North Plain and Blue Hill Farm: Part One

After a great stay at Acadia National Park, we arrived at our 8th farm, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  North Plain Farm and Blue Hill Farm are a joint venture operated by Sean Stanton.  Sean’s beginning in farming started on his parent’s property, on North Plain Road, and was appropriately named North Plain Farm.  After several years of growth and building a reputation of being a farmer who worked hard to raise high quality animals, he was approached by well known chef, Dan Barber, to operate a farm that would supply his restaurant in New York City.  Barber had his own land and barn about 8 miles from North Plain, and after some renovations to the dairy barn, Blue Hill Farm was created.

Blue Hill Farm Dairy Barn

 

North Plain Farm

The farms produce raw milk, grass fed beef, woodlot pork, pastured eggs, and green house tomatoes on multiple properties in the area reaching nearly 140 acres altogether.  Over half of the product is sent directly to New York City and the famous Blue Hill Restaurant with the remaining being sold to local restaurants and customers at the farmer’s market. During our stay, the large Blue Hill property was housing around 450 hens, 25 pigs, about 20 dairy cows and a couple calves. On the original North Plain property, the boar, sows, and piglets were kept with a pair of handsome horses, some meat chickens, and the large hoop house where the tomatoes were grown. On the drive from one farm to the other, several pastures were being grazed by the beef cows and calves.  Granted that property use in this region of Massachusetts is different than Iowa, it was an eye opener in the possibility of mobile farming, and looking for opportunities that don’t fit the norm.

Pastured hens at Blue Hill

 

Horses at North Plain

 

Dairy cows resting on a pasture near Blue Hill

Sean has had a full-time intern program for several years, and during our stay there were four interns working with him.  They had been on the farm for several months, and would be working there until the end of the season.  We quickly adapted to their schedules and enjoyed working with each of the interns.  Typically, two of the interns would head out to Blue Hill in the morning to milk the cows, bottle the milk, feed/water the pigs or chickens, let the cows back out to pasture and clean the barn. The other interns would feed/water the pigs at North Plain, and move the beef cows to a new pasture.  In the afternoon, the chores were switched with the morning Blue Hill crew staying at North Plain, and the North Plain crew going out to Blue Hill.  In the afternoon, we would gather the eggs, check on all the animals, and feed and water them.  There were a number of other projects that were going on besides the morning/afternoon chores at both farms.

The suspicious hens trying to figure out what business I had in their coop

Future dairy cows and couple beef cows waiting for their morning milk ration

The sows and piglets were kept at North Plain until the piglets were weaned and ready to be moved out to Blue Hill.  The group was fed an organic feed ration, rooted in the pasture paddock, and enjoyed any scraps that we had from the kitchen to promote healthy growth on the piglets and keep the sows fully nourished. The boar and bred sows were kept in a different area on the farm and were fed a smaller ration to maintain their body weight, which made for a very competitive feeding time. The farm needs to take a couple pigs to market each week to keep up with the demand of the restaurant in NYC.  To do that, the sows are farrowing throughout the year to always keep up with the demand. Once the market pigs get out to Blue Hill, they roam the pasture and woodlots until they are shipped out. The woods are full of oak trees, which supply the pigs with an unlimited amount of acorns to snack on besides their organic feed.  If we had extra milk on hand, we would dump that into the feed troughs and sit back and watch the happy pigs slurp it up with their tails wiggling.

Sows and the piglets coming over to greet me

Left a little dirt on your snout

Mama pig has to eat for the little pigs to eat

Oscar, the guy on the right, will hopefully provide some fresh traits to the breeding stock

The pigs that will go to market are loading up on organic feed and milk

Customary post breakfast nap

We shared a kitchen in the basement of the main house, and took turns preparing dinners for all to share. We enjoyed the unlimited access to raw milk and eggs, and the “seconds” of the meat products. The interns lived in a tiny trailer and a renovated barn.  There wasn’t any room for us during our stay, so we set up the tent in the back yard.

 

 

The Upper Farm

We arrived at our seventh farm, The Upper Farm, who raise alpacas in Pownal, Maine.  We toured the 125 acre property of timber and pastures with Nicole and Greg who started this homesteading dream years ago, and continue today with many projects and plans. The history runs deep here, from the foundations of the original home and barns to the early 1800’s cape cod home that they disassembled, transported to the farm, and put back together. Out of all that they have going on, the alpacas are their pride and joy.

