The quest continues

World's most frustrating task?

Knowing exactly what used car you want to buy.

I'm in the market for a used Ford Ranger 4x4, made in the late 1990's or perhaps early 2000's for under $5,000.  I've been religiously checking Craigslist, and even though the cars are out there, they're usually gone by the time I have a chance to go check them out when I do see them, they're not what I'm looking for.

Take today for example.  My dad and I drove out to Scranton to look at a truck for sale.  It was a long drive at almost two hours each way and when we got there, the truck for sale had a lot of issues.  For $2,000 dollars, I could have purchased a truck whose oil filter was so rusty you couldn't tell if it had ever been any other color, had a missing door handle (conveniently fixed with a pull string through the window), an almost-nothing clutch and a clunk in the axle.  The guy selling it did say we could take away the dishwasher in the bed with us when we left.  What a bargain!

It's not that my car is a terrible car.  In fact, apart from the emissions failure preventing it from passing inspection, it's been fantastic, reliable and cheap.  However,since I'm thinking about starting my own farm the year after next, a vehicle that can be used in the field, to transport produce and to carry large things like wheelbarrows, piles of mulch, and sometime in the future, livestock would be a fantastic asset.  Somehow I don't think my Toyota Carolla would do so well in mud or with a bunch of chickens in the back.

I was hoping to get this car business rolling this week and have everything squared away by the time I moved, but it looks like my quest for the perfect pickup continues.  So, if anyone knows of a Ford Ranger 4x4 XLT (no step side), for a good price, hook me up!

It's a Girl! And a boy! (Many of each!)

Our chicks have arrived in wonderful shape from McMurray Hatchery.  Firstly, mad props to McMurray for doing an awesome job with shipping baby chicks.  Because of our work hours and hours of the small-town post office we have, our chicks ended up being at the post office overnight and until lunch time the next day.  They called me to say they were there, but I didn’t get the message until after the post office was closed already.  In the message, they said if no one came to get them, they would be shipped to a different post office.   

I drove over there and left a note on every door to the place (three) and hoped for the best.  The next morning, I called them to see if they got the notes.  "Yes", they said (not without a tinge of annoyance), we got the note(s).  "They’re here.  The sooner you come and get them, the better."

This particular post office has interesting hours.  They open pretty early at 8:00 AM, but then they take lunch from 1:00 PM to 2:30!  Wish my lunch was that long.  Our lunch is only an hour, starting at 1.  Elizabeth started her lunch a few minutes early and went to get them before the post master went on lunch. 

 Success!  She drove down the driveway with a huge smile on her face.  Not one chick had died!We set up their home and cut open their shipping box.  28 little chicks in a little box doesn’t give them much space to move or stretch.  The second they hit the woodchips in their tub, they started to stretch their wings and legs and run around.  

One had a pecked head and kept falling over backwards, but has since made a recovery.  Today there is one who doesn’t look very well (it’s having trouble standing up), and one runt that didn’t make it.  I’m still very impressed with the survival rate of being shipped halfway across the country and spending a full two days in a little box.

McMurray also sends a mystery chick with every order.  Ours is adorable, but we can’t even begin to guess what it’s going to turn into.  Ten thousand life points to anyone who can figure it out.  I’m hoping it’s a penguin of some sort, but no one else seems to think it is. 

What am I??? 

Rainy Day(s)

It’s raining again.

It rained yesterday too.  And also the day before.  Sunday it was merely dreary, but the week before was Hurricane Irene week, which meant we deserved what little sun we got last week.  This rainy weather is certainly not good for morale.  Putting on wet rain gear day after day is in no way a refreshing way to start the morning.  We plant in the rain, weed in the rain, harvest in the rain and spend a good portion of each morning meeting discussing the question, “is there anything we can do inside today?”  You see, all this rain isn’t good for the farm either.

The soil is completely saturated, meaning that it simply cannot hold any more water.  That’s how you end up with fields with puddles in them.  Our one field of black dirt (field 03), was under a couple feet water for four days after Irene and is back to having a couple inches of rain sitting on top of our kohlrabi and some of the celeriac.  If we did walk in that field, our shoes would compact the dirt, making it so when the field dried, there would be less water and air space for the plants’ roots.  Bringing a tractor into a wet field is pretty much out of the question.

