farmer

2021 into 2022 on the farm

2022-06-212022-06-21 by farmer

The large clearing we made in 2020 ended up being a chicken run in 2021, much to Bill’s annoyance. We had gotten a meat bird order with mixed breeds in March, and 35 birds hatched on our farm in June 2021 from “Sam” the Rhode Island Red rooster and “the girls,” who are Rhode Island red and Plymouth Barred Rock.

When those farm-born chicks hatched in June of 2021, I bought some Leghorns and Lavenders to raise at the same time. We ended up losing a lot of the new birds to predators in the fall of 2021. We saved some of the best meat birds from March 2021 for breeding with our hens, including a Plymouth Barred Rock, “Jay”, a Giant Buff Orpington, “Buster”, and a Speckled Sussex, “Spike.”

The roosters were getting noisy, and we moved the new 8’x4′ coop and all the 2021 birds deeper into the uncleared part of our forest just before the snow started to stick to the ground. Eggs went scarce for the deepest months of winter, because we don’t have a light in the coop, and we don’t heat it.

When spring returned , we got up to 19 eggs per day! We had twice as many layers and eggs as the year before. I started a new batch of eggs in the incubator, timed to hatch on Easter of 2022. It was a smaller hatch than 2021’s, but a much greater variety of chicks, coming from our 19 hens of two breeds and our 4 roosters, each of a different breed.

But then we had some more chicken losses near the end of June (2022) just as I was trying to fill up the main garden and rehabilitate the still-rough extra garden space, which had become completely overgrown with grass, weeds, and water sprouts around the 2021 tree stumps. All this, under the looming specter of food and fertilizer shortages.

… To be continued

Easter Chicks (2022)

2022-05-14 by farmer

What’s cuter than a pink bucket of chicks?

This is the second time we’ve hatched chicks in the incubator from our own eggs. We joined in on the “Easter Hatch-a-thon” held annually at backyard chickens.com, and started the incubation on March 26. These chicks started hatching even before the 21-day expected incubation, so some arrived in the days just before Easter, and some after.

The mother hens were Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Barred Rocks. There were four possible fathers: a Rhode Island Red, a Plymouth Barred Rock, a Speckled Sussex, and a giant Buff Orpington. In this picture, you can see several black birds with a white spot on their head. Those are the male Red Rooster X Rock hen crosses, which are “sex-linked,” meaning their sex is determinable when they hatch.

2021 Meat Birds

2021-05-06 by farmer

Sunny Woodlands' meat birds at 5 weeks old

Our meat birds are about 5 weeks old. We have 24 “all heavies” from Murray McMurray Hatchery.

They don’t tell you what they sent, but there’s a list of breeds they are picking from. We have a definite positive ID on the Speckled Sussex, and some good guesses on most of the rest. I had been assuming that the really big one in the front/center was a New Hampshire or a Rhode Island Red, but then I was listening to a video on meat birds on the “Homesteady” YouTube channel, and realized that maybe that one is the “free surprise chick” that came with the order and could be a Freedom Ranger. Those mature more quickly than the heritage breeds and classic crosses like RedStar and Blackstar sex links that were on the list of possible “heavies” we ordered, and that’s exactly what this guy is doing.

We were going to save the biggest one for breeding, but if that one’s a Freedom Ranger, he won’t breed true, and <…doing the math…> he’ll be our Fouth of July BBQ chicken! My goodness, how, um… symbolic!

More about Red Rangers / Freedom Rangers:

“reaching their peak weight of 5-6 lbs in 9 to 11 weeks. These active, robust chicks are suitable for free range, foraging and pasture environments and produce tender, succulent meat with more yellow omega 3 fat and less saturated fat than fast growing breeds.” but also…
“I have found that they don’t range any better than the CC, took more feed and time to raise than the CC.”
— https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/freedom-ranger.11710/

The links above are for your enlightenment only, I have no affiliate arrangement with them!

In the unheated greenhouse

2021-03-16 by farmer

It’s mid-March and there’s still almost a foot of snow on the ground. We’ve had some days in the upper 50s this month, but then it dropped back into single digits!

Every year around this time, I take a chance on some cold-tolerant plant seeds. If it works out, I get a little head start on the early spring garden. Otherwise, I just have to start over with those plants.

