oh those animal activists

week 7!

skagit valley co-op

Carolyn and I sold $100 worth of artichokes to the Skagit Valley Co-op.

week 6

week 6 retail produce list

Rhody wanted me to compile a status list today. I had a good conversation with Don about Merton.

Red Cabbage-- 6" to 12" heads, $2/lb, some with slug damage $1/lb, 20 heads available
Squash-- $1.5/lb, huge arm length squash, 10 available
Carrots-- $2/lb, 1.5" diameter heads and smaller, yellow and orange
Onions with greens-- $2/lb, semi open fist size and smaller, 10 available
Fava Beans-- $2/lb, 10 lbs available
Fennel-- $1.5/each

Take care this week,
'He is not a tame lion',
+Aaron

week 5

wedding comments here

'it's an awfully big wardrobe...'

It was certainly an awesome place, a round green hill on top of another hill, long since grown over with trees, and one little, low doorway leading into it. The tunnels inside were a perfect maze till you got to know them, and they were lined and roofed with smooth stones, and on the stones, peering in the twilight, Caspian saw strange characters and snaky patterns, and pictures in which the form of a Lion was repeated again and again. -from C. S. Lewis's "Prince Caspian" and here

week 3 yeay

organic pesticide

Saf-T-Side by Brandt
Omri listed
Used for aphid spray on Ralph's Greenhouse rainbow chard and black kale.
The cut the infested leave off and spray the plant.
Only one day before crop is harvestable.

thanks hb

http://www.privetthatchery.com/
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/our_best_egg_layers.html

(holy b)

"This is the most amazing broccoli I have ever seen!"
-Don Shank owner of Rhododendron Cafe

week 2

loose hay i love you

week 1!

this is why

we are in grownorthwest

http://www.grownorthwest.com/2011/07/second-season-of-skagit-wholesale-market-starts-july-21/

Vegetation Management Metrics

you know your an enga-nerd if you read this and use the information:
tdworld

flea beetle 2012

transplant pyrethrum as companion in row with nappa cabbage
pyrethrum is toxic toxic toxic and kills flea beetle
this summer use sythe to cut down all nettles
nettles are where the beetlers over winter
-jim morgan of samish bay cheese factory

faeriland. bowing. loud korah doods. and wine.

This week... weeded with Claudia and Carolyn. Worked on getting the barn hay trolly and hay door working. Our apple trees died and Cloud Mountain said 'our bad'. Your week?

We have monday sabbath. Do nothing we are suppose to. Leave a comment, your weekly dialed-in routine?

Second Chronicle Twenty
Then Jehoshaphat knelt down, bowing with his face to the ground. All Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping I am that I am. The Levites (both Kohathites and -Korahite doods-) stood to their feet to praise I am that I am, the Ox-power-under-lead of Israel; they praised at the top of their lungs!

Psalm Forty-Four of the -Sons of Korah-
We've been hearing about this, God, all our lives. Our fathers told us the stories their fathers told them,
How single-handedly you weeded out the godless from the fields and planted us,
How you sent those people packing but gave us a fresh start.
We didn't fight for this land; we didn't work for it—it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it, delighting as you gave it.

Fifty Poems ee cummings
hate blows a bubble of despair into
hugeness world system universe and bang
-fear buries a tomorrow under woe
and up comes yesterday most green and young

pleasure and pain are merely surfaces
(one itself showing,itself hiding one)
life's only and true value neither is
love makes the little thickness of the coin

comes here a man would have from madame death
neverless now and without winter spring?
she'll spin that spirit her own fingers with
and give him nothing (if he should not sing)

how much more than enough for both of us
darling. And if i sing you are my voice,

community!

