and the ability to be picked earlier and greener and later being "tricked" into ripening by the application of hexane gas (tomatoes, for example), well, there was something not quite copasetic about that. And then there is the whole GMO argument....

I grew up eating homegrown organic veggies and I know what they are supposed to taste like. I am old enough that everything my gran grew when I was a kid is now considered an heirloom, so I know from whence I speak..... So, let me leave this alone before I go off on a rant about this subject. Hate to say “I told you so” but I told you so.....

Most recent news from New Moon Farm Organic

2009-02-13T08:50:00.011-05:00

In my previous post, I mentioned that we were having some issues with the Farmer's back and now it has become an even bigger issue. Four years ago, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. If that sounds like a big scary disease, it is. No question. It strikes like a cobra that has to be killed in one blow. With RCC, that blow is the removal of the kidney, where the tumor originates. If it hasn't moved on to other parts of the body, you are pronounced cured and sent home, told to get a CT scan once a year and have a nice life.

Sometimes it doesn't come back, only that rarely happens. This is a hard disease to fight. The problem is that it doesn't respond to normal chemo and radiation has very little if any affect on it. Thank goodness there has been some real progress and some profound breakthroughs made in the treatment of this cancer over the last four years, provided you are able to obtain these treatments. There are a lot of stumbling blocks, particularly cost, location and availability.

This is one insidious cancer, because it is always lurking in the background of your life, waiting to rise again from the ashes. But, unlike the mythical Phoenix, it has a much more sinister purpose and it usually comes back with a vengeance. So, you have to decide how you are going to live your life...sitting in the house waiting for the ax to fall or live your life like there is no tomorrow...always in the moment and looking forward to the next. Luckily for us, we chose the latter.

The last four years have been up and down for us but we have never waivered from our mission of growing the healthiest food we possibly could and to get it to the people in our community. Our committment to our brothers and sisters under Mother Earth has always been at the forefront of everything we do. We live our own lives with that committment to excellent stewardship always at the forefront (by example is always the best way to teach) and try to never waiver from our goals of sustainability, self-sufficiency and simplicity. In some ways, that has made us outsiders, not quite fitting into the flow of what is happening around us.

Sometimes it almost seems like people are hinting to us that we should apologize for how we live and I can't imagine why. Our life here is one of relative peace and harmony and if that sounds hippyish, that is because it is. There was nothing wrong with those lofty ideals that so many had in the 1960's and early 70's, just with the means to the end and so it didn't stick. Humans are pack animals and we are hardwired on some levels to always try to fit in, which usually means taking the path of least resistance. Ergo, the old hippies became wealthy opening health food stores and record companies. Personally, I became a financial advisor and spent 25 years on that rat wheel before I could get off and save myself.

Finding ourselves in this present position, that of knowing basically nothing about what the future holds, has left us bruised and battered but underneath all that, we know how strong our bond is and know that we will deal with it as best we can. Hopefully, our best will result in only positive things and we will continue along the path we have chosen. Love really is the answer and we have that in spades.

I don't imagine I will be posting very frequently here at this blog for a while. During the next several weeks and months there is a lot of work to be done both at the Farm and to fight this illness. I may be wrong about the postings, though, because I find this is a good place to vent, let out feelings, etc. especially since this blog is about my life on an organic farm and this is all part of that life.

Namaste

2009-02-04T20:10:00.003-05:00

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT MY BLOG
The Farmer is presently hospitalized and having back surgery, so I am suspending the blog temporarily. We have been preoccupied with this for a while not (hence the lack of postings) so bear with me and I should be back on line when he gets home from the hospital next week, since we will be sticking close to the house until he is ambulatory again. Thanks.

The Farm Where I Live

2009-01-11T08:01:00.003-05:00

Article from 2007 that is still relevant today

2009-01-09T10:24:00.009-05:00

The following is an article I posted in 2007 about comparison shopping between being in a CSA and shopping for organic food at the supermarket. Because I didn't have time to do this in 2008, I dredged up the figures from the year before because the principles are the same. Our CSA structure changed for 2008 and we included delivery, so the reference to our CSA is out of date, but the gist of this info is basically the same. Check it out.

Good argument for LOCAL FOOD!!!!
New Moon Farm Comparison Shopping for Organic Produce
July 26, 2007

Recently, there was an article on Yahoo! Money (it is a series about how to manage your money) on how to save money on organic produce. Joining a CSA was one of the 5 ways mentioned. After reading the article, I decided to do a little research of my own. Since I rarely buy organic produce in supermarkets (definite perk of being an organic farmer), I took a trip around to my local groceries that stock organic produce to see what it was selling for there. Since I had some errands to run anyway this week over near the Walmart, Target and Bloom stores, I took a quick survey of their prices for what was received in our CSA share this week for a comparison. Keep in mind that NONE of the produce in the store survey was locally grown.

