What we learned our first year on the farm

Weather rules your life here. So many things depend on the weather its frustrating when the weather does not do what you want, when you want it! October was very rainy and cold. The late harvest of tomatoes did not work; they just never ripened due to the cold.

The best laid plans can result in nothing. For example my idea of growing my own chicken feed did not work too well. Some of the plants I did grow did not grow well and the ones that did were next to impossible to harvest and use.

My sunflowers turned out good but im’ not sure if I like feeding that to my chickens with the shells on. I'm going to try again next year, but I think I need to go back to do more research. Anybody can plant a seed and make it grow, it's harvesting, drying and storing that is the hard part. I hung a bunch of sunflowers in the work shed to dry and the mice got to them and ate most of it, so the chickens didn’t get most of them.

Our carrots from the garden were great!! I wish we had grown 16 times more of them. So next year we are planting a whole bed of them at different intervals so that we can harvest them through out the year and still have plenty to freeze and use in the winter.

Our compost pile is now doing well. It's 5 ft by 6 ft with some fencing around it. We are sifting thru the bedding in the chicken coop for manure every 5 weeks to keep it active. Chicken poop is one of the best manures you can use, but you can’t put it on the plants directly or it will burn. So using it in the compost is the perfect solution. It is high in nitrates that plants love.

We harvested our last bunch of chickens for meat with a grand total of 11. That was very rewarding, but I’m glad to get it over with. It was getting cold and they were eating a lot of money oh I mean feed every day (little piggies). So it quickly gets to a point where keeping then any longer is just costing money and they aren’t growing any bigger. SO… off with their heads. Next year the plan is to get 24 (enough for the year) all at once and butcher them before it gets cold.

Our canning supply is holding out well. We gave some away for Christmas, but barely put a dent in it. Kris is tired of pear/apple sauce, but I still love it. I have got a good supply of jars already saved and will be keeping a eye out at the thrift stores all winter. I mostly want blue Ball jars. I just love them..

My lovely wife is looking forward to a better tomato harvest and sugar snap peas. We think (hope) that there will be fewer weeds in the garden. And we hope to be more prepared for the apples and pears that we were overwhelmed with this fall I’m sure she will have many wonderful ideas on pies, jams, ect…

EGGS we have EGGS!!!!!!

They eggs have arrived! The eggs have arrived! The whole family was full of excitement when we found our first tiny little brown egg. We were so excited, we scrambled up that tiny egg and shared it between the 3 of us.

So, after 20 weeks of care giving, my chicks have all grown into mature Hens and their finally giving back eggs. They started out really small, but after a few weeks they are starting to get to normal size.
We're collecting about 4 a day now and soon it will be more and they are the best eggs we've ever tasted!!

Every morning after they eat they will settle into the nesting box I made and by 1:00pm there are eggs. It's magical.....LOL
I think were going on the 5th doz. now WOW...Going to start selling to friends soon. $2.75 for 1 doz. $5 for 2doz. That's cheaper that anyone around for fresh Organic eggs even Wal-Mart.. some place close to here are getting $4 per doz.

We’re all done canning for this year. Out last batch of grape jelly was made last week. I'm starting to collect jars for next year so we will be ready for the canning season. Maybe next year we will really go crazy with it.

We learned a lot this year from our gardening and our chickens. Sadly, our tomatoes did not do so good "stupid weather". It got cold early and I had a late start on tomatoes so a lot of green tomatoes got frosted to death sooo sad. I salvaged what I could and put some in freezer. We are going to thaw some out in mid winter and feed to chickens, they love tomatoes...only a few at a time as a treat.

My organic feed guy, Joe, is still my suppler for feed. What a nice guy he is. He will put out feed for me even when he is going to be closed on the day I'm coming to pick-up feed. I just drop a check in his mail box, grab my feed and off I go.

I got the garden plots almost all done for the winter. Got the compost down & the soil worked up. Tomato cages and hoses are put away for the winter and the Hot Box (or cold frame) is getting fixed up to start the next crop of seedlings.

We are going to do a few things different next year, but I got a long winter to thing about the changes I would like to try and to mull over what worked and what didn’t.

