Yes! We Are Still Here!

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted on the blog.  Needless to say, farming is work especially when you work!  The summer has been a tough one with a major grasshopper invasion that isn't quite over and moderate drought conditions.  We are praying that Hurricane Miriam and the cold front have a nice collision tomorrow and bring some much needed rain. 

One of my favorite finds this month is this website.  It is a site for farm girls and has been fantastic.  I joined and can't wait to get started on earning badges.  Sort of like girls scouts but we do things that help us learn more about all kinds of things related to farming and so forth.  I am looking forward to learning more about the organization.

Garden

The garden was definitely a favorite place for the grasshoppers and I waged a valiant war against them.  Of course, we strive to be organic and natural with minimal pesticide use.  I am happy to say that even though, I lost more than half my crops, we only used pesticide on the few surviving pumpkin plants.  They will be ornamental for us and I refused to let the nasty buggers have them all.  I lost all my peaches, cilantro, cucumbers, corn, beans , watermelon, and eventually my onions to hoppers.  They got the purple hull peas after we got a good couple of pickings.  We could have gotten so many more but did at least get 12 quarts.

The best crops were figs, lettuce, some spinach, radishes, onions (until the hoppers discovered them), patty pan squash, zucchini squash, peppers, cantaloupe, and okra.  The okra is still producing pretty well despite being punished by ants and grasshoppers.  The cherry tomatoes have done fairly well all season but none of the other tomatoes survived the pests.  The figs were outstanding.  I probably picked over 100 pounds just off my mature tree.  Despite being chewed to pieces at the top by the grasshoppers, the tree is surviving well in the lower branches and putting out more fruit.  I am working to keep the hoppers off of it.  We also planted 4 small fig trees this spring and look forward to them producing as well.  I made fig newtons, fig honey orange jam, strawberry fig jam, peach fig with thyme jam, and my favorite was fresh fig pound cake. 

Thankfully, the grasshoppers have shown no interest in strawberry and blackberry plants.  Those have been our biggest investment and we hope for a good crop next year.  We are very happy that they have survived the summer. 

We used Neem Oil, garlic spray, Garrett juice, and NoLo bait on the garden and fig trees.  I think I put out about 60-70 pounds of NoLo Bait.  I will start putting it out at the first sign of a hopper next year.  It has long-term effects and infects the general hopper population.  So, even though we haven't seen the NoLo effect this year, it should reduce the invasion next year.  I first found it in a local greenery for about $20 a pound.  Then I was fortunate enough to find it here for a huge discount if you buy 5, 10, or 25 pounds.  No doubt, I needed more than one pound so this was a great find.

I planted my fall garden on Labor Day, which was late but it was hard to time with the waves of grasshoppers.   I used seeds from Johnny's Seeds and I planted lettuce, spinach, brocolli, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, and carrots.  Oddly enough, not one single plant has come up.  I haven't lost hope, though.  The okra took forever to come up and is almost indestructible now.  I am even wondering if it will come back next year if I just leave it alone.  Some of the trunks are 3-4 inches wide.

We plan to put in a cover crop soon of field peas.  When we get ready to plant in the spring we will have prepped the soil by mowing and plowing the cover crop into the soil.  The peas are a legume and will replenish nitrogen in the soil.

Chickens

I cannot say enough, how I love my chickens.  One year ago, we lived in our old house in town with one dog and each other.  Less than one year later, we are on our farm with 23 animals!  I got my chicks in May as one-day old chicks.  I ordered them with my neighbor.  In addition to the other birds I ordered, we also ordered 13 Americaunas together.  She got 10 and I got 3.  I picked mine out with absolutely no rhyme or reason.  They all looked the same.  I ended up with one beautiful marbled beige/brown/black and green tail feather rooster and one red, and one cream with a red head.  I think all of the neighbor's Americaunas are reddish.  No way could we have known that I would get the three that looked different and a rooster to boot.  All of the chicks were supposed to be hens!  Imagine my surprise when I am going to the coop early one morning and I hear three cock-a-doodle-ooooo's!  He sounded like a 12 year-old boy whose voice was changing.  I had called him "Amelia" when I thought he was a she because he/she flew the coop the first chance he/she got as a young chick.  His name is now Mel.

Ronny built an amazing chicken coop.  It is 10X10 with 8 nesting boxes.  It is so cute and cozy and they love their home.  They free-range and know that is the place to go at sunset.  We transitioned them into the coop from their little chick box and let them stay in there for several weeks before letting them out into the big old world.  I check the nesting boxes daily but haven't seen anything but the four golf balls we put in there to show them where to lay.

