Garden Experiment...FAIL

Lest anyone think I only note our successes…lest anyone think I only see the positive…lest anyone think EVERYTHING always works just right around here… read the following.


Last year we had a bumper crop of butternut squash. It was great!

We had them for sale (we sold them whole, as well as bags of peeled chunks)
and for all the recipes we could find. A customer-friend shared this grilling idea with us. YUM!

There were so many that some of them ended up moldering away in storage. (ugh)

This year, we decided that we should grow some other types of winter squash. Perhaps, we thought, if we had a number of different kinds, we wouldn’t have any left to molder away at the end of the season. Turns out we were right.

The seeds germinated well. The plants looked great when we planted them in the garden. We followed our usual method of irrigation, planting and mulching in a single day. We took some pride in our job well done.

Then we noticed something odd. A number of the plants died. No problem, I start extras for that situation.

The plants began to grow. Then more plants died. No extra plants now, so we would just have a smaller crop.

More plants died. We checked the irrigation.

More plants died. We checked for bugs and disease.

Long story short…here’s the crop for 2011.





What? Didn’t see a picture? That’s because there is NO crop for 2011. Nope, not a single squash.

Neither of us is quite sure what happened. We had a similar problem when we tried great variety in the past. I have no idea how variety could be the problem, but we will return to what gave us success in the past. Guess the future will see us planting butternut…just butternut…squash.

One constant in farming… “there’s always NEXT year!”

Garden Experiment...a Success Story

Along about mid-July, The Boss and I looked at one another and said “Green Beans! We need another succession planting of GREEN beans!” Yes, the conversations around here are indeed that odd and random.

We checked the calendar and did the math. Ooo, that would be cutting it close, real close. However, if we caught a break in the weather…we might be able to have late season beans. He decided to “go for it” and seeded in some beans.

When you do succession planting, it is necessary to count ahead on the calendar to see when the crop will mature. Actually, this should be done in every planting situation. That way you have some idea of your harvest window.

Late season planting always carries a risk. If the planting doesn’t have enough time to mature before the frost and cold arrive, time and energy have been wasted.

We took a risk with those beans. But, they grew beautifully. They were loaded with tiny beans and a multitude of blossoms. It looked like they would be ready for Market sales toward the end of September. If we had planted them when the nights were staying warmer, they would have matured earlier.

Then, it happened. When we walked outside to do chores the morning of September 15, there was frost! Beans do NOT like frost. We had not covered the beans the night before because the weather was not predicted to be so cold. Covering the beans, or any crop, with row cover (a spun poly fabric) will protect from cold to some degree. It is a great solution, with a down-side. Row cover does not like wind…and here on the hill, we get a LOT of wind.

Upon further investigation, we found the frost was quite patchy. It seemed to miss the bean patch entirely. Hooray!


Later that week, I began picking. I picked and picked and picked. Wow! Despite the cool nights, copious amounts of rain, and cloudy days, this bean patch has REALLY produced.

I keep telling Market customers that “this is probably the last week for beans….you know the weather…” and then there are still beans to pick. So far, that little bean patch thrown in at the last minute has produced well over one hundred pounds of beans. Just yesterday, we picked more.

Now, that’s a success story!

But, I really DO think this is the last week for beans…

One Potato...Two Potato...

Potatoes are by far my favorite vegetable. Potatoes are also my favorite crop. The versatility of a potato is unsurpassed. I truly enjoy every aspect of potato growing.

I like to plant them. Although the hilling makes my shoulder hurt terribly, the end result is worth every bit of pain. We buy seed potatoes in the spring, planting half in March or April and the other half in July. That gives us two crops of new potatoes with their delicate skin. It also assures that the potatoes stored for winter remain firm and fresh until spring.

I just love digging them.
When I was a little girl, my dad would just laugh at me for wanting to dig the potatoes. Didn’t I know it was work? It didn’t matter to me; it was like hunting for buried treasure. The only thing I didn’t like was that sound of S-L-I-C-E…as the potato fork went through the potato. That was never the intention. But, then the potato wouldn’t store because of the dirty injury down through its center. Wasted potatoes made me sad.