Here is what I found:
At Target
Two 4 inch long Zuchinni $3.99 (6 oz)
Two 6 inch long Slicing Cukes $3.99
3 small Tomatoes (Hothouse tomatoes, not homegrown heirlooms) $4.99 I weighed these with the plastic clamshell pkg included and it still weighed less 1 lb -- 12 ounces was the pkg wgt. The label said they were a product of Minnesota, go figure.
10 oz. pkg. Grape Tomatoes $3.49
2 Green Bell Peppers $4.99 (If you got the pack with a red and green one, the price was $5.99) Did not have Eggplant available

At Bloom
2 Med. Yellow Squash $3.99 (not quite 1#)
1 dry pt. Grape Tomatoes $3.49 (The dry pt weighed around 8-10 oz)
2 small Green Peppers $3.99
Did not have Tomatoes, Cukes or Eggplant

Harris Teeter was too far to go to and I don't have many other choices in this area.
Food Lion has some packaged organics on occasion but nothing fresh this week but then Bloom is Food Lion anyway. I went into Walmart but it scared me and I ran away....not really, but their organic produce choice was so limited and looked so bad, I just left the store without recording the price info.

Here is what our Tuesday CSA group received this week, priced using the previous supermarket prices:
24 ounces of Grape Tomatoes $8.28
Two cukes $3.99
3 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes $14.97
1.5 lb Squash/Zuchinni/Patties $5.99 (If I were to use the zuchinni price of $10+/lb i/o the yellow squash price of $3.99/lb, the value is $15 for 1.5# of squash)
1 Green Pepper $2.00
1 Italian Eggplant $2.99 (this is our price and the price at Diamond Organics)
1/2 lb Asian Eggplant $1.50 (ditto on this price)
CSA members paid $20 for this weekly share.
Total value for what they received, using supermarket prices: $39.72 sans 6% sales tax. (that adds $2.38 for a total of $42.10)

Our produce is grown under the exact same USDA standards for certified organic produce as ANY of the produce in stores. In fact, we generally grow ours over and above what is required. CSA member's produce was less than 24 hours from the field when they received it and didn't travel 3000 miles to get to you, so the nutritional value is probably double or triple what the store's produce would be. AND they saved $19.72 over what this produce would have cost at the store before any sales tax was added.

2009-01-01T18:39:00.009-05:00

LATEST AMAZING CHICKEN STORY

The new year came in with a nice surprise today and I have a wonderful chicken story to tell (regular readers know I am all about the chicken thing...).

We had lunch with The Farmer's Mom today. It was the traditional New Year's meal of greens, peas, etc. so hopefully we covered all the bases for the coming year. I am not too sure what the incredible chocolate cake we had for desert bodes for but if it is half as good as the cake, I can't wait!!!

After we finished, we came home to wait for the person who is buying our used van to come by and we were sitting on the sofa talking about it. All of a sudden, I noticed a shadow outside the front window. We have a porch with rockers across the front of our little house and the shadow appeared to be someone rocking in one of the chairs. I thought it might be the van buyer so I got up to look out the window and there was one of our hens sitting on the back of the chair.

The shades were down and she was turning her head back and forth trying to see in. When I opened the door and she saw me, she started clucking and squawking like she had just laid an egg (they do that, you know). I thought she was just doing something "chickeny" so I went back in the house. After I shut the door, she raised the volume on the clucking about 3 notches and started to peck on the window, so I went back outside to see if I could figure out what the problem was.

I should explain that this is the tamest hen we have out of the whole flock of over 100. She also lays one egg a day in one of several old baskets on the porch. I originally kept some of my garden tools in them and when I noticed this little black hen setting in one of them every day, I took the tools out and left the basket for her. The porch wraps around and the basket is usually in the back corner where it is protected from the elements, but it was VERY windy yesterday and it had blown off and I hadn't noticed it.

As crazy as it seemed, I thought maybe that was what she wanted, so I picked up the basket, along with a box and another basket that had blown off, too and put them down on the table for a minute to see if I could put it somewhere where it wouldn't blow off again. Almost as soon as I put her basket down on the table (not the usual spot, mind you) she stopped all the clucking, hopped down from the chair and came running over to me. She jumped up on the table, looked over the basket and hopped in and started settling down to lay her egg. Within 10 minutes, she was cradling her newly laid egg and in another 15 minutes, left and went back to her scratching under the big boxwood by the side of the house.

