Category Archives: Self-Sufficiency

Long Time No Update!

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Life often pulls me away from online things, especially when it’s busy. If I don’t update, it probably just means I’m so distracted by everything else that I forgot 🙂

Our sales shack is complete – complete enough for the winter, anyway. The entire structure is done and painted/sealed up. Only some minor framing-in of doors/windows is left and can wait until spring. The sides are a nice barn red, with a clear Thompsons coat on the front near the ‘sales window’. I decorated up with some milk bottles, horseshoes found when plowing, and so forth. We sold out of it over the course of a couple months this summer, ending in mid-September after the corn harvest stopped. Sales were best on weekends and holidays, as expected, and we will continue to focus our efforts on the weekends in the future, especially since those are some of the only days we have free from our ‘real’ jobs. We actually ran out of corn around Labor Day, as one of our big picks was poorly timed and we ended up having too much earlier on and weren’t prepared. A lot overmatured on the plants, but we remedied this problem by picking it later and hanging it to dry for cornmeal… still waiting to make the first test batch of that, whenever we get the chance.

I had a bout with food poisoning near the end of our market season, too, making it necessary for others to sell my stuff for me more often at that time. I also had to make a hospital visit, which I never really love to do. I’m better now though! Be warned of my presence, cucumber-haggling lady. I know my cucumbers were already less than anywhere else and it causes me great frustration when you come when I’m not here in order to con my poor mother into giving you such things for even cheaper. (Said jokingly, but in all seriousness, I don’t consider haggling acceptable on my fresh items. If it’s in my free pile, just take it, or donate if you really want to. If it’s in my bargain bin or bargain bags, then maybe you can try to haggle, as that’s stuff I’m just trying to move out so someone can use it before it goes bad. But haggling on the stuff I just picked… :\ What do you guys think?)

RE: Corn, things seem to sell a lot better when I also have corn to sell. When I don’t have corn, almost nobody stops to the point that it’s almost useless to sit out there. I’m not sure why this is; I guess everyone is really just that in love with my corn. Guys, I promise that the other vegetables are amazing too…! Also, I noticed more roadside stands than ever this year, so that could have a lot to do with it. I’m not upset by that; I’d rather sell nothing and see every single house have a roadside stand if it meant that more people were eating locally and getting a healthier diet.

RE: my eggs, I kept selling out all the time this summer, not even having enough to meet daily demand. It was to the point I had to take them off Wholeshare, too. Now that winter has come, my stand is closed, allowing supply to build up more as only the ‘regulars’ come to get them… but the hens are laying far less, too, and Wholeshare is getting them again, so we’ll see if it all balances out. I could always get more chickens… 😀 Except no, because then I’d need more coop(s). I’m hoping to move toward getting a small barn again, so I can have some other stock instead.

Our dog has reached roughly her adult size at around 40-45 pounds. She loves the snow, mud, and outdoors in general. Definitely the right choice for us, even if she tries to herd the wheelbarrow and shovels when we clean out the coop.

I took an adult doe this deer season (11/20) and got about 55 pounds of meat out of her. Froze a lot as roasts, around 15 pounds as ground, and mixed 6 pounds in with other ingredients to make korv. Korv is one of our yearly traditions anymore, as long as we get a deer. We’re getting a whole processing setup made here, with a new cable hoist added to the list with our commercial meat grinder, vacuum sealer, and Excalibur dehydrator.

The more self-sufficient I can be, the better it is to me.

A Break in the Weather

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After weeks of flooded conditions after constant rains, we have been graced with a hot, dry week of upper 80s. We got a good start to the hay season, and our crops started to turn around and grow better, appreciating the lapse in the cold and the wet. Some of our corn is already past knee high. 🙂

We have a number of herbs and greens available for fresh sales now, in addition to the eggs and maple syrup we were offering before. Other crops will be coming very soon. Peas are in full flower, zucchini plants are getting massive, and the potatoes are the best (plant-wise, anyway) that I have ever grown. Crossing my fingers that below ground will be just as amazing.

