new blog

I have started a new blog about cooking with seasonal ingredients. Visit it at inthekitchenwithfrancesca.blogspot.com .

Farm news:
We have planted all of our cabbage plants in the last two days (some 12 hundred plants) !
And we also have more new ducklings!

CSA News:
No broccoli this week (sigh), but next week hopefully!

Going head first into week 1 of CSA

The first week of CSA has sprung upon us! This is a new milestone for Oakmanor Farm.
This week we will have mostly greens; lettuce, spinach, kale and swiss chard. Though we will also have rhubarb (remember to chop up and freeze some to have for pies and such during the off season), onions and plenty of herbs, and also (maybe) some broccoli! If no broccoli this week, then some next week.

And to the barn animals (or should I say pasture animals?):
Nothing too new with the cows, other than the fact that they love being out on pasture. all the horses are together now to enjoy a field grass. The pigs...nothing new.  The ducks though do have a new surprise; we have five new ducklings!

I know in this picture there appears to be six ducklings, but one went missing.




And about the gardens...

All the tomatoes have been planted -- yay! Along with the summer squash (zucchini), and herbs, flowers, chinese cabbage and bok choy. Also our little patch of strawberries is doing well. Within a few weeks they should grow to full size and turn red.

Busy time of year

Spending more time outside now, with plants to plant, and lawns to mow. Oh, and Market to attend!
This week was the second market. Many people were surprised to see that we had lettuce and spinach already. The radish's were beautiful--if I do say so myself-- along with, my favorite, romaine lettuce and, of course, kale. We also had a lot of transplants at the market, next week we will only bring herb and tomato transplants. A lot of the transplants left over from market have been planted into the garden, so I hope no one at the market wanted swiss chard, broccoli or lettuce transplants!

In the past few days, we have planted onions, flowers, swiss chard, cilantro, parsley, radish, beets, mesclun mix, spicy greens mix, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  And last week we planted potatoes and strawberries.

And the weather here has been very nice, not too warm, or rainy! Though the other night we did have an incredible thunder and lightning storm.

And our CSA should start in about a week and a half.
These are a few of the products that we will have at the time of our first CSA week:
kale
lettuce
swiss chard
cilantro
peppermint
thyme
oregano
and probably many more things, but we will have to wait and see on June 15th!

May showers, bring June...?

One week ago every farmer I knew was making half-hearted jokes that we needed to host a workshop on 'farming in the mud'; I couldn't not agree with them.  The harsh rain of a week ago is still affecting us. We are unable to ready many of our gardens for planting, and many of the plants that were already in the gardens have received too much water.  The peas that we planted almost one month ago are only two inches high, the beets will likely not survive, and we have many transplants that need to planted out in the gardens, but none of the gardens are prepared to be planted in. But we did get to plant cauliflower out this week.  But, on a good note, the bok choy, swiss chard, broccoli, garlic and lettuce look great!  And Thursday and Friday were beautiful, lots of sun!

To the barns...
After some extensive fencing (and, no, not the kind with faux swords), the cattle have been let out to pasture.     The latest addition to the herd, is a male calf named Yuri.
All the horses are out in paddocks and look a lot less shaggy.  Grass is also cut daily and fed to Isabelle and Frisco, the pigs.  Two of the ducks are sitting on nests.    And the chickens are laying well and go out daily and scratch around, occasionally making a mess in the gardens.

Luna also had another surgery yesterday. This time for a graft that has been sewn onto the area that the tumour was removed from. In order for the graft to take, Luna must do as little as possible. She whines, not only in pain, but for the chance to be let outside. Fingers crossed for her!

getting back into the swing of things

I haven't written in almost a month, and since then a lot has happened here at the farm. A new calf has been born, her name is Yolanda.

We now have numerous things planted in the garden, such as: beets, radish, kale, lettuce, Swiss chard, broccoli, lettuce mix, spinach, beans, and peas.  Some of this will be ready for the Windsor Farmers' Market opening day on May 27, 2011.

The pasture has grown enough to let all the horses back on it. They are enjoying their time frolicking and getting fat, paired two-by-two in separate paddocks.  Soon the cows will be let out to pasture.  Gardens are in need of harrowing and rock and grass-clump removing. 

Also, the farm dog, Luna, is recovering from a soft tissue removal surgery. She is still happy and active, but doesn't enjoy all the time she spends in the house.  

  

Spring weather

This weekend has been beautiful. We put up our greenhouse, and started a bunch of flower transplants in it today. And yesterday I planted radish and beets in one of the gardens.  We also have some more additions to our bovine family: Lizzy and Yuki. Yuki was born yesterday, and Lizzy was born the day before.  I was thinking that it would be funny if we had twin male/female calves, and name the male Yang and the female Yin.                                                  
                                    This is Lizzy.

Community Supported Agriculture

This year on our farm we are starting a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
What is CSA?         
In it's most basic form the CSA farm produces vegetables for a group of farm members or subscribers who pay in advance for their share of harvest.  Farm members receive the shares once a week, either coming to the farm to pick up their  share or picking it up a a central delivery point.

I will use an example CSA: my example CSA runs for 20 weeks, there are 15 shareholders, the farmers names are Burt and Beatrice, and it is pickup day at their farm.
How CSA works:
Burt and Beatrice have harvested all their crops for this weeks CSA members. They put the vegetables in baskets, a basket for each member.
Previous weeks' basket:
Beet greens
Beans
cabbage head
carrots
cucumber
cauliflower
eggplant
head of romaine lettuce
Kale
baby onions
potatoes
radish
tomatoes
zucchini
cilantro
                                                
 This weeks' basket:
beans
broccoli
carrots
cucumber
fennel
swiss chard
lettuce mix
onions
peas
peppers
spinach
tomatoes
corn
turnip
parsley

(The point is that there is approximately $20-$25 worth of food in each basket. And that this weeks basket differs from the last.)

Now Burt and Beatrice load 6 of the baskets into the car. They drive 35 minutes to a central delivery point. Within 25 minutes the 6 baskets  have been picked up the farm members.  Now Burt and Beatrice go home to greet the other nine members picking up their shares.  Between 5:30PM-7:30PM the other nine members come and pick up their shares at the farm.  While the members are at the farm, Beatrice gives them a tour of the animal barns.  One of the members, Shelly, instead of paying for her basket she works on the farm during the week. This pays for her share, and helps Burt and Beatrice.

CSAs have become extremely popular. Many people not only want to know where their food comes from, but also want to get to know their farmer. Some people even want to get to experience the farming and gardening process (like Shelly).