Her protector is one of the young Delaware roosters and he was there, too, in the bush, watching us. I say protector because he is young and not very "savvy" when it comes to the ladies, so he is kind of odd man out in the rooster club. But he really likes this little black hen because she doesn't peck him all the time like the other hens do (the roosters mostly ignore him because he has trouble crowing...sounds like he has a perpetual frog in his throat). When she got into the basket, he came and stood over her while she laid her egg.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add that there was a cat sleeping on the table beside the baskets that never moved during the entire process. I have seen this hen get into her basket with a kitten sleeping in it before, so that part didn't really surprise me. Of course, that kitten is deaf and never hears her coming. He generally doesn't hang around once she gets in because she takes up most of the basket and she doesn't like to share. I have never seen her peck him, though, she just pushes him out with her preparations. He just gets up and leaves on his own.

Pictures of the Little Black Hen follow this post.

Pictures to accompany Amazing Chicken Story

2009-01-01T18:32:00.008-05:00

The Little Black Hen, checking out the basket while the roo looks on.

There is a cat sleeping on the other side of the box. I am not totally sure what the rooster is doing with his foot up there, except maybe trying to look cool...
Settled in and down to business.

See the egg in the left corner, just under her feathers....

2008-12-31T07:15:00.013-05:00

Since one of the oft touted benefits of buying local food is that you get to know your farmers, I thought I would present you with a thumbnail biography about the Farmer and myself so that you might have some small insight into why we do what we do. We have never really done that before because it is very weird to write about yourself. If you read this blog, you know that growing things is a big part of our life, so I am just going to write about the non-NMFO stuff. Hope it turns out okay...

The Farmer

The Farmer was born in 1959 and grew up mostly in Charlotte. His dad was in law enforcement and his mom worked for the school system but they both grew up in the farming community where we are presently located. His parents moved to Charlotte in the late 1950's but because their family ties remained strong, the Farmer spent lots of his weekends and most of his summers coming back to the farm where he spent much of his time helping his grandad and great-grandad work on the farm. He also spent a lot of time outdoors which is where he developed his great love and understanding of nature. One of the reasons he got into organic farming is because of the connection to that love of all things natural. To be able to make a living doing something that is such a noble venture, as well as something that is part of your very core being, is about the best job I can think of right now. Besides, he has the greenest thumb this side of the Jolly Green Giant.

In Charlotte, his family lived outside the city limits, in a rural area where there were still several working farms. When he was about 12, he had a job, before school, at the dairy farm behind their house, feeding the cows as they were being milked. He had a great big bucket that he had to keep refilling at the silo and hauling back to the barn to keep the cows happy and calm. I think he might have also done some milking when he was a teenager.

After graduating high school, he attended college in North Carolina, where he played soccer (first ever freshman to start for his team...he was pretty good) and got a degree in Industrial Design and Engineering. He then spent 15 years or so working as an engineer for a design firm that made precision and micro instruments for industrial uses. Things like drill bits the size of a human hair and stuff like that. He also worked on projects for the auto and computer industry. Eventually, he left the field of engineering and headed west to pursue another life.

All of his life, the Farmer gravitated toward to the water, rivers, lakes or the oceans, which lead him to take up sailing at a young age and he remains a proficient big boat sailor to this day. His love of wind, water and waves, sparked an interest in a fledgling sport back in the early 80's called "windsurfing". Quickly mastering this sport, he spent several years with a corporate sponsorship on the windsurfing circuit. Kite boarding came along in the 90's and the progression into that sport just came naturally. Today he continues to pursue these sports, whenever he can get time away from the farm to do so.

Gifted with an incredibly right and curious mind, the Farmer is a true Renaissance man. He has many wide and varied interests that don't involve water. He is a licensed falconer and knows a whole lot about raptors. He plays guitar, Dobro, banjo and percussion. He practices yoga. He can build just about anything from the ground up and can make fire with a couple of sticks and a strip of leather. One area of particular interest to the Farmer is the study of Native American spiritualism and culture, particularly the Hopi. He hopes to complete his spiritual healing studies someday. And he always tells the truth, even if it stings a little. The Farmer is pretty cool.

The Farmer's Wife

I had a wonderful childhood. I grew up in a small town near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains that was big enough not to be "backward" and small enough so that everybody pretty much knew each other. I was a "town girl" who had grandparents with a farm just outside of the city limits. They grew a huge garden every year which fed us pretty well and that granny taught me how to cook with ingredients fresh from the garden and the value of preserving part of the harvest every year.

Besides the big garden, there were also had apple and cherry trees to climb. We played under grapevines that Granny constantly admonished us to stay away from, lest we get stung by yellow jackets or bees. I don't remember ever getting stung by a yellow jacket until this past year. They had a mangy 3 legged cat that hung around the barn most of the time and presented us with tiny kittens to play with many times. (back then nobody spayed their pets). They gave her away a couple of times but she always returned so they just gave up. I loved that old raggedy cat. I won't say I ran wild at their farm, but is certainly was a free and wonderful place to be.

