Happenings on the Ranch

Spring is definitely in the air … the 40mph air!  The wind has been absolutely howling the past two days.  I really don’t mind the wind, although the geese seem to be a it annoyed with it.  What I find extraordinary is the little amount of precipitation we’ve had throughout the winter and I’m hoping it doesn’t continue into the spring as well.

Our farm is in it’s own little miroclimate.  Those of you that garden, and many of you that don’t, are aware that the U.S. is broken up into planting zones.  Each zone has it’s own climate and set of factors that are taken into account when planning what to plant, when, and where.  Zones 9 and 10 are more tropical climates that can sustain many different types of vegetation that can’t be grown in the much colder northern zones of 1 and 2.  Generally, Missouri is considered zone 5.  However, if you look at the zone maps you’ll see a tiny little pocket that’s considered zone 6.  Our farm is smack dab in the middle of it.  That’s usually a pretty good thing for us.  We can plant some things a bit earlier than the rest of the state and grow them later in the season.  But, so far it seems our little microclimate has been working against us.  All to the north of us and down to the south of us they have seen good amounts of precipitation.  But every time there is snow or rain forecasted for the KC Metro area we get nothing.  We’ve had only two measurable snow falls all winter and what we did get didn’t amount to much.  We’ve had one little smattering of rain.  I’m really hoping some things change a little bit or our microclimate will be in a micro drought!

On the plus side, all the seedlings that we started several weeks ago are going strong.  Many of the tomato varieties have been thinned down to the strongest plants and, lo and behold, the eggplant seedlings are doing well (keep your fingers crossed).  Next week we’ll start planting the early crops directly into the newly prepared soil.  These will include kale, several varieties of swiss chard, many types of lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, green onions, leeks and more.

If the old saying holds true and March goes out like a lamb, our crops will be off to a great start!

… but I’m finally making another entry.  It’s been over two months since I’ve had the chance to sit down and write – which tells you how busy we’ve been!

 As I sit here eating a big salad of mixed lettuce, spinach, diced green onions, chopped hard-boiled duck eggs, and bacon I can’t help but smile.  I’m smiling because everything in this satsifying spring meal came straight from our farm.  Not only is it fresh, but I know where it came from and how it was grown.  Yum!

Planting, weeding and now our first week of harvest have taken much of our days over the last weeks.  Managing our flocks have become a little tedious because of the continuous assault from the pair of fox in the area – obviously feeding pups.  Our chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys have all relegated themselves to staying in their yards for fear of being picked off.  The few that do venture out inevitably don’t come back.  Unfortunately, they’ve worn down their yards so we’re rotating yards to allow the greenery to grow back for them.  Thankfully they don’t seem to be unhappy but I hate that they don’t have the wide open freedom they usually do.  I’m hoping after Spring things will ease up a bit and they’ll be able to venture further again.

On a sad note, our goat herd queen Snow White (aka ‘Momma’) passed away last week.  She was our son Devon’s Nubian doe that gave birth to the two bucklings earlier this year.  She was battling a resperatory infection and then bloated.  Everything that could be done for her was done, but it just wasn’t enough.  Devon was devastated but comfortable knowing he had given her plenty of love and care.  It still sucks, though.  She was a real favorite around here. 

Other than that, everyone is well.  The cattle all seem to be pregnant and growing (out) by the day, the horses are itching to be ridden now that it’s warm, the pigs are getting fatter, the puppies are cute as ever (and need homes!) and the flocks are growing well.  Now all we need is the hens to be consistently laying and all will be well!

This week is the first harvest for CSA members.  Our first deliveries to our Grandview customers was tonight.  It was really nice getting to meet everyone finally after months of exchanging emails.  Everyone seemed very excited to get their first share and anticipate more to come.  Everything is growing well and each week the harvest will get heavier and more substantial.  Any and all additional harvest will be sold at each Farmer’s Market.  It’s starting out to be a good season (knock on wood).

Guess that’s all for now.  I’ll try to post more often (as time allows) and encourage you all to post a comment or shoot me an email – I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Spring,

Karin