Now we use a “potato buster” hooked onto the tractor. It works like a plow, gliding beneath the potatoes and turning the soil over so the potatoes just roll out. Way cool! While it IS cool, it doesn’t do ALL the work. We go along and sift the potatoes out of the turned and softened earth, often on our hands and knees.

For those of you who may not know, the only part of the potato plant that is edible is the tuber. The plant, its flowers and any berries it may have contain way too much solanine for human consumption.

In the past, we’ve had good yields on the potato crops. Last year, we had a dismal failure with some of them. This year we have had an AWESOME year.

Today, the Boss and I picked up more than eleven bushels of potatoes from the July planting. This was in addition to the five bushels he had already harvested from that patch. The reefer-cooler is pretty full! …and we’ve already sold a lot.

These are by far the biggest potatoes we’ve grown. The biggest one weighed in at over 2 pounds. It was huge.
I don’t know if it means I am turning into Cliff Clavin (remember the TV show Cheers?) or I am just so very tired, but it really looked like a face to me! The Boss got lots of laughs at my “Mr. Potato Head” the all-natural version.


Sometimes we have entirely TOO MUCH fun! But, you can never have too many potatoes!

...and Sweet 'Tater Pie

It really doesn’t matter how many cans of Bruce’s Yams are sold this holiday season…

I am here to tell you that those orange things that you find on buffet tables from Thanksgiving to New years are NOT, I repeat NOT…yams.


They are in fact …Sweet Potatoes! Sweet Potatoes, or Ipomoea batatas, are the basis for those holiday casseroles, soufflés and pies that so many of us enjoy.

Since both the sweet potato (ipomoea batata) and the yam (dioscorea) originated in the same area of the world, an error in translation is said to be blamed for the confusion. I am not going to get into a discussion of etymology, so suffice it to say….we’re just talking about sweet potatoes.

In the spring, we get “slips” (little plants)from a plant company in Tennessee. The slips are essential sprouts off the tuber that are allowed to form some roots.This company specializes in all sorts of sweet potatoes. There are red, white and yellow varieties. We particularly like the Georgia Jets. They have a fairly short growing season, produce well, and make some real big tubers. Their deep orange flesh is sweet and creamy.

Since the sweet potato is a tropical plant, heat is a necessity. We cannot plant them until the ground is warm, and all threat of frost is past. After their arrival by mail, the “slips” spend some quality time in the green house. While the “slips” are growing in the greenhouse, we prep the growing area. The Boss puts black plastic over the ground prior to planting. This serves several purposes; it keeps the weeds down, and provides some added warmth for the growing tubers. It also holds in moisture from the irrigation supply.

This year we planted more “slips” than in the past. The hope was to have a bigger crop. Unfortunately, the critter population was enjoying the sweet potatoes long before they were ready to harvest. We’re fairly certain those 10 groundhogs, 6 raccoons and two possums that the Boss “eliminated” out back were enjoying the plants! The tops were eaten off the plants in half of both rows repeatedly. There were probably some rabbits enjoying sweet potato greens, too. This caused our crop to be far less than we had anticipated. However, it was MUCH better than last year’s complete failure, so we’re happy.

When the weather begins to turn cool, the sweet potatoes must be harvested.
They should not be allowed to suffer a frost. The vines must be pulled off, the plastic and irrigation removed, and the potatoes dug from the earth. The sweet potato is a relative of the morning glory, so there are lots of long, trailing vines, although the tubers remain under the main part of the plant. Generally, one pass with the plow uncovers most of the tubers.

After the tubers are dug, they are dusted off and taken to “cure”. Our “curing area” is actually a big piece of cardboard on the floor of the shop with a sheet over the top. The tubers are given about two weeks to cure in which time the starches convert to sugar and the delicious taste develops.

Last week was the first week we were able to offer sweet potatoes for sale at the Market. Somehow, they just seem to symbolize Autumn to many folks. The tasty tubers will show up in a variety of ways, baked, roasted, boiled, glazed, “souped”, stewed, fried, casseroled,

…and as Sweet ‘Tater Pie!

Here's a recipe:

• 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

Rather like pumpkin pie, but lighter and fluffier. YUM!

