I'm back! Sorry for the long delay on the blog scene. Life has been chaotic for me for the last few months. rest assured all is well at Maple Rock and I am gearing up for the new season. This is actually a busy time fo us here. I am still making a few commercial deliveries of of a few items . Salad greens, turnips and cabbage mostly. The early snow knocked us down for a little bit but things are recovering. Most of our restaurant accounts close for the month of January. We will still be making deliveries to our retail customers. Mostly the month of January is spent planning and aqquiring seeds and supplies for the spring planting. I actually normally do a little sowing this time of year too. Mostly hardy winter greens inside the tunnels, they normally are ready for harvest in early March. My favorites are tatsoi and spinach. I'm also planning on an early sowing of tomatoes as an experiment. I've tried this before without success but I've seen it done over in Skagit Valley so I'm trying again. The farm that does it over there is Hedlin Farm in La Conner. They plant theirs on boxing day and start harvesting torwards the end of May. Thats pretty impressive. It's also really expensive and not real eco friendly. They plant theirs in heated greenhouse's without the aid of artificial light. Thats the curious part. Normally it's not so much the temprature as it is sunlight so I'm unclear on just how they pull it off but they grow some damn fine looking tomatoes. I'll be starting mine indoors in the house on a very small scale. I'll choose an early, reliable variety like Stupice or Glacier, Northern delight or perhaps New Girl. We'll see what happens.
Seed catalogs are pouring in like hot cakes. I've learned over the years to throw most of them away. I stick with the companies I know and trust like Johnny's and Territorial. I jokingly refer to seed catalogs as farmer pornagraphy. They make everything sound so sexy. It's hard to narrow down on what you know does well with all of those tempting descriptions of new items being offered.
I'm planning on cutting back on the number of varieties I'll be growing this year and devoting more ground to salad greens. I say this every year and follow through still and never seem to have enough greens. I've taken on Rosario Resort as an account this year and they use alot of greens so I'll at least be doubling production to accomodate the volume. That means I have to make some brutal descions on what not to grow. I can think of a few right off the bat like corn, pumpkins and winter squash melons and peppers. Others for consideration are summer squash, green beans cauliflower and even broccoli. For me this is one of the harder parts of being a market farmer. I love growing (and eating) all of those things. To consider not growing them seems sacrelegious. In reality though it comes down mostly to a financial descion but not entirely financial. I still need to grow a few standards to be able to offer to my long standing commercial accounts who rely on me for a few specific items. I've had good success in honing my growing and harvesting techniques on greens to the point where I feel like we do pretty well with them. Items like corn and pumpkins are beautiful to see in the field and I love them but they don't return much to the farm in the way of capital. That said, the thought of not biting into a fresh ear of corn in the summer or handing a child a pumpkin at halloween is a sad thought. Oh the dilema of market farming!
Anyway, Looking forward to seeing 2006 come to a close. It was the most successful year we've had on the farm but on a personal level was very challenging. I'm glad it's over and I am looking at the new year as the beginning of a new chapter in my life and seeing Maple Rock Farm, myself and my new family grow together in harmony, peace and self reliance.
Keep well friends,
Farmer John
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Feeling a little more overwhelmed than usual right now. I have a lot of tilling and cover cropping to be done at all of the MRF sites. It helps to just think about one at a time. Get one done and then move on to the next. Keeping a list helps so I can at least have the satisfaction of crossing a project off that list. (One of my favorite things to do) Those of you who know me well, kmow that I am a habitual list maker. It's the only way i cam keep my focus on all of the things that need to be done. I often joke that I would'nt be able to go to the bathroom without first consulting my list. It's true!
Heres a sample of my lst of things to do today.
check and reply to e mails
check phone message's and return calls
call to see if I'm working off the farm (if so the following items must wait until another day)
till and cover crop beds at lone cow farm
spread manure, till and cover crop beds at mrf 3
spread manure, till and cover crop at home farm
tll and cover crop potato field at Youngrens
clean chicken coop
buy chicken feed, restock bins, feed and water chickens cull flock
water greenhouses
harvest and deliver greens to Ship Bay
sort tomatoes
call accounts to see if they want to buy tomatoes
Call CSA accounts for harvest and delivery
clean out delivery truck and store pumpkins and winter squash
call mechanic to schedule truck for repairs and maintenance
clean harvest station
bank deposit
mail paperwork to accountant
mow
take down fence around pig pen till and cover crop
flip compost piles
rake leaves and put into compost piles
split fire wood and re stock woodshed
That oughta do it. Looks like a day to me!
Keep it real.
Farmer John
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Yes It's true. I am now known as the pumpkin dude. Folks have been driving by the pumpkin patch all season. The astute ones have noticed and commented on them from time to time. Up until harvest, it was a glorious site to drive by and see the pumpkins slowly coming into maturity. From the emereging plants, to the first sightings of the small greem globes, to the final stages of a plot of lovely orange pumpkins of all sizes and shapes exposed by the die back of the large spawling vines. Fall time is here and nothing reminds us of that more than seeing a large field of ripe pumpkins lying crisp in autum air.
I opted to harvest the pumpkins but what to do with them and where to store them is an issue. They are currently residing in the back of my truck. As I've been on my normal routes of deliveries and erronds I have run into people within the community who do good things or have helped or supported MRF over the years. It's great to see an old or new friend and be able to say hey, please grab a pumpkin and thanks for your help or thanks for being an active member in our community and making Orcas a special place to live. It's also a kick to see the looks you get when you drive around with a load of pumpkins. It's hard not top pick up a new moniker as the "pumpkin King". Last night I let the kids have free reign on the pumpkins for carving and painting. They were great. It's a gentle reminder to me of how special kids are. Their creations brought a smile to face and they had a ball. The moms were happy too.
