I delivered the last round for our fall CSA. It was sad, for me…that was a great route. Everyone, although I didn’t see you very much, it was a pleasure. In case you were wondering, our CSA starts up again in April. Tomorrow is a new day. A day to do nothing…but the dishes, and the laundry and cook, and….and….
Here is a picture of me on day 1 of delivery…for the fall
I was thinking about this moment right now! It will be a nice break! See you in April Fayetteville!
You know it has been a long season, when your plants start producing magical, yet comical fruits. They must be saying to us, sit down and have a laugh, it’s almost over.
Not only are there penguin peppers, but peppers with funny noses:
These peppers are doing their job, showing us that plants can have a sense of humor too!
We’ve been really busy here on the farm, our main project right now, on top of EVERYTHING else is re-erecting the Mothership. If you aren’t a 2-greenthumbs superfan, let me fill you in. Last march our hoop house, the Mothership, was blown down in what we later found out was a F1 tornado. Look back into my archives, there were pictures and tears shed. But NOW we are putting a new Mothership back up, better than ever. There were lots of hands involved in this, there are some pictures on my other farm blog Ozark Alternatives and I will add some more here as well.
I would just like to add that we also pulled the roof up and over! There are no pictures of that, because all hands were on deck. FARM LIFE!
The weather has cooled slightly, instead of being 100+ degrees, it has dropped into the 90’s! Some people don’t feel a difference, it’s HOT any way you look at it, but for those who work out in it, it makes a difference. Plants hae bounced back, insects are flying around again, and we even got a little rain. We wasted no time and got back out into the field, prepping and planting.
Planting a salad mix, and laying the drip line.
Planting beans.
Covering the seeds up.
“Sweet Jane”, came to us all the way from the great land of Long Island. When she left here the other day, she had to return to start school again. I don’t think she was very excited about it, she said that she’d rather stay in the field. I agree, since I too am in school, and would rather be in the field as well.
The chickens are feeling the difference in the heat as well, their egg production is back up.
Growing up in the Central Valley of California, where summer temps reach the 110° F or warmer, I thought I knew heat. It was mother loving HOT today. A friend said last night that when you have a fan going in a blistering hot house that you turn it into a convection oven. Well, I believe I’m fairly well done now. “They” said that the temps would be between 105°-107°F, yo no sé, all I know is….what was I just saying? Sorry, I’m a bit sun-scorched. One day, I’ll live in a house with air conditioning, but right now I’m putting in my time, on this whole homestead thing…I’m earning my stripes so to speak. Chime in though, tell me I’m crazy.
See more pictures, of Heidi, Laura and I doing our thing at dusk, because that’s the way we do it around hrrrr.
Visit: Ozark Alternatives
And thanks : )
We have encountered infestation upon infestation this season, the first time ever for us to have to battle so many wars on so many fronts. When things like this happen, and you grow organically like we do, you need to figure out some options. What isn’t an option, is what most people would flock to, some Sevin dust, or some sort of Monsanto product. Us fringe wackos use things like diatomaceous earth, or neem oil, or Pyrethrin. Things that work, but aren’t a 100% knockout punch. This morning, one of our WWOOF’ers, Heidi, and I were weeding in a bell pepper bed, and we had scores of uninvited guests also present with us. These pictures I am about to show you are graphic in nature, and not suitable for all eyes.
These are Blister Beetles. When squished, or if they get on you and give you a nibble, they have a defensive secretion that causes your skin to blister. The chemical they secrete is harvested in certain species of beetles and used to remove warts. I wasn’t expecting this kind of excitement at 6am, but at least I had on socks and shoes. Poor Heidi had on shorts and flip-flops. We soldiered on, the whole time thinking “NO WHAMMIES!!!”
Not only were the beetles on the pepper plants themselves, but on all of the weeds we were pulling. I would sweep them to the side with my glove and then pull. What’s the saying? Hindsight is always 20/20? Well, in hindsight, we probably should have got the hell out of there…it was like weed pulling Vietnam. Poisonous bugs EVERYWHERE, that harbor a blistering agent…those sneaks.
