Wild Things Farm

Do you remember where you were when JFK was shot? I was in Mrs. Watson's 2nd grade class, probably spinning my wooden chair around on one leg, when the announcement came over the loudspeaker.

Do you remember where you were when the terrorists struck on 911? I was in a stress management class. Yes, a STRESS managment class. Imagine that! We didn't have access to TV until late that afternoon but I'll never forget that day and WE need to never forget that day........

The Happy Hens at Wild Things Farm get a lot of attention.  One of the key players in the lives of the Happy Hens is Mr. Rooster Sir. 

Mr. Rooster Sir has been with the Happy Hens ever since the beginning.  He did have a partner to watch over the chickie chicks but his partner was mean to the girls so he went bye-bye. 

I've noticed that Mr. Rooster Sir watches over the girls constantly.  While they are busy pecking and scratching, he's watching out, looking, ready to sound an alarm if there's danger.

One day a hawk perched in a tree way too close to the chicken universe and Mr. Rooster Sir sounded an alarm.  All the girls scurried into their safe haven (aka chicken house) except one.  I didn't actually see what happened, but I think the hawk actually almost made contact with her because she was hiding underneath a corner of the coop.  I gathered her up and put her back in the house with her companions.  They were upset for a day or two after that incident. 

The next day after that encounter, I took fence wire and went across the pen in a zig-zag manner so birds of prey wouldn't be able to "swoop" down and grab one of the girls.  So far it's worked really well keeping critters from swooping.  It does take my hat off occasionally when I stand up too tall in the pen.

A few months ago one of the CSA members shared a sourdough starter with me.  I've been keeping it fed and tried a few bread recipes but they've all turned out to look and feel like one of those discus thingees they throw in the Olympics.  The chickens love testing my mess-ups!

Another observation:  Mr. Rooster Sir will stand there and wait until all the girls have gotten their piece of bread before he will even attempt to get one for himself--a true gentleman.  So appropriately named.

Back to the successful breadmaking experience.  The recipe I used makes a "sponge" from warm water, yeast, and the starter, then let it set for 10 minutes then add flour, sugar and salt, mix together and let rise for 2 hours then knead.  This is where I was messing up.  I wasn't kneading the dough enough. Kneading sufficiently gets the gluten broken down enough to hold the dough in shape while it's baking.  So knead, and knead, and knead until it's really pliable and holds it's shape.  I "googled" sourdough bread not rising and figured that out.  The bread turned out perfect.

Don't tell the girls!

I know we're not as dry as other folks are, but it hasn't rained around here in several weeks. Needless to say, the irrigation pump has been working overtime. A lot of the gardens have drip tape installed in them which makes watering them as easy as turning a valve.

Two of the gardens, any seedbeds, the orchard and the flower beds all require dragging a waterhose and a sprinkler. This is where life gets kinky. Every time I have to drag hoses around I'm reminded that "you get what you pay for". I've got two 75' yellow hoses that I was really proud to have purchased at the Dollar General Store, about 3 years ago, for $7.00 each. They have worked pretty good but they do kink when they've been rolled up and stretched back out. That means several trips back-and-forth as the hose is stretched out because you can stand there and twist and twist and twist and that kink WILL NOT come out! Another time I had one hooked up with a valve on the end of it for use in the greenhouse. With pressure on it day-in and day-out, I noticed one day that right at the end of the hose was a giant bubble, like 6" in diameter! I had never had a hose to do that before--it never busted, but I cut the end off and put a new end on it and it's still working just fine.

Last year I needed another water hose so I went to Lowe's. Being a farmer on a budget, I opted for a middle-of-the-road "Swan" brand hose. This has to be the absolutely WORST water hose I've ever bought. It kinks in fear when you look at it. If one were to leave it laying straight, never move it, it would be fine. Every time I use it I swear I'm going to e-mail the company to complain about the worst hose I ever bought but by the time I get back in front of the computer the rage has subsided and I forget.

The best hoses are the black ones with the yellow stripe on them and they clearly state "kink proof" on the package. I don't know the name of them but they look like a garter snake when they're laying on the ground. I've got two of them and I pledge from now on to never buy another water hose until I can afford to buy more of these. They do get a kink in them once in a while but if you just wiggle it the kink will come right out--it's magic!