The dogs coming down to let us know we didn’t ask to take this picture

The foundation from the original home and our campsite

Nicole and Taylor at the farmer’s market

They typically keep around 30 alpacas on the farm, spread amongst 4 pasture systems, based on the age and sex of the animal.  The groups of mature males, juvenile males, females with and without babies, are all protected by one of their livestock guardian dogs.  The maremmas and great pyrenees are very protective of their herd and alert them to any possible threat.  Alpacas are naturally wary of their surroundings, and it took a couple days before they would relax around us and not be alert to our every move.  Izzy, on the other hand, appeared as a threat to them the entire stay. It was quite funny to see them make their “danger” cries and all heads turn to Izzy as she walked within eyesight.

Most of their work is done at night, so during the day, they like to get comfortable and there’s no better place to nap than a box of hay

The alpacas are on pasture, but are also supplemented with additional hay in the morning and evening.  The female alpacas that are pregnant or had recently given birth also received some grain to boost their health. One nice trait about them, is that they prefer to go to the bathroom in a communal area, so when it came time to scoop up their poop, we only had a couple areas to go to. Alpaca manure can be directly dressed to gardens or vegetable plots, and makes a fine compost. The main project we had besides helping with feeding and cleaning up the alpacas, was working on the pasture. Like most animals, they have their favorite forage of grasses and tend to leave woody stems or weeds that they don’t like. We worked on clearing the pasture of the thistles, and other plants that remain, so more of the plants they like grow back.

The group of herd-sires (mature males) hanging out

We have learned that pasture management is critical to keeping that perfect balance of forage.  The number, too few or too many, of animals grazing the pasture can jeopardize that balance.  With intensive managing, moving the animals from one paddock to the next, and allowing the previous pasture to rest, the fertility of the forage increases.  An additional benefit to intensive management is the reduction of the parasite load on the pasture.  While we were doing our best to keep the bedding clean and scooping up the piles in the pasture, there is always a possibility of parasites staying on pasture and impacting the health of the animals.

Shadow Blossom grazing the good stuff

To monitor for parasites and the general health of the animals, Nicole and Greg conduct a routine herd health check.  We were able to help Nicole do this on a number of the animals and found it to be very educational.  The check included weighing the animals, scoring the body composition, checking the color of their eye lids for signs of anemia, trimming their hooves, and administering shots or giving them a vitamin mix if needed. Some of the alpacas were friendlier than others, and we had to duck and cover if they were getting ready to spit. Nicole knows a great deal about the health of their animals, and she explained why they monitor and keep records for all of these details. It was a good experience and and gave us the hands on work with animals we have been wanting to have.

We lucked out and were on the farm when one of the alpacas gave birth.  Normally, alpacas have their babies (cria) in the morning, so they have plenty of daylight to dry off, warm up, and get their balance.  After our morning chores and watching her after lunch, we figured we would have to wait another day.  Around 430, we found her away from the herd, cleaning up her baby.  We watched the little guy for awhile to make sure he could stand and that he was finding his mother’s milk.  It was an exciting day, and were happy with his health when we left.

Greg drying off the new born to make sure he was dry before nightfall

A couple days later he was busy running around playing and following the herd

 

Zarina, and baby Tchaikovsky

Alpaca farms usually have two sources of income; the fiber and the alpacas.  Nicole and Greg have the fiber sheered from the animals and send it off to be processed and then returned to them on cords.  Then they can dye the fiber and package it in a variety of amounts to sell. They also breed their animals to sell.  Depending on the lineage of an alpaca, the price can be very expensive. Taylor helped Nicole dye some of the fiber to sell at the market and got to take some with her.

We had a great time at Upper Farm and learned a great deal from Greg and Nicole about animal husbandry, alpacas, and homesteading. They are very passionate about their animals and showed us a great time. Thanks for having us!!!

Golden Well Farm and Apiaries

We made our way to our sixth farm, Golden Well Farm and Apiaries, on the same day we left New Hampshire.  We met up with the Golden Well crew at a market day after making a short pit stop in Montpelier to explore the capitol.  The owners of the farm are Ryan and Nicole, and little baby Miela, who loves to help out in the field and at market.  There was another WWOOFer there for the first couple days, which kept the day to day schedule on track in the beginning of our visit. Golden Well is in their second year as a market farm, selling at three local markets and providing delicious food to a small CSA.  They also have a number of hives that provide honey for the honey based products they offer.

