Gardens Nearly All Planted

I can see the end as far as planting the gardens is concerned. In the last couple of weeks we’ve put in: sweet corn, most of the winter squash (we’re doing acorn, butternut and hubbard this year), summer squash, pasta squash, cucumbers, popcorn, broom corn, fennel, basil, turnips, swiss chard, salsify, cherry tomatoes, beans, flowers, basil, other miscellaneous herbs, jack O’lanterns, rutabagas, cilantro, Indian corn, sunflowers, gourds, tomatoes and cantaloupe. We still have watermelon, peppers and eggplant left to put in.

Overall the weather has been cooperating. A couple weeks ago we had patchy frost here, I made sure everything that needed to be was covered up good and we didn’t lose anything. My only complaint is that we could use some rain. So if everyone could just do some rain dancing that would be great.

In other farm news another baby goat and another baby sheep have been added to our growing herd. Speaking of sheep, we sheared them this weekend. This shearing event went much better than last years, read a previous blog entitled ‘Shearing Phyllis’ to learn more. The ease in shearing this year was probably due to the fact that we now own an electric shearer and also because my dad must have been a sheep shearer in a previous life.

Cass did take a hoof to the face at one point and he also got stepped on. My dad and I escaped unscathed probably due to our cat-like reflexes. Anyway, the sheep look much more comfortable and as a result we now have four fleeces on our hands. If you know of anyone who would be interested in them please let us know. There is one white fleece and three black/brown fleeces.

Delivery time is fast approaching! Just a reminder: Hampden Park folks pick-up between 3 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. on Wednesdays (first pick-up will be June 3) and River Market folks pick-up between 3 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. on Mondays (first pick-up will be June 1).

Sold Out

Eener's Farm is now sold out for the 2009 season. However, if you've spoken with me either over the phone or through e-mail but haven't yet sent in your membership form/deposit, don't worry you're still in.

Another CSA Update

The gardens are coming along nicely. The weather has really been cooperating, let’s hope it keeps up. Quite a few plants have broke ground including; spuds, onions, lettuce, spinach, arugula, mustard, radishes, kohlrabi, leeks, shallots, peas and pak choi. I’m hoping to see beets and broccoli come up soon.

This week I planted 96 Brussels Sprout plants, a couple more different varieties of radishes and some more beets. Before the week is over, I’d like to get in fennel and another round of lettuce and pak choi.

A few members have inquired about heading over here for a visit. The best time to come depends on what you are most interested in seeing. If you wanted to see the farm in general you could come pretty much anytime (just call ahead,a a day or two notice would be great as well).

Right now we are in the process of planting so there are not a lot of plants up yet (other than the ones I mentioned above). If you were interested in seeing the gardens at their absolute peak July - October would be the best time.

We have several interesting outbuildings which can be fun to take a look at, if you’re into old farm buildings. A word of warning though, we are somewhat under construction right now with our packing shed but if you don't mind seeing a construction zone, we don't mind either.

Of course there are also a variety of critters available for viewing too including; sheep, baby sheep, goats, baby goats, chickens, cats, beef cows, geese and our dog Maynerd.

Obviously spring and summer are very busy seasons for everybody, so if you never get around to stopping by, we won’t be offended. Another thing to consider is that we are kicking around having some type of end-of-the-season party/get together sometime in October.

Spring Planting Update

If you are interested in joining Eener’s Farm as a CSA member, please see a previous post entitled “Eener’s CSA” written on February 25. As of today there are 10 shares left.

Hi all, thought I’d go ahead and update you on the garden. All of the spuds are in. We planted pretty close to 100 pounds just after Easter. It looks like last year I dug the very first potatoes around the third week in June, so you can probably expect likewise.

We’ve put in 16 pounds of bulb onions also around Easter and they are already a few inches tall. These will be the big globe onions, some of which are great for storing. We just ate our last onion from the 2008 garden a few days ago.

Also on the already-planted-list are seed onions (these will be your green onions or scallions), lettuce, arugula, mustard, beets, pac choi, shallots, spinach, and peas. This week I’m looking to get in the kohlrabi, radishes, leeks and carrots.

In other farm news, I attended the Seward Co-op CSA Fair last Saturday. I met some interesting farmers and farm-shoppers and also signed up a couple of new members.

Our tomato, eggplant and pepper plant starts are looking good. They are all happily living in my canoe which I covered with plastic. During the day they I pull them outside and at night I pull them into the garage.

One of our sheep named Bernice lambed on Easter. She had twins, one boy and one girl (very cute). Bernice is an excellent mother as she dutifully demonstrated to me last week. One morning I went out to the sheep/goat barn as usual to water and feed them. I then continued into the chicken coop which is adjoining the sheep and goat area.

