Tag Archives: hoop house

Finishing the high tunnel: tomatoes, cucumbers, & peppers.

We have finished filling the large high tunnel with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash. The tomatoes and cucumbers will grow up the twine which you can see my dad installing in the picture. We use tomato clips for both the tomatoes and cucumbers to help train them up the twine. The peppers are planted between the rows of lettuce and spinach which we will be harvesting in the next couple of weeks, giving the peppers room to grow. Our smaller high tunnel is quickly filling with herbs. Cilantro and basil will finish out the plantings in there.

Outside we are getting the soil ready for our Three Sisters plantings, more lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, squash, melons, green beans, and cabbage. It’s quite a bit of work this year because the soil was compacted by the heavy machinery we used on another project, and the fact that Wyatt always wants to fall asleep in my arms while I walk along with the rototiller. Although, we are several steps ahead of where we were last year, we still are working hard to revitalize the soil for our outdoor garden, and we are behind with our high tunnel tomatoes and peppers because our tunnel wasn’t up in time. Every year we will be a little closer to being on track, right?

Our rye cover crop is still growing and growing. Yesterday I watched what at first appeared to be smoke blowing across the farm, but it was actually the pollen from our rye. It is too tall for the children to see over now, and I warned Wyatt that he might get lost in it if he tried to run through it! It made me think of the dire warnings from my parents about not wandering in the corn fields when I was a child.

After working at the farm in this heat and humidity we have had the last few days, there is nothing more refreshing than a dip in the pond. The kids and the dogs are very appreciative of this addition to our farm!

April 20, 2013

It seems like just yesterday I was searching for projects to do, now they jump out from behind corners and line up in a never ending train at the start of everyday. We can mark the start of Spring here when we spend more waking hours with our hands in the dirt than there are in the day.

We have seeds that we are starting in the greenhouse, transplants that are being moved to the hoop houses, seeds that are being sowed in the hoop houses for carrots, spinach, and beets. Lines being tied for cucumbers and tomatoes, apple tree trimmings being assembled and placed for our peas to grow on. We planted 35 more blueberry bushes, and 6 more fruit trees, 5 rhubarb plants and when the ground dries out enough we’ll put in our first asparagus bed. If it wasn’t for my dad’s help and guidance I would feel more than overwhelmed right now.

I’m back to milking in the mornings and we’ve found that our goats are giving very sweet milk now that our little buck is off the farm. I can’t believe that at such a young age last year he could throw off the taste but he certainly did. No goaty after taste now, and I think I’m a tad hyper sensitive to it. I pen the babies up at night and milk the mamas in the morning, then turn everyone back out together for the day. So far this arrangement is working out well for us. Hand milking is time consuming though, but I have the children and their bunnies to keep me company while I milk. That is until they let the other mama goats into the barn and chaos ensues.

Speaking of goats and chaos, as we were leaving to go to a community festival last night we noticed that two of our does were out in the rye. We pulled in to put them back in thinking that they must have pushed a gate open, but as we pulled up to the barn, Jane (one of the goat kids) jumped into an open window of the barn! Sure enough, the goats had managed to open a door between the run-in side of the barn and the main room where we keep all of our grain, milk stand, rabbits, and our brooding box for poultry! They had had quite a party in there. Hopefully, no one ends up sick.

With another year of life under their belts the kids are that much more helpful around the homestead. Whether it is running and fetching tools, filling the woodstove, shoveling muck, planting, watering, harvesting lettuce, spinach and radishes, processing honey, feeding animals, foraging in the woods and fields, or just keeping their mom and dad company.

And one last quick note. A couple of weeks ago we ran out of wheat berries and I had to use some white flour I had tucked away. We ate that bread for a week and not only did I notice that I gained weight (I’m sure it was water retention) but the bread was not as filling and the taste was awful. As soon as we restocked and made our freshly ground wheat bread the weight dropped off and the bread was filling and tasty again.

Well, I’m off to get busy preparing for the Earth Day celebration at Kenyon College tomorrow. Lots to do for that to go smoothly, as well as chores and housekeeping around the homestead. Hope you have a lovely Saturday, even if the weather has dropped by 30 to 40 degrees!

High Tunnel Update.

The high tunnel is complete!

It’s pretty wet & muddy inside currently. Too wet to do any work. Hopefully a day or two of sun will help raise the temperature inside and dry out the soil a bit.

In anticipation of being able to work inside I ordered seeds today. First, let me say that seed catalogs might be one of my favorite publications to get in the mail. The pictures are a welcome reminder of the beauty that is to come. They make it look so easy too! No bugs, no weeds, just perfectly planted rows of crisp lettuce in various shades of green and red, plump tomatoes without a hint of blight, zucchini and cucumbers picked at just the exact size for perfection. In reality, gardens have weeds, they have pests, they have blights occasionally and it is virtually impossible to make it through a summer without finding one morning a swollen zucchini which the day before had been only 3 inches long.

I ordered a selection of herb & vegetable seeds to start in the greenhouse, including a few that just struck my fancy like huckleberries. Because I was on a “let’s pretend it’s spring” kick, I also ordered some chicks, turkeys, and muskovy ducks.

Farm Setbacks.

Inevitably in life, and more so in farming, you are going to have days when it seems that Mother Nature feels it necessary to remind you who is in charge.

