On the farm side of things the potatoes have been ordered! They were such a great seller for us last year that I actually didn't get to eat one so this year I am planting 3 times as much because dammit I should grow enough so I can eat my own potatoes. The farm plans for this year are coming into focus and I am probably a week away from ordering the seeds and getting things finalized. I love this time of year. I haven't messed up yet and things are hopeful! I have the seed starting and transplant schedule down with time added in for my procrastination factor see I am learning! I think this year I am going to take one of those big desk calenders and put it on the wall with what I actually have to do each day maybe if I see a visual it will help me get going! That's the thing about life you have to learn at some point who you are and what you are good at and bad at not always sure about what I am good at besides drinking wine and taking naps but I am very familiar with the things I have to work on! Ha! So onward and upward to becoming a slightly better version of myself.
This past week I attended my 3rd NOFA-NY winter conference. If you care about food and the people who grow it and you are not a member please become one they do such awesome work and are pretty much single-handedly responsible for me and 3dogs being as far a long at this farming thing as we are. Check them out when you get a chance the world is a better place because of organizations like NOFA-NY. So I had a great time met some great people which you always do people are just so freaking friendly even my snarky ass comes out of my shell and is chatty. Its crazy nuts! I learned a ton as always took about 8 hours worth of classes on soil and I don't think I have even really scratched the surface. But I have some great ideas how to improve my soil and in turn make my plants healthier and more disease and pest resistant. Even if you are a home gardener or just love talking about growing food consider going next year there are lots of classes on everything from food policy to making your own beer. Whats better than that?
Okay on to happiness. I flashed back the other day on my way home to probably 1988 or 89ish (yes gasp I'm old) anyway I was hanging out at my favorite bar and my super secret crush Bruce the bartender (it wasn't a very secret crush I followed him around like a puppy dog drooling) was trying to tell me in a polite way he wasn't interested and I was of course ignoring the very obvious message as only a 19 year old can do. So to the point of the story during this awkward conversation where he probably mentioned that it wasn't me it was him he asked me what my goals in life were. I thought about it (lots of pressure) and all I could come up with was I just want to be happy. He scoffed at me and said you just want to be happy what on earth does that mean. I said its simple really I just want to be happy. I am not sure what he expected me to say maybe that I wanted to become an astronaut or maybe a rodeo clown who knows but he really couldn't deal with my very simple answer. People are funny but seriously what other goal should you have besides the simple goal of being happy? It leaves everything open to you even being an astronaut as long as it makes you happy. Simple as pie.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Trying to see into the future and learning from the past.
The title sounds serious but really I am just talking about the farm plans for the upcoming year. The seed catalogs have started to arrive with gusto which to me is like Christmas morning with every trip to the mailbox. Not that I like to go to out mailbox as much as I used too frankly in winter its scary out there its across the road from the house and not parallel to the drive way and its right on the Hudson. I remember once I went out in what seemed like the dead of night and I heard a large splash now in my nutty little brain the first thing I thought of that could account for the noise was someone dumping a body. Why I don't know I guess a turtle or a fish making a splash makes just a little more sense. But sometimes when its cold and dark out and you are walking down a dark country road your mind gets a little goofy. Okay enough about the mailbox.
So I spent an hour or two the other day taking inventory of the seeds we had that are still viable for this year And boy am I glad I did I have a ton of stuff (when sales happen later in the season I have been trying to buy up the discounted seeds) and really don't need to order everything just the stuff that I am out of and of course the new fangled stuff that I won't be able to say no to. I love this time of year. I make so many drawings of the yard and where stuff is going and where new beds will be cut to accommodate the new enterprises we are going to try this year (so far this year spring wheat and the 3 sisters). I also keep large spread sheets which are amusing because there is a hard record of what I thought would happen then later in the season I actually make a layout in a spread sheet of what actually happened. I like doing that because it always reminds me that I can plan plan plan but what will be will be. I never do what I plan to do and it always comes out different than I thought but I am not only learning to accept this about myself but also learning to enjoy it. I am starting to trust myself a bit to trust myself that just because its not what I thought doesn't necessarily mean it wont be fantastic. That's one of the first lessons in farming you seriously have to roll with the punches if I could give one piece of advise that what be it.
