Tick-ing and slithering our fears away

For the most part, Damian and I are pretty fearless when it comes to the outdoors. We've been whitewater rafting in class 5 rapids, mountain climbing, and camping in bear infested woods. Damian has slightly one-upped me because he has been sky-diving and has backpacked through many national parks. We like to focus on adventure more than fear.

However, when it comes to two small creatures - the tick and the snake - we can both be wrought with fear and anxiety. Mine is ticks. His is snakes.

This week, I woke up at 6am because I was hot; then, I felt something crawling on my neck. I turned on the light and found a bloodsucking tick crawling on my neck. I tried to go back to sleep and felt something else crawling on my chest. It was another tick! The paranoia started to set in and I felt bugs crawling all over me and couldn't go back to sleep. When I went to work, I ran my fingers through my hair and found another tick sucking on my scalp above my ear. EEEKKK! To say that I was freaked out would be an understatement. I am not a girl that squeals when she sees bugs. In fact, I actually think bugs are fascinating little creatures, but I draw the line at Lyme disease carrying creatures. If you have read anything about Lyme disease, you would know that it can cause you neurological and physical problems for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! I am not having that!

When it comes to snakes, I have seen Damian jump back 10 feet when he came across a garden snake. Being the good fiance I am, I have only slightly teased and taunted him about this for the past year. :) Even our dog has tried to help him with his fear by trying to eat snakes in front of him; however, I don't think it helped. He gives me continuous updates about any snakes he sees at the farm and gladly lets me walk the dog through the tall snake-infested grasses around the farm.

Today, our fears did not go away, but we have made steps towards conquering these fears. After seeing a black snake pop its head out from underneath the black plastic we just laid down for weed suppression on back part of our farm, Damian stated, "one good thing about black snakes is that they eat the eggs of the poisonous snakes." Damian said something positive about snakes!!  Wow! As for me, I looked up pictures of ticks on the internet and found out that the ticks on me were American dog ticks, which do not carry Lyme disease. What a relief!

I continue to look up organic ways to keep the ticks off of me - by putting my hair in a tight bun and using things like coconut oil and plant based bug deterrents - rather than using toxic DEET products.  Damian continues to wear his high top boots to farm in so that no snakes will be able to bite at his ankles. :) We are not going to let these creatures to keep us from farming.

We all do better when we are connected to the Earth

It's been about two weeks since we planted our beautiful romaine lettuce transplants and look at them now!

There are so many worries when we put plants into the ground. Will they make it? Will they get enough water? Did their roots suffer too much damage in the transplanting process? Will aphids attack them? Will caterpillars eat holes in them?

It is so gratifying to see plants do well. They are our babies and we have to check on them to make sure they continue to do well, but the earth is doing most of the hard work for us. The earth is nourishing them. The earth is holding the water for them to drink and keeping their roots cool. The earth is helping our plants be grounded while they reach for the sky. The earth is giving them nutrients so that they can process it into vitamin rich leaves that will in turn feed and nourish us. Farming can be considered rudimentary to some, but the science and complexity behind vegetable growth is simply fantastic to those who take time to understand it.

We are blessed to witness this process of growth and also changed by it. While we planting our last batch of romaine lettuces today, we were surrounded by plants that were thriving - weeds included. :)  Underneath our feet there were worms burrowing and loosening the soil, admitting air and water and helping the roots of our plants grow. Above our heads, there were beautiful clouds and hawks. It even rained while sunshining for a little while too. It was a great day to be outside and connected to the earth.

Worms, weeds, and wings

As with most things that are beautiful and cherished, humans have this natural instinct to want to protect it - us included. We continue to put row cover around our plants to protect them from bugs.  Today, we took extra steps of protection in by installing a chicken-wire fence around our bean plants so that deer to not eat them to the ground like they did last year. Take that deer! Ideally, we would like to create an environment rich in beneficial plants and insects that deter pests and protect our vegetables. However, we have spent a lot of time planting and weeding, so a quick  fence will do for this season!

