December 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The point of this blog has always been to provide a format to record my experiences as a young farmer and the many thoughts that go along with that experience that others might find interesting. My thinking has been that at times, other farmers who come here to read about my farming travails and explorations might benefit or share their ideas, or learn- something along these lines. I have used this blog as an open book of rough ideas and experiences- unstilled and raw. I write them quickly and oftentimes at the end of a long day or during a break when I think I have something reasonable to say. As with any experience, farming is multi-faceted and there are many factors in the success or failure of an enterprise- whether they come from the realm of a personal, or family event, or a climactic one, or financial. All of these rough writings will find their way into a book in about 5 years, and in order to complete the process which begins with these entries, research is added, themes are found and examples pulled from these writings and an editor makes the assemble possible- and coherent!
I am going to change the rules now as I will begin recording sensitive material which I don't want floating all over the ethosphere. I will be pursuing some business ideas that could turn into something great or.... could just fizzle out as many do. I have a few up my sleave and now is the time to pursue them as I feel I have completed my internship. I will be making a single entry each month. So this entry is it for the month of December. The remaining entries will be by subscription only and willl be free to the current CSA members of Howard's End Farm and to farmers, former interns, and to most of those following this blog. Those in this category who would like to subscribe just send me an email or tell me at the CSA pickup that you would like to recieve the "writings" and I will say ok and each time I make an entry, an email will go out to the "group". If I don't know you, you will need to introduce yourself and tell me who you are, about your farm, etc. by a hand-written letter. Believe it or not but it takes time to do this- and as this year progresses, there will be a greater emphasis on research. If you are not a farmer or a student studying agriculture or some other related subject, you will also need to send me $1. That will be the cost of subscription for a year. Please also include why you want to subscribe. Mail your letter to: Howard's End Farm 345 Hidden Valley Lane, Howard, Pa. In 2012, I expect to start including images of some of the projects, concerns that I am writing about.
Sunday, December 11
Our coldest night thus far and because I forgot to keep a trickle of water coming out of the faucet (the pipes are not completely insulated), the water lines have frozen. Hopefully the manifold didn't crack, but it probably did which means it will have to be replaced. In the meantime, I haul water by the bucket ful and get busy on completing the insulation. It's a sunny day and the 55 hen chicks that arrived Friday are happy little campers and carry on an incessant chirp zipping about in the big galvanized livestock waterer I've got them in. Their accomodations will be upgraded either tonight or tomorrow to a much larger, 30 square foot square plus pen with plastic liner and peat for flooring. These chicks are my future egg layers and will join the other remaining 8 near the end of May. They will remain in the apartment for the first four weeks of their life before being moved to the new hen house which I plan to complete by the end of the month or beginning of the next- I will probably have to work under halogen lights in the dark to complete the task as my work roster is very full.
Today I will transplant the 30 or so globe artichoke seedlings that I have into their permanent places in one of the rows of hoop house #9. I am going to start seedlings for lavender, tarragon, basil and more artichokes immediately since they will be able to go out so much sooner than usual with the hoops. There is a great crop of young dill out there which I have cover with straw and row cover. I may transplant it into pots however in bring it indoors since I do not expect it could survive the winter in its' current exposed bed. Firewood has to be cut today, potatoes dug, garlic planted, top rail and ribs added to hoop house #1 and squash moved to a more secure location to get it safe from whatever is dining on it.
I went to a paty last night at O's and the dress theme was 80's off ice party which made for some very amusing dress. I came as my scruffy self though I had managed to wear a clean shirt. There was a beer drinking game which involved getting ping pong balls into cups, a number of people who spoke French so I got to practice a bit and be embarrased at the attempt. When I decided that it was time for me to depart- around 9:30, B grabbed me and told me there was someone who was interested in farming.... I finally got out at 11, many conversations later feeling that I had talked too much but there was always someone asking me another question... It helps to know that you are appreciated. All the hard times melt away with that appreciation and cheering on.
December 17.
The last two distributions- todays' and next Tuesdays will be cancelled. I am simply worn out and the CSA is temporarily bereft of funds until I can get to New York and do some work for clients there. Finally broke down and bought a new, though inexspensive, chainsaw. The old one doesn't care to start in the cold. It works well and I have already cut posts for two more hoop houses and cleared another section of brush and scrub trees out of what will be a lightly forested area with walnuts and meadow where the chicken and rabbit tractors will be run.