The flock is beautiful.  I have already described the Americaunas.  I have 3 big white Delawares with black tipped feathers, 3 friendly brown/white/black Speckled Sussex and their 3 pals the Rhode Island Reds, and 3 black and white barred Plymouth Rocks.  Don't you love their names?  One of the Sussex hens had a severe leg injury this summer.  It was either broken or just severely wounded.  It got caught in a pile of steel beams.  It was limp and sheared at the joint.  Well, needless to say, I was heart-broken because we thought she was a goner.  We cleaned and dressed the wound and splinted it with a clothespin.  I checked on the internet and found great advice to put a sock over her head while we attended to her.  She laid on her back and didn't move or make a peep.  We kept her in the house in a small kennel for a day or so, then transitioned her out to the coop in the kennel so that she wouldn't be isolated.  When she could start to bear weight on it, we transitioned her to the chicken tractor.  It took about 3 weeks to heal.  Even though she mostly used one leg, we finally decided it was time to see if she could range.  As soon as I took her out of the tractor, Amelia (aka Mel) attacked.  Of course, I didn't know Amelia was Mel and just thought she was the bossy top bird.  So, I put her/him in chicken time out for over a week.  He/she was spitting mad.  I also looked this up on the internet.  Assuming that Mel was Amelia, you settle the aggressive hen down by isolating her and taking her out of the pecking order.  Otherwise, she picks on new and/or weaker birds.  Despite the fact that Amelia was really Mel, it worked.  He/she came out and was much nicer and less agressive toward his/her own flock.  Are you lost yet?

Madagascar

 

I made a second trip to Madagascar in July to do mission work.  What an honor and privilege!  We are going back next year.  This year's trip was my second trip there.  One of the things I am anxious to learn more about is their farming methods.  They have the most amazing farms and it is very organic.  They plant around rice paddies and use a lot of small plot gardening and terracing in the hilly landscape.  The rice paddies grow fish and rice.  Once the rice is harvested, the fields are drained and bricks are cut from the dried silt.  The paddies are flooded the following season and the silt is replenished and restocked with fish and rice.

I am so disappointed that I am unable to upload pictures tonight.  They won't upload here or into an album on FaceBook.  I will try tomorrow and will post them in a new blog.  You will love seeing all the changes.  So, I will bid you goodnight.  I have so much more to tell you but this is already long enough!  Happy Farming and good night!

Produce Available This Weekend

Already Picked

I will have combo bags of lettuce, radishes, and green onions this weekend.  Email if you would like to pick some up.  You must arrange to come.  Please do not drop in.

Calves, Chickens and Kittens....OH MY!

Needless to say, I have been a busy farm girl!  So busy that I haven't had time to post a blog in weeks.  The garden, livestock, company, weddings, and funerals......life.....has kept us running!  But it is a good life!  As you can tell by my title, we went from Ronny and I and our dog, Tucker, to another dog, Shasta, two kittens, 4 calves, and 15 chicks.  We got all the babies in one week!

Baby, Baby, Baby

Well, first off, we welcomed a new granddaughter to our brood of granddaughters.  She makes number 4 and is a sweet little baby.  We adore her!

As for animals, the calves came first.  We bought them from our neighbor and basically fence-line weaned them.  That method has been shown to reduce stress in mamas and babies.  The way they all bawled that first night, I'm not sure what it does for stress in the humans!  It sounded like we had a herd of elephants in our backyard!  One of the calves trumpeted just like an elephant and one of the mamas answered back the same way.  It was a loooooong night for us and the neighbors.

We got them on a Saturday.  Our son, who is an agriculture expert happened to be visiting for the weekend.  He helped us with tagging and vaccinating.  We did all of that in the trailer but definitely plan to build a corral with a squeeze chute to make the process easier and safer in the future.  We started out with 4 calves but one crazy, black heifer that I named, Bossy, jumped the fence twice.  She went to the sale barn and we went down to 3 heifers.  A few days later, we got our bull calf from the neighbors.  He seemed to acclimate better than old Bossy.  We put him in the holding pen to wean.  You should have seen those three heifers pushing him around.  Just like a bunch of bossy women!  He seemed to settle in well.  He went to visit the vet and became a steer and earned the name, Dinner.  Yep,  you got it.  He will end up in the freezer.  Now, I know some folks might have problems with that.  But I promise you that your meat does not come from the "gettin' place."  Now Dinner had us quite fooled.  Ronny cross-fenced half of the pasture with electric fence and turned the four calves out of the weaning pen this weekend.  They kicked their heels up, ran and explored and feasted on good grazing.  After three days with no trouble, lo and behold if old Dinner wasn't on the other side of the fence with his mama.  Ronny spent all evening tonight working on that fence.  Dinner will have to come home and be a big boy.