The Golden Well family

The 2 acre farm is about a five minute drive from their home, and is located on a larger farm that lets them use the property for free. They jumped up to an acre in production this year and are working on the model that they want to use going forward. They practice bio-dynamic and permaculture methods and cultivate the land as minimally as possible. With minimal cultivation comes weeds, and is something that will need to be addressed next season.  One method that seems to be worth exploring is covering several rows with a large tarp prior to planting. The tarp keeps the temperature warm, and moisture up which tricks the weed seeds into germination.  If the tarp is kept on for a couple of weeks, the weed sprouts will die off from the lack of sunlight.  The tarp can then be removed and the rows planted.  Accurate planning is important for this to work because of the time it takes before utilizing the rows.  Black plastic mulch can also be used in rows of crops that are transplanted to keep weed pressure to a minimum.

weeding, weeding, and more weeding

the swiss chard is free

strawberries and kale

We spent most of our days weeding, harvesting for markets, and also planted fall crops by seed and transplant. Two of the markets were in the morning and one was in the evening.  We sold a wide variety of vegetables plus honey jams and honey caramel.  The jam and caramel recipes substituted honey instead of sugar and were very popular.

flowers are always popular

Happy Saturday Market

Honey caramels and jams

During our off days we explored nearby Middlebury, went to Bristol Falls to swim in the river on a hot day, sampled the local craft brews at Otter Creek Brewing Company, visited a farm run by friends of Nicole and Ryan, and went to see the Bread and Puppet Theater.  The Bread and Puppet Theater has been held in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont since the 70s, but originated in New York City in the early 60s.  It has been a politically charged performance touching on key issues of our society since it’s inception.  They have an old barn that was converted into a museum on site, and we were able to view the puppets of years past.

 

Peter Schumann, the man behind the theater leading the way

 

 

Robie Farm: Part 2

Our last week on the farm was as enjoyable as the first.  We spent the days doing our normal morning and afternoon chores, cleared more fence line, and cleaned some calf hutches. We also went canoeing on the Connecticut River, explored the woods on more mushroom hunts, and made a trip to Hanover, NH. The most exciting news was the birth of a new calf.  We were about ten minutes late to see the actual birth, but when we got to the barn, the mother cow was already cleaning up the baby.  We were rather surprised to see the size of a baby calf, and watched as it took its first wobbly steps.  Colostrum, the first milk the mother gives after giving birth is very important for the calves.  The sooner the calf has it, the greater the odds it will avoid any health issues and grow at a quick pace. Taylor fed the baby calf most of the bottles during the week.  In a matter of days, it was much stronger and tried to escape its pen at every chance it could take.

Baby T and Terror

Doing a little cleaning

Terror watching over her new baby calf

Taylor feeding the new baby

The calves that were living in the hutches were moved down to the field barn as they were gaining in size, and weaned off of milk.  Calves, even little calves, are loud when they moo.  When a calf is taken off of milk, they moo a lot.  Velvet and Rosie were not happy when we didn’t bring them their buckets of milk, and let us know about it.  They would go on for what seemed like hours and we could hear them up at the house. The biggest calves inside the barn, twins-Clementine and Cody, were ready to start living outside. Cows use their tongues a lot when they are getting a sense of a new environment, so we wanted to make sure the hutches were nice and clean before they made themselves comfortable.

Cody and Clementine in their clean hutches

We stopped in to the cheese room a couple times during the week to get a look at the process for making cheese on farm.  The varieties of cheese made here age for a longer time and because of that don’t have to be pasteurized. For soft cheeses like mozzarella, the Robies take their milk down the road to a neighbor that has a pasteurizer.  The process on the farm usually takes a full day to have a batch ready to hit the cheese cave.  The milk is added to the vat and warmed to a certain temperature before the culture is added. After that, it will sit for approximately 45 minutes before the rennet is stirred into the milk.  The rennet is what turns the liquid milk, into a solid cheese curd.  After cutting the curd, the temperature is raised and the curds are broken by hand until they get to a specific size. Then the excess whey is drawn off the top and the curds are put into a mold.  The molds have a large amount of pressure applied to them by a vice over the next couple hours.  The mold is also turned over during that time as well.  The last step is to take them to the cheese cave, bathed in brine, and stacked on boards.  The timing and specifics of these processes change with each variety of cheese.