Our 5 new pullets are now starting to lay. It started with just one tiny, dark brown egg in the coop, which I thought could’ve been a ‘fart egg’ from one of the old hens. The next day, I got another. Then there were 2 the day after that, and I knew it was not the old mommas. Now, a week or so later, here are 3 in lay – not sure which ones exactly, though! As the biggest and most mature looking hens, I thought the Amberlinks were the culprits, but now I am sure that one of them is one of the Reds as I caught her in the box and saw her lay one! Though still on the small side, the eggs are a beautiful hot chocolate color right now, and add another dimension to my assortment. They’ll get bigger soon enough. Until then… pullet eggs for breakfast, yes please.

Our work on a sales shed is going well, though we have quite a way to go. Door is on, floor is done, and sides are mostly together, with trusses built for part of the roof. Still need to pick up metal roofing materials. We plan to plant grapes on one side of it and let them grow up it, as well. We also have another extra old tractor tire that we may fill with soil and put out in front of it, like we did with other old ones further up our lawn. We will see.

We also have a couple of chive divisions and a few seedling apricot trees available, and some cuttings of various plants for those interested. It isn’t too late yet! Cuttings available include meyer lemon, key lime, pineapple sage, various mints, various blueberry, trumpet creeper, and native elderberry. We will prune them up, dip them in rooting hormone (4 available, your choice) and pot them up for you for an extra charge. Aftercare and final success is up to you either way.

Frosts

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The wild ramp season has past, and the greens are yellowing and dying back. We sold a few bunches, though. 🙂

The frost I was worried about before did hit us for 2 days in a row. One was a freeze, dipping to around 26-27. We protected our tomatoes with cardboard boxes mounded with dirt, or some were under plastic nursery pots lined with rowcover. We lost 4 plants completely, and 5 more experienced some damage. I removed and replaced 8 total, as though I probably could’ve saved a few of them, they would’ve needed some babying and production would’ve been set back. Better than I thought, though. With how cold it was I imagined losing them all.

Our corn stayed underground until the day or 2 after the frost passed, popping up safely.

Our young fruit trees lost their buds and will not fruit this year. Our adult ones, though, and our adult wild gooseberries, are peppered with fruit still. A couple of the young gooseberries have some spotty fruit, but it won’t be enough for any kind of sales – just for a sample.

We resumed planting, and almost everything is in the ground now.

Unfortunately, weather forecasters are calling for another round of low-to-mid 30s temperatures this weekend. This is a very late cold spell for our area. If the nights are calm, this could lead to more frost that would kill our corn and every other warm-weather crop we have planted.

We do not have anywhere near enough coverings for all of them, so we’re just going to have to take it as it comes. Hopefully it skirts us, because if it doesn’t it will be hundreds of dollars in losses and we might have to cut back or cancel many of our plans for the year.

We have started building a shed (out of an old machinery shipping crate) to sell out produce out of, if the weather allows us to have any produce this year.

Planting Time

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This year we are putting in a large plot of corn, similar to but not quite as big as the plots we used to put in decades ago, for mass quantities of roadside sales. I know people love grilling, steaming, and roasting fresh corn on the cob in the summer, and we will be able to provide for that or for the canners/freezers this year.

Our friend Claire Hanley sent us some blueberry and raspberry bushes and some rhubarb crowns. These plants came from Nourse Farms, which we had good luck with last year (gooseberries/currants, all survived and some are already flowering). We put the raspberries out in our row in our field, a couple replacing a few that did not make it over the winter (though almost all of them did and I’m thrilled to see that). The blueberries are potted up into larger pots to grow out a bit before being moved. This makes 33 brambles and 11 blueberry bushes for us. Rhubarb’s been put by one of our old compost sites – they also sent us an extra crown, so there’s 4 rather than 3. Here’s to their success and to offering more stuff in the future! We will not have any bramble fruits this year, as the plants are still establishing, but I do expect to have some gooseberry/currant fruits. They’ll probably only be in enough quantity for me to eat and hoard for myself though. 🙂 All things in their time.