Meet Rodeo Rosy, Ginger, and Blanca respectively.

After that busy weekend, I went to work and the kittens that I had been waiting for arrived.  They are darling little orange siblings.  We got Elmo, the long-haired one and Zoe Girl, the shorter-haired kitten.  They are sweet little things and took to us and the dogs very nicely.  The dogs were mildly curious but they are all very companionable and share the same watering bowl.  Now, I can't say the same for food bowls.  Those dogs will have the kittens for breakfast if they go near their bowls.  I leave the kittens food in their kennel and the dogs leave it alone.  They love climbing trees and I am glad so that they can defend themselves by climbing the trees just in case!



Nap Time



Then.......on Thursday of the same week, the little chicks arrived at the post office.  I went in with my neighbor and we picked up a cheeping box of 25 chicks early on Thursday morning.  I got 5 different breeds:  Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, Ameraucana, Delaware, and Speckled Sussex.  I chose those breeds through a poultry selection tool found on a great website found Here.  The criteria I used included docility, egg laying, and heat/cold tolerance.  They are beautiful birds and growing so fast.  The website I mentioned gives lots of great advice and information on raising chickens.  If you are interested in raising a flock, I highly recommend that site.  I am also fortunate to have a neighbor with lots o' flock experience already!

Some things I have already learned are that you have to check their little bottoms or vents for pasting up.  That happens when poop dries and plugs up their vent.  You can sit their little hind end down in warm water to soak and pull the mess off.  Chicks are also susceptible to coccidiosis.  Using medicated chick starter feed and being diligent about keeping their water clean will help avert that problem.  Speaking of water, they get it dirty really fast.  I found some flat landscaping rocks to set their waterer on.  I had to raise it up another rock tonight because they are getting so tall.  One of my favorite things is giving them their worm treat.  They looooooove dried worm treats.  They just fight and fuss over the treats and will steal it away from each other!  They are hilarious!

 

Mind you, I am fond of naming animals and I had a long list of
old-fashioned women's names but those rascals move too fast for
me to tell them apart.  I think I am going to pick 2 or 3 distinctive
birds to name.



How Does My Garden Grow?

The garden is doing amazing.  We have already enjoyed salads with my mesclun mix salad greens, green onions, and radishes.  The tomatoes are starting to produce so they will be a welcome addition to the salads.  Pretty much everything I planted came up well.  The leeks and carrots did not come up but I knew I was gambling on them by planting them sort of late.  The cabbage and broccoli came up better than I expected.  Some beets also came up.  I have learned that English peas, lettuce greens, leeks, carrots, and spinach need to go in the ground pretty early. 

I fought a valiant battle with Neem Oil for non-beneficial insects and Garret Juice for soil amendment.  I have also used an organic plant food on the tomatoes and peppers.  I had a lady bug release for aphids and planted beneficial plants that attract beneficial insects.  I have two different birds nesting in the garden and lots of visiting birds which are nature's best insecticide.  Grasshoppers have come on the scene and have me very worried.  They are everywhere.  So far, they have mostly stayed out of the garden.  I am putting out Nolo bait which is an organic treatment that affects the grasshoppers' reproductive cycle and ultimately kills them.  I also put out Rabbit Scram, another organic product, around the perimeter of the garden.  I wonder if that doesn't help repel the grasshoppers as well?  I had an idea tonight to put several birdbaths throughout the garden to attract birds.  They can have one-stop shopping:  a bath, a drink and a buffet of grasshoppers!

Everything is in full bloom.  We are going to have lots of melons, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and okra.  The corn is starting to silk.  It was planted in two stages as the first planting did not have good success in coming up.  We supplemented the bare spots and that all came up well.  I am particularly excited that the purple hull peas are loaded.  I love those peas!  I have lost to aphids for about 3 years now but am convinced that diligent weekly application of Neem for about a month and the lady bugs did the trick.



Right after planting




Melons and squash



Tomatoes and Peppers



Peas, Beans, Corn



Pick Your Own and Downtown Farmer's Market

We will post PYO days as soon as we start having produce to pick.  I am pretty sure we will limit the PYO to melons and figs and will pick the rest ourselves for you.  The berries will not be ready until next year but are doing very well.  I am excited to visit an organic farm in Iowa soon that raises strawberries.  I can't wait to learn new things to enhance our natural growing practices here on Scasta Farm.