I have also started drawing up the timeline for the year. On a nice piece of pink paper (again perk of my day job working for a paper company) I drew a line down the center and on one half I have worked out the seed starting schedule and on the second have I have written down the transplants in the ground schedule and also on the same half when the plants that get planted by seed need to go in. This way I can try to manage my time and know which weekends are going to be heavy on work and not on being lazy taking naps. That's a big weakness of mine taking naps. But hell who doesn't love a girl who naps. One of my tricks since I tend to procrastinate a little (oh who am I kidding I have a black belt in procrastinating) is I write down the earliest date when things need to be either started or planted that way when I get down to actually doing it I am almost on time. That's another thing about farming is that's its always humbling and it always seems to get down to the nitty gritty it exposes who you are and I love that. You can't hide when your are farming it strips all the weaknesses and hopefully exposes all the strengths and that folks is some powerful stuff.
And on my last note if you read this blog you know that I usually at some point will start to whine that I don't feel like a real farmer whine whine whine blah blah but the argument as been closed I picked up a leaflet from the USDA the other night while I was waiting for my beekeeping class to start and it clearly said that they considered anyone to be a farmer that makes over a grand a year selling their stuff. Well that's just about what we made last year so it official we farm and are farmers.
So I spent an hour or two the other day taking inventory of the seeds we had that are still viable for this year And boy am I glad I did I have a ton of stuff (when sales happen later in the season I have been trying to buy up the discounted seeds) and really don't need to order everything just the stuff that I am out of and of course the new fangled stuff that I won't be able to say no to. I love this time of year. I make so many drawings of the yard and where stuff is going and where new beds will be cut to accommodate the new enterprises we are going to try this year (so far this year spring wheat and the 3 sisters). I also keep large spread sheets which are amusing because there is a hard record of what I thought would happen then later in the season I actually make a layout in a spread sheet of what actually happened. I like doing that because it always reminds me that I can plan plan plan but what will be will be. I never do what I plan to do and it always comes out different than I thought but I am not only learning to accept this about myself but also learning to enjoy it. I am starting to trust myself a bit to trust myself that just because its not what I thought doesn't necessarily mean it wont be fantastic. That's one of the first lessons in farming you seriously have to roll with the punches if I could give one piece of advise that what be it.
I have also started drawing up the timeline for the year. On a nice piece of pink paper (again perk of my day job working for a paper company) I drew a line down the center and on one half I have worked out the seed starting schedule and on the second have I have written down the transplants in the ground schedule and also on the same half when the plants that get planted by seed need to go in. This way I can try to manage my time and know which weekends are going to be heavy on work and not on being lazy taking naps. That's a big weakness of mine taking naps. But hell who doesn't love a girl who naps. One of my tricks since I tend to procrastinate a little (oh who am I kidding I have a black belt in procrastinating) is I write down the earliest date when things need to be either started or planted that way when I get down to actually doing it I am almost on time. That's another thing about farming is that's its always humbling and it always seems to get down to the nitty gritty it exposes who you are and I love that. You can't hide when your are farming it strips all the weaknesses and hopefully exposes all the strengths and that folks is some powerful stuff.
And on my last note if you read this blog you know that I usually at some point will start to whine that I don't feel like a real farmer whine whine whine blah blah but the argument as been closed I picked up a leaflet from the USDA the other night while I was waiting for my beekeeping class to start and it clearly said that they considered anyone to be a farmer that makes over a grand a year selling their stuff. Well that's just about what we made last year so it official we farm and are farmers.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thoughts on 2012 and dreaming of 2013
Well its the last day of the year and I am sitting in my cozy living room with my dog Lulu curled up beside me taking her 4th nap of the day. Lulu is a serious napper she takes it to a ninja level of seriousness. I am about to make a few baguettes to bring down state to my Brother Dave's house later today as I will be spending New Years Eve down there with a few of their friends and my niece and nephews. I will be leaving my husband Tommy here to take care of Lulu and to make sure the chickens are nice and warm in their happy little coop which makes me sad but he is not much of a party person and in the long run will probably be happier here but I know later we will be missing each other something awful. Its hard for both of us to leave the farm because we don't really have a support system in place hopefully one day maybe even this upcoming year we will meet some like minded vegetable growing make your own laundry soap kind of folks to hang out with and then we can leave the homestead together with friends in place to watch our farm with the promise to return the favor as soon as needed.