The cheese vat warming the milk to temperature.

 

Paddling the cut curds and breaking them into smaller pieces

Cheese cave

Cheese cave

A local chef won a competition for the “Best Mac ‘n Cheese in New Hampshire” with the cheese from their farm.  We went to Hanover, home of Dartmouth College, to check out the farmers market and try the winning recipe.  It was delicious!  On our last morning at the farm, we made our way around to see all of the cows and calves one last time.  I tried some of the raw milk straight from the pipe before it went into the cold tank to taste the full flavor of the milk. Mark took us down the river on the pontoon boat for a quick ride.

Connecticut River

Raw milk does a body good

The Robies are a great family, and we learned much more than how to run a dairy farm from them.  Thank you for letting us stay with you and treating us like family. Take care!

Robie Farm: Part 1

We arrived at our 5th farm, Robie Farm, in New Hampshire on the 8th of August.  Robie Farm is a dairy operation that specializes in raw milk cheese, raw milk and cream, pork, and veal. The farm is located just south of Piermont, New Hampshire and has been in the family for over 140 years, with the sixth generation currently managing the operation.  With the tough times that have stricken dairy operations across the country, the Robies had to overhaul their entire practice to keep the family farm strong for future generations.  They left behind the conventional dairy practice of selling to co-ops, and have focused their energy on producing high quality raw milk to consume or be made in to one of their four delicious cheese varieties made on farm.

Robie Farm Store. They offer their raw milk, cream, cheese, home made bread, and meats each day. They also market local goat milk soap, honey, and other products for friends and neighbors.

We would be staying with the Robies for two weeks and looked forward to our first experience working on a dairy farm.  Mark, one of four Robie sons, was our main contact at the farm, but we would also be working with his parents, Lee and Betty Sue, their farmhand Eric, and the cheese maker, Davey. The first night we took a tour of the barns and the property before getting settled in.  The Connecticut River borders the farm for about a mile and we were very close to camping alongside it, but opted for the comfort of the farmhouse.

Cows enjoying the afternoon

Being new to the dairy game, we spent our first morning watching the chores that are done each day.  Most dairy farms milk twice daily, and usually spread that out by 12 hours. The mornings can start as early as 4, in order to get the evening milking in before dark. Since Robie Farm wants a higher quality milk, they only milk the cows once each day.  The chores start each morning around 6:30, and take anywhere between 2 and 3 hours.  They were milking 38 cows, which is quite small for most dairies, but more than enough for their current business model.  When Lee, Mark, or Eric were milking the cows, we would be feeding the calves by bottle or bucket with Betty Sue. After the milking was done, we would also be in charge of cleaning the equipment, and starting the wash cycle of the system.  There are long stainless steel pipes that run the length of the barn on each side. The milk enters those pipes and comes into the milk room where it is pulled for the calves, the cheese room, or into the cold tank for bottling. After each morning, the system is cleaned out with a detergent solution, followed by an acid rinse. In the morning before the milking starts, the system is flushed with a sanitizing solution to keep it as clean as possible. We would give the cows some grain and let them rest for an hour or so before returning them back to the pasture where they spend each day and night.  After that, we cleaned the barn, put down fresh bedding, and laid out new hay for the next day.

Lined up for milking. The cows know their spot and usually get right in there without help. The cows are fond of routine, and treat it as just another day.

This little guy will enjoy the grass pastures for a couple years before “graduating” to market.

Fern enjoying a nice bucket of fresh milk

Cleaned out and ready for the next day

The afternoon chores took only a fraction of the time, since all we would be doing is feeding the calves again at night. The calves start out being bottle fed until they are a couple weeks old, after that they take their milk from a bucket.  Depending on what the cow would be used for in the future, would determine how much milk they were fed and how they transitioned through the barns on the farm.  Most girl calves are limited on how much milk they drank each day, and as they aged would be supplemented with grain and hay.  They would eventually be moved down to the field barn with the other cows who are not yet breeding age, or dry.  Dry meaning that they were not producing milk at that time. The farm is in a transition in how they are raising the little boys.  In the past, they were sent to market as veal, roughly around 3 months old, which is late compared to most veal practices.  The veal would be fed as much milk as they would take each day, and given a little amount of hay. They are moving away from that, and will now be raising them as grass fed beef. This will follow the transition of the future cows.