My other set of grandparents lived in town but had a huge back yard that was a wonderland to me as a child. That grandmother was from up North and cooked weird and exotic things like asparagus or rhubarb pie, with ingredients from her own garden. They had a crab apple tree in the back and a quince bush covered with big thorns and she made jelly out of those fruits. They also had a couple of apple trees that I wish we had saved cuttings from because I now realize that they were heirloom varieties. There was one tree that had the absolute best apples I have ever tasted. I don't eat apples to this day because of that tree...haven't found a variety that even comes close to the flavor and I searched for years before I gave that quest up. The closest I ever came was the old time Rusty Coat.

My grandfather also had a solarium where he grew some really exotic plants, like the giant jade tree that was taller than me as an adult or the Bird of Paradise plant that bloomed almost continually and from which he sold the flowers to the local florist. He also had a full sized lemon tree in the greenhouse that he used the lemons from to make incredible lemon meringue pies for which he was well know among the local widows ( my grandmother died with I was 19).

These city grandparents were organic gardeners and I remember growing up reading Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine because there were always several issues on the coffee table in their den. They had a big compost pile in the far corner of the yard, next to the asparagus/rhubarb beds and I used to marvel at all of the worms when I "helped" my grandfather turn the pile.

That early exposure (I was probably around 10 when what I was reading in the ROGs at their house started to sink in a bit) really shaped my lifelong interest in organic growing methods. In the late 60's I finally made the connection between organics and what was happening to the environment, to health issues, etc. Reading "The Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson had a tremendous influence on my views about the world.

After graduating from high school, I worked through my life by going off to college, getting married, having kids and working my way up to a successful career. My marriage failed and I was at odds on what direction to take with my life. It was a very confusing time and I was really at a loss for where to go next. One dream I never lost through all those years was to go out West and find a commune where I could grow my own food, get back to the land, live free, etc. (Of course that was my dream! I grew up in the Sixties...).

It took me two years to make the decision but I decided to see if any of that dream was still alive. I finally quit my job in 1994 and a week later I was on the road. The reality of it turned out to be that I just needed to clear my head and re-evaluate the direction my life was taking and it worked. Through those travels, I discovered that my dream had matured considerably and that my path was not what I had envisioned at all. That is what brought me to the place I am today. The best thing about taking that dramatic step was that I found someone to share my journey.

It is WooHoo! time at the Farm

2008-12-30T10:03:00.005-05:00

Going to the mailbox is becoming more and more fun lately because the seed catalogs are rolling in every day now. Last year, I got on some new mailing lists for seeds, plants, equipment, etc. and some of those have arrived. I haven't even opened a single catalog yet because I want to sit down and just start going through them one at a time until I have perused them all. Usually I open them as they come in but thought I would do something different this year.

Ordinarily, I would not order a paper catalog (tree hugger, remember?) but I can't compare varieties, etc. using the computer. I have a big old oak library table where I do my paperwork and I can spread about 10 catalogs around and flip one to the other. Since I am mostly looking for ethnic, open pollinated and organically grown seeds, I start there but if I see a variety that is not being produced organically I have a whole other process I have to go through. We are required to use certified organic seed (no GMO allowed in certified seed) unless we can verify that we checked all sources available to us and did not find the variety produced that way...that is a job when you grow over 100 different varieties. Also, we only use seed sources that publish a "safe seed" pledge if they are not organically produced varieties.

Sometimes, I get heirloom seeds, organic or not, from seed savers like myself and from all over the country. One particular seed friend that I trade seeds with is in Southern California, almost down to Mexico. She grows all kinds of native Mexican chiles and loves to get our southern varieties, especially okras, in trade because they will grow in her hot dry climate. Sometimes they do better, too, because she doesn't have to deal with the humidity like we do (fungi are a problem for her). She turned me onto a Chocolate Chile that has become a favorite with us and a variety I have never seen in any seed catalog. It is dark brown, mildly spicy and tastes like it was smoked, even when eaten fresh! Gotta love that! But back to the subject I was on before I took that little trek off path.

Once I get a feel for anything new that I think we might want to grow, I research the varieties more thoroughly online (the blurbs in seed catalogs are meant to "sell" on on a variety, so I like to check out the real skinny on them by looking at online blogs and forums that discuss the realities of them. Don't always find them but I would say that 8 out of 10 times, I do. Then I have to present my arguments to the Farmer for his approval (sometimes he sees something I totally missed). There is a lot more to what we do here than just picking up some seed packs at the local seed store and sticking them in the ground. It actually takes us about 2 months of research and planning to get our farm plan like we want it.