From a window in the chicken coop I noticed that the very high winds we were having that day were about to turn my hoop house into a giant kite. Being that I had planned on planting watermelon in the hoop house I was not terribly taken by the prospect of it blowing into the sheep and goat pasture or possibly on to the road or possibly into the next county. I ran out of the chicken coop and in my haste, neglected to lock the door.

Forest, my one year old, was with me so I got to experience the excitement of trying to run while pushing a stroller though a cow pasture, very aerobic indeed. So we get out there and learn that there's not a lot that one and a half people could do in that situation. The hoop house is something like 10 feet wide, 12 feet long and seven feet high and it's flopping and cracking in the wind. The plastic’s all messed up and one of the pipes is busted.

Luckily my dad randomly showed up at this point and between gusts of wind be were able to take it down accordion style and stow it in my hay mow. There were a few tense moments were I seriously thought I was going to go for something similar to a hot air balloon ride.

So now that we know that the garden is not the best place wind-wise for the hoop house (this is our first year using a hoop house), we have made plans to set it up in our yard where it’ll be sheltered from the wind. It’s good that this happened before I planted the watermelon.

Anyway, back to Bernice the sheep. So after my dad and Forest and I get the hoop house to safety, we hear this big ruckus out in the chicken yard. It turns out that the door I forgot to lock somehow opened (probably in the wind) and Bernice decided to investigate the chicken coop. In our chicken coop there’s this little chicken door designed so that the chickens can walk in and out freely. Well, Bernice managed to worm her way through that and of course her two lambs followed her.

All three of them are in the chicken yard and Bernice must’ve felt that the chickens were threatening her lambs because she started defending. When we found her she actually had a chicken pinned against the ground and was pummeling it with her head.

I shooed her back into the barn as fast as I could but the damage had already been done. There were two injured hens. I tried to nurse them back to health but one died within a day and the other lived for just three days. They most likely both died of internal injuries.

Amazing how fast you can be out two chickens and a hoop house set-up isn’t it? I’m sure it’ll take me longer than 20 minutes (the total time it took for these mishaps to happen) to set up the hoop house in the new spot and locate some replacement hens. Well, could be worse, Bernice could’ve battled with more chickens and the hoop house could’ve blown into the next county.

CSA Update

Howdy folks! Thanks to all who have signed up for our CSA. We now have 19 members! Since we have a mix of full and half shares, that puts us at about half full. It seems like every day we gain one or two new members. At the rate we’re going we should be sold out by next month sometime.

Deliveries
We’re excited to start delivering. Since most of you are planning on picking up your boxes on your way home from work, I’ve decided to do the deliveries in the afternoon. I’ll be at the co-ops unloading at 2:30 p.m. so come get your boxes anytime after 3 p.m. or so.

For the Hampden Park Co-op shareholders the first delivery will be Wednesday, June 3rd. Your boxes will be in the air conditioned entryway right as you come in the door. So all you’ll have to do is find your box (your last name will be written on it) and you can be on your merry way. You must pick up your box on Wednesday; the co-op will not hold it for you. They are open until 9 p.m.

Since we’ve had more members sign up for our River Market Co-op drop than we had expected, that delivery day has been changed to Mondays. So for the Stillwater folks, your first delivery will take place on Monday, June 1st. River Market puts CSA boxes in their cooler, so shareholders will have to ask a co-op employee to fetch their boxes. They are open until 9 p.m.

For those of you who are doing Huebert delivery (Sarah’s co-workers), you will receive your boxes via Sarah on Thursdays.

Other Farm News
We picked up our seed potatoes on Tuesday. This year we will be planting reds, blues, russets and yellow spuds. Last year we had quite a problem with potato bugs. So this year we are arming ourselves with some spud bug protection. We’ll be spraying the plants with two different sprays; both are approved for organic farming. One is called Monterey Garden Spray and the other is Neem Oil. If you would like to read up on these here is a helpful web site: http://www.montereylawngarden.com/products/insects/

The baby goat is doing really well! She has a lot of fun playing in the pasture; she’s very fast and shockingly adorable. We are open to name suggestions. Our other goats are named: Blanche, Virginia, Jolene and Olaf. Our sheep are named: Phyllis, Marilyn, Bernice, Thelma and Ivan. Let us know if you have any ideas!

Most of our seed orders have arrived and we are working on starting our bedding plants. Since we don’t have a greenhouse, we’ve been doing the best we can with what we have, which is four windows. It’s going pretty good, many of the tomato plants have already sprouted. Since I’m sure we will fall short on what we can start in our house, we will also be buying bedding plants. We’ll be purchasing at least some of our plants from a greenhouse by the name of Prairie Farm Gardens that sells through our local co-op. This greenhouse uses certified organic seed and local potting soil. They also have a lot of interesting varieties, should be a fun order to place.