The Internet is like our new best friend now. We do not get out much and when we do it's not all that interesting, but it’s a price I'm willing to pay so that my daughter can spend her day picking flowers, eating apples & pears from the our trees and chasing chickens around the yard. Not to worry about her getting hit by a stray bullet from some drive-by shooting. That happened to some kids 1 block away from my old house in North Minneapolis and 2 kids were killed. Yep, the life here is better than I imagined and I have no regrets.

Harvest Time

So we have finished canning pears off the Bartlet pear tree last week. Now there is an even bigger pear tree that has been patiently holding on to its fruit for the last three weeks.... now their falling on the ground and we can’t keep up.

I also need to buy more canning jars... Note to self... stock -up on jars all year long so you do not have to go several stores just to find the all the jars left are half-pints.

We have filled something close to 150 jars of various sizes filled with all manner of yummy things. (And we are not done.) My lovely wife has taken to our new found hobby quite well, and has come up with some interesting ideas for jams and jellies. So far we have Rhubarb-Orange jam ~ Pear, Apple, Peach jam ~ Concord Jelly ~ Peach Pear Jam ~ Raspberry Apple Jam ~ Raspberry Pear Jam (and more to come I’m sure).

During this time of canning, I discovered the world of antique BALL jar collecting. I only have a few so far, but next year at this time, I should have many more. Just last week I canned a jar of pear juice in a blue Ball jar from the early mechanization period 1895-1910 with 3L transition embossing. “Translation” that’s means its old and rare to all non-jar collectors out there...LOL
(I crack myself up. If I don't who will?)

We have been told of a place close by that has an apple press. We’re going to bring in 150lbs at least and have all our apples pressed into cider. This is a very exciting time, even if it is busy.

Our second shipment of chickens arrived last week 12 Barred rocks and 12 Cornish x Rocks and 1 Rooster (his name is Boo-Boo chicken (after Donald Duck’s pet chicken on the Mickey Mouse Club house show).

Boo-Boo Chicken will hopefully become the pet that our daughter can grow attached to and he won’t go “missing” after a few weeks.


They are SO cute. You know your life has change when you spending your money on chicken feed and canning jars. Last year at this time I was going to wine tastings on a regular basis and seeing Phantom of the Opera and enjoying the city nightlife. Now its all about chicken poop, compost and growing your own food.

I have to say with the help of dear wife we’re on track for a fairly successful first year on the farm. There is still a lot of work to do yet, its going to be a busy but rewarding fall harvest.

Our Vistor

Today we had a visit from a warty old toad. He had great color and a fat belly.
My daughter was intrigued by the little toad, but not quite willing to hold it, so mommy held Mr. Toad instead. Since amphibians are one of the first creatures to show mutation in an unhealthy environment, it was wonderful to see such a healthy guy.
Here he is in the Toad House.

Rendezvous

You might think that living in the country would make us sick of nature and camping would be the last thing on our minds, well if you thought that, you'd be wrong. We love camping and not just any old time of camping, but Rendezvous camping.

What's that you say, well Rendezvous camping is a celebration of the Pioneer Fur Trade Era (Pre-1840).

It's camping early 1800's style. Camp fire cooking, black powder rifle shooting, tomahawk/knife throwing contest, bow & arrow shooting, trading goods, all kinds of things to do or just relax around the camp fire drinking the finest coffee ever percolated over a fire. We camp with very few modern day luxuries such as a cooler with food and cots to rest our weary and aging bones. The rest is mostly period correct, usually nothing later than 1840.

It's nice to wake up in the morning knowing all I have to do today is forage for berries, make coffee and fry up some pancakes.

For example this weekend my daughter and I went into the woods and picked a big bowl of wild black berries, then made blackberry pancakes with them yummy.

The kids who come have such a good time. They can just be kids, play ring-around-the-rosie, throw hay, play tag till dusk and be safe no matter which campsite they are in. Everyone looks out for everyone elses kids and a good time is had by all.
My wife Kris and my mother in-law won 2nd and 3rd place in a pie baking contest.