Soil and field prep will start as soon as the ground dries out enough to get anything done. Right now the ground is "sticky" meaning that it sticks to hoes, plows, etc. and makes getting any field work done nearly impossible. There was an announcement last week that the drought in Rowan County was just declared officially over (in December...) and so we will be scrambling in February to get things prepped for planting. That is also about the time we will start out seedlings for planting out in April (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs) once it is warm enough to set them in the garden without fearing a hard freeze. April planting will becomes the June/July/August crop of those items.

The good news is that we have lots of things in the ground that will "winter over" and pop up out of the ground and/or start growing again, as soon as we start having warmer days, usually in mid-February. We learned our lesson a couple of years ago, when the winter was so wet we had trouble getting anything planted in time to start our season on time. We were about 2 weeks late on planting and that put us behind until summer. One thing about farming is that there are continual lessons to be learned and if you don't pay attention, you will suffer later. The weather in this region has become so unpredictable in spring and so extreme in summer that some of our growing methods have changed radically in the 10 years we have been doing this. Maybe since the drought has broken, the summer will not be so brutal in 2009. Keeping my fingers crossed for that.

CSA brings responsibilities for the shareholders, not just farmers

2008-12-22T11:17:00.017-05:00

"...as a shareholder in both the bounty and the risk, I understand that nature ultimately decides what I receive and when I will receive it."

That is a quote from the first paragraph of our CSA membership agreement and it is a powerful statement. For anyone who is considering membership in CSA (any CSA, not just ours) I would like to give some insight into what being in a CSA means. While every CSA is different in some way, the basic premise is pretty much the same.

Buying into a CSA is an investment in a working farm, not hiring a produce delivery service. No investment comes without potential risks, as well as potential rewards, and a CSA is no exception. The member's investment returns are paid with the labor of the farmer, the use of his land, water and other resources and as a portion of harvests received. There are many factors that can affect the outcome. Anything that happens on the farm affects the CSA, ergo the members are affected, also.

Nothing is ever guaranteed in any investment, especially one involving a farm venture. When a crop is less than expected or fails completely members share that outcome. There is never any way to know exactly what conditions will provide which bounties or crop losses and a CSA member should be prepared for either situation.

Members of a CSA invest in a specific year's seasonal crops and harvests, in return for a specified number of week's products during that year. Ours happens to run for 30 weeks and our growing season runs from April to April. Sometime in that 12 month period, we will fulfill our 30 week obligation to our members. We do our very best to provide it as a weekly portion for 30 consecutive weeks, but there can be no guarantee that this will be the case. The same is true for most any CSA.

Generally, the operator of a CSA knows pretty well what members can expect to receive over the seasons, but there is never any way to say exactly how much or exactly when crops will come in. Say a strain of green beans is supposed to take 65 days to produce, that is only an average and usually if growing conditions are optimal. With the weather in this region being so unpredictable and extreme sometimes, there are many many factors that weigh into a successful year's harvests. Part of the farmer's expertise comes in with being able to plan, execute and deliver crops by being able to work around these variables.

Any venture in which the ultimate successful outcome is dependent on variables like weather conditions, insect pests, crop failures, flooding rains, wind damage is stressful. It is business as usual in our region. Organic field grown crops are considerably more susceptible to any adverse conditions because of the nature of how these crops are grown. With all the factors that weigh into a successful growing year, a farmer who is bringing in a decent crop of 30, 40 or even 50 different varieties is quite a feat, yet we do that consistently here at our farm.

Food doesn't just happen. Growing certified organic food takes capital, extensive knowledge, patience, perseverance, hard work, luck and sometimes even a small miracle for any crop to come to its full fruition. The farm labor has to be done, sometimes 50-60+ hours per week, in searing heat or bitter cold ( farmers work year round to provide food during the growing season). The varieties are chosen (picking out good ones is a skill in itself), the seeds are bought and planted, the weeds hoed and pulled. Planting, picking, prepping and packing has to be done.

All of that work is done no matter what the final outcome is and nothing changes that. I think that people don't realize is how much the farmer loses when there is a crop loss. The expense, time, effort, space, effect on future plantings, the scrambling to plant something to make up for the shortfall all falls on the shoulders of the grower. We have worked just as hard and put in just as much on a crop that didn't produce but a bushel of produce as we did on the one that produced ten.

The CSA farm/member relationship is not a simple one. Being in a CSA means that you have to be willing to support your CSA farm, financially, spiritually and personally. Most people join a CSA because they want to know the person who grows their food and develop ties to that person, even if it is just to say "hi" when the share is picked up for the week. Having that supportive membership means a lot to the farmer.

Most CSA operators are extremely dedicated to their members and the expertise and skill of the farmer has something to do with the end results. Unrealistic expectations about the CSA farm usually leads to disappointment or an unsatisfactory experience with CSA membership. Going into the relationship with realistic ideas about what can and might happen and appreciation of the amount of work involved in growing and managing a CSA can make a big difference in your CSA experience.