We have also registered as intermittent vendors at the Waxahachie Downtown Farmer's Market.  We plan to take surplus produce there on an as-needed basis.  Look for us if you are ever there.  They have a wonderful new location just off the square.



Children's Garden

We have a particular interest in teaching children about raising food and gardening.  We would love to have home school groups, scouts, or private schools come visit the farm.  Email for more information.



Children's Garden



So, I think I have sort of caught you up to speed on happenings at Scasta Farm.  I have so many things to share with you including what I am learning about composting, cover crops, and building chicken coops.  I also want to chat about subjects like GMO's and find out your thoughts on that.  There is so much to know, learn, and experience.  The farm is just the place to do it.  So, I will bid you goodnight and pray for rain and a peaceful night's sleep to all.  Happy Farming!



Strawberry Update

I have made this announcement on our FaceBook page but wanted to spread the word on our blog as well.  Due to the fact that the strawberry plants are new, we will be pinching all blossoms back this season and will not allow the plants to produce berries this year.  This will ensure a heavier bearing season next year.  So please hang in there and we should have a great crop next year.  Stay tuned for PYO of other produce this year, though.  All plants are coming up except leeks and we had to supplement the corn.  Otherwise things look great!

What To Do With Your Produce

So, you come pick fresh produce at a PYO farm.  And then you go home and have a wonderful stir fry and a refrigerator full of fresh fruits and veggies.  You suddenly ask yourself, "What on earth will I do with all of this before it spoils?"  Don't despair.  Home food preservation is easy and possible and there are lots of resources to learn how to do it.  I highly recommend taking a canning class.  I have been to one at a feed store and at an aquaponics farm.

For starters, the PYO website that we are listed with has lots of information for canning and preserving all of your fresh goodies.  Just think how great it will be this winter when you make a warm stew with vegetables that you picked and preserved this summer.  You can go to our PYO website Here.  For instance, we will have corn and you might want to preserve it.  Here are some links that will help you out:  How To Can Corn or Several Ways to Can Corn

I found this really great website for any kind of home preservation of food.  I am linking you to the tomato section but as you can see this is a fantastic resource National Center for Home Food Preservation.  I am putting this link on my list of links on this blog.  Great information!  I will be putting up other useful links for making jams and jellies soon so stay tuned!

We just got a wonderful rain.  We have the garden nearly planted and really wanted a good, soaking rain.  It came at just the right time.  You know you have become a farmer when you think this way :)  However, Ronny has been doing a lot of research on irrigation and is putting in a great system so that we don't have to totally rely on good weather.  We have strung hoses to all the blackberry plants and installed a tiny little plastic spigot at each plant.  The hoses are all connected and water simultaneously.  The spigots at the blackberries deliver one gallon of water per hour.  It was so easy to turn the water on and then off after a few hours the other night.  We found a great rain water cistern on the property that is full and over 20 feet deep.  It is fed continuously.  Ronny will be connecting the cistern water supply to the garden hose system and we will be able to water easily and efficiently any time.  You can get supplies for this type of irrigation at Home Depot or Lowe's but we found a good soure Here.

Efficient watering

As I have mentioned we will be hosting the children from our church preschool.  I found a great source for activities for kids in the garden.  It is called Kid's Garden by Witney Cohen, Life Lab Science Program.  It has a lot of wonderful activities.  It suggests a garden design called a pizza garden.  I will post pictures and updates once we get started.  The children will begin May 3 so stay tuned!

Blackberry rows

These are the blackberry rows before planting and the water hose before irrigation was put in.  All the plants are doing well and are 6-9 inches tall already.  We chose to leave grass paths between so your feet will stay clean when you come pick!  I will be putting some garden pictures up soon.  We have lots of little green babies poking through the ground.  The rain today and a warm week next week will really bring the garden on.

Please note that we have chosen to pinch all strawberry blossoms off this season to ensure a heavy berry production next year.

Happy Farming!

Tractors, Google, and Burner Phones

We have learned a few things as we continue on this very fun and wonderful journey of establishing a farm business.  First off, it is so important to have a plan.  Now we had a general plan, but the concept of having a PYO (Pick Your Own) farm was something "huger" than I ever thought (is huger a real word?)  Anyway, I initially listed us on a PYO website to start getting our name out there so that when crops came in, we would have a fan base built.  WELL, people are literally "hungry" for PYO farms and the fan base is built before the crops are in!  My phone has begun to ring off the hook!