Hen-fruit

It always amazes me that the little balls of fluff that arrive in a small box in the mail turn into some of the most productive and profitable creatures on the farm.

The layer chicks arrived Friday morning. While they seemed a little sleepy and bemused upon their placement in the brooder, that quickly changed. Within half an hour, they were cheeping, scratching, pecking, and drinking like they had always lived there. Not bad for two days old!

In a mere 18 to 22 weeks, these little girls will be laying eggs and beginning to pay their way around here. At that point, each pullet will be producing an egg approximately every 26 hours …and they produce without complaint…working for just “chicken feed”.

Eggs are a great source of nutrients and protein. Recently, the USDA announced that the cholesterol levels are lower in eggs than previously thought. They also contain more Vitamin D than reported in the past. This is great news for both farmers and consumers. For further egg information....check this out Incredible Edible Egg | Egg Recipes, Egg Nutrition & Egg Facts

Whether you call them eggs, cackleberries or hen-fruit, they provide great nutrition in a neat little package. The uses of eggs are deliciously myriad. They can be fried, boiled, scrambled, baked, shirred; they make soufflés puff, sauces creamy, and cakes and cookies soft and tasty.

However you choose to enjoy them, do so knowing that the “hen-fruit” from Homestead Hill Farm has been gathered within the seven days prior to your purchase and will last at least one month in your fridge.

A note about farm-fresh eggs: they do NOT peel well. If you are making devilled or pickled eggs and need the eggs to peel smoothly, try letting them sit on the counter for a few days prior to cooking. Yes, unrefrigerated. Yes, they will be fine. However, once you cook them…please refrigerate any leftovers.

A Change is in the Air

The shift from September to October is more, much more, than a simple turning of a calendar page. The patchy frost we had in mid-September was just a teaser, a wake-up call if you will. There is a chill in the air most mornings; the dew is heavy and quite cold. This week’s very warm temperatures are not a sign of global warming. The real change is coming, no doubt about it. Mid-October will see the cold weather settle in for the season. That is generally when we begin to have frost on a regular basis. The knowledge that winter weather is beginning to bear down on us keeps us motivated to get all those “fall” projects done.

Early October has us planting garlic. Over the winter, the garlic will develop a great root system in its underground home, growing unobtrusively until spring time. Then it will make rapid growth and be ready for harvest in June or July.






The barn gets cleaned out in October as well. All the waste hay and bedding becomes mulch for the garden. When the sheep start coming into the barn for the winter, they will start the cycle of “super mulch” once more.

All but the hardiest of plants are finished in the garden. Much of the garden is bush hogged to get it looking tidy. The old plants will be pulled out and the irrigation system winterized in anticipation of freezing cold weather.

The hoophouses are being filled with winter-hardy greens and lettuces. It is our hope to be able to offer these for sale throughout the course of the winter, as we have done for the past three years.


The last of the lambs will head out to the processor during October and early November. This will stock the freezers with meat until the lambchop crop of 2012 is ready.

As for poultry…The last broiler processing of 2011 is on the “to-do” list this month as well. The layer chicks for next season are scheduled to arrive today.

There are lots of other jobs that need doing prior to the onset of cold weather. The chimney needs cleaning, the firewood should be stacked, the greenhouses cleaned out, and hoophouse #1 needs a “new skin”. The small clean-up jobs and multitude of winterizing tasks never even make the list, although they must be done as well. Then, there’s the Boss’ new chicken house project….

That chill in the air and the tinge of color on the mountains can only mean one thing…

We better get busy!

After the Market

Our Market day starts with the sound of the alarm clock at 4:15….yes, A.M.! It’s still dark when the Boss arrives downtown to set up for sales. He’s the Market Manager as well, so he has a lot of work to do.

The animals are fed and watered by the light of the flashlight before I head into town as well. Making sales, keeping product stocked and answering questions coherently for the entire morning makes for a long day sometimes.

When NOON arrives and it’s time to close down the Market for the day, we’re ready. We’re very ready to get home, unpack and EAT LUNCH!

By the looks of it…

…we are not the only inhabitants of the farm thinking of food! The early morning feeding throws the animals’ internal clocks off as well. They spend the afternoon complaining…and waiting for afternoon choretime to arrive.