There's no place like home.....

The hoophouse/greenhouse was put to the test with last night's wind and thankfully, it survived. We all went to work first thing Wednesday morning making some sandbags for the side 'curtains' of our new structure. Since it is really a hoophouse, which means we can roll up the sidewalls on both long sides, we were a little nervous about the forecasted winds gusts.  As we explained to MB and EC why we were doing this, I mentioned that we didn't want to see our hoophouse sailing in the wind like Dorothy's. MB informed me, straight-faced as could be, that it would be okay because we didn't live in Kansas!

Hauling the sandbags on the tobacco sled/trailer.

Stepping back and admiring your handiwork.

Greenhouse Updates

So the "hoophouse" we (Russell) constructed earlier this month has now officially been converted into a heated greenhouse. Good news! Tons of tiny seedlings are sprouting due to the addition of a heat source. We originally intended  on adding a hoophouse just to get a few weeks jump on starting spring/summer transplants to set into the gardens, but that quickly changed when we realized we could modify a woodstove that we already had and use the endless supply of wood that we have. Everyone has been enjoying 70 degree days inside while the outside temps have been, well, January-like.

Step 1 of planting in the greenhouse - submerge yourself in the potting mix and check the consistency! This is why EC is the official Entertainment Leader of our farm!

Still in the 'hoophouse' stages, no heat source, but high hopes of planting many trays of goodies.

Break time from working in the greenhouse - surprise, they actually put their shoes on for this!

This is "Pawpaw" who has been quite the engineer in getting our heat source up and going.

Did someone say 'heat'? Clearly an open invitation for everyone, four-legged and two. This picture was taken the day after we found Ellie at a neighbor's house. She ran away during the snow storm last week and needless to say, EC was more than happy to have her furry greenhouse assitant back home.

Ellie makes every trip with us to the greenhouse, even in the wee hours of the night, to check temperatures.

How do a 4 and 6 year old stay busy in a greenhouse for hours on end.......today it was a very large box of monster trucks, kindly shared with by one of their cousins. Thank you Caleb!

Interesting find in our woodpile.

Okay mommy, I 've been a bystander long enough. I've got this.  First, fill up the pot with soil.

Next, label it with all the letters I've learned to write this week. Apparently this was a BBHHSSS plant. I'll be sure to post pictures of what actually sprouts

.

Last step, water, water, and water some more. This little gardener follows the motto "If some is good, a whole lot more is a whole lot better."

MB ignoring mommy's 50th request to please not use the hammer as an ax and severly damage some body part in the process.

The first beet sprouting today, four days after we planted it.

A bit more difficult to see, but right in the middle of the cells are two purple kohlrabi seedlings.

Where has the time gone?

Lots of goings-on at the Farlow Farm. Winter is certainly a slower season for us, but certainly plenty to do....................

Dirt baths to be taken

First time cauliflower

Harvesting honey, great! Losing bees, not so great! We're hoping to catch a swarm in the spring and get our hive up and going again.

Painting the 'ribs' of the hoophouse.

Adding plastic to hoophouse.

MB feeding a Golden Campine hen an overgrown purple carrot.

Adding initials to the chinking in the log cabin

All greenhouse construction requires a knowledgeable canine supervisor.

How a righty and lefty share a drill

When the going gets tough, the tough take a cake break!

Supervisor #2

Adding leaf mould to asparagus bed.

I really do work something besides a camera.

Take me for a ride on my big red tractor

Blue Ribbon

     Before you look at this first picture, I must admit that this is not our pumpkin. Although we did have high hopes of growing our own larger than life, blue ribbon State Fair pumpkin, the squash bugs got word of our plan and devoured our largest one.

     Since taking MB and EC to the NC State Fair last year it has been a goal of ours to enter something of our growing in one of the fields. With all the interest in our CSA and the work involved, we temporarily lost sight of this vision. That is until yesterday!  We were working on cleaning up one of our undisturbed compost piles that had been overflowing with the healthiest sweet potato vine all summer long. Oh, had the fair just been one month later, we certainly would have entered this............

    Look closely and you'll see that scale reads 6 lbs. 5.2 oz.  Our average sweet potato this year weighed about 5 oz.

WHOA!!!

And to top that off, we dug a sssssssnakey sweet potato:

   There is truly nothing that compares to waiting all summer to dig up a harvest you've worked all summer to grow.  I'll take the squeals of two happy children over winning a blue ribbon any day!

The Joy of Beekeeping

I have to admit, I would have never imagined there "bee"ing any joy in keeping bees. Was I ever so wrong! These busy little creatures are amazing to watch and are much more intelligent than I would have ever given them credit. 

Did you know that the one and only queen bee in the hive lays every egg, up to 1,500 a day, and is attended to and fed by other female bees while she works. Actually, the majority of the bees in a hive are female, worker bees, that work day and night to protect, defend, and build up their hive.  We think a lot of our girls (and the few boys) and will work just as hard to keep them from being harmed.

Having said this we have just discovered small hive beetles in our hive. These little black beetles made it to the US from South Africa in the late 90's and have made their way to NC quickly. We are lucky to have a very strong, healthy first-year hive that is doing great in fighting off an infestation of this pest. However, we don't want to take any chance that their winter honey storages could be ruined because of them.

There are lots of ways to control the small hive beetle population and MB and I got a great lesson in those at our local bee supply store this week. We opted for small traps that slip between the frames in the hive, which are filled with a mixture of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. The hope is that the beetles will be attracted to the liquid bait and when near enough, the honeybees will chase them down into the trap. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we'll observe its effectiveness when we go in the hive this week.

MB holding up the filled trap, ready to go in and aid our hard working honeybees.

FFA - Future Farmers of Archdale

The latest USDA farm census in 2007 reported some surprising statistics about NC farmers. The number of farmers under age 35 was about 5,000 compared to about 20,000 in the over age 65 category. Reading this made me even more thankful that we have had such great support with our first experimental summer in our beginnings of Community Supported Agriculture.  Thanks to all of you that have made the commitment to invest in a local farm, eat seasonally, and help grow a dream!

As the season is coming to an end, we are in the midst of modifying our growing plan for next year and hope to expand our number of shares.  This is where we would love your input. We would love to hear from you what types of crops you would like to see next year. What would make pickup easier for you? Do you have any interest in volunteering on the farm with planting/harvesting? Any suggestions/comments are welcome. Please email us (farlowcsa@aol.com) or comment below.

This future farmer is working diligently to strip the stalk of the sugar cane to chew on its sweet goodness.

Hens at play

Oh, the goings on this week! If you were to ask MB and EC the most exciting thing about their week it would be the addition of their new hen, Fuzzy.  This Polish girl is definitely the hit of the flock. She has been treated like a queen, pictured below being hand fed a bowl of tasty cantaloupe seeds!

And since we're on the topic of chickens, you must also know that our chickens do get a lesson in acrobatics on occasion (have no fear, no animals are harmed at any point during these lessons)! Pictured here is "Original Girl, " a New Hampshire hen.