Howard's End Farm grossed just over $45,000 for 2011. Now comes the hard part. Breaking down that number into every last cent recieved and spent. The receiving will be easy actually. It will be the spending that will tell me what changes I need to make. Full details will be available for those subscribing (see beginning of this month for details). Some of the essential changes which will have to be implemented for the 2012 season in order to double the gross income are as follows:
1. Get the irrigation system set up and installed. Without this improvement I may as well call it a day. This includes installing an 8,000 gallon reservoir and all the piping, drip tape, etc.
2. Mulch as many crops as possible. Try the new degradable mulch? Use pigs and goats to pre weed and till. Free food for them and free tilling and root clearing for us. A proven workable method. I will try the degradable mulch this year but will also use plastic mulch. With the mulches and drip tape, we can plant a crop and spend much less time weeding and watering which will doom any commercial operation due to their gross inefficiency.
3. Get as much compost/soil work done over the winter as possible. With the erection of the hoop houses, all of that warmed soil will be a song to prep. 10 hoop houses gives us 1/4 acre under cover.
4. Get the 10 hoop houses built by March; half by the end of December, the other half by March if not sooner. Earlier and later crops. The hoop houses should increase total crop production by 50%!
5. Raise chickens. I finally know what I've been doing wrong. They are very sensitive to temperature and if you don't regulate it very carefully, they get stressed and die. We will raise 75 chickens a month. It won't be enough but we will be able to manage this number. We will have to get the hen house built.
6. Raise ducks, rabbits,geese and pigs. All can be raised in tractors or moveable electric pens and on grass. Very little grain is needed. For the pigs, we will plant mangels in the fields they will be tilling and feed them spent barley from a local brewery and slops from restaurants (free). Mostly they will eat off the pasture.
7. Build a cabinet for interns. It will be of straw or cordwood or wattle and daub or a combination of these. The floor will be of hammered clay (cement added). I'll get used but servicable windows from Kentucky (recycled) and make a nice door. Maybe the walls will be surfaced with saw mill bark lumber. They will cost close to nothing, be very comfortable and melt into the surrounds.
8. Increase market sales by 300%. Sounds like alot but they were rather low ($2,700). An increase over the previous year but we should be able to do $9,000 this year even with the increase in the CSA membership to 100.
9. Introduce online catalog sales. In the works now with the kickstarter gifts that have to be produced and delivered. Ceramics, painted furniture, wood cut note cards, T-shirts, garden architecture and sculpture, jewelry and value added products are all planned. I will also be applying to the arts fest for a booth using some of these products. It will be interesting to see what happens.
10. Initiate Gourmet dinner series. Once a month, a member or Howard's End will host a themed gourmet dinner for CSA members. Themed could mean, Italian, French, Mid-Eastern or other regional cooking or Macrobiotic or some other theme. We need to socially connect the food to the members and introduce the members to one another.
Thursday, December 22.
There are days when I am tied to the idea that I can't go out and shovel mud in the wet or do construction in the residence or relieve the truck of it's two cubic yards of compost which awaits its assignment under the tarp keeping the rear tires in a state of unrelaxed compression. I am stuck in mental mud so I sort through the bank account one month at a time re-recording that which the bank has for me to my system of divisions. Money spent on gas, produce, building materials, market fees. Monies debited for seeds and seedlings, monies removed for insufficient monies. I'm always late with the accounting reports to members because I hate doing it (never say always...) and when I go to the bank's website I am nervous because I expect the news to be bad. A nervous shudder flips like a mini jolt of lightning the instant before I click the login button. I must have done it a dozen times today and each time it was the same. I am nearly done with the recording of monies spent and there is going to be some good news. First, I don't have to give up and walk away from this insanity because the whole "vision" is an absurd failure. It isn't. In fact it is showing rays of real potential. I just need to find a way to hang on. My phobia arrises when the bank account has drifted downward, creeping inexorably towards the mouth of Hades. The financial accounts zip up, around and down like an old wooden roller coaster and I creek along the way, unable to get off the ride because I haven't yet decided that I can. During times like these that most business entreprenuers have the pleasure of taking such a ride, it's always good to have a passenger along with you. Some one to remind you of what is really happening and to cheer you over the rough bumps. Match.com doesn't provide this service, and I intend to send in a complaint or at least a strong suggestion that they do. I know I am misguided in this thinking- if there was such as service one might possibly find it under "Cheer.com". We've just passed the winter solstice and the days don't seem all that short. I seem shorter, especially due to the depth of the mud which seems to be on the rise. Mud doesn't really bother me but the truck sure hates it. Dressing to the nines in rubber- booties, pants (always a very fashionable USDA regulated yellow), rain slicker and one of the caps the shrimp fishermen sport makes me feel like a real farmer. A REAL farmer.