The seed catalogs have started to arrive and its one of my favorite times of the year that paired with the 2013 NOFA-NY winter conference happening in Saratoga later in January there are things to look forward to during these cold winter months. I already have lots of new ideas and plans for the upcoming year concerning both growing vegetables as 3 Dogs Barking Farms and becoming more self-reliant. Also in January I will be taking a pretty intensive Beekeeping class with SABA (Southern Adirondack Beekeeping Association) I am really looking forward to it and already have my first homework assignment. Should be interesting to see if I am still the wicked procrastinator I was in school for some reason I have a picture of myself sitting in the parking lot before class trying to finish the chapter. Oh well we shall see. So bees will be added to the picture this year which i am really excited for cant wait to get honey and beeswax which will be one more thing we are supplying for ourselves and maybe we will even have some extra to sell at market. What else? Well I think I am going to grow some wheat too just a small patch 250 sq feet or so. Not sure how much it will yield but I cant wait to give it a shot. I think growing your own wheat to make your own bread is pretty much the penultimate homesteader dream. I actually want the straw too I always need it and never have enough money to buy it so there will be one more problem that we solve for ourselves. Super neat - well if it works out.... So those are the two new enterprises we will look forward to in 2013 And to be honest probably all my schedule will be able to handle working a full time job off-farm.
Thoughts on 2012? Well we finally got to market and I think we held our own. It was more fun that I thought it was going to be and more work too. It amazes me how much work it takes to get the vegies to market. In the past growing for just ourselves I never had to worry about how much time it takes to pick wash package and store food correctly so it makes it to market looking and tasting its best. And seriously I didn't know how to do a lot of it and had to ask lots of questions and to be honest I am still figuring a lot of it all out. But we still did it and look forward to the promise of 2013 we need to grow A LOT more food if we are going to make a decent profit this year but I think we have enough space out there in the backyard to get a bit more than 1/4 acre under production. I think this year we will make a new bed just for tomatoes and then I am really looking to hopefully finally doing the 3 sisters which i have been threatening to do for years now But to grow corn, beans, and winter squash all in the same bed providing each other what they need to thrive I think is great and because its the way the Native Americans did it makes it all the more exciting.
So thoughts and dreams of 2013? Growing more food for starters. Also going to try this winter to grow some lettuce hydroponically so we have something to sell during winter. I also really need to work on feeling better in my own skin as 3 Dogs Barking Farms. I seem to struggle with our size and never really feel like a real farmer. I remember at my first NOFA-NY conference the question in a beginning farmers seminar was when are you considered a real farmer and the answer was when you sell your first product. Well I have done that many times now and I still feel like a poseur calling myself a farmer I sometimes will even describe us a small time vegetable growers and not farmers. What the difference is I don't know. So where does my reluctance come from? Maybe because we are so small I don't feel legitimate maybe because I still work full time off farm and probably always will unless we when the lottery. I don't know but I hope to get over it in the upcoming year I even got the 2012 census of Agriculture from the USDA addressed to 3 Dogs Barking Farms but I still don't feel like its real. Maybe because it feels to good to be true? That something I wanted I actually accomplished? Maybe that's it. I've never been a dreamer maybe I never really dared too but I had a small one and we made it happen so here's to feeling like a farmer and maybe even dreaming larger dreams and making them happen too in the upcoming year. Maybe some sheep? So Happy New Year hope you are all dreaming dreams and doing small things to make them come true. Cheers.
The seed catalogs have started to arrive and its one of my favorite times of the year that paired with the 2013 NOFA-NY winter conference happening in Saratoga later in January there are things to look forward to during these cold winter months. I already have lots of new ideas and plans for the upcoming year concerning both growing vegetables as 3 Dogs Barking Farms and becoming more self-reliant. Also in January I will be taking a pretty intensive Beekeeping class with SABA (Southern Adirondack Beekeeping Association) I am really looking forward to it and already have my first homework assignment. Should be interesting to see if I am still the wicked procrastinator I was in school for some reason I have a picture of myself sitting in the parking lot before class trying to finish the chapter. Oh well we shall see. So bees will be added to the picture this year which i am really excited for cant wait to get honey and beeswax which will be one more thing we are supplying for ourselves and maybe we will even have some extra to sell at market. What else? Well I think I am going to grow some wheat too just a small patch 250 sq feet or so. Not sure how much it will yield but I cant wait to give it a shot. I think growing your own wheat to make your own bread is pretty much the penultimate homesteader dream. I actually want the straw too I always need it and never have enough money to buy it so there will be one more problem that we solve for ourselves. Super neat - well if it works out.... So those are the two new enterprises we will look forward to in 2013 And to be honest probably all my schedule will be able to handle working a full time job off-farm.
Thoughts on 2012? Well we finally got to market and I think we held our own. It was more fun that I thought it was going to be and more work too. It amazes me how much work it takes to get the vegies to market. In the past growing for just ourselves I never had to worry about how much time it takes to pick wash package and store food correctly so it makes it to market looking and tasting its best. And seriously I didn't know how to do a lot of it and had to ask lots of questions and to be honest I am still figuring a lot of it all out. But we still did it and look forward to the promise of 2013 we need to grow A LOT more food if we are going to make a decent profit this year but I think we have enough space out there in the backyard to get a bit more than 1/4 acre under production. I think this year we will make a new bed just for tomatoes and then I am really looking to hopefully finally doing the 3 sisters which i have been threatening to do for years now But to grow corn, beans, and winter squash all in the same bed providing each other what they need to thrive I think is great and because its the way the Native Americans did it makes it all the more exciting.
So thoughts and dreams of 2013? Growing more food for starters. Also going to try this winter to grow some lettuce hydroponically so we have something to sell during winter. I also really need to work on feeling better in my own skin as 3 Dogs Barking Farms. I seem to struggle with our size and never really feel like a real farmer. I remember at my first NOFA-NY conference the question in a beginning farmers seminar was when are you considered a real farmer and the answer was when you sell your first product. Well I have done that many times now and I still feel like a poseur calling myself a farmer I sometimes will even describe us a small time vegetable growers and not farmers. What the difference is I don't know. So where does my reluctance come from? Maybe because we are so small I don't feel legitimate maybe because I still work full time off farm and probably always will unless we when the lottery. I don't know but I hope to get over it in the upcoming year I even got the 2012 census of Agriculture from the USDA addressed to 3 Dogs Barking Farms but I still don't feel like its real. Maybe because it feels to good to be true? That something I wanted I actually accomplished? Maybe that's it. I've never been a dreamer maybe I never really dared too but I had a small one and we made it happen so here's to feeling like a farmer and maybe even dreaming larger dreams and making them happen too in the upcoming year. Maybe some sheep? So Happy New Year hope you are all dreaming dreams and doing small things to make them come true. Cheers.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Never feeling like I fit in or angst and fear in the modern age
I don't think I have ever fit in and maybe that's just my view of me and maybe everyone feels like that and I am just a dork. Well I know I'm a dork that goes without saying. I just put in a Chet baker cd so this post might get a little maudlin and that is kind of the mood I've been in lately so brace yourself. Growing up I did ballet everyone else did little league my parents had cocktails before dinner and we never ate before 7:30 my friends drank soda and were finished with dinner by 6pm. But being a square peg has been a major building block to my personality and one to be honest I am proud of. I don't want to fit in I never have. I am 43 years old and most days I still wear all black. Its just what I am comfortable in. I'm not saying I'm cool because I'm pretty sure I'm not and that too is okay..... Okay what does any of this have to do with trying to grow vegetables?
There are so many people that I have either come into contact with locally or through reading peoples blogs that are doing what I am trying to do in concept either on a much bigger scale or even a smaller scale and everyone is freaking 30 years old. OMG what the hell why did you all figure out what you wanted to do so many years before I did. What did you get that took me longer to get? I have lived here for 8 years why did it take me so long to figure it out? Why do I always feel like I missed the freaking bus? But on the other hand I am so happy all these young brilliant people are doing what they are doing reading their blogs about their own struggles is so inspiring I mean these kids are freaking working. Its freaking awesome.
