Family Farm

What does it mean to have a family farm? To us, it means all members of the family do their part, have their roles, and reap the benefits of the farm.

What does it look like? For us, it looks like this:
K's responsibility: plant onions and potatoes, be a gopher.

Jay's responsibilities: Sit. Rest. Recover. And tell the rest of us what to do.

L's responsibilities: have fun, enjoy being outside, don't get hurt.
Uncle Anthony's responsibilities: go-fer, help with just about everything.
Linda's responsibilities: Try to pick up the slack until Jay is up on two feet again. Once he's better, take care of paperwork, legalities, and creative ways to prepare and preserve all this fabulous produce.
N's responsibilities: look cute. I am partial, but I think she's doing a pretty darn good job of it!
M's responsibilities: help plant potatoes and go-fer...until she's wore out. Then she's supposed to play safely outside.

Family Farm

Broccoli

Last year, Jay decided to try growing broccoli, just to see if it tasted better homegrown and to see how successfully it could be grown in our climate. The result:


Since that turned out so well, he is planning to broccoli plantings this year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Today, we planted 192 plants today in one of our mobile high tunnels. Well, "we" doesn't include Jay. He had foot surgery last week and his garden responsibilities are limited to this:


(cutting seed potatoes and directing his crews)

Because he was laid up, our operation defined "family farm" today. Our sister-in-law, nephew, and niece helped K (oldest daughter) and I transplant all the inside broccoli and about a quarter of our seed potatoes planted.

How do you transplant broccoli seedlings? Well, this is how I do it:

1. Dig holes about 4 inches deep, 18-24 inches between plants. Many of ours are more closely planted, because our goal isn't huge broccoli heads this year. The goal for us is more heads total, especially since we'll be double-cropping this patch later this summer.
2. Remove the seedling from the tray.
3. Loosen the roots at the bottom of the plants, to ensure that they aren't rootbound.
4. Place the plant in the prepared hole. Loosely pack the dirt around the plant so it is supported.
5. Immediately water the plant. This not only gives the plant water, but also packs the soil around the root, giving the plant support and protecting the root.

Now, this might not be the official way to transplant broccoli or other seedlings. But it works for us. Also, keep in mind a lot of work (soil tests, tilling, fertilizing, removing plant residue) went into the plot before the holes were dig. More about that another day.

Tonight, we celebrate having this done:

Broccoli

Garden Vocabulary

When you live a lifestyle long enough, you begin to take on the jargon, the language of that lifestyle. And then, you forget that other people have no CLUE what you are talking about. The goal of this post is to eliminate that confusion. Here are some of the terms you'll see again and again in our blog.

• High Tunnel: High tunnels are unheated, plastic-covered structures that provide an intermediate level of environmental protection and control compared to open field conditions and heated greenhouses. Synonyms include hoop house and poly-tunnel. We have six high tunnels on our 5-acres of land
• Seedlings (aka starts, transplants): The immature plant. Think of it as toddler tomato, or whatever vegetable to which you are referring.
• Frost-free days: The date on which the chances of avoiding freezing temperatures reach 95%. Here are Kansas' frost-free dates for 2010.
• DTM: Days to maturity. The number of days it takes a seed to grow from planting to harvest.
• Tomato cages: Tomato cages are the cylindrical cages placed over tomato plants. They give support to the plants and encourage vertical growth. They can be made out of various materials, but the majority of ours are made out of CRW (concrete reinforcement wire)
• Germination: The point at which seeds begin to sprout and grow. Germination varies from species to species, with peppers being one of our slowest germinating crops.
• True leaves: The first leaves that come out are not true leaves; they are the seedling leaves. True leaves are the first leaves that come out looking like the mature plant you are growing.
• Tilling: Turning or stirring the soil to ready the area for plants. Tilling can help eliminate unwanted, established weeds and grasses, while minimizing the seedlings' competition for soil nutrients.
• Organic: Organic is more than just pesticide free. USDA sets specific standards to be certified organic, and we didn't feel it was worth our time to go through the certifying process. So, we are not an organic-certified operation, although we do implement many BMPs to limit or prevent use of pesticides and herbicides.
• BMPs: Best management practices. Practices proven by research to be the most effective, beneficial and economical.
• Pesticides: substance used to kill unwanted bugs.
• Integrated pest management: Pest control using an array of complementary approaches including natural predators, pesticides, and other biological and environmental control practices.
• Herbicides: substance used to kill unwanted plants. This term is usually used to describe chemical commercial herbicides, but can include many other non-chemical applications.

Garden Vocabulary

1800 onions, 600 leeks

onions...lots and lots of onions

and lots and lots of leeks

We picked one of the windiest days yet this spring to try to plant the onions and leeks. Since these seedlings are more hardy than others, we weren't as worried about them getting beat up in the 30 mph winds. Just to prove how windy it was, listen to Katie planting:

1800 onions, 600 leeks

Mid-season start

It's the end of March, and for many Kansans, garden season has just started. For us, though, the season is about a quarter over. Currently, we have 400-500 tomato plants, ranging in size from about 10 inches tall to just peaking through the soil. About 200 broccoli plants are waiting to be transplanted outside, as are 1800 onion sets, 600 leak sets, 150 pounds of seed potatoes, and a lot of pepper plants.

It is a big garden and a big undertaking, but it is a very enjoyable way to spend our time. There is such an intrinsic reward of watching a plant grow from a speck-sized seed into a viable, healthy seedling, of gently transplanting the tender young plants into the awaiting high tunnels, providing the nourishment it needs to grow into massive 6- and 7-foot tall plants, and then savoring the fruit of our labor. That's the part Jay enjoys the most-- the growing part.

I enjoy growing our own food, of finding new ways to fix the old standards like tomatoes, potatoes, beans, or finding creative ways to fix the new vegetables he grows each year. Last year's new veggie was homegrown broccoli and cauliflower; this year's challenge is swiss chard, hakuri turnips, bok choy, napa cabbage, leeks, ground cherries, and serrano peppers, to name a few.

What we enjoy above all else is finding a way to increase our income while spending time with our kids. We are the proud parents of four daughters, ages 8, 6, 3, and 1. They all play a role in the garden, whether it be planting leeks and potatoes or making muddy rivers when it's time to water. The experiences they are gaining, the knowledge they are growing, is more "profitable" than any other crop we could plant.

So, please join us on our journey this year. Watch our garden grow and learn from our mistakes. Add to our recipe cache and hopefully find some new recipes to try in your own home. Won't you join us?

Mid-season start