Farming in the shade

The first beans have been harvested. Don’t get too excited—these are southern peas that we grew in the garden to have (hopefully) enough seed to plant in the field in a year or two. They’re a black heirloom variety. We hand-pulled them and they will dry on a tarp for a few days. The truth is the rest of the beans are still very green, and the fields have standing water in spots. We’ve had a fair amount of rain over the last couple of weeks. We didn’t track it or add it up, as sometimes we just don’t want to know. More rain is predicted for the next few days. Again, don’t ask us for details, as we are trying not to look at the forecast too closely. At this point we don’t know if we will get a harvest. We hope so. Stay tuned! And if you are the praying sort, we’d appreciate prayers for some warm, dry weather, to finish off the beans and keep them from standing in the water. In the meantime, we will have lamb brats back in stock in the on-farm store Wednesday...

This has been a hot week! We put up 450 small square bales in the heat Monday night. There was a good breeze—check out the first photo closely to see the flying hay. Wednesday afternoon, after a hot day at the markets, we brought the sheep in from the far pastures. In the relative coolness of the barn, we separated lambs from ewes. It was time to wean the lambs. Today is our annual audit for our organic certification. Wish us well—the certification process involves a LOT of paperwork and good record keeping. In between these main events, we’ve been plowing, cultivating bean fields, and caring for the animals. Wednesdays and Fridays our on-farm shop is open from 1-4 pm. Feel free to stop by for the best selection of cuts of beef. Also, the “buy 10 ground beef, get 1 free” special is still available at the farm store.

We have recently been encouraged by the kindness of good friends and total strangers, both. Thank you, all, for your comments, shares, good wishes, and prayers. We wrote about our struggles with the wet weather in part because we feel we have a relationship with many of you. We consider you friends, and friends need to let each other know what is going on. We also shared because we know that many of you aren’t familiar with the risks of farming. Each year we take our blood, sweat and tears, as well as most of our remaining money, and we bury it in the ground. We hope and pray that everything works out so that we get all that money we buried back. And we also hope that the blood, sweat and tears fertilize it and make it yield an increase. That increase or harvest is what we convert to money over the winter and the next summer while the next set of crops grow. This money is what we use to pay the bills, fix things, take a small salary, and save a little to bury in the gr...

Well, folks, we have zero acres of corn and dry beans planted so far this year. And no hay cut for the winter feed for our cattle and sheep.  We still have a chance on the hay, but every day that passes means the quality goes down. We still have a chance at the dry beans. But there is the little detail of standing water in the fields. The window for planting corn has closed. So there will be no corn crop this year. We have had crop failures and catastrophes before. Usually one thing at a time, though. We are trying to stay hopeful while still thinking about what Plan B looks like. God is faithful.

We grow Wapsie Valley corn, an open-pollinated variety that dates (at least) back to the mid-1800s and has its roots in Iowa. We have found it to be much higher in protein than the hybrids we used to grow, and this is the corn that we have ground for our corn meal and grits/polenta.  Typically, we harvest the corn with our combine. This past fall, we had what amounted to a monsoon.  Eventually the ground became so saturated that we couldn't use the combine anymore. So we harvested the remainder of the corn the old-fashioned way. A gentle public service announcement: Please do not tell a farmer that his food costs too much. Either buy it, or don't buy it. You probably have no idea what has gone into the production of that food... Save Save

I've taken a long hiatus from blogging, and so I'll do my best to catch up, without making you feel like you're drinking from a firehose. Speaking of firehoses (and by extension, water)... After a long dry spell during the summer, the weather changed. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. At least it seemed that way. Here's a photo that shows the results: We were able to harvest the field of beans that was planted on sandy soil. These beans were harvested before the bulk of the rains came.  Unfortunately, the field that was heavier clay soil we were not able to harvest. If you dig under the snow, you'll probably find frozen, sprouted beans. Ten varieties of beans.  Needless to say, we are not all that happy about this. It has changed our farmers market display, to be sure! The beans are a big part of our annual income. These things happen, but maybe you can understand a bit more why I haven't been eager to blog. After all, if you don't ...

Yesterday we moved the cattle from one pasture to another--a total move that had to be close to half a mile. It was a hot day, one of many hot days this summer all strung together in a row. If you've ever picked a field of green beans, or hoed a field of pickles, or followed a potato digger, lobbing the freshly-unearthed taters into a nearby receptacle, you'll know what this summer feels like. You look up from what you're doing and think, "Didn't I make any progress at all? The end is still so far off..." And then you realize that once you reach the end of your row, you will turn around and start back across the field to where you started. That's what this summer feels like. Are we there yet? We watch the weather, hoping for a break in the heat, or the relief and refreshment brought by rain. People comment to us: "This is what we wished for in February!" And they drive off to their cottage or the beach, while we move our animals and pra...