So I walk around mumbling to myself you don't have sheep you don't have goats you don't offer a csa you don't have acres and acres you cant weed efficiently to save your life so what are you doing here? The fear and loathing sometimes get very loud in my head and then I have to take a deep breath and say you are doing what you are doing because growing vegetables on your little plot of land makes you unabashedly happy. So I have to yell at myself and say who gives a shit what anyone else is doing what is important is that you are doing what you want to do and do it the best you can even if it means you fail a lot. But failing ain't so bad I learn a lot from doing stupid stuff probably not when I'm doing whatever it is that is stupid or silly but later I usually learn. Well sometimes at least.
I guess I just would like to find the clubhouse labeled 40 somethings who have kinda figured it out but most likely probably not.
There are so many people that I have either come into contact with locally or through reading peoples blogs that are doing what I am trying to do in concept either on a much bigger scale or even a smaller scale and everyone is freaking 30 years old. OMG what the hell why did you all figure out what you wanted to do so many years before I did. What did you get that took me longer to get? I have lived here for 8 years why did it take me so long to figure it out? Why do I always feel like I missed the freaking bus? But on the other hand I am so happy all these young brilliant people are doing what they are doing reading their blogs about their own struggles is so inspiring I mean these kids are freaking working. Its freaking awesome.
So I walk around mumbling to myself you don't have sheep you don't have goats you don't offer a csa you don't have acres and acres you cant weed efficiently to save your life so what are you doing here? The fear and loathing sometimes get very loud in my head and then I have to take a deep breath and say you are doing what you are doing because growing vegetables on your little plot of land makes you unabashedly happy. So I have to yell at myself and say who gives a shit what anyone else is doing what is important is that you are doing what you want to do and do it the best you can even if it means you fail a lot. But failing ain't so bad I learn a lot from doing stupid stuff probably not when I'm doing whatever it is that is stupid or silly but later I usually learn. Well sometimes at least.
I guess I just would like to find the clubhouse labeled 40 somethings who have kinda figured it out but most likely probably not.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
November the 11th and things are still growing...k
So far one of my favorite favorite things this year is that its almost the middle of November and there is still stuff growing out there. Now that's cool. There are cabbages, and Brussels sprouts, leeks, rainbow chard, spinach, red pak choi, arugula, and salad mix. I like farming in this nice chilly weather too its not hot and sticky there aren't many bugs but I did give myself a little frost bite the other morning picking cabbages for drop off at market. I guess as with everything there are always pros and cons.
Lulu looking cute with the salad mix red pak choi getting ready for a stir fry or something else you might do with it.
Rainbow Chard and Romanesco Cauliflower still growing the chard is under ag-19 to keep it snuggly.
I am surprised how late it is in the season and how much there still is going on gives me great hope that once I get the high tunnel planted for the winter and early spring we will be able to grow food almost 12 months a year which would be amazing. Which is great because apparently growing vegetables makes me absurdly happy and if I can get that rush 12 months a year even better! One of my goals this year was to provide some if not all the vegetables for Thanksgiving this year. Now we fell short of that goal of ALL but we will provide brussels sprouts and a butternut squash or two so that's not too shabby! And as always another one of my favorite aspects of farming is the hope of next year. Things that we will do better at, things to grow that we have never grown before, and of course things we will probably mess up that we haven't messed up before bugs and diseases we haven't tangled with before but for now I will look forward to the positive stuff and just accept the negative as it comes hopefully a little of it as possible will come our way. Happy growing and eating!
The hope of next year garlic planted and strawberries!
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| lulu and the salad mix |
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| Red Pak Choi |
Lulu looking cute with the salad mix red pak choi getting ready for a stir fry or something else you might do with it.
Rainbow Chard and Romanesco Cauliflower still growing the chard is under ag-19 to keep it snuggly.I am surprised how late it is in the season and how much there still is going on gives me great hope that once I get the high tunnel planted for the winter and early spring we will be able to grow food almost 12 months a year which would be amazing. Which is great because apparently growing vegetables makes me absurdly happy and if I can get that rush 12 months a year even better! One of my goals this year was to provide some if not all the vegetables for Thanksgiving this year. Now we fell short of that goal of ALL but we will provide brussels sprouts and a butternut squash or two so that's not too shabby! And as always another one of my favorite aspects of farming is the hope of next year. Things that we will do better at, things to grow that we have never grown before, and of course things we will probably mess up that we haven't messed up before bugs and diseases we haven't tangled with before but for now I will look forward to the positive stuff and just accept the negative as it comes hopefully a little of it as possible will come our way. Happy growing and eating!
