This is what a happy hen looks like. We keep only hens, no roosters, so we call them the Ladies. I’ve learned from my hip young workers that the slang for vacation is Vakay. Thus the topic of my post. The ladies, all 183 of them, have been out in the field all spring, where the variety of greenery was a bit slim. So, last week we brought them over the a very diverse and interesting area for a little vacation. This spot has weeds of every ilk, wood chips, hay bales and piles of leaves for the ladies to play in. They are so busy all day scratching and pecking that they can barely look up when we drive by. They live in this deluxe hen house at night safe from Mr. Fox. They lay eggs in the morning in the nest boxes, then party the rest of the daylight hours outside.

The fencing is just to keep them from eating crops or getting out on the road. They have lots of room to roam and express themselves. For me this is the most important part of being a chicken keeper - keeping them happy. The ladies also have access to real DIRT for giving themselves dust baths.  This dust is important for keeping parasites and lice off their skin and feathers. Yet another reason to support free range chicken products! Enjoy.

Goodness people, I swear I’ve never seen a rainy spring extend this far into June. I know we usually complain about drought, as we may still yet, but we farmers reserve the right to complain about weather any time we feel like it. So now I will let you know what this weather means to us, and thus to you eaters! It’s not so much the actual quantity of water that’s the problem (and we are much drier here in Purcellville than Hana is in Vienna), it that it doesn’t dry up between rains. As keepers of indoor plants, you should have learned by now that plants like to dry out between waterings. They don’t want to wilt. But waterlogged soil invites fungus and makes it hard for the roots to breathe. As major tillers of soil, we need it to become dry enough to “work” so we can continue to plant new plants and seed new patches. This spring has been especially challenging in that regard.

We have a fairly loose plan of where different crops will go as the season begins. Then, the actual on-the-ground factors come into play. “Where is it dry enough to plant?” becomes the key question. Remember that any given field needs to go through a series of processes to go from covered with plants (winter cover crop of rye) to ready to plant a crop. Each of these steps requires dryish soil conditions.

Luckily, this season I have such excellent teammates that we have managed pretty well to continue to plant and sow in the given 10 minutes of perfect soil moisture - quick quick before the next rain comes. It also requires all machines work properly during that exact window of opportunity. So far, no major set backs, just things being on the late side.

Last Friday we enjoyed a full 5 hour pre-market harvest in the pouring rain. This is when you really find out how effective that rain gear actually is. As I told my folks, I’m pretty chipper with mudboots, a felt hat with a brim and rain pants. I get grumpy when the moisture reaches my core (chest and underarms) and then it’s pretty lousy out there. In order to not get stuck in the mud, we picked the load into a trailer (no need to protect from the hot sun). What an beautiful load.

And then after we pick, we need to wash all these greens and pack them up for market. That was two people for 2+ hours! The rest of us picked peas in the mud. My core got wet just in time to call it a day. We were a gorgeous bunch of farmers.

Farmland Solstice Supper

I’ve been long away from this site, fighting my local government, but things are somewhat calmer now and the farm is hopping.

One of the hardest concepts for consumers is the idea of patience. We have now been trained that our every whim can be satisfied within seconds (just ask wikipedia the definition…) or with in minutes (just drive to the store and get it) or within hours (order on-line, get it next day). But in farming you just have to wait. Seeds take as long as they please to germinate, plants take weeks to become mature enough to eat or at least to become grown-up enough to start mating (making flowers and then fruits!).

Let’s just track the lettuce that will be your dinner this week. The seeds were started in the greenhouse in early March. They become cute little plants in the greenhouse. They sat outside for a week, got ready for the “real” world of full sun, heat and cold. We transplanted them into the field on April 27.

Today, 5 weeks later they are big enough to become dinner. Lettuce is pretty much one of the fastest crops: only 8 weeks from start to finish. Other crops like tomatoes and eggplant are at least 4-5 MONTHS from seed to first fruit. And then our fall favorite, celeriac, is the grand champ of patience, 6+ months of growing time.

So, please understand, it takes time to grow food!  We do employ a few tricks of the trade, but they can only buy you days, not weeks or months.

Now, try to imagine planting fruit trees:  3+ years from planting to the very first harvest! Now, that’s a whole other take on patience. Thanks for your anxious questions about when something is ready. We’re having a nice long spring trying to make your wait as short as possible.