Friday, May 31, 2013

Market Menu for June 1, 2013

We will have the following items at the market for Saturday, June 1, 2013

Asparagus
Baby Spinach
Baby Spring Mix - Lettuce, Beet Greens, Kale
Baby Cilantro - Herb of the Week (see Recipes on the VF Blog)
Cress
Fresh Herbs - Mint, Oregano, Basil, French Tarragon, Rosemary
Dandelion Greens
Salsa
Shallots
Worm Farms - Red Wigglers, Worm Bedding
Potting Mix
Cipotle Smoked Peppers
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Jumbo Pansys
Herb Plants
- Rosemary
- Basil - Sweet Italian, Tai, Lemon, Holy
- Mint - Spearmint, Chocolate, Organge, Apple
- Tyme - English, Posey, Lemon
- Sage, Tricolor Sage
- Parsley - Curly, Flat Leaf
- Stevia
- Cilantro - Herb of the Week
- Hyssop
- Chives, Leeks
- Arugula
Tomato Plants
- Brandwine
- Early Girl
- Big Beef
- Yellow Pear
- Sweet 100
- Roma - Assorted
- Lemon Boy
Pepper Plants
- Red Bell
- Yellow Bell
- Jalapeno
- Habernaro
Watermelon Plants - Red, Yellow (Biggest Selection in Rochester)
Cucumber Plants
Pumpkin Plants
Bean Plants, Pea Plants
Dried Garlic
Dried Herbs
Lisa's Soap

Cilantro Recipes - Simple Rice and Lime

Simple Cilantro, Lime and Rice. It has rained enough this spring that I think we could grow rice in some of the flooded fields.  But until then get your rice at the local People Food Coop.

Ingredients:

- 6 cups just cooked rice, hot
- 1 cup baby cilantro leaves (Petersen's)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
- small sweet onion (Petersen's)
- table spoon lime juice
- Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

- While the rice is cooking, finely chop or put in the food processor, all ingredients
- While the rice is very hot combine with the rest of the ingredients
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes

Kick It Up:

- Add 1 chipotle pepper, seeded
- Add your favorite curry
- Add chicken broth to the cooking rice
- Use wild rice or mix 1/2 wild rice. Note wild rice takes a little longer to cook.

Cilantro Recipes - Cilantro Skillet Potatoes

Wow cilantro from the garden already, it will only be a few weeks before we will have those beautiful red potatoes. The two together are dynamite.

Ingredients:

- Fresh cilantro leaves, 1 bag (Petersen's)
- 1 garlic clove or garlic powder or on shallot (Petersen's)
- 1/4 cup olive oil or 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 lbs,Baby Red potatoes washed and cubed (Yukon Gold is OK too) (Petersen's)
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large cast iron skillet, cook the potatoes and oil until tender and lightly brown about 20 minutes. Add cilantro and garlic and stir for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

Cilantro Recipes - Roasted Salmon, Lime and Cilantro, with Asparagus

This week is our first cilantro harvest and we are sharing some of our favorite cilantro recipes. We will have fresh cilantro and abundant cilantro plants for those who want to grow their own.

Ingredients:

-Salmon Fillets (6-8 onces each)
- Sea salt and fresh ground tellichery pepper (just ground pepper will do). We get our pepper corns   from Penzy's in Minneapolis (check them out).
- 1/4 cup lime juice, or 1 tablespoon concentrate
- 2 table spoons soy sauce (low salt in desired)
- 8 drops stevian (herb plants available at Petersen's) or 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped baby cilantro leaves (Petersen's all season)
- 1-2 bunches of Asparagus (Petersen's in season)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange salmon fillets in a shallow pan or wrap in tin foil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle and the salmon is flaky.

Whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, and sweetner. Fold in the cilantro leaves. Spoon over fish and serve with asparagus.

You can substitute a white fish if you'd rather or we really like steele head trout when in season.

Cilantro Recipes - Mexican Pesto

In honor of our first week of baby cut cilantro leaves fresh from the garden and abundant cilantro transplants for those who want to grow their own.

Cilantro is our herb of the week and we are featuring some of our favorite recipes.