Baby bean plants protected by our new fence

Buzzing with New Information

It is only Tuesday and we have already attended two information-packed classes this week! The first class was about Beekeeping and Honey Production. The second class was about Wholesale Success. Thanks to the wonderful people at the University of Missouri Extension and Three Rivers Beekeeping for providing these educational classes to beginning farmers.

There was over a 100 people who attended the Beekeeping and Honey Production workshop. Not only was it packed with people, but we were able to learn a lot about the do's and dont's of starting your own hives. At times, it was hard to keep up with the conversation because beekeepers seems to have their own language and use words like: broods, nucs, uncapped queen cells, drawn combs, and swarms. Luckily, we sat next to nice, experienced beekeeping individuals that helped us decode the information. Also, we learned that there are many beekeepers in the local community that are willing to be mentors to "bee-ginners." At the end of the presentation, we were given the advice to start with two hives rather than just one so that we can compare and learn more. We are not sure if that is in the budget yet, but I hope we can make it possible.

Today, the presentation about Wholesale Success was given by Atina Diffley from Minnesota. She and her husband had run a successful wholesaling organic farming business for about 30 years. She was energetic, informative, yet realistic about how a small farmer can grow their business. She went over topics like proper washing of produce, food safety plans, and how to store produce to improve its shelf life. I learned a new word - fungible - which means exchangeable or replaceable. She used it in reference to teaching new farmers to be more unique and less fungible. It is no "fun" for farmers to be fungible!

Atina Diffley was such an great speaker that we felt compelled to buy her newly published book, "Turn Here, Sweet Corn."

After Atina's speech, we heard from a panel of wholesale buyers and distributors from the St. Louis area. We became further inspired with other ways to turn our farm into a successful business. One thing that shocked me is that the demand for locally grown produce is currently so great that buyers and distributors can't get enough of it. Buyers and distributors are willing to drive to farms to pick up small and large amounts of locally grown and organic produce from the St. Louis area. Wow!

Transplants, time, and toads

It took us many hours over the course of the last 5 days, but it is FINALLY done!  We just finished transplanting 912 beautiful transplants at the farm. HOORAY!

We picked up our transplants last Thursday from our friends at ESP of Missouri. They helped us plant our seeds in February, added their special blend of vermicompost, and kept the plants growing strong with their lights and warm temperatures in their greenhouse. The transplants looked healthy and strong! There were a mix of leafy green vegetables including: romaine lettuces, bibb lettuces, cabbages, pac choi, and radicchio.

Fiero Radicchio, Red Cabbage, and Romain Lettuce

During the process of planting our 912 transplants, we learned a few things. First, we were reminded of the importance of a "strong core" when planting. If you are someone who does not do regular sit-ups, pilates, or yoga, you WILL feel some soreness in your muscles after bending over to plant numerous transplants. It is definitely a good idea to do some farmin', warmin'-up stretches before planting.

Damian's transplanting action

Next, we realized the right tools can help with planting efficiency. Our two new favorite tools are our Hound Dog long handled bulb planter, which helped us punch all 912 holes without bending and straining too much, and my padded, rolling garden seat. Last year, we kneeled on the ground while planting and got seriously achey knees. This year, I learned that the padded garden seat gives an advanced level of comfort that I would recommend. :)

Our Hound Dog in action!

 Lastly, we learned the importance of having Visine in our first-aid kit.  Planting into dry, crumbly soil during windy conditions and the beginning of allergy season can lead to a condition I have named "temporary farming blindness" by the end of the day. Symptoms include itching, swollen, and majorly irritated eyes. Beware! In addition to Visine, I am thinking of planting with aviation goggles on next year!

Once again, we literally "wrapped up" our transplanting by creating tents of lightweight row cover fabric over each row. I enjoy making these fabric sculptures on our farm. Not only do they have a beautiful, white caterpillar like form, they provide a useful insect barrier and help raise the temperature around the plants and protect against frost.