The chores at the field barn were similar to the milking barn.  We put out fresh hay each day and also cleaned up after them.  The pack, or where they would lay down, was picked over for cow pies. We would toss the pies by pitchfork into the alley, and that would be cleaned out every couple weeks.  These cows had access to a pasture as well and could come and go as they please. The barn was split into three sections based off the age and size of the cows.  They could also use a section of the barn for health checks or breeding.

Field barn

Picking the pack

The other projects that we worked on during the day were focused on clearing fence lines, stacking hay bales, and watching the cheese making process. We also explored the woods on the property learning about foraging for edible plants and mushrooms with Mark.  He is a great source of information on wildcrafting and took us into some of his secret spots.  We were also able to do some fishing on the river at night and caught some new fish species we haven’t seen before.

Fungi

Dace-A fun fish to catch at first, then a rather annoying fish to catch. Can get pretty large, told they taste good, but takes a long time to pick the bones out.

 

Hand Sown Farm

We arrived to our 4th farm, Hand Sown Farm, late Sunday evening for a stay of two weeks with farmer Megan, and her two interns, Will and Rachel.  Hand Sown Farms has been providing healthy, local food to area markets, restaurants, and CSA members for a couple years.  The farm is settled on 10 acres with about 2 acres currently in production.  Megan has many years of farming under her belt as well as completing the Organic Farming Training Program through Michigan State University.  She has combined that experience and knowledge to continuously improve her farm and practices “beyond organic” methods.  That means that she is constantly thinking about not only the health of her plants, but the soil as well, and how she can deter pests without reaching for the easy weapon, chemical sprays.  The fields are minimally tilled to promote the microscopic community of organisms in the soil, which in turn help the plant’s health.  The vegetables are rotated within the field to prevent the build up of pests and disease in the same area.  It may sound easy, but there is a lot of hard work that goes into running a farm like this, and it is very important to always be thinking about what needs to be done.  It also means there is a lot of weeding to be done!

weeding aids in the growth of the plant and also makes for an easier harvest day

At this point in the season, the week is broken down into harvest days, market days, weeding/maintenance days, and some additional planting when time allows. Harvest days were primarily on Wednesday and Friday, and typically took most of the day.  The day started early, with the washing/sanitizing of the harvest bins, tubs, and packaging area.  It is better to harvest the greens (lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, etc.) first thing in the morning before the sun and heat started to beat down.  Other items that were picked included beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, turnips, radishes, and flowers. Each of these had their own process to be ready for market. Many simply needed a quick rinse, but the greens proved to be the most time consuming. It started with dumping the greens into a tub with cold water to pick out any weeds amongst them and clean off any dirt, spinning them in a washer to get rid of the extra moisture, and then packaging/weighing them into sacks or small recyclable/degradable containers. It was well worth the time, as the greens were one of the best sellers at the markets.

pre-harvest cleaning

once out of the field, some vegetables only need a quick rinse

more tubs of delicious veggies

once the greens are cut, they need to get in to the cooler as quick as possible

ready for processing

Megan and Taylor cleaning and packaging the greens, Will fixing up the leeks

ready for the market and grocery store

On the few days not spent weeding or harvesting, we planted a variety of vegetables ranging from micro greens to brassicas which will be harvested later in the fall. We also worked in the green houses trimming and trellising the new growth on the tomato plants.  The farm grows potatoes, and with that, is fighting the Colorado Potato Beetle.  We learned a quicker, more efficient way to cover the rows of potato plants.  Instead of focusing on individual beetles or the eggs, we held a five gallon bucket on the side and under the plant and then batted it with our hand to knock the beetles and any other insects off the leaves and into the bucket.  We were able to cover the rows in a fraction of the time.  We didn’t get them all, but it seems to be the best way to go about it as of now. The good bugs (those that eat the bad bugs) were released back to the plants when we were done.

another round of kale planted in a straw mulch to prevent competition with the weeds

keeping the tomatoes tall and lean by trimming the side shoots

On one of our days off from the farm, we took a trip to Ann Arbor to walk around and explore the campus and city.  It was a very busy city with a thriving downtown full of shops, bars/restaurants, and parks to enjoy.  We also were able to meet the beekeeper who has a hive on the farm.  We watched him inspect the hive to see how it is doing and get a feel for how much honey he will be able to harvest this year.

busy bees

While we were at the farm, Megan invited her CSA members, friends, and family out to the farm for a hog roast.  It was a fun evening with wonderful people, great food, and hopefully will become an annual event for the farm.