All my ‘new’ fruit trees survived the winter, except for the 2 apples which were girdled by rodents. We replaced those 2 with trees of the same varieties, and also put in a second Golden Delicious. All of the trees from last year are flowering, too, as are the ‘baby’ peaches I started from seed approx. 5 years ago. I hope they come out anything like their mother… perhaps we will see. My serviceberries are so loaded with blossoms that you can’t even tell they have leaves.

We are also planting more varieties of vegetables than ever, as we have added a second garden plot around the same size as the first, attached over by the corn plot. We are adding things like unusual melons, ‘Wonderberries’, a third type of potato, 2 more types of onions, different greens (Bull’s Blood beet greens, Purslane, etc.), and an expansion of our planting of our peas and our sunflower landrace. The chickens oh-so-love the seedheads in the winter.

Speaking of chickens … when introducing the new birds to the old, we had a bad incident with the mature hens ripping one of the new ones open! Our Commercial Black, ‘Tux’, was the victim. I didn’t know if she would survive at first – the wound was huge and hideous. However, determined to try, I grabbed some regular old cotton thread and a sewing needle and stitched her up (it’s all we had). I used some flour to stop her bleeding. We kept her inside and applied Neosporin cream. Long story short, she took out her own stitches and now you can barely tell where the wound even was as feathers have coated the area again. I think she’ll have a slightly crooked tail for life, but that’s fine as long as she seems happy. We penned them up apart from the old birds for a while, and yesterday was their first time back ‘together’ again. The youngsters are significantly bigger now, and there were no incidents, so here’s to hoping for a harmonious coop.

We will be selling wild leeks/ramps for the next few weeks. $3 for a bunch of 8-10 plants. I realize this is on the costly side, but each plant patch has to be traveled to, and each plant harvested and cleaned by hand/individually, using selective methods to ensure sustainability… and that’s what we have put to consideration.

There is a good chance of frost for the weekend according to the weather guys, though there is disagreement as to how cold/how hard the frost will be. I am hoping that it somehow avoids us, because I really do not want to lose all the fruit the millions of blossoms herald, although we have lost all our fruit for the past 2 years so it wouldn’t be unheard of unfortunately. We will definitely be covering our tomato plants, and have suspended new planting until the weekend passes. 🙁

Spring Is Coming Again

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The past two days were near 60 degrees and quite beautiful, although breezy. We’ve tapped some of the maple trees near our house, and the sap is flowing like crazy. Typical to the temperamental Western NY weather, though, it rained all night last night and isn’t going to break 40 degrees today.

It’s alright, though. Mostly seasonal, temperate conditions help to ensure that trees don’t break dormancy too soon. Last year was a big disaster when 70s and 80s in March followed by several hard freezes in late March and April destroyed not only our own fruit crop, but the crops of many major orchards and vineyards in our area. Many people without any agricultural interests might be begging for the summer to begin, but those thinking like us are more likely to welcome the cold now, because soon the sun’s warmth will stay, and the leaves, blossoms, and greenery will return with more vigor for it.

Leeks will be one of the earliest, most vibrant editions to the spring forest floor, and we’ll be sure to be out gathering some up. We will also be utilizing our big new Excalibur dehydrator to preserve some. Those who might be interested in fresh or dried leeks can let us know at any time and we will notify you when they’re available. The price will depend on how the wild crop is, because we harvest very selectively to preserve the colonies of plants for the future, but we anticipate a good year.

The chickens never stopped laying all winter, though they were down to 2-3 a day at some points. Now they’re back up to 7-12 a day, and we’re starting to sell their eggs on Wholeshare. 🙂 While convenient for some in town, Wholeshare does charge a markup to our prices cover their own costs. If you come out to us to get the eggs, you will be charged a flat price (currently $3/doz.)