Mexican Pesto

Normally pesto is made from Basil, but cilantro makes an excellent green pesto in south of the border style.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup pepitas, hulled pumpkin seeds (you can also use walnuts or pine nuts)
- 1/2 bag of baby cilantro (Petersen's)
- 2 to 4 cloves of garlic or a tablespoon of garlic powder, one shallot can also be used (Petersen's)
- 1 cipotle pepper, seeded (reconstitute pepper by steeping in hot water for 15 minutes, drain)
   You can also use a fresh jalapeno or serrano when they are in season. (Petersen's)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons oliv oil
- Optional: 1/4 cup grated goat cheese, or Parmesan cheese (various market vendors)

Put nuts or seed in a food processor or blender; process until coarsely chopped (pulse). Add cilantro, garlic, chipotle, salt and oil. Process until smooth, at cheese (optional).  Add to meat, orzo pasta, rice or enjoy with your favorite bread as a bruschette.

How to Grow Cilantro - Our Featured Herb of the Week

How to Grow Cilantro. Cilantro is very easy to grow from seed or transplants. It is a key ingredient in fresh salsa and makes a spicy pesto.

If starting with plants, plant in the garden at the same level as the plants were in the pot. Water well and fertilize with fish emulsion every two weeks. Cut the plants frequently and succession plant for production all season.

If starting with seeds you can plant as soon as the frost is out of the ground as cilantro is very hardy (but not quite perennial in Minnesota). Plant about 1/2 inch deep one inch apart. Re-seed when the plants bolt. Cut frequently to keep production at its peak.

We use fish emulsion to fertilize, but cilantro doesn't need a rich environment. We plant rows about 4 to 6 inches apart in a 2 inch layer of compost. For market we cut the cilantro at the baby leaf stage instead of letting it get large and bunching. We put the cut leaves in a quart bag and they keep 7-10 days. We can also cut many more times at this stage.

We grow a slow to bolt variety called "Leisure". You can get seed from Johnny's.

Summer time production is many pounds per week and works well for summer salsa needs.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Top 10 Tomatoes for Minnesota

We have trialed over 100 varieties of tomatoes. Here are the ones we think are the best for our area in Rochester, Minnesota. We typically have transplants for these varieties available in the spring at the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday morning.

  1. Early Girl - medium slicer, good disease resistance
  2. Big Beef - Beefsteak
  3. Brandywine - Heirloom Beefsteak
  4. Prudens Purple - Heirloom Beefsteak
  5. Green Zebra - Green Heirloom Slicer
  6. Roma - Heirloom
  7. Viva Italia - Roma, good disease resistance
  8. Sun Gold - Cherry
  9. Grape - Cherry
  10. Yellow/Red Pear - Cherry

Monday, May 27, 2013

How to Plant Organic Carrots

How to plant carrots. We have the most awesome carrots from June to January. The key to an excellent supply of carrots is to plant carrots regularly throughout the season. I like to plant Early Nantes carrots because they are, well, early and we like the size and sweetness. They also do well in cool weather both spring and fall.

My favorite planting method is to use organic pelleted seed and an Earthway seeder with the carrot plate. This is the fastest and most accurate way to plant. You can also use unpelleted seed and the lettuce plate. This plants a heavier population but that just means you will need to leave the carrots in the ground a few more weeks to size up if the population is heavy. You can also plant either type of seed by hand.

I like to put  down a two inch thick strip of finished compost about 6 inches wide that we plant the carrots into about 1/2 inch deep. You can usually get by with two rows side by side about 3 inches apart.

Carrots are light feeders and I don't use any fertilizer other than the compost. If you use too much nitrogen the carrots get hairy. If you want to fertilize with something use kelp meal. The minerals make for scrumptious carrots and build the soil. If you have good compost you get good minerals and a weed free layer.

Carrots can take up to three weeks to emerge from the soil. For the earliest planting, I usually overseed with a light seeding of radishes. This helps protect the carrots and mark the row. The radishes are ready to pick about the time the carrots are coming up. So you get a two for one crop.

There is another approach to planting carrots that I have never used. It is call the "stale bed" method.  You till the bed shallowly several times about 5 days apart to reduce the weed population. Then plant the carrots. Just before the carrots emerge (about 7 days) you use a flame weeder to burn off any tiny weeds that are growing. The carrots then have a head start and you should be able to get by with only a light weeding a couple of weeks later. Carrot emergence is somewhat dependent on the soil temperature, so this method works the best in the summer when the soil temperature is warm.

Delicious crunchy carrots are the hallmark of the summer and fall garden.

Lisa was at Fareway in April buying some organic carrots and the lady at the register asked her if we were the family who grew the amazing carrots at the farmers market. She said they had bought a bag of carrots and ate half of them just getting to the car. That is pretty typical.

Come see us at the farmers market for the best carrots in Rochester.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Market Menu for May 25, 2013

We will have the following items at the market for May 25, 2013

Baby Spinach
Baby Lettuce
Fresh Herbs - Mint, Oregano, Basil
Dandelion Greens
Salsa
Shallots
Worm Farms - Red Wigglers, Worm Bedding
Potting Mix
Cipotle Smoked Peppers
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Jumbo Pansys
Herb Plants
- Rosemary
- Basil - Sweet Italian, Tai, Lemon, Holy
- Mint - Spearmint, Chocolate, Organge, Apple
- Tyme - English, Posey, Lemon
- Sage, Tricolor Sage
- Parsley - Curly, Flat Leaf
- Stevia
- Curry
- Cilantro
- Hyssop
Tomato Plants
- Brandwine
- Early Girl
- Big Beef
- Yellow Pear
- Roma - Assorted
Pepper Plants
- Red Bell
- Yellow Bell
- Jalapeno
- Habernaro
Watermelon Plants - Red, Yellow
Dried Garlic
Dried Herbs
Lisa's Soap

Friday, May 24, 2013

We Work For Our Customers So You Don't Have To

We have trialed 100's of varieities over the years to find some of the top varieties for our location, climate and our customers needs.

We sell some of these varieties as plant starts at the farmers market. Things like heirloom tomatoes and top hybrid cucumbers.

Customers have brought many interests and needs to our attention in the past. We have broadened our offerings from time to time based on customers requests.

Some of these requests were Purslane, Arugula, Sweet Corn, Dandelion Greens, and Heirloom Okra.

We have a broad knowledge of the things we grow.  How to grow them. How to process them for the best nutrition and flavor. How to prepare them for your table.

We will continue to add this knowledge to our posts.

If you have any additional things you'd like us to consider growing. Please let us know either by leaving a comment or seeing us at the market.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Best Selection of Watermelon Plants In the Area

We have the best selection of watermelon plants in the area. This year I gathered up seed samples of all the different watermelons I have tried over the years and started plants for the farmers market. From hybrids to heirlooms we have plants of all kinds.

Carolina Cross - 100 days, Hybrid, over 100 lbs. Red.
Dixie Queen - 90 days, 30 lbs, Red
Allsweet - 90 days, 25 lbs, Red
Farmers Sweet - 85 days, 20 lbs, Red
Congo - 90 days, 30 lbs, Red
Bush Sugar Baby - 75 days, 8 lbs Red
Kleckley's Sweet - 85 days, 35 lbs, Red
Moon and Stars - 100 days, 25 lbs, Red
Yellow Doll - 75 days, 8 lbs, Yellow
Yellow Lady - 75 days, 10 lbs, Yellow

We will be bringing these to market in the fall as finished melons. Watermelon is one of our favorites.

Our teens can't wait.

Plant at the same level as the seedling was grown at. Fertilize lightly around the base of the plant with fish emulsion. If you can get some well finished compost put a 2-3 inch layer about a foot wide around the base of the plant. If it is a wet year plant into a 2-3 inch elevated hill. If it is a dry year create a slight depression for the plant to collect the precious rain fall. Watermelon would like 1 inch of water a week up until about two weeks before harvest, then back off. Fertilize every 2-3 weeks with fish emulsion. Keep well weeded until the plants shade the ground and can out compete the weeds.

The melons are ripe when the spot that touches the ground turns a light yellow and the tendril next to the stem where the watermelon attaches turns brown and dries up. Typically the watermelon have a deep resonant sound when thumped when ripe. But the tendril is a more reliable indicator, at least for the grower.

I pick all of our melons at the peak of ripeness. Melons will keep 4 weeks or more from the time of harvest.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

What are Age Appropriate Vegetables for Little Children

What vegetables should you plant for little children. When they were 3 years old our children wanted to help in the garden. But little fingers and little seeds are a difficult mix. So what to do?


Monday, May 20, 2013

How to Plant Tomatoes

Tomatoes are easy to plant. Prepare the soil 8-10 inches deep. Dig a hole that is as deep as the distanced from the first true leaves to the root ball. Put the fertilizer in the hole (see below).  Put the plant in the hole. Put the soil in the hole and lightly press around the plant. Water thoroughly to settle the soil. Put a layer of compost 2-3 inches deep 18 inches from the stem of the plant (see below for explanation). Water one inch per week. Stop watering when the fruit starts to turn pink so you don't crack the fruit.

Our plants have been outside since the plants had their first true leaves. They are typically very sturdy and stocky from being in the sun, wind and rain. We get nearly 100% survival of transplants that way. They are not set back by transplanting outside and are way ahead of their green house peers.

If you have tomatoes with long stems, that have been in the green house too long. You can bury the stems in the ground, just leaving 3-4 inches of the plant exposed. The stem will root and the plant will do just fine. Just remember where the root ball is as you water for the first couple of weeks.

Use a good balanced organic fertilizer like fish emulsion (fish). You can reapply a dilute version of fish to the foliage of the plants and soak the roots every 3-4 weeks until the fruit starts to mature. You don't want to have fish on any ripe fruit. Fish will also counter act blossom end rot (a calcium deficiency that is typically triggered by water stress).

I do not recommend Miracle Grow as it over stimulates the plants. Yes, they look beautiful but MG creates a lot of foliage and not as much fruit. The fruit is often not as flavorful and MG is made of synthetic chemicals. When someone asks about tomato plant problems about 90% of the time they are using miracle grow.

Compost is the true miracle worker in the garden. The layer of compost suggested above is to keep the young plant from contacting the soil. Most of the viral diseases come from the soil. When you use compost, every time it rains you get compost tea. Compost also feeds the biology in the soil. You will find earth worms like crazy around your plants. Compost is like popcorn (my favorite snack) for earth worms.

If you don't have compost of your own, you can get a 5 gallon bucket for $0.50 at the waste to energy facility or buy it for $25 per ton in bulk.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

How to Grow a Worm Farm

A worm farm is a small scale project to multiply red wiggler worms for processing of kitchen scraps for educational purposes. We offer half pound containers of worms and worm bedding to start your worm farm. Once again this year we have an abundance of red wiggler worms from our compost. The presence of worms means the compost is in prime condition and is enriched by the worms. The worms will eat their weight of organic matter each day and they are very efficient.

Worms are low maintenance and very easy to care for. Start small with a medium size rubbermaid tub or 5 gallon pail and our worm bedding. Add the worms to the bedding and gradually add kitchen scraps over the first few days as the worms get adjusted to their new environment. Don't overdue it on the scraps. It will take time for the worms to multiply and get used to eating kitchen waste. Don't put meat or grease into the worm bin. Vegetable waste is the best.

Keep your bin in the garage or other space outside the house where it won't freeze or get too warm. Worms reach adult maturity in 60 days. You will already have some adult breeders in your container so they will multiply quickly. Add new bedding periodically, good compost, news paper strips soaked in water will work or you can get a refreshed bag of worm bedding from us. Keep the bedding moist but not too wet or the bedding will sour. Don't let the bedding dry out or the worms won't be able to breath well and become sluggish.

You can remove some of the bedding and use it to pot garden plants or use it in the garden. It will be enriched and the plants will love it.

Red wigglers thrive in a high organic matter enviornment such as a cool compost pile or leaf mold. They typically don't do well in the open garden environment. You can use a bright light to harvest some of the bedding by scraping the bedding  away from the worms and the worms will crawl deeper into the bedding. You can use the enriched bedding in the garden.

Worm farms make a great teaching tool or summer project. There are some great books in the library and some good articles on-line. If you have questions please stop by our booth.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Market Menu for May 18, 2013

We will have the following items at the market for May 18, 2013

Dandelion Greens
Salsa
Shallots
Worm Farms - Red Wigglers, Worm Bedding
Potting Mix
Cipotle Smoked Peppers
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Jumbo Pansys
Herb Plants
- Rosemary
- Basil - Sweet Italian, Tai, Lemon, Holy
- Mint - Spearmint, Chocolate, Organge, Apple
- Tyme - English, Posey, Lemon
- Sage, Tricolor Sage
- Parsley - Curly, Flat Leaf
- Stevia
- Curry
- Cilantro
- Hyssop
Tomato Plants
- Brandwine
- Early Girl
- Big Beef
- Yellow Pear
- Roma - Assorted
Pepper Plants
- Red Bell
- Yellow Bell
- Jalapeno
- Habernaro
Watermelon Plants - Red, Yellow
Dried Garlic
Dried Herbs
Lisa's Soap