CSA membership is an immensely rewarding experience for most people who join one. Beautiful fresh, healthy produce, sharing in bountiful harvests, feeling good about supporting a family farm and getting to know the person who grows the food you feed your family should be enough to make CSA membership worthwhile.

Helping to support a small sustainable farm is also a great way to put your "green" food forward by actually doing something pro-active to improve the environment. Most small farms pollute less, protect the land from environmental concerns and use methods that make the food that they grow much safer and healthier than anything you can buy at a supermarket. Reducing the carbon footprint related to your food supply is certainly a positive thing.

So, after reading all of that, if you think that being in a CSA might be the thing for you, go out and find one in your area. You can look on websites LocalHarvest.org and GreenPeople.com or you can search the Web using keywords like CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, farm share, local produce along with your state or Zip Code (otherwise you will find CSA's from California....).

Not such a great idea...

2008-12-13T10:11:00.004-05:00

According to serious environmentalists, one of the worst ideas of 2008: Carbon Offsets

The wanna-be environmentalist's "Get out of Jail Free" card, carbon offsets enable companies or individuals to invest in tree farms or wind power as a way to compensate for their carbon footprints. Problem is, offsets don't change behavior. They're just the green equivalent of confession, making people feel better about their eco-sins but not stopping them from committing them.

MAKING CSA MORE ACCESSIBLE IN THIS ECONOMY

2008-12-01T08:02:00.008-05:00

I hope that everyone is faring well during the recent economic turmoil that has been affecting us all. The state of the world is very fragile right now and I pray for peace and harmony every day and for the health and happiness of all. It is not an easy road to travel but if we take it slowly and mindfully, things will be brighter at the end of the road. The Farmer and I have given a lot of thought to how to do our part to help out those who want to be in CSA but who might need a little assistance with making that happen.

Trying to keep our CSA accessible and affordable is a very challenging proposition. By not raising our costs at the same level that other industries are raising theirs we have pretty much kept out prices at the same level for the last several years. This has been a tremendous burden because our production costs have tripled in many areas. Last year, we did increase the price of CSA to a level that would allow us to include delivery of shares to members but that has proven to be an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" scenario. (Who would have thought that gas prices would have spiked at $4+ per gallon right in the middle of our busiest season?) We will be going back to pick up locations for next year and have added one to the list, so now there will be three choices. In addition, we have changed the structure of our CSA to include more affordable payment options and expanded CSA overall by establishing partnership with other local farmers.

MONTHLY PAYMENT OPTION AND MONTH-TO-MONTH SHARES
For the first time ever, we are accepting monthly payments (after the initial deposit) for membership in our CSA. We have set up a PayPal account to take credit card payments (although there is a small admin fee -theirs, not ours- to use this system).

Also, we are offering a Month-to-Month Share that requires only a one month at a time commitment. There are a couple of restrictions on the Month-to-Month option. This share is not available in May and June, during strawberry season, and it is not available as a 100% organic produce share but overall is still a great CSA option.

PUTTING CHARLOTTE BACK IN THE SCHEDULE
We had not planned on having Charlotte back in the pick up rotation next year but the demand was such that we had to pay attention. For that reason, we have added the Charlotte Regional Farmer's Market back into our schedule for 2009. We will be there on Saturdays again starting in late April (CSA officially starts May 2, 2009). There will also be lots of our organic produce for sale at this market but a limited number of varieties. We are doing 2 other markets now and don't want to spread it too thinly so our farm plan includes growing some of our more major crops (okra and sweet potatoes for example) in quantities enough to accommodate all of our venues.

All of the information about these new options are published on the website at
http://www.newmoonfarmorganic.com/

Happy Thanskgiving to Everyone!!!

2008-11-27T18:00:00.003-05:00

Hello to everyone. It's been a while since posted anything new here. It has been crazy busy around here lately but I am taking time to write this brief post right now to give our holiday greetings to everyone who reads this blog. I have a little downtime to myself because I waiting for eggs to boil (got the under the chickens this morning). I am going to make these rocking curry stuffed eggs for Thanksgiving dinner today. Oh-oh! Now I hear the beeper going off on the egg timer and I am off to make my eggs.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL

BE SAFE!

Revelations about buying organic in supermarkets

2008-11-04T11:38:00.008-05:00

I hate grocery shopping. I love to cook and so everything I see (except for paper products, etc.)is a potential ingredient for something tasty so I get total sensory overload and buy things I will never use. Because I only buy organic, this can get quite expensive so a trip to the grocer store for me is an exercise in self-control. Once in a while, though, we do go to the supermarket and last week, the Farmer and I went to SuperTarget. It is like sticker shock on a new car, every time we go and this most recent trip was not exception.

