Freshman Farmer | New Organic Farms Set Roots

Posts Tagged ‘april’

Ducklings!

March 18th, 2009
Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm | Blog

ducks

We got ducklings on march 9th, they are so cute! I’m terrified that the dog is going to eat them… We ordered them from Lazy 54, 10 Indian Runners, and 10 Khaki Campbells. We got them for the eggs, and I can’t wait for fresh duck eggs! 6 months! Right now they are all greyish-brown except one is yellow. They were very timid at first, but now they’ll come over to us when we change their water or food and peck at our shoes or hands. They are also starting to venture out of the brooder more often, although they mostly come out just to let us know if they want something! abbey-ducks

Except for our farm dog, Abbey(6mo old Border Collie) these ducks are the first animals to join us on our farm. We learned of this brooder design by our local farming friend Harley Bob. Jared first met Harley at a Joel Salatin talk last last year and has plagued him with questions about raising chickens ever since. So now we have our ducks and our chickens will arrive in April, from Sand Hill Preservation We’re Freshman Farmers but we need this farm biodiversity! Both the ducks and the chickens will provide us with eggs that we can make available to our CSA, and the chickens we will also use for broilers, which means we will more than likely be brooding our own chickens next year.

Tags: april, CSA, march, ducklings, indian runner, khaki campbell, border collie, biodiversity, sand hill, brooder, joel salatin

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End of a Good Season

October 27th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

The last Saturday market was a good one. Shoppers came out like they haven’t in weeks. All of the many regulars were sad that the season is ending and they all wondered why we can’t go on, even a little bit longer.

I wonder the same thing, but understand that the market has never geared up for that sort of thing. We need an indoor spot for the winter because the inclement weather wouldn’t be good for anyone shopping.

People just want fresh produce, and once they start coming to the market, they realize how good it is, and what a good price it is also. So, they don’t want to stop. If we are to become a serious agricultural community, which some people want, and I do also, then, we need a serious way of producing and marketing fresh produce beyond October. Without that, it is missing the point of local produce. Half the year doesn’t cut it.

And, it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Next year, let’s go through November and start the market the last saturday in April. Every year we can chip away a little bit, and that will give the growers the opportunity to slowly hone their crops for winter like they never have before.

Andrew

Tags: april, growers, market, november, season extending

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Celery… It takes a while

September 24th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Like all good things in life, I will tell this to my son, you must wait to reap the harvest. This is good advice, dad. But geeze, 8 months? is anything worth it. I like the celery that I am eating now. I seeded it in the greenhouse in mid-January (actually, Andrea did), planted it out in April. You know, I wonder if I could have sped up its maturity with tons of water and fertilizer for those first few months, to have celery at the later part of June? I know for sure that I didn’t… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: april, blood meal, calcium, celery, CSA, fertilizer, gypsum, january, june, npk, seeding, water

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Pharm Updayte

May 27th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

The broccoli has been great and in full effect for the last few weeks. We are doing heavy pickings from the main heads and side shoots, with lots more coming. The first two plantings of cauliflower have failed, due to (a) gophers (b) freak super-cold snap at the end of april (c) freak super hot spell (100 degrees for 5 straight days) in mid May, which caused the curds to separate and be no good. The third is looking good and hope to have that. In the future I don’t want to grow… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: april, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cold snap, cucumbers, daikon, farm update, gophers, kale, may, peppers, potatoes, radish, tomatoes

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Not Out Of The Woods Yet

April 18th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Andrew hauls out more Agribon to cover young tomatoes We’re not out of the woods yet, according to the forecast. Temperatures will drop to the low thirties for Saturday and Sunday. I have to make sure the hatches are batted on the tomato hoophouses. I knew the low temperatures were coming, thanks to a little thing I like to call “the internet”. I don’t know how farmers used to do it, but thanks to weather.com I now know that after Sunday I am pretty much… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: agribon, andrew, april, eggplant, forecast, freezing, frost, hoophouse, peppers, temperature, tomatoes, veggies

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Three farms are starting from scratch.

They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.

Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.

The Farm Blogs

Freshman:
New Farms Coming Soon!
Sophomores:
	Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA
	Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT
	Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA
Graduates:
	Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA
	DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA
	Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA
	EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO
	Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA
	Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA
	Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA
	Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA
	Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA
	Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA