Farming in the shade

The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. --Psalm 86: 12

Today The Farmer was greeted by two escape artists as he stepped out to do morning chores. We've had some terrible winds the past two days, and one of the (poorly-secured) gates blew down. The rams, who would rather be with the ewes right now, took advantage of the opening and spent some time outside their pen. The rams are right--it's about time to join the rest of the flock so that we'll get spring lambs. The Farmer decided that since they were half-way to their destination, we'd just help them along. This involved a complicated dance of moving two separate flocks to new pasture. And then adding the rams to one of the flocks. All hands were on deck, and all paws, too. Our border collie is moderately helpful, at best, and sometimes downright unhelpful. Today was one of those unhelpful days. She snuck off while our attention was elsewhere and got tangled (oh, goodness) in an electrified poly fence . She received repeated shocks from a fencer designed to keep sheep (with...

In the interest of full disclosure, this is not and never will be a food blog. I am not a great cook. No one will starve in this household, but neither will they become accustomed to fussed-over meals. It's just not in me. The proof is in the pudding--a true "foodie" writing on her food blog would not wait until AFTER the meal is mostly consumed to take a picture of the leftovers resting in a plastic storage container. So now that we have the disclaimers out of the way, I'd like to share a favorite recipe. It's for a side dish (watch below for how to make it a main dish) and feeds a crowd. I made it most recently for a church potluck. Apricot Barley Casserole 2/3 cup slivered almonds 4 Tbsp. butter, divided into 2 equal parts 2 cups pearl barley 1 cup sliced green onions (optional) 6 cups chicken broth 2/3 cup diced dried apricots 1/2 cup golden raisins In a large skillet, sauté nuts in 2 Tbsp. butter untjil lightly browned; remove and set aside. In the same skill...

Shady Side Farm is now certified organic. Woo-hoo! Disclaimer--there are still parts of our operation that are not organic. Some things will never be organic, and some things we just need to work on a bit more to get there. But as of Saturday, The Farmer was selling organic pinto beans, organic edible soybeans and organic corn at a nearby farmers' market.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For "all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. --I Peter 1:23-25

Two types of mint--Peppermint and Spearmint--are grown commercially in the U.S. California, Florida and North Dakota are the U.S. states that produce the most honey. Wheat was first planted in the United States in 1777 as a hobby crop.

How does time pass so fast? Wasn't it yesterday when they were small? (Cue "Sunrise, Sunset" music.) This is a photo of my youngest child. Perhaps, at 15, "child" is not the word I should be using. The grain leg needed greasing before we ran corn through it. Used to be The Farmer would climb right up there and git 'er done. No fear of heights. I wasn't in on the conversation, but I was around to see the results. The Farmer was on the ground, looking up. The Boy was the one way up high doing the greasing. Enough to curdle a mother's blood!

The first of the organic corn is coming off the field! (Disclaimer: We still haven't received our final organic certification number, so I guess it's only potentially organic corn.) The combine cuts the stalk, removes the ears from the stalk, removes the husk from the ears and removes the kernels from the cob, all in one operation. After it's combined we load it into wagons and bring it up to the unloading area. It's unloaded from the wagon into a pit in the ground and moved along by an auger and unloaded into the grain leg and carried up to the top and allowed to fall down into the wet holding bin (in back of photo) where it waits until we have enough to fill the corn dryer. After it's dried down to 13-14% moisture (at a temperature of about 180F), we load it back into the grain leg and into one of our long term storage bins. We bought the grain leg and dryer used, years ago. Several family members pitched in to help paint it. We rented a crane and set it all in pl...

Three generations of hands. "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands." I Thessalonians 4:11

We have routinely raised animal food on our farm. For years and years, other than our garden (thanks, Mom!) and an occasional batch of corn bread made from our fresh-ground field corn, our crops have been fed to animals. This year, we planted some people food. Here's what the pinto bean plants look like after harvesting. Here we're cleaning things up just a bit--losing some of the chaff. Food from the earth. Amazing. A miracle!

I often hear folks admire our wool products and then turn away, sighing, "I'm allergic to wool." There are a few folks who are genuinely allergic to the lanolin in wool. Can't help them, although over time the lanolin washes out and should cause less of a problem. But the rest of those who are "allergic" to wool may be reacting to some thing else. The large wool manufacturers need to get a lot of ick out of the raw wool (imagine wearing the same clothes for a year!) and an easy way to do that is to use harsh chemicals. Some of us are sensitive to the way wool is produced. Our wool is cleaned using soap and water. Also (and we struggle with this part) hay natur ally gets in the wool over the course of a year. Each fleece is skirted after shearing, which just means we pull off the worst parts and discard them. In the washing and carding process at the mill some of the remaining hay comes out of the wool, and some is just broken up into really fine little pie...

From another ag blogger at Zweber Family Farm News: The average American moves every 5-7 years. While there are no figures on how often a “farmer” moves, I gander it is much less (Once to the farm and then to a retirement home). Our heritage is deeply rooted in where we are and what we do. Many farms have been in the family for several generations. Farming is a legacy. A map only shows the topography. When planning it might make sense to put a waste treatment plant in a seemly wide open area. What those plans don’t consider are the current land owners hopes and dreams. Maps do not show the value this land has in a community. Maybe that land is being farmed by a fourth generation, in hopes of passing it on to the fifth. Maybe the farmer has spent thousands of dollars restoring the soil’s fertility, preserving the water-ways, and creating natural habitat for wildlife. Maybe the farmer has been donating part of their crop to a local shelter, so that others can have fresh local food. Read...

For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. --Deuteronomy 16:15b

It's autumn. Whenever the weather cooperates, we harvest a crop. We've got some of the pinto beans off, and just baled up a small alfalfa hay field that was due to be planted to something else. Typically, we wouldn't harvest alfalfa hay this late in the year--it needs a little growth to overwinter well. But since it was going to be tilled up anyway, we grabbed a small window of good weather and hayed it. As soon as it was off, it was time to disc it up. Don't those look like fall clouds? There's just something different about the autumn sky. This field will be planted with a cover crop of wheat. A cover crop helps to keep the weeds at bay (a bit) and provides nitrogen to the soil in the spring when it's tilled in. It seems like an unnecessary expense, until you realize we are no longer buying herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. This fall dance is quite something to keep track of--harvest, till, let lay a few days, till again, plant and pack the seed down. Repea...

The Farmer headed out for morning chores, accompanied by his helpers. There was a chill in the air, and when I hung the freshly washed jeans on the clothesline this morning, steam rose from them. I tried to get a photo of it, but you'll just have to imagine it. My camera is not capable of catching such subtleties as steaming laundry.