We bought six new chicks – 2 ‘Commercial Black’ layer crosses, 2 Dekalb Amberlinks, and 2 red pullets that could end up being Rhode Island Red, Production Red, New Hampshire Red, or Red Sex Links. Unfortunately, as I tend to do, I chose an odd one – the only grey one out of the batch of blacks. It was small to begin with, did not seem to be growing, and it stopped eating and drinking. We segregated it and tried to force some sugar water into it, but it passed away overnight one night. The others are all feathering out and appear healthy, and hopefully in a few weeks they can be integrated into the outdoor group.

Having been diagnosed with work-related ulnar neuropathy that is most likely Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, I’ve had some time off. It hurts me to be online, so I have been neglecting the updates here and everywhere else.

I’ve bought all the seed I need for planting this upcoming season, and we’re working on trying to build a homemade outdoor evaporator while I persistently stove-boil my maple sap and steam up the house (I do have finished syrup for sale by the pint or half pint).

I’m hoping to get more done with the ‘orchard’ area this year too, especially since rodents killed a few of the trees over the winter.

Always somethin’.

Quick Update

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Just decided to post a quick update to show that I’m still thinking about this place. 🙂

Over the summer and fall, I was getting 10-13 eggs per day from my 14 hens! Now, though, the winter’s low light has dropped them back down to 2-6 per day. Still, I’ll take it. They’re a joy to have and provide endless entertainment value. The roosters have become a bit more crotchety and protective, but they’re still not bad boys on the whole. You just have to keep an eye on them if you’re really close to them and wearing big, scary boots.

Our little kitten is no longer so little, although she’s small for an adult cat. She still enjoys rampaging throughout the house, mixed with periods of extreme cuteness.

This year’s deer hunt resulted in a nice doe. Prior to that, I bought a trail camera for getting wildlife photos on my property. We got a lot of nice ones, but it was also pretty promptly stolen by someone trespassing in our fields. People seem to continually disappoint me in such matters. A police report yielded nothing so far.

Somewhat happily, though, the winter has been mild thus far, which makes it easier on the animals and me. Lower bills, less worrying about the chickens, more greenery to lighten my mood… I’m sure ski resorts and snowmobilers hate it, though. It remains to be seen whether we’ll have the same (nonexistent) winter of last year, or if it will get more gnarly as the season progresses.

The growing season mostly ended a bit early this year. Many crops were done in mid-September, either succumbing to disease or falling victim to a light, early frost that came on Sept. 16th. Most of the rest finished in early October, when a killing freeze claimed them. For now, I still have plenty of eggs and maple syrup for sale. I’ll be making new syrup in another month or two, though last year’s has been stored cool, sealed, and dark, and is just as good as it was when I made it. I also have red and white potatoes still, as well as some onions.

The kale is still going strong out in the garden, shrugging off temps in the high teens and low 20s as it always does. I highly encourage growing this plant. It’s so tough, and so nutritious besides!

I no longer have beets, because rodents got into them and apparently ate around 2 bushels worth of them.

There are always little troubles, but oh well – we keep on. Such is life.

First Eggs

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I got the first egg from one of my Gold-laced Wyandotte hens a little over a week ago. Now another unknown Wyandotte has joined her in laying, and two of the Easter Eggers have as well. Yesterday was the best day for eggs so far – we found 4 in there, 2 brown and 2 blue. I have yet to find out exactly who the other 3 layers are. My Silver-laced Wyandotte rooster, Sigurd, gives an antsy, squawking alarm when a girl is about to lay, causing us much amusement. They’re all little pullet eggs right now, but they’re already getting a little bigger compared to the first ones.

Harvesting is in full swing. Zucchini/summer squash and green beans are overwhelming me as usual. I just dug the Red Norland potatoes today, and while yields were poor compared to what I was expecting (I blame the drought), I still ended up with more than last year, so I’m not too displeased. Broccoli also did well. I have harvested all the first heads, so now only side shoots remain, but one of the first heads was measured out to be 14″ wide. This is 3″ wider than my old record, which was itself a gigantic head of broccoli. They were truly something else.