The hope of next year garlic planted and strawberries!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
[Recipe Idea] What to do with mini bell peppers? Stuff em!
At the last outdoor market last week a customer was actually happy that many of our bell peppers were on the small side. Now that's something I like to hear and in talking to him he gave me this great idea of what to do with them. We are making it right now and I got to tell you it looks amazing and it really couldn't be easier. Here are the general guidelines:
Ingredients:
12 small bell peppers (about 3-4 inches long)
1 lb meatball mix (I have included one I used below)
4 cups or so marinara sauce
4 TB olive oil
Shredded provolone or parm to taste.
Method:
1) Cut tops of peppers off and take out seeds and ribs.
2) Stuff peppers with meatball mix and level off.
3) Heat oil in large saute pan and add peppers meat side down. Saute for a few minutes until sealed and nice and brown. Turn peppers on their sides and continue to brown.
4) Once peppers are browned on all sides add tomato sauce turn heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes until peppers are nice and soft and the stuffing is cooked through.
Serve over pasta or rice. yum
My really quick meatball mix:
1 lb ground beef of your choice (you could also use meatloaf mix if you like)
1 egg
1 piece of bread
3 TB milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 TB dried oregano
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
Mix egg, bread, milk, salt, pepper and spices together and add to ground meat. Mix together until incorporated.
Okay just finished cooking this and oh my god it is good! Try it now with all those peppers you pulled small today because its might frost tonight. Okay now that I am eating this I would call this the Italian version but if you have some ancho poblanos I would use this same premise but change the meatball mix to maybe a tex- mex version adding cumin chili power and cilantro and use similar seasonings in the tomato sauce use the same method I think it would be off the hook.
Ingredients:
12 small bell peppers (about 3-4 inches long)
1 lb meatball mix (I have included one I used below)
4 cups or so marinara sauce
4 TB olive oil
Shredded provolone or parm to taste.
Method:
1) Cut tops of peppers off and take out seeds and ribs.
2) Stuff peppers with meatball mix and level off.
3) Heat oil in large saute pan and add peppers meat side down. Saute for a few minutes until sealed and nice and brown. Turn peppers on their sides and continue to brown.
4) Once peppers are browned on all sides add tomato sauce turn heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes until peppers are nice and soft and the stuffing is cooked through.
Serve over pasta or rice. yum
My really quick meatball mix:
1 lb ground beef of your choice (you could also use meatloaf mix if you like)
1 egg
1 piece of bread
3 TB milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 TB dried oregano
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
Mix egg, bread, milk, salt, pepper and spices together and add to ground meat. Mix together until incorporated.
Okay just finished cooking this and oh my god it is good! Try it now with all those peppers you pulled small today because its might frost tonight. Okay now that I am eating this I would call this the Italian version but if you have some ancho poblanos I would use this same premise but change the meatball mix to maybe a tex- mex version adding cumin chili power and cilantro and use similar seasonings in the tomato sauce use the same method I think it would be off the hook.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Our first market season wrap-up....sorry this is a long one.
Well the last outdoor market was last Saturday and it was rainy and cold out so it made it much easier to get our heads around the end of our first market season. As I am sure I have mentioned before I am a lazy "farmer" and am quite honestly looking forward to having Saturdays "off" again and not having to wake up before 6am to pick vegetables. On the other hand Tommy and I have seriously enjoyed going to market more than I think we expected too. Its kind of like being on a game show trying to get the display setup in time....pick the vegetables, wash the vegetables, pack the vegetables, pack the car, remember not to forget anything, get coffee ice and change if needed, drive to market, un-pack car, setup table and umbrella, don't forget to put up our sign, un-load veggies display vegetables in a pleasing manner, put out the prices, check the clock tick tock tick tock 9am open for business.... Now our display is tiny comparative to the big guys so I cant even imagine what they must go through! Its going to free up a lot of brain space for me since I spend a lot of the time driving to my day job thinking about what we are going to have ready for market I guess I will have to start thinking about what to grow for next year now instead. But that's okay that's one of my favorite parts of this whole thing the lure of next year....