While I'm gardening I prefer to not get kinky :)

One of my favorite veggies during the summer months is sweet corn.  I've spent more time at the farmer's market this year than in recent years and folks sure have opinions about their sweet corn.  This year I grew white corn for the first time.  Not knowing how it was going to be received at the market, I was happy to learn that the folks in nearby Fairfield Glade absolutely love the white corn (most are transplants from the north).  The farmer's market in town wasn't so successful.  That crowd of customers is mostly local folks and they want either yellow or bi-color, so I brought home 30 dozen of the 50 dozen I took to town.  Oh, there were the stray few who liked white corn, but I learned a lesson.  When it comes to food, you just can't figure people out!

Anyway, a couple of the members of the CSA shared several good-looking recipes using fresh sweet corn.   They used to buy corn from a gentlemen--my Dad's Sweet Corn--in Carmel, IN and these recipes are from his farm. 

Corn Souffle

3 cups corn
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
1 stick margarine

Melt margarine. Stir in egg, then all other ingredients. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Corny Corn Bread

1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
2 cups corn
½ stick butter
3 tablespoons sugar

Mix together and bake in 9x9 pan for 20-30 minutes at 400º.

Corn Pudding

3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
2 cups corn
Salt
Pepper

Cream together eggs, butter, and sugar. Add flour and baking powder; add milk and corn. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together all ingredients. Bake at 350º for 45-50 minutes. Note: Always bake immediately after mixing.

Baked Corn

2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
3 cups corn
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk

Stir together flour, sugar, salt, and pepper into corn until blended. Beat eggs; add milk; blend into corn mixture. Pour into greased 1 ½- quart casserole. Place casserole in metal baking pan with ¼-inch water in bottom. Bake at 350º for about 1 ¼ hours or until set.

Corn Casserole

2 eggs, beaten
½ cup softened butter
1 pint sour cream
4 cups corn
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt
Pepper

Mix together eggs, butter, and sour cream until well blended. Add corn and corn bread. Mix together sugar, salt, and pepper; add to egg mixture. Place in 12 x 9 inch dish. Bake at 350º for 30 to 35 minutes.

Corn Fritters

2 cups corn
½ cup milk
½ cup flour
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
Butter or maple syrup

Mix together all ingredients; beat well. Fry in fat, similar to making pancakes. Serve with butter or maple syrup.

You know what?  The best planning sometimes just goes to pot.  I spent a good amount of time planning the green bean harvest so as to not be overwhelmed by beans ready to pick.  Checking seed labels for days to harvest, staggering plantings, etc. 

Well, the best plans don't always work!  Mother Nature decided that four of the varieties of green beans all needed to be harvested at once!  Hellooooo, it's not like I have an army of pickers here.  So, I start picking, and picking, and picking.  The CSA members today got three different varieties of beans and when I went back out this aftenoon, I realized the yellow wax was ready to pick also---arrgggggghhhh! 

The farmer's market in town is tomorrow so I'm picking for that.  This year I tried a purple bean, along with the yellow wax, Romas, and Kentucky Wonder. This morning was CSA delivery day so I had to get that taken care of, but this afternoon was spent in the bean patch.  When the daylight faded into dark I was picking the purple beans.  I thought to myself, "these are hard to see in the dark, maybe I should switch back to the yellow".  Then I thought, "hey, these guys are all open-pollinated, I can save the seeds." 

So, I stood up, surveyed my seed bank, smiled to myself, and went in the house.

T - o - m - a - to

Well, what else am I supposed to do in the sweltering heat while picking produce?

After this spring, I've dubbed Crab Orchard, or at least Wild Things Farm the "squash bug capital of Tennessee".  I practice crop rotation every year, but seems like the bugs have a radar or a spy at my computer looking to see where the squash and cucumbers are going to be planted.  As soon as a seed germinates and comes out of the ground--wham!  It's eaten.  There are times that I've seen a handful of bugs around one plant.