On Tuesday we rushed to put the plastic on our new hoop house. The temperature had risen to around 60 degrees which we hoped was warm enough to stretch the plastic tight. With the help of several guys we got the 48′ x 100′ sheet of plastic “film” over the metal frame of the hoop house and began securing the sides and ends with wiggle wire.

Unfortunately, the wind began to pick up, and we were not able to finish tightening the sides nor were we able to finish one end wall.

The next day the rain came and it was a little windy, but the plastic held. However, the following day the cold front moved in and the temperature dropped from the 50′s to the low 20′s and the wind began to gust upwards of 42mph. The wind and cold temperatures were too much for the plastic which tore on either side of where we had placed temporary wiggle wire.

I took this picture yesterday morning and I wish I had taken a video now because the snapping sound that this plastic was making in the wind was unreal. Like the sound of a gun going off, you could feel the percussion in the air.

Yes, this was a costly and unfortunate event. We are out time and money, but as my husband said, it’s already done so there is no use in anger or frustration, we’ll simply have to do it again. So we’ll buy another role of plastic and hope for a couple of warm calm days to put it back together again.

Hoop House Fun.

Phew, I’m beat tonight. The kids and I packed as much into our usual day of rest as possible today! The day started with preparing 30 lbs of bananas for dehydrating, a task which Autumn felt up to helping out with. It took a great deal of patience on my part to get through her very artfully, though not efficiently filled trays.

Then it was off to church, to drop off the three older kids and back home with Wyatt (he’s had a nasty cold) where we filled the kerosene heater for the greenhouse with the help of grandpa. Darn Ohio weather returned with the threat of a freeze – its like its March or something! Then back to church to pick up the kids, and a quick stop at TSC where we picked up bedding for the chicks, a new pair of pants for dad and a chicken coop book filled with 45 fabulous plans!

Back at home we had a quick lunch and then it was time to catch the chicks that our prodigal hen had returned with. This was neither an easy or quick task and in the end took every woman and child present to accomplish. We now have, 7 fluffy black and yellow chicks, all tucked into their new brooder, and one very irritated black hen. She is a great momma, not only did she attack Will and I, but she took off after Yuri (our dog) later. I would have left the chicks with her had I been able to assure myself and the children that the dog would not snack on them later.

After our chick wrangling we headed up to the barn. We cleaned the barn, put new bedding in the hen house, and helped catch and load a rooster for a friend. At this point the kids had finished their chores and found a nozzle for the hose so 4 soaked children had to be taken home to have their clothes changed.

Back at home we installed another clothesline, and decided to check and see if the morels were up yet. No luck on the mushrooms, but we did find a box turtle! Can you spot him?

Then, it was back up to the gardens and hoop house because I was dying to get inside and finish tilling up the beds.

The kids enjoyed playing in the hoop house while I finished up my work. It is a blessing to be able to spend this time with them, even when we are working.

And finally, the finished product! Four beds ready for planting. But, that will have to wait for tomorrow.

More and more and more!

If you have had a chance to drive by the farm this week you have probably noticed some very big changes! In fact, you are probably breathing a sigh of relief, thinking, “geesh, I wondered if they were ever going to get that place looking better.”

Well, it looks better, but it certainly hasn’t lost that air of “major project underway”. But, just to keep things in perspective, here are a couple of before and after photos for you to compare.

I tried to find photos that showed the same general areas, but I had not thought at the time to take a photo of one spot each month to document the changes. Maybe next time (ha ha!)

37 Days.

37 days of work to have the market open for business! According to Jay’s calculations and barring any unfortunate circumstances such as a flood of Biblical proportions or major mechanical breakdowns.

So what have we accomplished so far? The hoop house has its plastic on, and is just awaiting two doors for the end walls. For now, that is just fine because the days have been reaching record highs! We are working on amending the soil inside of the hoop house with the hopes of planting early next week.

These are pictures of the hoop house before we attached the plastic. We bought our hoop house frame used, and we were given the plastic by a commercial greenhouse who had replaced their hoop house plastic. It has a few tears, but for the most part will last us at least 2 years. This was a great opportunity for us to put up a hoop house on a budget. In the fall we will be erecting a second hoop house which we will be purchasing with the help of an NRCS high tunnel grant. Both hoop houses will allow us to extend our growing season with limited energy inputs.

Now that the hoop house is up I can begin planting without worry that Jay will drive a piece of heavy machinery over my baby peas. Peas, asparagus, potatoes are on the list to be planted outside, spinach, carrots, lettuce, and basil are on tap for the hoop house this week.

We’re still planting heavily in the greenhouse. Today, with the help of Becca (our new intern) we’ll start peppers, more tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and basil. On Wednesday we started 8 flats of tomatoes, 1 flat of swiss chard, a flat of red cabbage and a flat of Late Flat Dutch cabbage.

On Monday we received our shipment of orchard trees, berry bushes, strawberries and grape vines. It is going to be a very busy couple of weeks here! Before we can plant we have to complete some major projects. Yesterday we removed 3 evergreen trees from the front yard and transplanted them in the back pasture, we moved the electric fence for the pony to give him a new pasture area, and we ripped out the old fence row at the front of the property. Today we will continue to prepare to put in the board fence, which will involve moving some large boulders which were buried under the fence row. Jay thinks that these boulders were placed there when the field was originally cleared, we’re planning on using them for landscaping in the front — be sure to ask us about them when you visit the farm!

The final project that will truly change the look of the farm will be removing the old farmhouse. As much as we would have loved to have restored this building its condition prevented it.