[WhatcomFarmers] Remay
Ger.Wat ger-----.wat@gmail.com via googlegroups.com to Whatcom
show details 8:26 AM (1 hour ago)
What is the best way to keep carrots nematode free? Is it row cover?
Where would I buy Remay locally at the best price? Already found one
wormy out there while weeding is it too late?
-jerry

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Christopher Benedict christopher----benedict@gmail.com to ger.wat, Whatcom
show details 9:30 AM (9 minutes ago)
Jerry:

If I understand you correctly you are having a nematode problem in your carrots? Row cover won't play any role in reducing their incidence, as they are soil borne. If on the other hand you are talking about carrot rust fly, then rotation and row cover will help, but not eliminate the pressure. If you are unsure what the problem exactly is bring in a sample to the WSU Extension office in Bellingham and we can identify and give you more detailed answers.

Cheers,

Chris Benedict
Washington State University Extension
Agriculture Extension Educator
1000 N. Forest St.
Suite 201
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-676-6736 (w)
chrisbenedict@wsu.edu

arugula

npr on arugula here

companion planting

amazon.com

a farm stay at aslan's how?

seattle times

npr on industrial tomatoes

THANKS Ryan&Liz

Facebook

Carolyn has been updating the facebooker here.

This week

Wed eve
      4 home depot run
      finish all around wheel how & in row weeding
      8 call eric, got cement, sunday afternoon?
Th eve
      finish all around wheel how & in row weeding
Sat day
      weed all with jacob?
Sat eve
      print b cards
      buy 20 plugs from dripworks + 25 hose fixers
      reconcile may in quickbooks
      add vditcher (hold till clears) in quickbooks
oasis
      create poster: 3 oasis bucks, free produce from favorite crop
      be apart of the oasis teen shelter work share... harvest your lunch! (tearoff?)
Sun afternoon
      fix barn with carl and eric
      research timing, start transplants of sunflowers

usda organic inspection

usda organic improvements for 2012

get copy of their organic certificate if i buy wholesale

ground application (must have morales give seed reciepts, potting soil save a cutting of the bag)
brand name, manufacurer, product name, omri listed, save cutting of the bag

questions
cost share? - call wsda to confirm about 75% of 200

Side Effects Of Neem Spray In the Vegetable Garden?

The EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) says neem is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for use in food products. They even exempted their typical requirement for maximum pesticide residues on agricultural products.

If there are no restrictions regarding maximum allowable residues for farmers, then you also don't have to worry about residues from your neem spray in your vegetable garden. Yes, neem spray is safe. A heck of a lot safer than all the other sprays you ingest with conventionally grown produce!

(here)

crow update

(cut pie pans in half and hang from one end = shiny, clanging. if crows get use to them add red stringer)

that didn't work so we are trying recovering with reemay!

4/18 farm day

When writing The Hobbit in the early 1930s Tolkien gave the name Gandalf to the leader of the Dwarves, the character later called Thorin Oakenshield. The name is taken from the same source as all the other Dwarf names (save Balin) in The Hobbit: the "Catalogue of Dwarves" in the Völuspá.[4] The Old Norse name Gandalfr incorporates the words gandr meaning "wand", "staff" or (especially in compounds) "magic" and álfr "elf".

organic pesticide?

npr

4/17 farm day: flea beetle, crows, moles, dry soil, body

:!:
Flea beetle
    spray spino stuff on radish
    spray neem on 1/2 row nappa and kale
    next year leave reemay on till harvest (raddish, nappa, kale)
Crow
    create 7 scare crows
    scratch that because of here
    use reflective tape in 14 spots. call farmers supply if the have reflective bird repellant tape PET
    get extra bamboo sticks to tie it to
    put remay back on if nothing else works
Mole
    organic solutions?
Drip tape
    1/2hr per evening every other day
    finish putting drip tape down on all crops
    water basil and second row of arugula by hand
Body
    mills teaches cfg to wrap shoulder each sat sun
Wheel hoe everything and in row weed

day job

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
i can imagine it now, 'well son.. studied hole threads today'.

compost

First of all... composting is not a free ride. It takes quite a bit of work. Nitrogen reacts with carbon and heats up. You also need some water and air. If you can get the pile to 120deg for three days, you have an amazing pile. Some people aerate their static pile with perforated pvc. I might turn my pile. I got this top to bottom recipe from an old book, let me know if you have any other tips:

straw

soil
lime
chicken manure
grass (freshly cut versus couple weeks old?)

chicken manure
wood ash
grass

soil
lime
grass
manure
soil

31: Interior Portrait

You don't survive in me
because of memories;
nor are you mine because
of a lovely longing's strength.