So as you see pumpkins are good , pumpkins are great. we don't make much money on them but it's not all about making money. Sometimes making goodwill within the community or putting a smile on a childs face are much more valuable than any amount of money that would just slip through my fingers anyway. Of course we do need to make some money and we would be happy to sell you our beauties and then you will be helping support a small farmer in a small community. It's all good folks. It's all good.
Fall is a special time of year. Everything is so beautiful. The trees, the harvested fields and greening pastures. the feelings of a warm fire on a cold evening. The sensual experience of hunkering down for the winter and gorging on comfort foods. Our kitchens are filled with the unmistakeable flavors of apple cider, roasted tomatoes and peppers and all sorts of jams, jellies and butters. The air feels damp and there is a distinct scent about; of things rotting and mushrooms and woodsmoke. If you stop and listen, you can almost always here a chainsaw running in the distance. Someone putting up firewood for the season. A sense of preperation is underway. A slowing of pace from our normal hectic days of spring and summer. Transistion from one season to the next. Without doubt, it is my favorite time of year.
Keep well good people. We still live in a world of promise and hope. A good place indeed.
Farmer John
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Need Pumpkins? We got em! All varities, all sizes, all colors. Winter squash too. perfect for fall decoration and then eat them. Give me a call at the farm if you would like to place an order.
This has been a fantastic fall. We still have tons of produce for sale. Potatoes, greens, brussel sprouts, gourmet greens, squash, broccoli, kale, peppers, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots and tomatoes! Lots and lots of tomatoes. Best tomato year I've ever seen. There may even be one or two more havests of strawberries. They have been luscious beyond belief. I had to laugh when I saw the berries at the grocery. They are $5.00 / lb for non organic and look like garbage. Please!
New greens are on and the greenhouse's are now fully planted out or seeded with a new winter crop. The extended forecast is weighted towards a mild winter so I am hopeful we'll be able to deliver all winter.
Farm to cafeteria is rolling along nicely this year. The school kids and staff are enjoying the fresh vine ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and of course salad greens. Hopefully as time goes by we will increase the variety. I have been having lunch at the school occasionally. I find it quite interesting to see what the kids are eating. There's alot of behind the scenes politics and regulation on what the school can serve. I wish I could go in there and turn the kitchen upside down. The food in general is industrial and pre packaged. Some days are better than others. The tamale pie was good and the kids liked it and how can you dis curly fries? Eighty six the burgers though. icky! The salad bar kicks.
Any free time right now is spent on putting things to bed. Tilling, composting and cover cropping are the theme. The timely rains have helped the cover crop jump right up. There is still much to do. Slowly ( but not too slowly ) and surely. It will rain and the window will close for having machinery in the field. I'm trying some experimental mowing of fall greens to see if they will return early in the spring. It saves time , money and fuel by reducing the number of times I have the tractor in the field. Hopefully it will be a success.
Saturday market is done for the season. Look for us in town on days when the weather is semi cooperating. the MRF mobile will be laden with fresh goods and ready to roll on a moments notice.
New Shirts. I still have a good selection of MRF shirts. Would love to see them go. $20.00 100% cotton. very nice. call me.
Farmer Lou needs a truck. You know the deal. $500.00 island rig. Got one? Trade?
Farmer John needs interns and one kick ass farmer for next year. Anyone?
Keep it fresh,
John
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My theory on planting squash later in the season to be able to offer the freshest product late into the season has appeared to have failed. It's the first week of fall and we are still harvesting some lovely squash. The only problem here is that zuchinni does not appear to hold alot of sex appeal. Even though we are having a lovely indian summer, people's minds are more set on the fall crops and the coming of winter. Of everything we have produced on the farm this year, squash remains as the only vegetable that we have had too much of and have had to discard. Even the chickens don't care for it. Oh well at least it's easy to grow. Squash just may be one of the products I discontinue next year to make more room for more salad greens.
When will I ever learn? Our reputation was built on growing the best greens on the island. I can never seem to have enough. Sometimes I think we could just exclusively grow greens and still not be able to supply the demand. I just may do that next year. It's the product we make the most money on too. It is very labor intensive but I must say I have it down to a near science. people ask me "would'nt you get bored just growing greens?" No way, I love growing greens. There are so many differnt and seasonal items that can be included in the mix. I find it very captivating to experiment with differnt things that grow well at differnt times of the year. From season to season our salad mix changes and I am always finding new items that compliment each other. The only thing that would stop me from growing just greens would be that I love offering such a wide variety of specialty crops.
I'm just starting to think about next year. I am anticipating a labor shortage again so I'm thinking of things that I can grow and harvest with less labor while still turning a profit and keep up on all of the chores and maintenance and still have some faction of a life. I can't keep up with growing on so many different plots next year so I will be cutting back a little. I just commited to supplying salad greens to Rosario Resort next season. They go through about a hundred pounds a week in the summer so I will need to drop some things to be able to meet that demand. The obvious things to drop would be corn, squash and beans. I love all of those things though! Sometimes farming can seem so brutal. Just like when you are thinning. It feels like you are playing God when you are ripping out the tiny seedlings. You just have to remember there would be no harvest if you did not tend to the needs of the plants. You can't grow everything. Narrow the product and go deep in what you decide you will specialize in. right? brutal!
Things are starting to slow down quite a bit. just two more Farmers' Markets. Come on folks, step right up and get your zuchinni!
bye bye
Your farmer
John
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