The spring rains have come. Days like today remind us why we lamb in the barn--so much more comfortable for The Farmer as he works with the sheep. Cold rain is also hard on newborn lambs, who struggle to get up and get the hang of nursing. That first hour or two are critical. Our dog has a tendency to go on walkabout during extended lambing chores. Today she seems content to watch the rain from a comfortable, dry place.

Last spring is still haunting us. Last spring was a wet, flooded, soggy mess . Because of the extra moisture, our corn was planted late, and we were not able to harvest any of it last fall. No corn at all. We don't feed much corn, reserving it for that little extra protein that is needed by the ewes right at lambing time. We feed a little to our Holstein beef steers over the winter, as Holsteins just will not grow on hay alone. Unfortunately, we ran out of what little 2012 corn was left before this year's lambing season started. We've been hoping that our hay (typically very high quality) would carry the ewes through until they could be turned out to pasture. There are two problems with this hopefulness. The first dates back to the spring floods I mentioned at the beginning of this post. The same flooding caused the first-cutting hay crop to be harvested late. It was very coarse and not all that palatable. Coarse hay tends to be wasted more by the animals. They pick ...

Monday morning the weather was very warm--in the 50s or 60s. Within a couple of hours, the temperature had dropped to the high 30s. By evening, it was below freezing, and some funny white stuff started falling. This morning, we woke up to this: If you don't like the weather in Michigan, just wait 15 minutes... or so the saying goes. Now, Tuesday mid afternoon, most of the snow has melted and the sun is shining. But the wind is bitterly cold. Spring, where are you?

During the worst of this endless winter we had some problems with drifts and drifters. The snow drifts covered the electric fence in places, and caused it to become not-electric. And some of those drifts were so stiff and sturdy that the cattle could walk on top of them. Can you see where this is going? Yes, the cattle drifted over the fence, and into a more sheltered area between buildings. That was fine, sort of, as we'd actually discussed moving them there to give them a little more break from the endless winds. We opted not to move them there, however, as we use that area for storage of equipment and hay, and because we are regularly driving through that area to make compost. Cattle can be hard on buildings and equipment (they don't realize how big and strong they are). And any hay that they have access to they gorge on. So I guess they knew better than we where they needed to be. And moved themselves there. I can't say that they damaged any equipment, and for ...

Any guesses where the title comes from, and what the second half of the saying is? This has been an amazingly cold and snowy winter. The average winter snowfall is about 70" for our area. The last data I could find shows the total at 146.3". More than double.  For the first half of the winter, I was just too busy to enjoy it. And then I wasn't quite as busy, but I still didn't take the time to go out in it. I hate being cold, and can easily just hide in the house. But over the last month I've gone out in the winter wonderland several times. We have some very nice county parks nearby with skiing and snowshoeing opportunities. Tonight, after supper, I was alone in the park. Alone with the trees and the snow. Someone had undoubtedly been there before me--I could easily see the tracks and had no trouble staying on the path. I guess life is like that, too. I'm not really sure what is around the bend, or what the scenery will be like. But t...

This past weekend was a doozy, as far as winter weather is concerned. Again, we USED to have winters like this, but haven't for ever so long. While he was out and about, The Farmer took some pictures with his phone to show the snow. Mostly this was at the request of the daughter who is away at college. She wanted to come home this weekend, but we advised her not to. You'll notice my mad photo editing skills, above. The red arrow directs your eyes to a four foot tall page wire fence, mostly covered. The yellow arrow directs your eyes to a four foot tall page wire fence, completely covered, except for the tops of the fence posts. The storage barn service door was essentially inaccessible. And two photos of the same drive. Above is before snow-blowing. And the same drive, after one pass with the snow blower. And this path leads from the barns up to the back of our house. The Farmer hand shoveled the last bit, closest to the house. And then he leaned h...

This is a winter like I remember from my childhood. Almost. SNOW! We haven't seen the grass since November. Fortunately the snow does melt a bit, or we'd be wading chest deep through the snow pack.  I love parts of winter. We slow down, a bit. The house feels less like Grand Central Station than in the frenzy of spring through fall. It's absolutely beautiful outdoors when the sun shines. I do not love other parts of winter. Things break more often when it's cold. In our part of the world, winter is a sunless time, a seemingly endless parade of grey days. I hate driving on icy roads. And it takes more work to care for the animals.  I am amused by all the hype surrounding (gasp) winter weather. The meteorologists are now calling normal winter weather "Winter Weather Advisories." And the storms are now named, probably so that we can feel like we're keeping up with the hurricane people.  What are your winter pros and cons? How are you farin...