I keep track each year how the really early stuff goes. The Brassicas that would normally come up in 2 to 4 days can take three weeks…but they come up. Then I have to get them outside so they don’t bolt when the greenhouse temps hit the 80s.

This year, I got a soil thermometer, so I actually know what’s going on when I do these plantings. I was amazed that the soil in the containers in the greenhouse had gotten up to 60°F as of a few days ago. The min/max thermometer said the air wasn’t going below freezing in there from around the 10th to the 12th of March (when the outside lows were in the 20s). But then… the weather went back down to single digits, which brought the greenhouse’s air temp down to 9°F, and the soil temp to about 40°F. Sigh…

This year’s list of seeds planted either in the unheated greenhouse, or in a taped-up milk jug for winter sowing outside:

Echinacea Purpura
Cardinal Flower
Chives
Onions, nodding
Onions, bunching (old seed, thickly planted_
Feverfew (also really old seed)
Garlic, wild
Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing
Good King Henry
Chives, Garlic
Claytonia
Lettuce, Kweit
Lovage
Swiss Chard, Ruby
Escarole
Lemon Balm
Butterflyweed
Celery, Amsterdam Seasoning
Watercress, English

Added to that list are the mâche seeds I put in the ground back in December, and some older thyme seeds I put in a pot in the house.

Let’s see how they do. The rest of the week is going to be much warmer; we might be done with single digits for the season!

Farm Life: Chicken and Dumplings

2021-02-22 by farmer

This is the first time I’ve ever made chicken and dumplings. I was inspired by a podcast I’ve been watching a lot of lately, from Roots and Refuge Farm. Jess and her family live in Arkansas, and they just got a foot of snow with that big storm that hit the South. I used her recipe for the dumplings (just putting the herbs in the soup, though, not in the dumplings).

The broth was made last night in the Instant Pot from the bones and giblets of one of our chickens that I butchered three days ago, and included the feet and neck and head. Our dog Trixie, who is not doing well at all, got the chopped-up heart and gizzard for what might end up having been her last meal. She was refusing other food, and water, but gobbled those parts right up.

I used the Instant Pot to cook six diced carrots for 10 minutes of pressure in enough of the strained broth to cover them, then added the rest of the broth, garlic powder, dried basil; oregano and thyme from our farm; previously-frozen dill, pepper, salt, the rest of the chicken meat I roasted last night, and a small chopped onion. I made the dumpling batter while that was coming to a simmer, still in the Instant Pot. I dropped in globs of the dumpling batter, then added some onion greens that I’ve been growing in a south-facing window. At the last minute, I read about adding a flour and milk mixture to thicken up the broth, and did that. This is the best-tasting broth I’ve ever made, possibly even the best soup.

The dumpling recipe, adapted from Jess’s video:
2c flour
a few T of cold butter, cubed
1/2 tsp baking powder
some salt
pulse in food processor or cut butter in manually
add 1 cup milk, mix
(I did those two steps manually to not disturb the dog resting in the kitchen)
should be sticky and stretchy, not a mushy mess
take a glob at a time and drop into the simmering broth
(the dough was too sticky to flatten out as Jess recommended)

Here’s her video, jumping to where she describes how her chicken and dumplings recipe is a hybrid of the Arkansas style she grew up with, and the Indiana style her husband was used to.
https://youtu.be/fc17QxwCjvk?t=1364

2021 Seed Purchases

2021-01-12 by farmer

Starting sprouting peas, grown for their leaves

I’ve placed my first set of plant orders: from Fedco and Prairie Moon. I got these orders in earlier than usual because of the the dramatically-increased demand in 2020. I put more emphasis this year on getting non-hybridized seeds, because we’re still a little nervous about the supply chain holding up. We did more seed-saving in 2020 than I’ve done before: lots of cucurbits, and some lettuces which probably cross-bred. (But hey, we’ll still get lettuce from them!)

Allium seeds (like chives, onions, garlic) don’t last as long as other seeds, so my Prairie Moon order included two native perennial Alliums: nodding onions, and wild garlic. I already have chives and a row of Egyptian onions, which are both perennials and produce a lot of seeds (or top-bulbs, in the case of the Egyptian onions). Many other Allium species are biennials, so it’s rare that I get seeds from those.