(Note: Everything we bought was certified organic, except for the mayo)

2 medium sized Slicing Cukes (What a disappointment these things were. I cut the first one and it had a big hard mass of seeds in the middle that I couldn't even cut with a knife and we threw it out. The other one was dry and yellow inside, even though the outside looked perfect.)

1 Pgk (7 Small) Tomatoes (Campari's, about the size of a pingpong ball)
12 ounces was the pkg wgt. They were quite tasty but they didn't go very far.

1 Med. Yellow Squash and 1 Med. Zuchinni (pkgd. together - not quite 1# wgt. We had 2 meals from those.)
4 avocados (which were partially black inside...yuck! I made gray guacamole...tasted okay but looked horrendous)

1 lb bag of green onions

1 Amy's Spinach Pizza (on sale last week so we indulged)

2 bags organic frozen french fries (don't ask)

1 lb bag carrots (there are 5 carrots in the bag)

1 head of broccoli

2 boxes of organic oatmeal (on sale)

1Pkg of 6 flatbreads

2 pkgs organic cheddar cheese (likewise on sale and an indulgence)

1 Jar of peanut butter (staple)

1 lb organic butter (staple)

3 lb. bag of onions (staple) (We already used all but 2 of the onions, 5 were in the bag.)

5 lb bag of russet potatoes (staple)

1 Jar of Mayo (staple)

That is the entire list of what we bought. If it looks like a lot, it isn't. Everything listed above fit into 3 bags...and the total was $106.87. That means that the average cost of each item listed was about $3.50 (of course some were more, some were less...but that is the average.) I think if I had been buying conventional food, I could have gotten 2 or 3 times as much for my money.

I feel good about the fact that we grow the majority of our own food and that this trip to the market was a relatively rare occurence. I do watch for organic bargains where I can find them and stock up, if and when , it is something that I know we will use. I have been know to buy out an entire stocking of a product, if it is a good deal and I can make good use of it down the road. Organic chicken stock was a recent purchase....I bought 15 cans at less than $1 each.

When I do buy off farm produced items, I am very diligent about certain aspects of what I am purchasing. I never buy organic products from out of the country, unless I know exactly where they came from and the situation with organic certification for the country of origin and/or whether or not it is a fair trade item. Since these items are as scarce as hen's teeth in my culinary world that is not much of a problem for me. But we do like organic raw almonds, for example, ergo I have to get them from a non-local source and I consider them an indulgence, to have once in a while, not a staple food item. I don't know too many people who grow them in this area (although I do know one person with an almond tree, just down the road from our farm).

If you are smart with your organic shopping, you can eat healthy food at a reasonable cost, especially if you supplement your produce with fresh local in season items when you can take advantage of them, preserve things for later when things are in season, and learn to make you own foods from scratch, instead of buying prepared and processed foods. It may be a little more expensive but in the long run you will be healthier and stronger for it and probably a lot more self-sufficient.

The Delaware Project update

2008-10-22T11:01:00.005-04:00

If you have followed this blog for a while, you probably know that I have been almost obsessed with Delaware chickens for quite a while. Delawares are a critically endangered domestic breed chicken that was the most popular fowl in America for a while in the 1940's.

Being critically endangered means that there are 5 or fewer breeding flocks (or 500 breeding birds worldwide) being managed and that the fowl is in danger of being lost. Same as with species in the wild...extinction of domestic livestock is something that many people don't ever think about. I think that losing these breeds loses some of our history and, as with our comittment to preservation of historical heirloom food plants, I am determined to do my part for this chicken breed.

Back in April, after searching nationwide for a source to obtain some of these chickens, luck smiled upon me and I contacted someone in my own backyard who had some. I guess my passion for this project (I want to establish a breeding flock of Delawares) must have touched him because after a few conversations, he offered to sell me his entire flock from adult birds to
day old hatched chicks (he had them in the incubator at the time) so I jumped at the chance. Needless to say, I was thrilled because I had called all the way to Montana to try to find these
rare birds in quantity and then they just fell into my lap.

The original group consisted of 14 mature hens, 5 roosters (I only took 2...they are HUGE) and about 80 chicks ranging in age from 3-4 weeks down to the day olds that hatched the morning of the day when I picked them up. The chicks were the progeny of these 14 hens and the roosters so it really is a big ole family. (We have other chicken breeds, too but not quite as many as the Dels.)

That was back in April and now the chicks that survived are almost as big as their parents. Of the 80, we lost about 10 to predatation and accidents. All of the original adults survive. There are just about the same number of roosters as there are hens now. The young hens are almost at the proper age to start laying themselves. At the present time, the chickens have total free range of the entire farm, if they want it, but stay pretty close to the henhouse, where they are housed at night to keep predators from them and where they are .