How to Plant Peppers

Peppers are easy to plant. Prepare the soil 8-10 inches deep. Dig a hole that is as deep as the distanced from the first true leaves to the root ball. Put the fertilizer in the hole (see below). Put the plant in the hole. Put the soil in the hole and lightly press around the plant. Water thoroughly to settle the soil. Put a layer of compost 2-3 inches deep 18 inches from the stem of the plant (see below for explanation). Water one inch per week.

Our plants have been outside since the plants had their first true leaves. They are typically very sturdy and stocky from being in the sun, wind and rain. We get nearly 100% survival of transplants that way. They are not set back by transplanting outside and are way ahead of their green house peers.

Use a good balanced organic fertilizer like fish emulsion (fish). You can reapply a dilute version of fish to the foliage of the plants and soak the roots every 3-4 weeks until the fruit starts to mature. You don't want to have fish on any ripe fruit.

I do not recommend Miracle Grow as it over stimulates the plants. Yes, they look beautiful but MG creates a lot of foliage and not as much fruit. The fruit is often not as flavorful and MG is made of synthetic chemicals. When someone asks about pepper problems about 90% of the time they are using miracle grow.
 
Here is a trick to improve your fruit set. When the plants are about a foot tall and starting to bloom, spray the foliage with a dilute solution of Epsom salts. The dilution is one table spoon of salt to each gallon of water. The foliage will turn a dark green and the plants will bloom profusely. Epsom salts contains magnesium one of the components of chlorophyll which is why the leave turn dark green. Magnesium is also one of the core elements that plants need for reproduction. This is very inexpensive, you can get a pound of salt for a couple of dollars. Use the left over salt for a foot bath.

Compost is the true miracle worker in the garden. The layer of compost suggested above is to keep the young plant from contacting the soil. Most of the viral diseases come from the soil. When you use compost, every time it rains you get compost tea. Compost also feeds the biology in the soil. You will find earth worms like crazy around your plants. Compost is like popcorn (my favorite snack) for earth worms.

If you don't have compost of your own, you can get a 5 gallon bucket for $0.50 at the waste to energy facility or buy it for $25 per ton in bulk.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

You Don't have to Get a Student Loan to be a Student

"You Don't Have to Get a Student Loan to be a Student" is a guest post by Andrea Petersen our daughter who is a freshman at Northwestern College in Saint Paul. She wrote this in February 2013 and it was published in the Autumn Ridge Church newsletter ARC Lines, in support of a sermon series on Generosity.

This post is dedicated to all those juniors and seniors who are considering their educational futures and who can still avoid their own "fiscal cliff".

We had quite a discussion about this topic when Andrea was a senior. It is a very important topic to address if you have high school or college age children. This is told from her perspective and contains much wisdom.

The farming corollary to this is "You Don't Have to Go Into Debt to be a Farmer".

Statistics from recent years have shown that over two-thirds of the class of 2011 graduated with student loans, the average of which equaled $26,600. Having that much debt, or any debt, is a huge hindrance to life after college. Many recent college graduates are discovering that they cannot work in their chosen field because they must pay the loan bills whether they have the money or not. Young people thinking about attending college need to care about the money now so that when they graduate, they are not in bondage to money and can do and be all who God called them to be in the future. This isn’t easy to do, and it isn’t what our culture is telling us to do, but this is my story, the story of a debt-free college student.

When I first started my college search, I began looking at Christian schools with high-quality music programs because that was the type of school in which I was interested. As I began narrowing down my options, I kept looking at the price tags that came with these schools, a bit overwhelmed with how much money this would cost me in the end. Considering that I am pursuing a Music Education degree, for which the number of credits is so high that it usually takes 4.5 to 5 years to complete, this particularly concerned me. I knew that I needed to apply for as many scholarships as possible, so I auditioned for music scholarships, applied for honors programs, and completed numerous scholarship applications for outside scholarships to put towards my college tuition. After a while I grew very weary of this, but it truly paid off in the end. By working hard in high school and keeping my GPA high, I already was eligible for the highest academic scholarships at all of the schools to which I applied. After receiving offers for music and honors scholarships from all seven schools to which I applied, I was then left to make the decision of which school to decide to attend.