There were some seeds I wanted that Fedco just didn’t have, or I knew I could get cheaper locally. I’ll be checking the hardware stores and WalMart for some cheap zucchini seeds, pie pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and rosemary seeds, plus some more tomato seeds (Roma and Fourth of July). I’ll be buying an orange pepper at the grocery store for its seeds because the small variety I kind of wanted from Fedco was really expensive, and a hybrid, so I couldn’t even justify it to myself by saying I could save the seeds.

If I can’t find what I want at those cheaper stores, we are lucky enough to have a great source for less-common seeds right near us: Gardeners Supply Company. I expect to be getting at least the Malabar Spinach and some edamame seeds from there. Fedco sells edamame normally, but didn’t have any available when I placed my order. Those are delicious when steamed and salted.

FEDCO order:
295A — Blue Coco Organic Pole Bean, 1/2oz — 1 × $2.50 = $2.50
818A — Oregon Giant Snow Pea, 2oz — 1 × $2.50 = $2.50
826B — Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea, 8oz — 1 × $6.00 = $6.00
1226A — National Pickling Cucumber, 1g — 1 × $1.75 = $1.75
1392A — Telegraph Improved European Long-Fruited Cucumber, 1g — 1 × $3.00 = $3.00
1504A — Saffron Yellow Summer Squash, 1/8oz — 1 × $2.00 = $2.00
2558A — Winter Bloomsdale Organic Spinach, 1/4oz — 1 × $2.75 = $2.75
2592A — New Zealand Spinach Specialty Green, 1/4oz — 1 × $2.25 = $2.25
2712A — Black Seeded Simpson Organic Looseleaf Lettuce, 1g — 1 × $2.25 = $2.25
3022A — Arugula, 1/16oz — 1 × $1.75 = $1.75
3159A — Gigante d’Italia Organic Parsley, 1/16oz — 1 × $2.50 = $2.50
3203A — Garland Serrated Chrysanthemum Asian Green, 1/16oz — 1 × $2.25 = $2.25
3335A — Speedia Brussels Sprouts, 0.25g — 1 × $4.50 = $4.50
3443A — Champion Collard, 2g — 1 × $2.00 = $2.00
3465A — Dazzling Blue Organic Dinosaur Kale, 2g — 1 × $3.00 = $3.00
3688A — Rosita Organic Bell-shaped Eggplant, 0.2g — 1 × $3.00 = $3.00
4140A — Amish Paste Organic Paste Tomato, 0.2g — 1 × $2.75 = $2.75
4250A — Sun Gold Small-Fruited Tomato, 20 seeds — 1 × $3.00 = $3.00
4471A — Flowering Thai Basil Organic, 0.5g — 1 × $2.50 = $2.50
4536A — Fernleaf Dill, 0.5g — 1 × $2.50 = $2.50
4592A — Lovage Herb, 0.5g — 1 × $2.25 = $2.25
Total: $57

I REALLY like Oregon Sugar Pod II, and don’t care about growing any other peas (other than “sprouting peas” grown for their leaves, because they do great in a windowbox in the greenhouse really early in the year–see the picture above this post) but I wanted to try the Oregon Giant to see whether it’s as sweet and tender.

Prairie Moon order:
Allium cernuum – Nodding Onion
Allium canadense – Wild Garlic
Asarum canadense – Wild Ginger
Cimicifuga racemosa – Black Cohosh
Total: $12 ($3.oo each)

All of the Prairie Moon seeds I ordered are documented as native to my area: either our home county specifically, or just a county or two away from our farm. They should all do well in shade, too.

Garden put to bed, but still some plants to harvest

2020-12-152020-12-15 by farmer

So…it’s mid-December. We’ve had hard frosts and snow, and melt and more snow several times, killing off MOST of the garden, but not all. The kale and the Egyptian onions are still thriving and plentiful. There’s still a nice little patch of parsley, and some cilantro that needs to be picked because I doubt it will revive whenever the next warm spell comes. There’s some spinach and chickweed under a “solar plant cone,” which is a season-extender I first read about in the Solar Gardening book by the Poissons.

We also still have a small patch of radishes and Hon Tsai Tai under a larger plastic dome. Hon Tsai Tai is like a purple-stemmed, Asian version of Broccoli Rabe, but mild. I picked a sprig of it today, and it’s almost sweet. The frost has removed all of the sharp brassica taste.