What does make you present
is the ardent detour
that a slow tenderness
traces in my blood.

I do not need
to see you appear;
being born sufficed for me
to lose you a little less.

-rilke pg55

frog bottom farm

wow. just wow.
http://frogbottomfarm.com/

hay + done list

done list:
till one row
plant the lettuce in a new row
plant the 2nd broccoli in-row as 1st partially mowed by slugs
reemay ben's flowers?
get the second tarp of hay into the hayloft
repot tomatoes
plant neighbor erik raspberries
side dress artichoke with fertilizer
figure out ebt billing structure
check out barn stability with neighbor carl

We cut hay and gathered it with my tractor then stored it in the barn, laying in piles like the old days. If you compress hay into bales you smash some of its goodness. CFG and I then used a compound pulley system to get the hay into the hayloft! There probably hasn't been piles of hay up their for over 50 years.

what to do with a csa share

good npr article here

updated crop timeline for 2011 here

barn again

Can we get funding for stabalizing our barn now?
http://www.dahp.wa.gov/pages/historicsites/BarnBill.htm

7: PALM

Palm, soft unmade bed,
where sleeping stars left
wrinkles as they rose
up towards the sky.

Was this bed such
that they are rested,
clear and incandescent,
among the friendly stars
in their eternal swirl?

Oh, the two beds of my hands,
abandoned and cold,
light with the absent load
of those brazen stars.

(-orchards by rilke)

sunday to done list

(thanks z for trying to volunteer)

sunday cfg and i hope to:
wheel hoe as needed
broccoli - manual hoe in row
onions - replant & weed by hand in row
carrots - replant (carrot2) and weed by hand in row

Littlefield Farm Web Log

http://littlefieldfarmblog.blogspot.com/

gleaning

the week after the last formal CSA pickup
will be a gleaning
Carolyn's family will come
my family will come
the bountiful crops will be a shadow
of the love between us
(yell, cuss, resolve)
in that right of passage
called hypostatic union
where you commit to what you believe in

crop status

its flea beetle! i really like these websites

Chinese cabbage - Diseases, Pests and Problems Basic Information
http://www.essentialgardenguide.com/garden-vegetables-problems/22/Chinese-cabbage/

Problem: Cabbage worms, Cabbage loopers
Affected Area: Leaf
Description: Loopers are caterpillars that are generally green or greyish, taking on the color of the host plant. They may blend well and be difficult to see. They eventually develop into white- or yellow-winged butterflies often seen fluttering about the plants. Caterpillars feed on the underside of leaves leaving ragged holes sometimes to the extent that plants starve and die.
Control: Spray with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Comercially available as Dipel or Thuricide.) Cover with remay or similiar product in spring.

Problem: Cutworms
Affected Area: Stem
Description: Plants chewed off just above ground level. Cutworms are caterpillars 1 1/2" long and mottled or striped green, brown or gray. When they are disturbed, they roll up in a coil. They usually position themselves at the moisture line in the soil moving up and down according to the water content. If the soil surface is dry, they will be found a couple of inches below the surface where the moisture begins. When newly watered, they will be at the surface.
Control: Put cardboard collar around new transplants to extend 1" to 2" above and below soil level.