This much moisture is not the greatest for plants either.  Ideally, in a season, you would only get enough rain to keep your well with enough water in it to keep irrigation going.  Turns out that tomatoes, summer and winter squashes, lettuces, greens, root vegetables and pretty much everything else we grow here don’t like having unpredictable humungous amounts of water either.  A little bit of water will force the plants to grow their roots deeper, helping the plant get nutrients that are deep in the soil, not to mention holding it up when it’s windy.  With so much available water on the surface, our produce lacks some toughness.  Things are water saturated and therefore flimsy, not to mention diluted and therefore not quite as tasty as they could be.  If that wasn’t bad enough, many plant diseases thrive in moist weather.  Especially moist, warm weather.  (Like this entire summer, basically.)  Our tomatoes are dead.  There are spots on the parsley.  The celeriac has a leaf disease.  The dandelion has a leaf disease. 

We were watching the Weather Channel at the pizza place during lunch yesterday and most of what they were talking about were the wildfires in Texas and the drought that contributed to the fires’ existence.  Trust me, if I could any of this rain we’ve been getting to the farmers in Texas, (or the homeowners whose homes are threatened by the fires), I would.  It’s just one of those things, unfortunately.

Hurrican Irene



The empty truck, an unusual sight on a Friday evening.

Seems like everyone is talking about the impending hurricane that is supposed to hit the Northeast sometime tomorrow or possibly Sunday.  For homeowners it means battening down the hatches: bringing deck furniture inside, cleaning out a space for the car in the garage, making sure there are no large branches hanging above the house.  For those who like to be prepared, hurricanes mean stocking up on staples like bread and such, collecting some water and making sure the matches are somewhere findable.  For farmers, it means a little more.

Because the vast majority of the produce we sell is grown outside, it’s all subject to the whims of the weather.  Even though some of our tomatoes , peppers and herbs are growing inside a high tunnel, it doesn’t mean they’re safe from violent storms either.  The tunnel could potentially blow away if it gets windy enough, or in the event of hail end up with holes in the plastic.  High winds could knock over trellised tomatoes, deer fences, and send fruits falling to the wet ground.  Hail could completely destroy any leafy greens like lettuces, kale, collards and many more, which are one of the biggest fall crops.  There’s a lot riding on the weather being, if not perfect, then at least not extreme.  Droughts are bad.  Floods are bad.  Hurricanes, almost always, are bad.

So far hurricane Irene has not been good to us and she hasn’t even headed up our way yet.  After we spent the entire morning harvesting lettuces, greens, beans and tomatoes, a memo was sent along saying that Mayor Bloomberg had decided to cancel all open air markets for Saturday.  What this means for us is a lot of produce that won’t have a buyer now.  While our potatoes, garlic, onions and some of the tomatoes will be fine hanging out in the cooler until the next market on Wednesday, there are a lot of green beans, leafy greens and tomatoes that will go bad by that time, meaning that they will probably go to waste.  While we will eat as many as we can in the next few days, the 10 people that work and eat food from this farm cannot possibly match the consumerism of the middle of Manhattan on a lovely Saturday. 

Looks like Irene is going to hit hard, even if she veers back into the ocean.

Local Bounty

Sick of spending lots of money on groceries?

Try farm apprenticeships to lower your monthly eating bills!

If you're considering working as a farm apprentice or intern, it's important not only to look at what your salary will be, but also what other things the job will provide you with.  What educational goals will you be able to fulfill while working there?  Is there a chance for networking in the community surrounding the farm?  Is there a any job advancement opportunity?  Is there free housing?  Do I get to eat the stuff we grow?

I think one of the greatest things about working at Keith's Farm is that we are able to eat any and all of the produce that we tend to in the fields.  There is nothing quite as satisfying as sitting down to a dinner that you spent the last few months tending to.  Even though I don't make as much money each week as lots of other people my age, the free produce is definitely a huge bonus to my rather meager paycheck. 