I had my personal cell phone number listed at first but discovered that I needed a separate business phone.  I checked out some of the "burner; go; or disposable phones that are now available.  I basically need a simple phone to leave general messages on and to serve as an answering machine.  I highly recommend going this route instead of buying an expensive phone with a contract for your business.  I bought a PayLo phone yesterday and activated it. I also updated all the business listings with the new number.  I had five phone calls today! Not to mention, I feel very important carrying two phones :)

I also recommend setting up a business email separate from your personal or work email accounts.  This will make it more streamlined when you need to respond to emails.  If business emails are buried in your personal and work email, you may overlook messages that you should respond to.  Google is a great tool for starting a small business.  I set up our farm email account and this blog on Google.  The blog basically serves as our business website for the time being.  I also intend to figure out how to use Google for documents.  The recent economic conditions have spurred people on to try their hand at starting their own businesses and Google is a really great internet and digital source.  If you have any tips on how Google documents are used, please leave a comment.

The biggest demand that we see in our phone, email, and FB queries is for strawberries!  We initially planted 50 plants.  Well, needless to say 75 more are being shipped and will be planted ASAP because of the demand that is taking place.  We cannot guarantee a strawberry crop yet this year but that remains to be seen. 

A tractor will be one of your larger purchases in starting a farm. Ronny searched patiently and diligently to find a tractor that would do the things he wanted at a price we could afford without debt. That patience paid off and he found a great 1988 Massey Ferguson. It's red with a black smoke stack. It looks so "farmy."

I can't post this blog without mentioning how amazing the bluebonnets and wildflowers have been here in North Texas.  We have massive fields of blue bonnets in our area.  Check out the little patch on our property.  I took it with my cell phone.

And of course, there are the before and after pictures that folks keep asking for.  I plan to start painting the breakfast nook this weekend.  It is such a cute little room.  I can't wait to freshen it up.  I did finish that teeny tiny little powder room.  I don't have an after picture of it yet but it turned out so nice.  I was really glad to get it done!  The kitchen is finished for the most part.  Ronny did some custom cabinet work on the bottom cabinets.  Didn't it turn out cute?

One of my next projects coming up besides getting ready for kittens and chicks is preparing for our church preschool afterschool kids.  They will spend a few hours a week this spring and summer at the farm learning all about gardening, beneficial insects, butterflies & humming birds, and will be able to watch our baby chicks grow and develop.  I can't wait to work with the kids!

Well, like I said before, we absolutely love our new home.  We have awesome neighbors and a beautiful. peaceful place that takes us out of ourselves and reconnects us with nature and each other.  It is a healing place.  Ronny told me goodnight a little while ago and said, "Have I told you that I love this place (and my tractor)?"  I think you've heard me say that a time or two. 

Good Night and Happy Farming!



Events

We have had a wonderful response to listing our farm as a Pick Your Own Farm.  I do want to remind everyone that PYO days will be harvest-dependent and that we are a new farm with new seeds and seedlings in the ground.  We will list the PYO days on this blog and on our FaceBook page.  Like us on FaceBook at Scasta Farm so that you can keep up with the most current information.

We are going to double our strawberry plants as the requests for strawberries has been phenomenal.  The new blackberry plants are doing really well and we have lots of baby peaches! 

We will also host small groups for activities that bring the classroom to the farm.  We will be hosting the Angels of Faith Preschool from Living Hope Church of the Nazarene this summer.  They will have a plot of their own and will learn all about caring for a garden in a holistic manner.  We also have a little group of Girl Scouts that will be coming to the farm in June.  They are anxious to learn about chickens and eggs.

If you are interested in an activity at the farm, you can contact us at scastafarm@gmail.com.  Forms for activities will be emailed to you.  I am working on finding a way to put them on this blog.  If I find a way to do it I will put up a post to let you know how to access the forms.  In the meantime, just email me to schedule your event and the forms will be sent.

My next post should be very interesting.  I am reading a great book about raising chickens and it is called Chick Days by Jenna Woginrich.  It is a delightful book!  We get our baby chicks in May so be ready to learn right along with us as we raise our "little girls" to egg layin' mommas!

Hasn't this spring weather been lovely.  We pray that you and yours were safe during the recent tornadoes here in the Dallas area.

Enjoy these Easter tulips!  I am excited about taking a photography class this week and hope you enjoy even more beautiful pictures.  Happy Farming!