We’ve also been renovating our old milk house (see photo above) so that it can be used as a vegetable packing space this summer. It’s been quite a project so far. The building was moved onto the farm in the 1950’s from a neighboring farm that my grandparents bought. It was starting to separate from the barn and needed a lot of structural repairs, which we’ve pretty much have solved now. Soon enough we’ll be outfitting the building with new wiring, a sink and snazzy new interior boards. I’m glad so see this building put back into use and think it’s really cool that I’ll be packing my vegetables in the same building that my grandparents shipped their milk from.

It's a Girl!

March 22 - Baby Goat Update
I'm happy to report that the baby goat is doing good. She's eating well and running around. Blanche is a great mom and Virginia is a devoted grandma. On a related note, we're pretty sure Virginia will have a kid(s) very soon, with Jolene (the former escape artist) to follow. In April or maybe May we expect lambs.


March 20
One of our pigmy goats (Blanche) kidded this morning. Luckily, she decided to give birth in the barn where it’s nice and dry and out of the wind. I’ve heard stories of goats kidding out on snow banks and such. The kid is about the size of a cat and looks just like Olaf, our Billy goat. She’s all white with a little grey on her ears. Her voice it high-pitched and she kind of sounds like a mosquito.

So far everything seems to be going fine, however I'm a little concerned about how the baby is eating. Blanche is really short and the baby seems to have a hard time getting down to her udder. I helped a couple of times, so she has had something to eat, I'm a little worried if the baby will be able to eat when I'm not there to help. I’ll have to keep a close eye on them.

Blanche and Blanche’s mom, Virginia are very interested in the baby and had it all dried off by the time we realized what had happened (at 6 a.m. this morning). The baby is up and walking around on wobbly legs (very cute). Blanche and Virginia have been keeping a close watch on the newborn and the sheep and the other goat are keeping their distance.

Eener's CSA

Thanks for taking a look at Eener’s Farm, here are some important C.S.A. details:


A C.S.A. definition: If you are unfamiliar with C.S.A.s (or just want to brush up on them) here is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) definition:

In basic terms, CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Members or shareholders of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land. Members also share in risks, including poor harvest due to unfavorable weather or pests.

How Eener’s C.S.A. works: I’ll pick produce and eggs and pack your box within 24 hours of delivery. After I deliver the boxes to the two co-ops (other pick up points may also be available) you would simply drop by one of the co-ops and pick up your assigned box (your box will have your name on it). Boxes will be delivered on Wednesdays. Next you would enjoy the contents of your box and look forward to next Wednesday’s delivery upon which you will bring your empty box in and exchange it for a full box.

Share prices: Full shares are $500/season. Half shares are $250/season. Full shares are designed for families and half shares would work for couples or single folks. Our season runs from the first week in June until the last week in October.

Regarding risk: Obviously there’s a lot of risk involved in farming: weather and pests sums it up and they can come in a myriad of different ways. I protect myself against most instances of total garden failure by planting a wide variety of plants and also different strains of these varieties. I also employ some tried and true home remedies for pests. While I’m not totally immune (a well-placed tornado could wipe out the whole works for example) there are some safety nets in place.

Regarding eggs: My chickens are free range and basically act like free range chickens meaning egg production is not necessarily constant nor consistent. When chickens are left to their own devices they lay a lot of eggs during good weather that would be favorable to raising chicks (like April through July). When it gets hot some may drastically reduce the number of eggs they lay while others just stop altogether. Conversely, my chickens also lay fewer eggs when the weather gets cold and there’s less day light, in October it starts to really dwindle.

The bottom line here is I can’t promise shareholders a full dozen eggs every week however, it’s likely they will receive a fair amount of eggs through June and possibly July, after that it’s up to the chickens.

Regarding “what do I do with this?”: I’ll be writing a blog for every delivery explaining what’s in the box, recipe ideas, farm news and other tidbits.



How Do I Sign Up for Eener’s C.S.A.?

Please fill out the form below (it may be easier to copy and paste it into a word document) and send to Eener at Eener’s Farm N12449 220th St. Boyceville, WI 54725 or e-mail it to eenermachine@gmail.com

At least $20 is due at sign up time. The rest is due by Halloween. Please make checks out to Eener’s Farm or Renee Bettendorf. Thanks!

Your Name:

Your Address:

Your Phone Number:

What size share would you like?

Where will you be picking your boxes up at?

I’ll see you June 3rd! Please let me know if you would like to stop by for a farm tour beforehand. Also, read my blog to keep abreast of farm news.

For questions please call (715)643-2803 or email eenermachine@gmail.com