Liz and Paul's Farm

Tis the season to catch up on blog posts. And dream about summer! We have been growing "Ace" peppers for a long time, while trialing other varieties. No other variety has produced as well. 

I took this picture for a wholesale buyer in the twin cities, who wanted to see what she was getting into before she said yes. 

Sarah, Deiki, and Jacob harvest garlic in early July 2011. With over 3000 row feet of garlic, we loosen most of the roots with a tractor-mounted subsoiler, then pull and pile. That digging fork is for "just in case".

Sarah and Martha in May 2011, cultivating garlic with Leroy and the trusty "walking cultivator".  This ground had been in a buckwheat cover crop until garlic planting during fall 2010.

We work hard producing our sorghum syrup, but have a lot of fun with it.  In the fall we harvest the cane and press out the juice in an antique roller mill. Then we cook down the juice to syrup, similar to the process for cooking maple.

Mule-powered sorghum mill ! Leroy the mule walks in a circle, pulling a big pole attached to the mill. Jacob feeds the mill, Martha and Sarah ride Leroy and encourage him to keep going. In the background is steam rising over the syrup pan, and way back on the left you can see Leroy's horsey friend Birdy, grazing.