We have been struggling with near zero temperatures the past few days. High winds and lake effect snow have added to the misery, making it feel much colder than zero. It's natural to be concerned about the animals at this time. After all, that is our job. In the winter, they are especially dependent on us for regular feedings, fresh water, and shelter.  This picture was not actually taken during this particular weather event. For much of the past couple of days, the horses stayed in the barn. But this photo from a couple of weeks ago shows something interesting. The snow on Duke's back indicates to me that he is well-insulated. It LOOKS bad to have an animal with snow on its back. But it's like a house--a bare roof in the winter means the house is losing heat. A snow-covered roof means the insulation is working, and the heat is staying inside.  This picture shows our Belted Galloway cattle yesterday in some of the worst weather. They are pretty eager to get t...

We never quite know when we'll have to bring the sheep in for the winter. It's different every year. Right now we are having a cold snap that is lasting for several days, with snow on the ground. The animals are equipped for colder days because of their wool or their thick winter hair coats. They know to huddle close and turn their backs to the wind. They also know to dig through the snow to get to their food. And we can supplement with hay if needed. Our watering system, however, is based on hoses laying on top of the ground. An occasional dip below freezing does not affect things much. But prolonged cold means frozen hoses and no water. The weather reports indicate that highs will not be above freezing until Friday. That's too long. Looks like the Bringing-In will have to be today.

After the big storm , we had three different tree services come in and give us bids. The verdicts of the first two were identical: chop and grind. The third service saw more hope. Repeated trimmings and fertilization might pull the trees through. I was game, but The Farmer's pragmatism won. There really wasn't much left of the front tree, and the best part of the back tree was intertwined with the power lines. After trimming away the broken bits and trimming away from the power lines, there would be very little left.  So chop and grind it was.  If it weren't enough to lose three perfectly healthy, very old trees (and one hollow one), we suffered more damage as they came down. The healthy ash tree at the edge of the driveway was a casualty of this tree's fall. And our farm sign was slightly damaged in the process as well. The tree service guys took out both the broken and another diseased ash tree, for free. Our sign is still maimed.  Slowly, the...

The clouds this morning were interesting enough to snap a picture of. Apologies for the lack of quality of the picture--it was quite early, and still rather dark.  We are receiving regular rains, now, which is so much better than too wet or too dry. The beans are coming along nicely, but we had to till under the vast majority of our single corn field. This spring's relentless rains didn't allow us to adequately prepare the field for planting. The weeds took over, and some of the corn didn't even take root due to the extreme wetness. So instead of 3 fields of corn, we have 1/5th of a field. Corn is a cash crop for us, as we feed very little to our animals. So things might be a little tighter for us next year, when there is no corn to sell. Farming is an exercise in trusting God. We have never had a perfect year. Good years? Yes. But they are sprinkled in among the not-so-good years. There are no guarantees in farming, or in life. I guess the trusting that comes w...

Today we had the third tree guy out to assess the damage and give us a bid. The other two tree guys are wonderful at what they do--but they suggested we take all the damaged trees down. That is not what I wanted to hear. How will it be Shady Side Farm without those big silver maples? So I called a third tree guy. We are waiting to hear back from him. We are also waiting to hear back from contractors, who are apparently busy with other things. We are busy with other things, too, so they don't get reminded much. So, even though the yard is mostly cleaned up, the house still looks like it was in the center of a minor battle. And our crushed grill was called into service just yesterday. We had to prop it up on a block of wood (former landscape timbers) to keep it level. I can't decide if the fact that we are so desperate for grilled lamb brats that we would use a destroyed propped-up charcoal grill is pathetic or comical. Carry on, soldier.

Friday started out uneventfully enough: send The Farmer off to market, move sheep, mow thistles in pasture, bag beans, cultivate. Late in the afternoon, The Farmer returned from market and parked in back, as there was a contractor's big pickup truck in the drive. Eventually, the contractor left, and The Farmer pulled the car around and put it in the garage. A couple of us got busy replenishing his bean supply for the next day. The shepherd girl was cultivating the bean field using the tractor, and suddenly the fire pager went off with an emergency. The Farmer/Firefighter roared off in the van which had been parked in front of the garage. It started raining, and we laughed watching my father-in-law carry a large bag of beans across the back yard trying not to get them wet. Soon, our daughter ran across that same back yard, soaked from being out on the tractor. Suddenly the wind picked up. We huddled in the garage, and I quickly reached for the button to close the garage door. ...