The pot is a 3 gallon tree pot.

Tomatoes are also coming ready fast, and I’m picking more and more every day. I’m impressed with Cherokee Purple, but I’m also eager to see how my heirloom Mr. Stripeys look when fully ripe. Other veggies like peas, lettuce, and cucumbers are also producing, though the former two are on their way out. Watermelons seem really good looking this year, and I can’t wait to try some of the orange-fleshed ones I planted. Acorn squash are forming on their vines, and I’m still hoping for a good-sized pumpkin, too.

So far, roadside sales have been poor this year, and I’ve had trouble moving my produce. I’ve joined up with Furniture City Foods to offer some of my stuff online, and I got my first order this morning. I’ll fill that, and maybe business will pick up. Maybe not. I’m also dabbling with possibly getting into a produce market in Jamestown, but I don’t know if that will happen or not. I think the best thing for my sales will be to have a shed/stand to sell out of. Maybe next year.

The trees and gooseberry/currant bushes are all still alive, though some look better than others. The heat and dry weather have been hard on them. I lost some of the raspberries, but if some survive that will be enough to do cuttings from, or they’re cheap enough that I can just replace them if need be. I do hope that all the trees make it, though.

Hay season is complete, with enough extra bales made to get the chickens through the winter with plenty of bedding.

So far, so good. Now to get back to blanching and freezing…

4th of July

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… and my corn, happily, beat the old saying by a long shot. They say you should shoot to have it knee high by the 4th of July. Well, mine is around chest-height in some spots, but all of it is over my waist. It is thriving in the hot weather, and now that we got a good soaking from a ‘gentle’ thunderstorm last night, I am sure it will shoot up even more.

The tomatoes are approaching 5 feet in height and vining profusely. Some are so heavy already that they are already close to knocking over their cages, so we will probably have to do like last year and make a framework for them to lay on.

Radishes are all ready, and lettuce is getting there. Herbs are getting ready as well. It won’t be long for zucchini, as they are in flower. It won’t be long for early tomatoes either. They are loading up with green fruits in huge clusters of 8. I can’t wait to see what they look like when they ripen.

The Wyandotte rooster has been named Sigurd. He has started to crow, but doesn’t know the whole song. He sings ‘Ca CAAA caa’ instead. :] So far, he gets along with Chanticleer for the most part, but he seems to be getting really out of control and rough with the girls so he may end up in a stewpot yet. I hope he improves – he is a pretty boy and would be great for producing more chicks.

It’s been overall dry and very hot here. Some things are loving it, like the peppers, but others (beets, carrots) are despising it and are struggling. Hopefully it all evens out in the end.

Some more young trees have sprouted from pits. There’s a plum and 3 more peach trees now! The big trees we put in have taken some bad deer damage but are still holding on. Hopefully they can establish and come back next year for some good growth.

Our fields have been fully cut. The biggest customers are satisfied, but we don’t have enough for the last ones, so we have had to find fields in other nearby locations to cut and bale. Good problems, I guess.

I project that I can start roadside sales in another 2 weeks if all continues as it is. Might be sooner, might be later, but I think that that is close to what should be expected.

Haying Season

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Haying season started last weekend here. We made over 500 bales of good hay and delivered it to our first customer. We have more cut down that should be ready to bale tomorrow and Saturday. That will finish the first customer and move on to a second.

From that second customer, we will probably be getting some Chinese Silkie chickens. I am hoping they will give us some hens, but if they are all roosters, then we will most likely just be adding to the freezer.

The chickens are growing nicely. They’re enjoying having some sweet hay to scratch in, and I let them out to free range for the first time just the other day. They enjoyed it, hopping around and testing their wings. Chanticleer started crowing a few weeks ago, and now he crows every morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and sometimes rarely at other times. He is a good guardian, too, sounding the alarm when a cat saunters by or a sparrow flies over, and herding the girls back to safety when he feels he needs to.

