Happenings on the Ranch

I am happy to announce we have two new baby goats on the farm.  Our youngest doe, Bambi, gave birth to her first kids on Thursday; one boy, one girl.  They are both doing well, although the little girl has needed a little help.  Our older doe, Onyx, is due any day now.  I just love having babies on the farm!  I’ll try to post pictures of the new little ones this week.

The mud I was commenting on last week has now frozen due to the drop in temperature this week.  I would much rather have frozen mud than the boggy mess that was out there before and now the sun is out so some of it should dry up soon (fingers crossed).   And, surprisingly, our chickens decided to start laying again last week so we have several dozen eggs available if anyone is interested.  Which is good for us, since I refuse to eat store bought eggs and was going through a bit of a withdrawal on anything made with eggs!!

Of course, the sun coming out reminds me that spring is just around the corner!  I am so excited and all geared up to start planting.  I have to pace myself, though, so I don’t get seedlings started too early and not have the right weather when they are ready to go outside!  If you haven’t signed up for our 2010 CSA program yet, you still have time.  Get your share of the harvest each week for 24 weeks from May through October.  It really is a good deal and your early payment really helps with our farm budget in the off-season.

Speaking of off-season, I’ve begun freelance writing again for some additional income.  I write articles for clients who need advertising or informational articles for their blogs or websites.  I also edit, update and search engine optimize web content.  I decided to put together a quick website and blog specific to my writing; the site is www.karinvelez.info.  During some of my research time for a recent project, I came across a pretty good article site called TreeHugger.  The authors and articles all focus toward Sustainable Living which we, of course, are a proponent of.  There is a pretty wide variety of subjects on this site, but most of them pertain to green living, sustainable lifestyle and alternative energy and can be a pretty good quick read.

Until next time!  ~ Karin

I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I last posted.  It really seems like it was only a few days ago!  Just goes to show that time flies when you’re having fun.

The seedlings that were planted a little over a week ago are coming up beautifully.  We have a very well defined routine to how the seedlings are started.  Since each type of plant requires a different way of sprouting, we have created zones in our starting area. 

Some plants require heat, but no light at first.  These are started in recycled styrofoam egg cartons on the top shelf.  The heat from the shelves below rises up to warm the bottoms of the containers so the soil gets to around 75 degrees.  We close the tops of the cartons to give them the darkness they prefer and to keep in the humidity.  Once they sprout, the cartons are opened to let in the light and they are moved to the next shelf down which provides both light and warm air.  When the plants are strong enough and they outgrow their little egg cartons, the strongest plant in each ‘pod’ is transplanted to a styrofoam cup.  The egg cartons are washed, dried and put aside for the next round of seedings.

Some seedlings require light and heat.  These are placed directly in small styrofoam cups on the top and middle shelves of the next starting unit.  They get light from our lamps and heat.  Once they have sprouted, they are also moved to the next shelf to get both light and warm air.  Once they are bigger, the weakest plants in each cup are removed.  Then we run a fan to move the air around the seedlings for a couple hours per day.  This simulates a light breeze and keeps the seedling from getting ‘leggy.’  The lights above these seedlings hang very close to their cups, also to prevent legginess, and as the plants grow the lights are raised higher up.

Some seedlings prefer dark and cool conditions to germinate, others cool and sunny.  These seedlings are started in a seperate area away from the heat and covered with newspaper if they need it to be dark.  These end up being placed by a sunny window when they’ve sprouted, are rotated so they don’t grow one direction leaning toward the light and also get a fan periodically.

The styrofoam cups we use serve multiple purposes.  They retain moisture and are sturdy.  When we are ready to plant the seedlings outside, we can cut the bottom of the cup off and use the remainder of the cup as a protective collar while the seedlings adjust to the soil and get stronger.  Once they are no longer needed, we reuse them all over the place.  Breaking them into big chunks and using them at the bottom of potted plants to help with drainage (much lighter than rocks), insulation for the chicken coops and other shelters, and more.  Believe me, we hate the thought of using something that’s not biodegradable; however, it’s turned into the best and least expensive way for us to start hundreds of little plants and we make sure to use every  last one of them so they don’t end up in a landfill!

In addition to planting, we’ve got 27 little chicks pecking around.  26 of them will be used for meat and one has become my little buddy.  “Lucky” was brought to me a few nights ago by our son, Devon,  and was barely clinging to life.  Since he (she?) is of a different breed than the others, he isn’t getting as big as fast.  From what I can tell, he was trampled by the other chicks.  Believe it or not, I performed mouth-to-mouth, er, -beak, and after about an hour of working with the little guy he was back up and bouncing around.  Hence the name, “Lucky.”  He now spends most of his time in a protected area of the brooder and I let him out several times a day to socialize with the other chicks while keeping a close eye on him.

“Lucky” the chick.

Our laying flock is also doing quite well.  We usually have breeds that lay brown eggs but have a few Brown Leghorns this year that are producing the most delicious, almost jumbo-sized white eggs.  The youngest girls are just now starting to lay and we are hopeful for a very productive year.  The biggest thing, as always, is protecting them from the predators.

Hens by the coop.

This week we will be starting more early plants and, yes, we are trying eggplant again this year.  Keep your fingers crossed!

~ Karin

“I love it when a plan comes together.”  If you don’t get the ‘A-Team’/Hannibal Smith reference, that’s okay; you get my meaning.  If you DO get the reference, don’t worry – I don’t have a cigar in my mouth.

But I do have a smile on my face.  Subscriptions to and inquiries about our 2008 CSA Programs are steadily coming in.  It’s really nice to see how many people are interested in supplying their family with naturally grown produce and meat and are willing to support their local farmers.  But, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you haven’t sent in your contract and deposit, now’s the time to do it.  I’m anticipating we will run out of shares by the end of February.

That’s not to say we won’t have plenty of produce to sell at market this year.  But, that does mean we need to get started on pre-planting activities.  With it being soooo bitterly cold outside right now and the wind only making it worse, it’s a wonder I’m at all excited about planting.  But I am.  Arcenio has been working on updating our indoor seed-starting area so I can get the first seeds into soil.  This is very important if we want to be able to provide you a wider assortment earlier in the season.  Many seeds will be started over the next several weeks, then the seedlings transplanted into the soil after the final frost (probably late April).  Seeds of those same plants will also be directly sown into the ground later on to provide multiple harvests.  We’re planning a wide assortment this year and want to provide for multiple harvests of each for everyone’s enjoyment.

 Additionally, we’re trying eggplant this year.  Yes, I said “trying” because eggplant is notoriously difficult to start from seed.  They’re very particular about the amount of heat they get until they sprout (which takes about three weeks; most seedlings only take 7 to 10 days) and then are particular about the amount of light.  They are fragile when “hardening off”, which is the process we use to acclimate the seedlings to temperatures before moving them outdoors.  If you can manage to get through all that, AND manage to get them transplanted into the ground without damaging them, then you’re still only halfway there!  Their soil conditions are particular for both warmth and nutrients.  And you have to harvest them without going beyond their peak ripeness and in a specific way to make sure they aren’t damaged.  So, needless to say, if you get an eggplant in one of your shares this year or buy one from us at market, know that a lot of care and effort went into growing that beauty for you!

I’ll try to keep everyone posted as we move forward, but just know that it will become increasingly harder to do the busier we get.  I will begin posting a periodic newsletter and will let you know when that starts.  CSA subscribers will get a weekly newsletter (with recipes!) with their shares when the season starts.

Take care, stay warm and drop me a line when you have time!

-Karin