0 delicious spread

Chef, Will, and Andrew (Megan’s husband) demonstrating how to chop up a hog

We had a good time at Hand Sown Farm, and our two weeks were up before we knew it.  We saw first hand how busy vegetable farming can be, and appreciated that opportunity.  Good luck next season and thanks again Megan and Andrew!

Rock River Farm: Part 4

The last 10 days on the farm were over before we knew it, as they say, time flies when you’re having fun. We had our go at farm-sitting, helping out at hog roast, putting together flowers and catering for a wedding, hosting my parents for a couple days, and kayaking on the big lake.

Saturday after the 4th came too soon for all of us, but it would end up being a good day.  We set up the market table without Rowan, so he could take the hog roaster and 140 pounds of pork to a retirement community for a lucky old man’s birthday. We had some good weather and sold a lot of flowers and lettuce heads during the day.  We hung around town until it was time to head over and help out with the hog roast.  The party was having a hard time waiting as the scent of hog heaven wafted their way.  The number one rule when roasting a hog, don’t open the roaster to take a peak at it.  The temperature gauge tells you all you need to know.  Luckily for Rowan, we got there just in time as the hungry crowd inched their way closer to the show.  We pulled and chopped the half hog on a table for all to see, and threw on some Carolina BBQ sauce.  They followed close behind as we delivered the trays to the tables.  It was delicious!

We cleaned up the hog roast, and headed home to rest up for the next couple days.  After proving ourselves with handling the daily chores, and all the big projects wrapped up, Rowan and Shailah took a short vacation to kayak around the Apostle Islands.  They hadn’t had a summer vacation in 7 years, and were excited to have the opportunity.  The farm was in our hands, as well as a nice To-Do list and emergency contact information in case all hell broke loose on the farm.  Luckily for all, everything went fine.  We planted some cucumbers, battled the potato beetles, weeded, and crossed off the most important items on the list: picking strawberries and finishing the keg of Bells. We also took an afternoon to hang out on Au Train beach and a quick swim in chilly Lake Superior.

Charles and Miriam, fellow farmers and friends from the market, were getting married and contacted Rock River to provide the flowers and the catering.  We were pretty excited to help out with a farm to table catering event.  We spent Thursday night gathering and cleaning the catering equipment and putting together flower arrangements.  It is pretty amazing to see how talented Shailah is with designing her bouquets and arrangements.  For the rest of us, we tried our best to copy her masterpiece, and hoped ours would be on a table in the back. Weddings seem to be pretty stressful for all involved, including us. There were a lot of loose ends to be handled when we got there to set up and prep for the meal.  All good things work out in the end, and by the end of the night everybody was happy, and having a great time.

Wedding flower prep work

My parents made the trip to the UP for a weekend vacation and joined us after the Saturday market.  We spent the day sightseeing downtown and on Presque Isle Park, touring the craft breweries of the Ore Dock and Black Rocks, and a dinner at a German restaurant that features pork from the farm. On Sunday we took a boat cruise to see the awesome views of the Pictured Rocks National Shoreline, toured the farm, and went on a hike to the waterfall that previously got away from us. We had a great time and are glad they got to see the farm and enjoy a nice getaway.

Laughing Whitefish Falls

Pictured Rocks National Shore

Pictured Rocks National Shore

With only a couple days left, we put the farm work on the back burner and had some fun.  We made some Shiitake logs, read about it here. On our last day, we went kayaking on the big lake.  Rowan was a kayak guide for a couple years, and had a pretty good trip planned out for us.  We loaded the boats and drove back to Munising to launch from the bay and land on Grand Island for lunch. Depending on the waves and how we were feeling, we would continue on or head back. We went over the plan, and some precautionary guidelines for kayaking on a serious body of water.  Rowan, Shailah, and Taylor are great at kayaking, I am not. Lucky for me, Rowan was able to coach me along the way, and salvage what could have been a wet, cold, and miserable day.  We spent a few hours on the water, and a couple more on the beach.  The weather was great, views of the cliffs and lake even better, and a day we won’t soon forget.

Kayak trip to Grand Island, Lake Superior

On our last morning, we walked around the farm to take some pictures and reflect on how much had changed during the month we were there.  The plants were just starting to hit their stride and really take off.  There would be an abundance of vegetables to harvest in the weeks to come, and we hoped our work would help make it a great year for Rock River Farm.