The thing about these bugs, is that there are 7500 varieties of them. These happen to be striped. The ones we fought off in Big Poppa (Hoop House #2) were all black…they were goth blister beetles. AND, these bugs were not there yesterday. Ladies and gentlemen out there in cyber-land, if you know how to communicate with these devils, please let me know. I’d like to make peace and show them some nice and tasty weeds to munch. Isn’t that strange when you think about it? Mammals and insects are no dummies when it comes to a tasty snack. They wait until it’s practically ripe even…I just blew your minds, chew on that for a while.
It was definitely a party. I went on one of those google searches to find a picture of a blister from a blister beetle. I found the most gentle one to share, they can really tear a person up…so you’re welcome.
Today around noon, I was out watering some green bean plants in the heat, in vain, thinking, I should blog about this…and then thinking no, people don’t want to hear me bitch all the time. I swear, everything I want to write about is how the weather SUCKS, and is uncooperative in the summer. It’s depressing fighting the good fight. It was so hot earlier, that I would spray my feet here and there, because it was too hot to stand on the dead grass. Occasionally I’d step on a tiny pebble and jump, because the pebble felt like a hot coal. Too hot to stand on the dead grass!!!! We took a break around 2pm, to grab some late lunch. Out of nowhere, clouds rolled in, then rolled through DUMPING RAIN (!!!!!!!!!!) all over this region. Good thing I watered! I was so happy, I almost cried. We needed the rain. And by we I mean for all of us Northwest Arkansas, this rain was for all of us! Thank you rogue storm, now my rain barrels are full and the ground is well watered!
I just got back from the spot where the hoop stood. There was a break in the rain, and I felt brave enough to see the carnage for myself. It’s funny how you think you are prepared for things sometimes, I saw the images, I knew what I was about to see, but it still didn’t stop the fact of the gravity of the situation washing over me, and me weeping uncontrollably for at least five minutes. I didn’t realize all of the attachments I had connected to that structure, and it all came out.
This is what I walked up to, snapped the picture, took a deep breath….trying to hold it all in, and sniff…you know the rest.
This is incredibly sad to me.
I knew the wind was strong, but to walk up to this and see the couplers twisted like this, it…..yeah. WOW!
sniff sniff. : (
Incredible.
This image is of the pipe that anchored the whole ship to the ground, bent up, but the earth augur is still in the ground.
The North side hoop blown and twisted toward the east.
Mother Nature straight up body slammed this hoop!
The chard is still delicious!
I’d like to mention that when I said I cried uncontrollably, it was more like angry weeping, It sucked…it still does, but we must move forward!
Here is the Mothership in happier times! R.I.P.
She grew a lot of food last season, and she will be missed.
I would also like to add here some thanks: Roy, thanks for being here to be a chaperone for the kids, and you forgot the blood soup in the fridge. Paul Z, thanks for coming over first thing and asking what do you need to do first, much appreciated. Grace, thanks for taking pictures this morning and having nice hugs. Cody, thanks for calling and lending your help when we need it…I’m thinking farm aid!
Our neighbor, Sir Richard Orr (The lion-hearted), is a certified arborist. We needed his help the other day trimming trees, specifically the fruit orchard that we put the chickens on. Those trees had never been trimmed and were in need of serious help.
Richard’s advice was to get Zen with it. Here he is telling Jake about the exciting world of tree trimming.
Richard let everyone have an opportunity to make cuts.
Phone went ding*
As you can see, these trees got a TRIM!
The Master at work.
Grace is taking a picture of her feet right here. I found it funny to look over and see this happening.
The chickens were eating the blossoms. It looked really pretty to see them frolicking among the downed branches.
This was a different kind of tree than the others. It had a whole new set of challenges, but remember: ZEN.
Almost done with this mad tangle of a tree: zen zen zen zen zen zen zen zen zen!!!!!!!!
And last, but not least, Isaac showed up to hold a chicken. AAAAWWWWWWWWWW. That chicken was very zen.
A recent turn of events has brought a new (old) hoop house into our lives. These pictures tell a story of their own.
Paul and the boys went to go look at it, and this is what they found. This vessel has definitely seen better days, but it’s still seaworthy!
I feel like we need Linus to come over and wrap his blue blanket around this and tell us it just needs a little love.
Paul, Jake, Patrick, Grace, Yosha, and Paul Z. went to the site to take it apart, and were able to get the whole thing down in one day! The hardest part will be where to put it!
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