Kris also won first in women’s tomahawk throw, 3rd in a frying pan toss, and 3rd in a fire starting contest (and she was the only female). The fire starting contest is where you start a camp fire without matches or lighters just your flint and steel. Yep she's a keeper alright...

Me, well I’m not very competitive, but I do enjoy many of the activities. Though usually relaxing by the fire or in my period correct canvas tent (that is 12x14) is more my style.

The weather was nice this year 77 degrees by day and low 50's at night.

Next year we hope to do a little more camping , maybe not in the fall because right now were up to our elbows in apples and pears and tomatoes.......

Soy

Confused About Soy?--Soy Dangers Summarized
Here is a brief outline of what why we are trying to find soyfree chicken feed, because remember if the chickens eat it and then we eat the chickens then we are eating soy too.

High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc.

Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.

Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.

Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.

Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.

Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

All this information can be found at http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
They also have a great tri-fold brochure you can print out and hand out.

Here are the Truths & Myths about soy.

NOTE: These Myths & Truths as well as our summary of soy dangers are provided on our Soy Alert! trifold brochure (PDF). You may print this at home or at a copy store for mass distribution.

Myth: Use of soy as a food dates back many thousands of years.
Truth: Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soy beans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari.

Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.
Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods confer the same health benefits as traditionally fermented soy foods.
Truth: Most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens.

Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.
Truth: Like all legumes, soy beans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.

Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B12 in vegetarian diets.
Truth: The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12

Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.
Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.

Myth: Soy foods can prevent osteoporosis.
Truth: Soy foods can cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, both needed for healthy bones. Calcium from bone broths and vitamin D from seafood, lard and organ meats prevent osteoporosis in Asian countries-not soy foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods protect against many types of cancer.
Truth: A British government report concluded that there is little evidence that soy foods protect against breast cancer or any other forms of cancer. In fact, soy foods may result in an increased risk of cancer.

Myth: Soy foods protect against heart disease.
Truth: In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol improves one's risk of having heart disease.

Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.
Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.

Myth: Soy foods are safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years.
Truth: Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause.

Myth: Phytoestrogens in soy foods can enhance mental ability.
Truth: A recent study found that women with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood had the lowest levels of cognitive function; In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life.

Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.

Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.
Truth: Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Soy consumption enhances hair growth in middle-aged men, indicating lowered testosterone levels. Japanese housewives feed tofu to their husbands frequently when they want to reduce his virility.

Myth: Soy beans are good for the environment.
Truth: Most soy beans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides.

Myth: Soy beans are good for developing nations.
Truth: In third world countries, soybeans replace traditional crops and transfer the value-added of processing from the local population to multinational corporations.

City vs Country

(Wife of PJ Farmer Here )

Just some of the difference I've noticed between city living and country living...

In the city when you run into traffic it usually means that rush hour has commenced.









In the country when you run into traffic it usually means there is a big a@@ piece of farm equipment blocking the whole road and shoulder and no one can get around the big boy.











In the city driving 15 -20 miles seems like nothing. In fact you almost don’t get in your car to go less than that.







In the country 15 miles seems like FOREVER. Without the buildings going by and only cows to count it seems so much longer.










In the city a traffic accident usually involves other vehicles.










In the country a traffic accident usually involves one car and a ditch.











In the city the street lights come on and light up the night.









In the country the stars come out and light up the sky.













In the city there are planned flower gardens and containers.








In the country there are wild flowers along the road.












In the city a kid might point out a cow.










In the country a kid will not only tell you it is a cow, but the type of breed.













In the city you get so excited when you see a deer. You call your friends and say, “I just saw a deer!”



In the country you drive down the middle of the road praying the deer stay in the ditch and leave you the heck alone.










In the city there is always somewhere you can go in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep.





In the country everything closes up by dusk.














In the city you expect a certain amount of professionalism and customer service.











In the country it is seat yourself and we will get to you when we finish catching up on the local gossip.












In the city if you hear gunfire in your neighborhood you watch the news expecting to have them mention it.

In the country if you hear gunfire, it is just your neighbor Clem doing a little target practice.

In the city when someone waves at you, it is most likely the one-finger wave.

In the country people wave because they know we are all neighbors.

In the city you get up hurry up make your coffe e and run out the door to your fast paced life.