Last night I made a raw meal, meaning that nothing was heated up past 116 degrees (but really I didn't heat it at all) ,using some produce grown in our fields, supplemented with other ingredients from the Union Square Greenmarket that we sell at twice a week.

Behold, the local bounty:

Beet, carrot and cabbage slaw with beets from Keith's farm, cabbage and carrots from Union Square, (with organic apple cider vingegar, mustard, salt and pepper and olive oil), green beans from Keith's farm, and tomato and basil salad from Keith's.  The wine was unfortunately not local or even organic, though very delicious nonetheless. 

Though I had my doubts about eating a completely raw dinner (thought I would still be hungry after finishing it), I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of this meal and was super full after it.  Ate in the living room while watching the Disney animated version of Robin Hood.  All in all a fantastic evening!  Can't wait to eat another all raw vegetable meal!

Fowl Play

Just sat down with my coworker, Elizabeth, to order our first ever round of livestock from McMurray Hatchery.  Our 25 Jumbo Cornish X rocks will be waiting for us at the post office sometime on or shortly after September 7! 

Elizabeth has been thinking about raising meat birds for a while, but I hadn't even considered it since I'm living on property that doesn't belong to myself or my family.  However, we talked to our boss this morning about the possibility of setting up a small chicken tracor behind the house I live in, and he seemed pretty excited about the idea, as long as it doesn't interfere with the time we spend working in the fields.

The main purpose of raising these chickens is two-fold.  Firstly, we're both hoping to raise pastured poultry as part of our future farmng enterprises, and though we've both helped to raise and slaughter them on other farms, having our own flock will be valuable experience for years to come.  Also, since we're both working a seasonal job that has a definite end date, it's important for us to be thinking about putting things away for the off season.  In winter, it can be tough for a seasonal farm apprentice to find work, so not only is saving money where you can a good idea, but taking advantage of the resources land can provide is also a great idea.  My 11 chickens will be going into the freezer at my Nanna's house to be eaten in the four lean months that are looming over the horizon.  I'm also planning on doing a lot of canning and other freezing to tide me over, but more on that later.

This evening we also picked up some "free firewood" in the form of a giant pallet outside a motorcycle dealership that will make up the base of our chicken tractor.  Post and pictures to come of that project! 

The Journey Home Begins

One of my fondest childhood memories is standing at the very back of the hay barn during the summer, watching a thunderstorm roll in over the back fields.  I loved standing there, waiting for the rain to break through, knowing that I was perfectly safe.  The barn has weathered countless storms in the nearly one hundred years it’s been standing there.  It’s weathered many in my lifetime alone and will stand resolutely through more lightning strikes, blizzards and even the odd hurricane that finds its way this far north.  Though built in the early 1900’s, the barn has a level of craftsmanship that many of our modern buildings are lacking.

 The axe marks on every beam relay the care and time that went into the building.  The wooden pegs that hold each beam to its neighbor are fit so exactly in each of their holes it almost looks like they were a knot in the board to begin with, put there by nature rather than a farmer.

The barn has had near misses with an earthquake and a tornado, but the real threat to its rafters and floorboards, its pegs and hinges is the current situation of farms in this area. 

According to the USDA, New York “lost 23 percent of its dairy farms in five years, from 2001 to 2007. In 2007, the state had nearly 5,700 dairy farms, down from nearly 7,400 in 2002.”  And since then, farms have continued to close their barn doors, to be replaced by developments, strip malls or become harbors for invasive species.

The farm I grew up on in Chester, NY is part of an exclusive club in Orange County, New York.  Once full of farms to supply New York City with fresh produce, meats and dairy products, Orange County’s farms have continually disappeared since the advent of industrial farming and the importation of food. 

To lose a farm that has been in operation since the 1700’s would be a shame that goes beyond the addition of more McMansions onto our landscape.  I believe there is another way to save the farm.  A way that is sustainable, respectful of the land and successful financially as well as in terms of personal fulfillment.

This blog is about my journey to learn how to do that.