Now lets talk about how we did this year. I think both Tommy and I are pleasantly surprised how well we did. There were only a few times that our display came close to "radish guy" territory (see previous post for neurotic musings about radish guy) and that in itself is awesome. Some weeks we had a lot some weeks not so much but I think all in all our offerings were always colorful and well presented and as our market manager put in one of the newsletters "and 3 Dogs Barking Farms will have a little of everything" but I take that as a compliment to be able to have such a varied offering from only 1/4 acre plot ain't a bad thing. But one really nice thing she said was what we do have is always beautifully fresh now that's a high compliment. I really do pick either the night before or the morning of so you wont be seeing something that didn't sell last week return this week. Maybe when I successfully grow storage crops like onions that will be the exception but I even dig potatoes pretty much for each market. Maybe not the best way to do things but so far its my way.
So what about next year? What do we do the same what do we do different whats our 5 year plan? Big questions that need some thought but I think we have definitely proved to ourselves that this can be done you can get to market and do pretty well with only 1/4 acre of so under cultivation. We need (or I) need to work on succession planting more and of course as always stop procrastinating about getting things done when they need to be done. But I grew a ton of stuff for the first time this year with quite a bit of success but then on the flip side I grew stuff I have always grown and got my hat handed to me. Damn flea beetles till we meet again next year don't worry you little varmint this time I will be prepared....and that goes to you mr. vole you just try and eat ALL my beets next year. But that's another thing you have to remember last year was last year this year was this year and who the hell knows what next year will bring. You seriously have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt when trying to grow food and that goes for the person growing food for the family in a 12x12 garden, me growing food for two markets in my backyard, the 4 acre guy, and the mega huge soybean grower in the Midwest. You really just never know what next year will bring be it good or bad.
Immediate plans? The fall stuff is going strong and hope to start having more available to sell on the online market we sell on (www.farmiemarket.com/saratoga) soon. Check it out if you haven't already its a great service with great products from some awesome local farms and vendors. Also hoping to get my head around trying to grow salad mix, head lettuce, and spinach throughout the winter in our small high tunnel for farmiemarket so customers (and us too) have access to great fresh greens when its knee deep with snow outside. Fingers crossed!
Now lets talk about how we did this year. I think both Tommy and I are pleasantly surprised how well we did. There were only a few times that our display came close to "radish guy" territory (see previous post for neurotic musings about radish guy) and that in itself is awesome. Some weeks we had a lot some weeks not so much but I think all in all our offerings were always colorful and well presented and as our market manager put in one of the newsletters "and 3 Dogs Barking Farms will have a little of everything" but I take that as a compliment to be able to have such a varied offering from only 1/4 acre plot ain't a bad thing. But one really nice thing she said was what we do have is always beautifully fresh now that's a high compliment. I really do pick either the night before or the morning of so you wont be seeing something that didn't sell last week return this week. Maybe when I successfully grow storage crops like onions that will be the exception but I even dig potatoes pretty much for each market. Maybe not the best way to do things but so far its my way.
So what about next year? What do we do the same what do we do different whats our 5 year plan? Big questions that need some thought but I think we have definitely proved to ourselves that this can be done you can get to market and do pretty well with only 1/4 acre of so under cultivation. We need (or I) need to work on succession planting more and of course as always stop procrastinating about getting things done when they need to be done. But I grew a ton of stuff for the first time this year with quite a bit of success but then on the flip side I grew stuff I have always grown and got my hat handed to me. Damn flea beetles till we meet again next year don't worry you little varmint this time I will be prepared....and that goes to you mr. vole you just try and eat ALL my beets next year. But that's another thing you have to remember last year was last year this year was this year and who the hell knows what next year will bring. You seriously have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt when trying to grow food and that goes for the person growing food for the family in a 12x12 garden, me growing food for two markets in my backyard, the 4 acre guy, and the mega huge soybean grower in the Midwest. You really just never know what next year will bring be it good or bad.
Immediate plans? The fall stuff is going strong and hope to start having more available to sell on the online market we sell on (www.farmiemarket.com/saratoga) soon. Check it out if you haven't already its a great service with great products from some awesome local farms and vendors. Also hoping to get my head around trying to grow salad mix, head lettuce, and spinach throughout the winter in our small high tunnel for farmiemarket so customers (and us too) have access to great fresh greens when its knee deep with snow outside. Fingers crossed!
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