This spring I sprayed rotenone/pyrethrum on the stem and saturated the roots of the plants every 3 or 4 days just until they could get enough size on them to grow, but the challenge of out-smarting these bugs has been, well, bugging me.  To overcome a problem you have to "become the problem".  So I started thinking like a squash bug.  Get to the stem and dig just under the soil, lay eggs and split.  Eggs hatch, become larvae, pierce the stem and crawl inside. 

I'm always looking for creative ways to use leftover things rather than tossing them, so I had this bag of torn up row cover.  I cut the row cover into little squares, about 6" square,

Then I wrapped the stem of my transplants (I started these in the greenhouse under strict supervision) with the reemay squares,

I then covered the reemay with soil and left the stem-wrapped part in its normal position, above ground.  Yes, it's tedious, but spraying so much isn't fun either.   It's only been a couple of days since this was done, but I think unless the bugs bring scissors with them, they might have a problem getting to the spot to lay eggs.  We'll see.

I'm sure every die-hard gardener has their most very favorite gardening hat.  Mine is a Scala hat, very wide brim, that has perched on my head going on three seasons now.  It's made of palm leaves, but very tightly woven and durable.  Margaret the Mantis ( a pin) guards the hat against insect predators.......

Anyway, I've been noticing that the hat was getting pretty funky looking from sweating in it every day, adjusting it with dirty gloved hands, laying it aside while doing something in the garden that warrants the hat being removed, and just three years of constant use.  I bought a new hat, but it just isn't the same.  Sooooo, I began trying to figure out how to wash the hat without destroying it. 

I sprayed the entire hat with Shout laundry pre-soak, really soaking the sweatband inside and the dirtiest spots on the hat.  I then placed the hat upside down on the top rack of the dishwasher and I put a coffee cup inside it to keep it from moving around in the dishwasher.  I don't have my dishwasher set on  what I call the "nuclear cycle" where the washer heats the water so hot it melts plastic, but if yours is set to destroy plastic items I would suggest putting it on energy saver or whatever cycle cancels the water heater.  I set it on a short wash and it came out really pretty clean.  There is still a very faint spot in the front where sweat soaks through, but now I can once again wear my hat in town without being embarrassed, and Margaret likes it too.

Yesterday my son called and the first words out of his mouth were a question.  I must have sounded kind of short with him because he said "You sound like I interrupted something".  I apologized and after we hung up I realized that this time of year is so busy that I have to interrupt myself sometimes!

Anyway, things are rocking right along here in the kingdom of Wild Things.  Early mornings are always peaceful before the sound of the tractor breaks the foggy silence

This garden is called the Blackberry Garden and that's because the blackberries are planted over there.  The berries are just starting to show their tasty color and I've nibbled on a few of them....won't be long

This year cut flowers have been added to the crop menagerie at the farm.  The two trips to the farmer's market have resulted in violent thunderstorms, but the flowers are pretty so I'll keep trying

This is the first CSA season with the high tunnel.  It's really enhanced the early part of the season with snow peas and beets in the first couple of boxes, then fresh tomatoes and cucumbers in early June! 

This is one of the wierdest tomatoes I've picked.  It had folds and horns on just about every side--but it tasted yummy!

Some parts of the country are dusty dry and hot, but here at the farm it's rained almost every day.  Some folks would say well, that's good isn't it?  You're growing stuff and they need rain.  Well, it's true to some degree, but I'm worried about the tomatoes getting that dreaded blight again, I lost the only Eryngium yuccifolium in my flower bed (Rattlesnake master), the canteloupe planted in the high tunnel have drowned (groundwater level too high) and some of the green beans are hollering for help.

The weatherman says later this week hotter and drier.....I say good.

Weeding Wisdom

(random thoughts while weeding)

We call a doctor's business a practice and a lawyer's businss a practice......definitely a farmer's business should be called a practice.

According to the NWS records, April 2011 in Tennessee was the wettest on record.  Yes, on record.  I can vouch for that--the irrigation pond ignored its boundaries and tadpoles moved into the grassy areas.   Last week, Monday and Tuesday, the thermometer read 41 degrees.  The eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and sweet potatoes were shocked!  Now this week the thermometer has been above 80 degrees every day and there's only been .04 inches of rain for the past 10 days.  This makes for very challenging gardening conditions!