Problem: Root Maggots
Affected Area: Root
Description: Leaves wilt and growth is stunted. Insect is common, white, root feeding maggot. 1/4" long adult flies emerge from the soil about the time cherries bloom and lay eggs at base of plants in surrounding soil. Legless larvae feeds on host plant for three weeks, riddling the roots with brown tunnels before they pupate Two or three generations can occur each growing season.
Control: Use Diazinon before planting as a soil treatment. Rotate from year to year.

Problem: Flea Beetle
Affected Area: Leaf and Root
Description: Tiny holes ?pinholes? chewed in leaves by adult insect. Adult insects are 1/16" long, hard shelled, shiny, dark-colored beetles that jump when disturbed. Slender, whitish, cylindrical larvae feed in or on roots but root damage is generally minimal.
Control: Dust with Rotenone. Keep debris removed. Rotate location of planting from year to year.

(Homemade soap pesticide- few tblsp of a mild liquid soap, canola oil, and at least a gallon of water? Add a little garlic and hot pepper powder if you like for more insecticdal power. here)
ATTRA
Golden Harvest Organics - yellow sticky tape

Problem: Aphids
Affected Area: Leaf
Description: Green, red black or white insects that cause curled yellow leaves and exude a honeydew substance
Control: Insecticidal soaps or a strong stream of water or most labeled insecticides like Diazinon or Sevin. A layer of aluminum foil under plants reflects light to underside of leaves making them an undesirable habitat for aphids.

Problem: Slugs and Snails
Affected Area: Entire Plant
Description: Large portions of young plants missing.
Control: Slugs and snails are very susceptible to desiccation (drying) and require a moist, shady place to live. Cultural practices which promote a sunny, dry environment will discourage them. Avoid too-frequent waterings allowing soil surface to dry out between irrigations. Keep garden free of debris, boards, bricks, and stones where they hide. Hand picking these pests is very effective. Create ?traps? for hand picking by laying boards in the garden. Slugs and snails will congregate under them. Lift the boards each morning and collect the slugs and snails. Kill and dispose of them in garbage as they will crawl back if tossed out of the garden and eggs inside dead pests can still hatch to produce more of these pests. Slug and snail bait containing metaldehyde can be placed near food plants as long as they do not contact edible portions of the crop. Most effective when moistened, but not water logged. Snail bait attracts slugs and snails from several feet away so bait stations are effective. Stations help protect birds, pets and other non-target animals which are also attracted to the bait. Place small piles of bit under a slightly propped up board or use container such as a cottage cheese or yogurt carton. Bury carton to the mouth of the container. Place small amount of commercial bait inside and moisten with apple juice, orange juice or water. Cut hole in lid to allow access and place lid on container. Containers may also hold beer or yeast water to attract slugs and snails in where they drown. Place bait stations wherever slugs and snails are active or around perimeter of garden.

Problem: Damping Off
Affected Area: Seedling
Description: Young seedlings wilt and die
Control: Use treated seed and let soil dry out between waterings

Problem: Bacterial soft rot
Affected Area: Leaf and Stem
Description: Leaves turn yellow (chlorotic) beginning at margins and spreading inwards. Veins within area turn black. Infection enters main stem turning the inside black.. Plants either die or are dwarfed when young, become defoliated if more mature.
Control: Plant resistant varieties and rotate crops from year to year.

facebook pictures

http://www.facebook.com/pages/aslans-how-organics/124602157554478

2009 startup capital

• fertilizer, organic, Skagit Farmers Supply (1/2 ton)
• hoe, hand (1)
• hoe, wheel with plow (1)
• irrigation drip hose (1)
• irrigation, hose splitters (3)
• irrigation, hoses (500')
• irrigation, nozzle head (1)
• irrigation, overhead sprinkler (2)
• seed, cover, buckwheat, winter rye (0)
• seeder with fertilizer, seed size discs (1)
• seeds, bean fava, broad windsor (5 lbs)
• seeds, corn sugar dot (10 lbs)
• seeds, corn, pop, early pink (2.5 lbs)
• seeds, radishes from nelida (trunk full)
• seeds, squash, winter (2 packages)
• shovel (2)
• wheelbarrow (1)

goals 2010 & 2011

( 2011 goals )
• hammer out weed management: 2' spacing on all crops, tractor cultivation, kill cover crop with two slow tilling passes
• plant apple/pear orchard in fall