The garden is doing reasonably well. The potatoes look really nice, and some of the tomatoes are setting small fruits. I had some trouble getting the beans and peas to come up due to root rot fungi in the soil, but now there are plenty popped up from the replacements I put in. There are still some issues with the lettuce being spotty, which I am hoping that a little more water will solve. Radishes are going to be ready soon, and kale and turnips not too far behind that. Zucchini/squashes are getting some of their big true leaves, so they should start to grow very fast now. We also planted potatoes, broccoli, and a few onions in a ring around the base of the old silo, so we’ll see what those do!

Garden 2012

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The garden for the 2012 season is fully planted, and most things are coming up well. The primary weed appears to be nutsedge again, which we are fine with because this plant is very easy to pull. Some tomatoes already have blossoms. This is despite the fact that most of my tomatoes got many of their outer leaves frozen off after an unexpected frost on their first night in the ground. The only ones that were untouched were the ones I got from Mellow Phone/Good City‘s porch party.

I have so many extra seed potatoes that I also planted them in a ring around the silo, and I have been selling them on Craigslist as well. I sold 16-17 pounds of reds to someone from Frewsburg. I listed them at .50 per pound, but changed $7 and threw in some extra, because this arrangement benefits everyone. They get to grow food, and I get a few dollars and don’t need to dump the potatoes into the compost.

I had to throw in some new sunflower seeds due to an unfortunate tiller accident. Thankfully I still had some heads saved from last year’s crop. I now grow my own variety of sunflowers, ones that grew wild in the place my barn fell after the fire of 2010, so it’s not as if I could go to the store to buy new ones. The Stillwater Valley sunflower is a medium-sized, yellow flowered, stout variety with small, very tasty/sweet seeds.

It looks like we might have to replace some beans, because for some reason we often have a hard time with fungi rotting or damaging the seeds during the initial growth process. Last year we also had a problem with one of the varieties of root rot in the first few weeks. I am giving some additional time for things to sprout before I resort to replacement, though. There are very few squash and cucumbers showing above the surface at this time, but I dug down below the soil before yesterday’s rain and found the seeds swollen but almost dry. That would explain it. Hopefully they start popping up now that the ground has had a good drink.

The hot (high 80s to 90s) days with no appreciable rain for a few weeks takes its toll. It was seriously stressing some of the trees and fruit plants I put in, as well. The currants and gooseberries seemed oblivious, but a couple of the trees needed almost daily watering, having started to abort leaves, and a couple of the rasberries seem to have died despite the babying.

My seedling apricot trees are doing well, having been repotted to 3-gallon containers. I anticipate that they will be ready to go into the ground this fall. I also picked up 5 blueberry bushes that were already producing. I couldn’t resist – at $4 apiece, it was a bargain. They’re potted up, mulched with pine needles and soil acidifier, until I can pick and amend a suitable place in the ground for them.

The radishes will be ready first, followed by things like herbs, lettuce, and kale, and then turnips, beets, and zucchini. The rest follow that – beans, cucumbers, etc. I hope to start selling a few things by the end of June, and maple syrup will also be offered at that time.

We might get to start the haying earlier this year if the weather continues like this. We are having two haywagons rebuilt, and we may rebuild a third on our own. The equipment is home, and is being prepared for work. I’ve ordered a used exhaust manifold for our 1950s Case DC, and that should arrive soon.

The chickens are getting bigger all the time. They are almost completely done feathering out, except for the males – two of them are cockerels, and are just starting to get their ‘roostery’ feathers. Our big red chicken is one of them, and we’ve named him Chanticleer. The other is a silver-laced Wyandotte. As long as the two of them don’t fight much, we’ll keep them both, but if they start to go after each other, Chanticleer is the keeper. His temperament is exceptional.