In the country you slow down and enjoy the coffee from the deck while listening to the birds sing.

The price of organic

In doing my research of all things organic for our farm, I have come to realize that there are some things that the everyday person or "non-greene" person probably does not think about much.

The biggest complaint heard about organic food is how expensive it is. And if it doesn’t have all those bad chemicals then why does it cost so much more? Producing anything organic is more labor intensive, involves morality testing, is time consuming, very expensive and it is a very risky business venture as well.

On our hobby farm we have the luxury of not having to make a profit. I looked into the process involved to become a certified organic farm and quickly realized we were not there yet and may not ever be. There are a lot of certification fees (which are very expensive) and application fees and record keeping going back 3 years and just when you think you are done you still have to pay fees to stay organic. So I decided that my customers who buy from me, whatever product they choose, whether it is eggs, garden produce or cut flowers, will know me on a personal level and know the great lengths we have gone to "be organic".

So I’m not really in need of the official U.S.D.A Organic seal. There is risk involved in growing organic because if my crops are infested with some bug or mold I must find natural ways to deal with the problem.

I have recently been reading about viticulture (grape growing) in France. Some vineyards are attempting to go organic and that is really changing the way it has been done for hundreds of years. But the change away from synthetic pesticides and fertilizer has lead to a loss of millions of dollars in grapes. Even so many are committed to the new way of growing knowing there is a learning curve. Many simply cannot become “certified” because they want to use synthetic help to save as much of their crop as possible when conditions are bad and using any synthetic treatments means you can’t be “certified organic”.

Here on my farm I have not had many difficulties this year with pests but have found problems in another area that I didn’t at first think would be so hard to over come.

The thing I have found to be the most difficult is finding & buying organic chicken feed.
Depending on where you live in the U.S.A. the availability of feed varies greatly.
Here in rural Wisconsin, it’s kind of like trying to find a four leaf clover. I have searched and looked at several options and sources. Then I had found a great place that had just the right product I wanted and at a reasonable price, only problem… it's in Fishersville, Virginia. That’s 904.10 miles away! No problem they ship it right to you.

Let’s do some math shall we? I need 200lbs of chicken feed that should last me approximately 6 weeks. I have to feed 37 chickens everyday. At $25 per 50lb bag X 4 bags = $100. Ok, that isn’t too bad, but the shipping cost of a 200lb load is $76 ouch. $176 every 6 weeks!!! (Now consider that non-organic feed would cost me $48 for 4 bags and it is just down the road a bit.)

There has got to be some place local to get organic chicken feed right? NOPE!
So back online I go in my quest for the perfect chicken feed. After many hours of searching I finally have some success and I’ve gained knowledge on how the supply chain works in my state.
I found 5 places to buy organic chicken feed from here in WI. 1 only sells by the ton so they were out. I just can’t buy a ton of feed for my 12 birds. 3 of them are on the other side of the state about 6 hrs drive time. Not exactly a trip I want to make very often, but maybe on my way home from a trip to Minnesota (which I make a couple times a year).

That leaves one supplier left. After studying the ingredients of said supplier I find that a lot of the protein in there feed comes from soybeans. And I’ve notice that the case for all organic chicken feed in the state of Wisconsin. So what is wrong with soybeans? Well I called my source in Fishersville, VA (remember the one I liked but didn’t want to pay the shipping). They are promoting “soy-free” feed and I wanted to know why? Turns out soy is no longer cool, here is why http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
(In case you don’t want to look up the link… soybeans have a form of estrogen that has been linked to early onset of puberty in teen girls, retardation of sexual organs and maturity in boys, cancer in women and other problems…). Ok, some bad stuff in there, but it does seem to be accumulative and in the mean time I’m just happy to find organic feed, even if it does have soybeans, at least they are organic.

Today I drove to 2 hrs to Frank Organic Feed & Supply in Jefferson, WI. I had placed my order by phone and made arrangements to meet the owner, Joe Carens. When I arrived Joe was there with my order and we had conversation about chickens, gardening and the organic business. Joe was nice enough to let me take a couple of photos before I left, and then me and my chicken feed went home.