Other than those cold-tolerant plants, mulch covers the garden. Under one section of mulch, next to the row of Egyptian onions) there’s a small bed of mâche (Valerianella locusta, a.k.a. corn salad, nut lettuce, field salad, and so on) that I planted at the beginning of this month, hoping for a nice little crop in early spring, when there’s not much else poking out of the ground except dandelion leaves.

Note: To help fund our farm expansion, Sunnywoodlands.farm has joined the Amazon Associates affiliate advertising program. If you click on a link here that goes to Amazon and make a purchase, you will help us raise funds to support our farm. Thank you!

Late autumn flowers

2020-10-26 by farmer

chrysanthemum bloom in front of brassicas

There’s an article in the local paper about late-autumn flowering plants. There are still some asters and goldenrod blooming here, but most of it has gone to seed. Henry Homeyer mentions some late-blooming shrubs. I’ve had Witch Hazel growing elsewhere, and can’t wait to get some here for Sunny Woodlands.

What we do have now is our fall crop of Shungiku, an edible chrysanthemum. So bright and cheery, with beautiful foliage. It makes a beautiful, edible bed border about 20 inches tall.

We’ve also finally got some Jersusalem Artichoke flowers, which didn’t even really start to bud until the weather got chilly.

And then there’s the fall foliage. Now’s the time of year when you can most easily see all the places the invasive burning bush has escaped to! Our Japanese maple is the same brilliant red.

Ode to Brassicas in a Northern Clime

2020-10-22 by farmer

Brassicas in a Northern Clime

rule like dinos in another time

if you plant early spring, they’ll bolt to seeds

when you let them go, they displace the weeds

root veg, tight heads, stem, or leaf,

all flower with four-lobed motif

sprouting in days

evolved so many ways

the harvest fills trugs

just watch out for slugs

The very cold-tolerant Brassica family can give us Northerners a huge harvest all the way up to Thanksgiving–sometimes even Christmas–without protection.

Also known as cruciferous vegetables for the resemblance of their 4-petaled flowers to a cross. Their seedlings also have four lobes: two on each of the cotyledons, which emerge before the true leaves appear.

They are grown for different edible parts, varying from flowers (broccoli and cauliflower), to roots (radishes and turnips), to leaves or heads of leaves (kale, arugala, bok choi, cabbage, Brussels sprouts), to stems (kohrabi), or both florets and stems (broccoli rabe and hon tsai tai).

Send an email to farm-news@sunnywoodlands.farm to be notified of new posts about our sustainable cool-climate, short-season, technically-in-a-rainforest ramp-up from garden to homestead to farm.

October gardening

2020-10-152020-10-15 by farmer

About 5 or 6 nights of light frost have hit so far. Not all in a row; there’s been nice weather, even 70°F days in-between. So what’s still growing in our part of New Hampshire?

We covered up the basil to protect it from the first few nights of frost. We processed a lot of it for freezer storage. There should be enough to make Pho all winter and Spring. Then we brought most of the remaining plants into the greenhouse, which still gets up to 90°F at times!

We’ve been covering up the tomatoes and tomatillos when frost is expected. Their leaves have been taking hits from the light frosts but are still ripening a bit more. Some tomatoes that have started to turn have been brought in to ripen indoors. The volunteer plants are ripening slightly more quickly than the others. The tomatillos continue to get bigger inside their husks as the weather gets cooler.

Tomatiila — Tomatillo (the husk starts off way bigger than the fruit inside)

We had already harvested the squash from the new clearing we made this spring because their leaves got hit by frost and the stems shriveled up during an extended period with no rain. But the Butternut squash in the compost bin held out longer and yielded two very large squash. What a great volunteer!

The Malabar spinach got hit earlier by the frost than the New Zealand Spinach. Both are not true spinach varieties, but heat-loving substitutes. As of mid-October, the NZ spinach is still thriving under a clear dome we use to protect plants during the early and late ends of the growing season.

The beets and regular spinach I planted in early August are thriving. I take a leaf to nibble now and then when I’m in the garden.

We’re getting a great crop of Shungiku, which is an edible chrysanthemum. I use the leaves in stir-fries. I’m leaving one plant to go to seed. The scattered chamomile and Jerusalem Artichoke (a sunflower with edible tubers) are still going strong, too.

Shungiku, loving the cool weather — The Shungiku is loving the cool weather

What’s in your fall garden?