 

Shiitake Happens

With all of our projects completed, we spent the morning inoculating 25 Shiitake mushroom logs.  Rowan plans to add another 25 logs for the next couple years and eventually have around 100 logs in production.  They should be able to harvest mushrooms for 2-4 years depending on the conditions and how well the spores take.  There are many variables with mushroom cultivation, and one can make it as scientific or simple as desired. At this time he plans on sticking with Shiitake, but may try others in the future.  They have an abundance of Maple trees in the area, so he ordered a strain that does better in Maple wood.  Oak is the preferred wood to use, but any dense hardwood with adequate moisture content should be able to produce mushrooms.  The advantage of felling healthy trees for the logs is that their moisture level is high, and there shouldn’t be any other competing fungus spores in the wood.  Once the spores have been drilled into the logs, they will take anywhere from 6 to 18 months to spread throughout the logs. The spores need to have an environmental trigger to start fruiting. This generally happens in the Spring and Fall when the temperatures are changing and there is plenty of moisture.  If there isn’t enough rain to trigger this, the logs can be soaked in water for a day or two to initiate the fruiting.

We took down 5 trees to cut the 25 logs at four feet in length.  The diameter should be around 3-8 inches.  The larger the log, the more holes that can be drilled to increase the amount harvested, but it can also be too heavy to work with. With an average of 4 inch logs, there were around 60-75 holes drilled per log.  We used a diamond pattern with a couple of inches between each row, and about 6 inches in between holes.  A special drill bit was used to drill the holes.

After the logs were drilled, we used a spawn plunger (injector) that was loaded with the spores to inject the logs.  The spores are mixed together with sawdust in the package.  We would pop the injector with some force to make sure the spore was tightly compacted into the hole.

Once all of the holes had been filled, they were painted (covered) with hot wax.  The wax seals the spores into the log and prevents other spores from being able to establish themselves.  The cut ends of each log was also painted in wax to help the log retain as much moisture as possible.

After that, we moved the logs to their new home on the north side of the barn.  Hopefully they will stay cool in that area, and are also under the edge of the roof to get any runoff when it rains.  Depending on the location and climate, the logs are often stacked in the woods or in a building to protect them.

With three people, we were done in about 3 hours.  We hope to hear about the great Shiitake harvest they have next year, and are looking forward to doing this when we get back.

Rock River Farm: Part 3

Week three was spent prepping beds for new transplants and maintaining what was already growing in the hoop houses.  This included trimming and trellising the tomatoes and cucumbers, setting up irrigation over the peas/carrots/beans/beets, getting a hoop house flipped, planting an ante space (area next to the hoop houses) with additional transplants, and of course weeding.  Don’t worry, we had plenty of time to day dream about the upcoming 4th of July festivities and explore the local waterfalls.

Tomato production in a hoop house is different than every way that I have ever grown them in the past, and one that I look forward to using in the future.  The goal is to train the plant to promote vine growth and can result in plants that are 15 feet long.  Trimming is done at the point where two branches come out of the main stem, with the top branch being clipped completely off.  If this branch or runner was left alone, it would grow horizontally and create a larger, wider profile.  Tomatoes can form on these branches, but there would also be a large amount of leaves that will prevent tomatoes in the center of the plant to fully develop and ripen.  There is also more air flow within the plants that helps prevent disease.

Top branches cut off to aid in the vine action of the tomatoes.

 

We also went over to see the pigs of Rock River Farm that are held on a separate property.  In the past, these pigs would have been on site and helped increase the fertility of the land.  With new rules and regulations that were passed in the last Food Bill, livestock cannot be within 250 feet of vegetables if a farm wants to pass the GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) requirements.  This topic will be saved for a future post, but seems to put more pressure on small farm operations. We hope that we will have a chance in the future to work with pigs on a regular basis.  They are smart animals and should be treated in a manner that lets them express their natural tendencies.

Hello pigs!

On a day with perfect weather, we took the afternoon to hike to a couple waterfalls in the area.  The UP is home to hundreds of waterfalls, which typically hit their peak during the spring melt.  With recent rain, we hoped there would be plenty of volume in the streams and rivers to view them. Our first stop was the Rock River Falls which was only a couple miles from the farm.  The hike was about a mile from the access point, and provided a nice view of the local wilderness.  The waterfall did not disappoint and we took some pictures and got close to the splash before heading back.