In spite of the weather, the tiller was dropped into the soil.......

two crops of corn have been planted with the handy-dandy (but needy) antique John Deere planter.......

and awesome hardwood flooring was installed in the farmhouse livingroom .......

and diningroom

This is the earliest that a lettuce crop has ever had to be pulled and replanted, but the first two lettuce plantings have already been turned into eggs by the Happy Hens. 

Just a quick update.....off to work with me now; my hoe awaits!

I purchase a lot of the seeds used on the farm from Johnny's Select Seeds and yesterday they sent out an e-mail that had links to the most useful tools that I just had to share...  go here

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-InteractiveTools.aspx?source=E_InteractiveTools_0411CGCM

There's a ton of info in seed starting, how much to plant, when to plant, how long till harvest, blah, blah, blah.

Hope you find something in there useful.....I did!  Happy Spring, y'all :)

While relaxing this afternoon after getting the day's chores completed (completed, huh?) Anyway, I saw a couple of hawks circling an area of the property.  That reminded me of one of the first times I ever came to the property before I bought the place.  I was with an excavation contractor, picking his brain about where to put the driveway, and we were driving into the property and a hawk with a squirrel in its claws grazed the hood/windshield of the truck!  That was pretty amazing.  Since I've moved onto the place there was a juvenile hawk down near the pond.  I didn't notice it was there but one of the dogs was acting like something was awry so when I investigated, there was this juvenile hawk that would not fly off.  I was able to walk all the way up to the hawk, take this picture, then throw a jacket over it and take it to a local vet who cares for injured raptors.

That very same week I was driving down the road about 4 miles from the house and I saw an owl on the side of the road.  I thought it was strange because it was the middle of the day, so I stopped.  I was able to get out of the truck, walk up to the owl, say "hi", go back and get my camera and walk back over and take this picture....

I phoned a friend who was behind me on the road and told him what I had seen.  An hour or so later he came to my house and the owl had died on the side of the road.  It had obviously been in a fight with something else and it lost. 

 Last night I heard the "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" call of the barred owl.  Although the farm is little more than a mile from I-40, there are still sounds and appearances of wild things.....

Everyone knows (well maybe everyone) that fresh eggs don't peel really well when boiled.  Well, I just collected eggs from the Happy Hens, boiled a few of them for 10 minutes, then put them in water with ice cubes, and voila!  They peeled like a banana.  So there's your wisdom for today!

Ahh, the bluebells are blooming........

The trout lilies are too........

bloodroot is shining snowy white.......

and speaking of snow........

it's doing that too!!!!!!!

I've grown sweet potatoes in the garden for a few years but didn't try to start my own slips until last year.  A friend's grandpa grew the biggest sweet potatoes--football size sometimes-- and I tried to start slips according to his method. 

He said to take a big black bucket, like a feed bucket, and put fresh manure in the bottom of it.  Cover the manure with soil then place the sweet potatoes on the soil, cover with soil, then cover with hay.  In a few weeks sprouts are supposed to start coming out.  All I could get out of this method was rotten potatoes.

While "googling" how to start sweet potato slips I ran across many folks who just sprouted them like you would an avocado pit.  Cut the sweet potato in half then suspend it with toothpicks in a glass with water.  Put the cut side down and set the glass in a warm spot in the house.  I put mine all around the woodstove in the livingroom.

It took a few weeks for them to start sprouting, but sprout they did!  I've got around 30 glasses with sprouting potatoes in them.   When the sprouts get about 6" long pull them loose from the potato and place  in a glass of water.  If the sprouts get too long before time to plant you can take cuttings from them and stick the cuttings in the water to root.  I've got one jar with about 40 sprouts I've pulled off the "mother" taters, and I check them daily for new sprouts that are ready to be on their own.   One of the CSA members came to visit a few weeks ago and she laughed and said that reminded her of her classroom years ago when she would have the kids sprout things and plant seeds just to teach them where food really comes from. 

See......most of what we really needed to know we probably did learn in kindergarten!