While predation of your livestock is usually not funny, there are situations than can be. We have a couple of Cooper's Hawks that live in our area. These are the true chicken hawks, not the Red Tail Hawk, which is commonly thought to be the culprit. Cooper's are bird predators, while Red Tails are rat/mouse predators. Anyway, these chickens are so big that the Coop's just sit in the trees and scream down at them because they know they are way too big for them to even try to prey on and so the chickens just turn their heads and look up at them and don't even try to get under any cover. Our game chickens run for the hills when anything crosses the sky, even a plane, but the Delawares just kinda of get an attitude like, "Yeah, right..... ".

Some of our hens probably weigh in at about 6 lbs and the two mature roosters, Spartacus and Hercules, go about 8-9 lbs. each. And they are gentle giants. No squabbling among them like some of the other chicken breeds we have. The roosters actually seem to cooperate to keep the hens safe and satisfied. Of course, they have about 100 ladies to share between the two of them and they take their responsibilities very seriously. Some of the young roosters are getting a little "cocky" and they are quickly dispatched but the hens, not the roosters. Totally funny!!

I hope to have Delaware chicks and pullets for sale by next year but for now, I am keeping all of them safe and healthy, which is very satisfying for me. After this post, there are some pictures of the gang, so take a look if you are interested!

2008-10-22T10:54:00.005-04:00

Hercules and some of his "girls", chilling in the shade.
Doofus, one of the young Delawares. Hope he grows into those feet.
Spartacus showing me his good side...
Taking in some barnyard sunshine.

2008-10-21T08:23:00.003-04:00

Twice a year, once in spring and once again in the fall, our weather in this area just can't seem to decide which season it wants to be in. Last week and again this week, we are seeing evidence of that with the wild temperature fluctuations. It was 82 degrees one day and less than 36 hours we had a low of 34, which is a 48 degree difference.

There are not too many places that have such roller coaster rides for weather as this one. It wreaks havoc on trying to get crops like we grow to settle into one season or the other. We have many, many things planted right now. They grow like mad for a while, then slow to a crawl, so it is hard sometimes to get Fall actually started, especially when summer like temps tease us one day and frost licks at our heels the next.

The late summer varieties are lasting way longer than normal. Eggplant, peppers, basil and other herbs are humming along like nothing is happening, although we did water them down the other day when there was a frost warning for our community. The Fall varieties are coming along but taking a little longer because of the warmer temps. Not so great if you are getting tired of the summer stuff but great in the long run because the Fall stuff will peak and last longer into the cooler season and so take us thru the end of our CSA, provided nothing else weird happens with the weather. Once we get into late November and early December, then the chances of a cold snap come into play.

We have 8 weeks left and CSA will be done for the year. If members take away nothing else from this season with CSA, they should have a greater grasp of what a small farmer faces when trying to bring in a seasons crops. Factory farms that plant only one thing and do everything mechanically and chemically don't have to fret over much. Diversity require faith, patience, expertise, finesse and a whole lot of good luck to produce the end result. This is the main reason that the US is down to about 80 varieties. If you go into a grocer in Modesto, California and buy a head of lettuce, it is exactly the same variety you would purchase here....keeping it boring and simply is key to factory farming.

We originally took up focusing on heirlooms because we wanted to preserve and enjoy the same foods that our great- and grandparents lived on. Tastes much better too, because we grow things for flavor, nutrition, beauty and interest, not whether or not it can be packed into a train car and shipped 3000 miles or if it will last 3-4 weeks on the grocer shelf (think shipping tomatoes...and where does the nutrition go?).

Things have gone much better this year than last year during the drought and we are well pleased with it all. Of course, the gas price hikes and shortages were not so much fun, were they? We still have stations here in Mooresville that don't have premium petrol, only regular, but the price is $3.09 instead of $4.09.

Knocking on wood that nothing drastic happens in the next 2 months, we should finish out the season no problem. Except for the disaster that is delivery, it was a pretty good year all 'round. Once our season is finished, we can sit back, breath a sigh of relief, take a month off and start the process all over again.

Farming organically is a year round system. I will be working on the farm plan in Dec./Jan. and the Farmer will be back in the field by February, doing soil prep. Overwintered crops will start to pop back up as soon as we have some warm days, even in February, and we will be back in full swing by the end of March or early April. CSA doesn't start until May next year unless we have a bumper early crop and start a few weeks early. Since there is still a pretty good chance of weird weather conditions until about the first week of May, we decided not to fight it next year and just wait it out.

Garden Helper coming to call

2008-10-05T11:52:00.005-04:00

This beautiful mantis was perched outside our kitchen window this morning, stalking a meal in the azaleas. Can't tell from this pic but she is about 4 inches long. Tried to get her to turn her head so you could see her face, but she was intent on an insect that was probably her breakfast.