Rock River Falls

Rock River Falls

While leaving, we pulled Google maps to figure out the route to the next place.  One of the options would take us south and we would be backtracking several miles, so we decided to take the route that brought us in from the north. We soon found ourselves entering a “seasonal road” and had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  A word of advice to any future visitor to the UP, please DON’T take the seasonal roads.  Hours passed, we hit a top speed of 5 mph, we went through mud puddles, scratched through trees and bushes, bounced over boulders and bottomed out on pot holes and finally hit the turning point.  Running water.  The road (with actual street signs in the middle of a forest) was to cross a stream, not once, but two times.  With downed trees added to the obstacle, we bowed our heads and turned back defeated and exhausted.

The 4th of July happened just in time for us to forget about the seasonal roads and allowed us to witness another small town parade.  We headed to Munising, rumored to be one of the best parades in the area, to take it in and wonder around the small festival they set up for the holiday.  The parade was enjoyable with plenty of candy being tossed and smiles from the spectators.  Although it was a little short, we had our share of sirens and painted faces.  After wondering the festival grounds, we went home to get ready for our grill out and fireworks show.  Luckily for us, Rowen and Shailah have a friend with a father who makes homemade fireworks.  We enjoyed a pony keg of Bells Two Hearted, brats and ribs, and fireworks while chatting with friends.

 

 

 

 

Rock River Farm: Part 2

Our second week was full of work and fun. We have adjusted to the schedule of the farm and the day to day projects, but also prep for the months to come.  An important difference between the back yard garden and running a vegetable farm, is the mindset of planting and seeding.  When gardening, most only think about planting in the early summer and then are done for the year.  With farming, the planting continues for the entire season, expecting a second rotation of crops, and hoping for the possibility of a third.

Marquette Farmer’s Market

We planted over a dozen 128 cell trays of head lettuce, cauliflower, celery, and more, and they won’t hit the field for several weeks after we have left the farm.  Their germination time is longer and they need to be protected in the greenhouse until they are out in the field.  A second project we did was planting two new leaf lettuce beds.  The germination for them is a matter of days.  We marked off five 30 inch rows, with a one foot walkway in between each row.  A 4 row seeder was pulled down the row three times, for 12 total rows of lettuce.  The final step was securing the drip lines and setting up a sprinkler over top.

Leaf lettuce-40′ by 20′ beds

We also transplanted tomatoes, peppers, and melons into large pots, which they will be in for the season.  Rock River Farm has tomatoes in the field, trellised in a hoop house, and in pots in their large greenhouse. Each method will produce at different pace, and they do this with several different vegetables.  We weeded a little bit each day among the carrots, peas, onions, beans, and beats.

melons and ‘maters

Even in the greenhouse, the overnight lows of the 40’s and 50’s have kept these peppers from hitting their stride

We battled our newest enemy, the Colorado Potato Beetle. This beetle can destroy entire rows of potatoes if they are not kept in check. Our initial method was to gather the adults and keep them in a jar.  Some say that you can blend the adult beetles in with some chili powder or garlic and then spread that over the potato plant and the beetle will stay away.  We realized on a small scale that might work, but on this level we had to switch gears.  Now, we simply find them and kill them.  Its a ruthless and dirty job, but that’s what WWOOFers are for!  They lay a bright orange patch of eggs under the leaves, so we also search the plant for those and smash them on contact.  We hope that we have found the majority of them, because the larvae stage is hard to keep in check by hand.

Adult Colorado Potato Beetle

Eggs

Potato Beetles at different phases of the larva stage.

 

At the end of the week we harvested lettuce heads for market and wholesale orders.  Saturday was a nice sunny day, and we sold plenty of flowers, transplants, and a little lettuce. After the market, we went to Presque Isle Park, which is right on the edge of town.  It is a low key park, and many people go their for picnics, wedding receptions, or for a bike ride and walk.  The main road takes you on a loop of the park with plenty of stops to get out and explore.  The Black Rocks section is fun to climb around on the rocky beach.  The formation is around 3 billion years old. Next stop, Little Presque Isle Park, which is about 3o minutes out of town.  We were told that you can walk through the shallow waters to the island and then hike around.  We found out, the water is super cold and higher than normal.  We watched some locals go out and the water was shoulder height.  Without towels or swimwear, we turned back.

Black Rocks

Scouting out the journey to the island