( 2010 goals )
• didn't use hydraulic jack to fix pole barn
• interns on site (friends volunteered)
• yes, insurance, wa grange association, home+farm
• yes, insurance, business liability (christie 1 million safeco)
• no strawberry patch
• no raspberry trellis section
• hoop house by morales brothers!
• no on horse, (2) or (1) belgium, suphix punch, icelandic/norwegian fjord horse (?)

seed possibilities

• artichoke
• arugula, +t-sylvetta 30-40days
• baby bok choy +reemey/growguard20, 2x
• bamboo
• bean, fava +t-broad windsor, 70days
• bean, green bush +2plantings
• bean, green pole +2plantings
• broccoli +t-fiesta 65days
• cabbage, (jw) +u-redexpress 65days, 2x
• carrot +u-scarlet nantes 70days, 2x
• chard, rainbow
• corn, pop +t-early pink 85days
• corn, sweet +t-sugar dot 95 days
• flower (ticika)
• flower, sun (laura b)
• flowers (lois) sweet peas w/ trellis!
• flowers, random on perimeter
• herb garden
• herb, lavender
• kale, +u-?? 55days
• lettuce (treasure) +u-?? ?days, 2plantings
• onion, full tray jan. +4" w/ thin
• pea, english 'alderman' +2plantings
• pea, english 'oregon sugar pod' +2x
• pea, sugar - 'super sugar snap' +2x
• potatoe, +t-yukon gold 80days
• radish +reemey, 2plantings
• raspberry
• scallion 'guardsman' +10 per cell
• spinach +2plantings
• squash, summer +t-black beauty 60days
• squash, winter
• strawberry
• tomatoe
• tree, apple +in five years
• tree, nut +5yrs (walnut, hazel, filbert...)
• tree, pear +in five years
• tree, plum
• turnup +reemey

wb as heard by cfg, acl, jl, al, j

Our relationship to the place is as important as the place itself
Saving the world is a great hobby
If boys had dynamite in their heads they would blow themselves up
Beuhlah & Grover - The farm auction, the loss of history, small farming bulldozed in the name of ‘progress’
Change will come from the bottom, the ‘top’ can help, but maybe it’s better if they don’t find out until the movement gets going!
“Urban agrarianism” movement
Questionairre:
Which poison is it ok to consume, choose a park a landscape that we should destroy, which children is it ok to kill?
Have fun! (decent fun)

ditch-0 me-1

(c/o cfg)

corn & hypostatic union

I reemayed the corn and it germinated. So cute... a little root coming out. The section of corn that was not covered did not germinate. So I put cover on all the sweet corn and popcorns. Carolyn and Zaynab helped out last weekend. In other news I am engaged!

a csa timeline + you know

plant spare onions
use pen to mark rows on kindling
plant sunchokes in c garden
plant:
(1) nappa/ black beauty squash
(1) black beauty squash
(3) potato
(4) sweet corn
(1) popcorn
give out tear off fliers to tweets, rhode, bread farm, wd foods, edison cafe, v swan, coffee by wd as needed

we are a wic farm!

(it's official)

thanks Carolyn

Subject: Prince Charles & Co.
From: Carolyn Goodrich
When: 10:32 AM (27 minutes ago)
small scale family based sustainable farms are among the most productive farming systems http://washingtonpostlive.com/conferences/food/archive

planted artichoke transplants

roost

We killed Earnesto. Do roosters get aggressive from day 1 or do some never? Leave a comment about how your garden is doing!
+AC