Row cover

Before we left, we spotted this toad hopping over our drip tape and near our transplants. In some cultures, frogs and toads are considered a symbol of good fortune and progress because they can only move forward -- never backward. I hope it brings all our plants good luck for the Spring growing season!

Just another SPUDtacular Spring Day of Planting

Today, we planted nearly 100 potatoes - blue potatoes, yukon gold, and red potatoes! We purchased the potatoes from Morgan County Seeds several weeks ago and waited to plant them. During that time, they formed beautiful sprouts that reminded us of tiny sea anemones.  When preparing to plant potatoes, we learned that you want to cut the potato into pieces that have about 2-3 sprouts per piece.  Then, you let the potato pieces sit in a paper bag for about 2 days to form a skin.

When we cut into the blue potatoes, they were an awesome, deep amethyst color. We can't wait to have blue/purple mashed potatoes! The Yukon Gold potatoes had the most vibrant golden flesh! We have never thought of potatoes being colorful or aesthetically beautiful; however, we always enjoy eating them! Farming is definitely bringing us a deeper sense of appreciation for the form, color, and smells of the food we grow.

The hardest part of planting potatoes is digging the 6" trench that the potatoes require for growing. It has not rained for about a week and the ground was pretty hard. We put some serious muscle into preparing a nice bed for these potatoes to grow, but we are hopeful they will do well. After digging an 80 foot trench, we decided to start a savings fund for a tractor! We also decided to experiment by digging a row of 6" holes in order to see if it makes there is a difference in potato growth. Thankfully, our faithful, farm dog also helped us dig the holes! ;)

We dropped the potatoes in the trench and covered them with about 4" of compost. As a part of the growing process, we will have to mound up more dirt and compost as the potatoes grow. We can't wait to see what happens!

Kicking off the Spring growing season with a big truck, a mountain of compost, and a lot of muscle

We recently got 30 yards of compost delivered to our farm thanks to a huge dump truck from Cannon Excavation. We know that the key to growing great produce is having great soil, so we continue to do our best to improve the mostly clay-based soil on our farm. Compost is a soil conditioner, mulch and fertilizer all wrapped into one. It feeds the soil microorganisms that help plants stay healthy, adds nutrients to the soil, and helps clay soil drain better and sandy soil retain water.

Here is a great drawing about compost I recently saw online

We have a small worm bin and create vermicompost in our apartment, but it only creates about 4 cups of compost every six months. We need a lot more than that for a quarter-acre farm plot! Last season, we also started a big compost bin at the farm and used all of our decaying vegetable leaves, stems, and some turkey manure. Well, let's just say that it is not a glamorous process to create compost, but it is a great way to decrease the amount of garden waste going to the land fill and create a nutrient rich additive for our soil. Unfortunately, we didn't realize how much waste one needs to create a huge amount of compost. Our 4'x4'x5' cube of compost broke down to mere inches of compost over the winter. Wow! We definitely want to become better at learning how to compost and get larger amounts of compost to use in our farm, but for know we are thankful for St. Peters Earth Center for creating enough to share with us.



Boba guarding our farm from her compost pile lookout!



Once we got our huge mountain of compost delivered, it was time to start using our muscles to shovel and wheel barrel it into our rows. We mounded up compost on each row and then till it into the soil. This year, we are trying an experiment of using different amounts of compost in each row to see if it makes a difference in plant growth. So far, we have 7 rows finished and plan to finish 8 more today. We plan to start planting on Tuesday after the 90°F temperatures are gone. We hope this excessively hot Spring will be good to our baby plants!

This year we are building vertical trellises for our climbing beans and are planning to protect them with additional chicken wire fencing so that the deer can't get to them. Last year, we learned that deer really love beans and this year they can go somewhere else to find some food!

Yep, it is just dirt, but it takes a lot of muscle to make dirt look this good! :)