Joe also has a soy-free alternative for chicken feed, only problem… again it is by the tonnage. So, either I need more chickens to feed, cough up the money for shipping or Joe has offered to call us the next time someone orders soy-free feed, and if we are in the market, he will order an extra 200lbs of feed for us. Now thats service.
Heck maybe we can even find a few other farms around here willing to go in together and buy a large quantity of soy-free feed. You never know, maybe in 3 years we will be the supplier of organic grains to make feed for this neck of the woods.



Frank Organic Feed and Supply
121 W. Candise St.
Jefferson, WI 53549

Contact: Joe Carnes
FAX: 920-674-5729
Office: 920-674-5730

Center Flower Garden

Wife of Pajama Farmer
Our house is at the top of a hill with a circle drive way on top. The middle of the circle is filled with grass, clover, other "noxious" weeds, and a big light pole. It’s actually pretty boring. In the winter we have to snow-blow our way through the middle to have a straight line to the garage. In the spring it is usually pretty mucky (like everything else in the thaw) and in the summer and fall it just is. The landlord has been seen driving through the grass so I know he isn’t worried about “ruining the lawn”, but I wanted to spice it up some how.

A flower garden, yep that’s the ticket! Of course I was about to dig up someone else’s sod and plant a garden around their light pole. I hope Steve (landlord) meant it when he said we could do what we wanted.

I picked the light pole to make the garden because I wanted to grow morning glories up it. That and I figured the pole would stop a snowplow from ruining it and those who drove across the grass, again... the light pole would help guard my garden. The hard part was digging up the sod. I swear the grass and roots were a foot deep and well packed.

I marked out a rough kidney shape and told Daryl that I wanted all the sod removed. He looked at me like I was crazy. Then he tried to convince me to make it smaller. Poor guy, he knew I wouldn’t be able to remove all the sod myself, though I did loosen about 1/3 of it. (Daryl came up with a great place to put the sod which was watered a lot and has grown in nicely in its new home.)

I had a plan for what I wanted, but sharing a vision that is in your head can be difficult. I tried to tell Daryl what I saw, but he wasn’t seeing it. But my wonderful husband just followed my directions knowing that even if he didn’t see it or understand it he would help me bring it about.

I wanted to make a “secret garden” in my garden; see, not so easy to explain. I wanted a faux garden gate with a rock path that leads to this “secret garden”. I wanted to make a short rock wall around the whole thing, with another wall/fence inside around my inner garden. I found an old piece of bark that I leaned up agaisnt the pole to help the plants climb. I could see it all in my head. This was what it looked like after we dug, put first row of rock around garden, made path and set up the gate.
Not very impressive and I think Steve thought I was crazy. I bought seeds and we started some flowers inside. I didn’t really have a plan for the types of flowers except poppies. I wanted a section of just poppies. Other than that I’d wing it. I got a 2 different wild flower mixtures, one annual and the other perennial. I mixed them together and sprinkled them on either side of my dirt path (it was still missing stones).

I planted my baby marigolds and 4 0’clocks that I had started inside. I bought a few plants so it wasn’t ALL dirt and then I waited. Darn seeds were taking too long! We added a lot of manure to the dirt and sand since it was pretty clayish when we started. I must have checked that garden every morning for a month before I finally saw something.Unfortunately for me, this spring did not start out very strong. We had cold and rain longer than normal and the growing season didn’t not get off to a good start. I only hope our growing season isn’t cut short in the fall too or us and everyone else will be hurting.
Finally the flowers did what flowers will do, they grew. I know my watching them and trying to coax them along didn’t make them grow faster, but it was nice to see some thing happening.

Then it happened, everything I had hoped, the poppies bloomed and they are glorious!! I LOVE them. The rocks in the path look great. I am still not done. I want to make the rock "wall" at least 2 layers high, and I want to plant a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (a really neat shrub) in the middle of the grass section for my "secret garden". I'm still going to fence in that "secret garden" and I still have a few empty spots to fill, but I'm waiting for the perennial sales to start at a nursery near us. They have some unique plants I want to use. BUT as you can see my vision is starting to take shape & form and even Daryl and Steve can see what I see.