This was not an easy process, and there were many discussions about money along the way with my parents. I remember one conversation in which I said, “I don’t care about the money, Dad. I just want to pursue music because this is what I know God has made me to do and I want to go here (referring to the most expensive education on my list).” I didn’t really mean that I don’t care about the money; what I meant was that I do not care that I may have a lower-paying salary by pursuing music education if I end up teaching in a public or private school. Teachers do not make a lot of money, and I was and am okay with this.

What that conversation with my dad showed me, however, was that if I don’t care about the money and affordability of school now, then I will be forced to care about how much money I make when I graduate. If I had chosen a school that I could not afford through a combination of my contributions, my parents’ contributions, and scholarships, then I would have been forced to take out student loan(s). If I had taken out student loans, I would then be held accountable to whomever I owed money. Though I would be doing what I wanted and thought was right at the time, I would later be held in bondage to that money if I borrowed from someone else. This bondage could very well limit me to working a job that I didn’t want to do simply to pay the bills. Not only that, but it also might prevent me from doing what I believe God calls me to do because I am in bondage to a different master (money). This isn’t just my idea; this is truth from God. Proverbs 22:7 says that, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Instead of being servants of God, we become servants of money by borrowing it from someone else. We become our lender’s slave, unable to follow God each step of the way because we did not make wise decisions in the first place. By being faithful with money in the beginning, God will be able to use me more effectively in the future and know me to be faithful with more.

You may be wondering, what did I decide? Well, my final decision was not to attend my top two choices of schools because the travel and tuition costs would have been way over my affordability. I decided to attend Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN and I am so glad I made this decision. Though I didn’t think so at the time, I now see that this is God’s best for me in regard to place, distance from home, affordability, and community. My contributions, my parents’ contributions, and the scholarships I have received have provided me with enough money to attend for 4 years without taking out any student loans as long as I keep working each summer to make up the difference that still remains. I am also blessed to have a job on campus tutoring music theory students. Not only is this providing me with a little money with which to live so that I do not take out of my tuition savings, but it’s also something I love to do right in my field! I am blessed to start this as a freshman, which will give me much experience over the next 4 years in teaching and working with people who will be younger than I as I get older.

You may remember that I had said that a Music Education degree takes over 4 years to complete. I also am planning on double majoring in Music Composition, adding another semester’s worth of credits into the mix. While this may look impossible (and feel impossible, too!), I did come into school with a few credits. I transferred 11 music theory credits from PSEO, brought 4 credits from AP testing and 4 credits from CLEP testing, tested out of 3 more credits of music, and was blessed to test out of a high-level music theory course (2 credits) that I had already taken but for which I had already received credit due to the overlap of music theory at NWC compared to my PSEO work. I also plan to take some summer courses online or at RCTC. Though my credit load is more than almost any other on campus, I plan to double major in two areas of music and still graduate in 4 or 4.5 years.

By God’s wisdom (through my parents and His Word) I chose a school affordable for me, by trusting Him I took the step to major in what He has made me to do and for which I have great passion, and by His grace I am making that happen, debt-free, as He created us to be. The only Person to whom I want to be indebted is Christ, and so far He is enabling me to make that happen. All glory be to Him!

Andrea has just completed her freshman year and really loves the Music Education program. So far she is right on track to get her degree debt free. She is very committed to this and knows semester by semester what classes she has to take. One of the best ways to accomplish this goal is to have a plan and aggressively manage your classes.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

How to Grow Bullet Proof Transplants


How to grow bullet proof transplants. We start our transplants in mid March or early April. We use sunny window for the first several weeks (You can also use fluorescent lights to start plants, cheap shop lights work just fine). When the plants have their first two true leaves the plants are gradually transitioned to the outside. We have a sunny porch on the east side of the house where we harden off the baby plants.

The plants are then left out in the sun, wind and rain from this time on. This results in very stocky robust plants that are field ready.  When the plants have 4-5 leaves they are potted up to 4 inch pots ready for market or for field. We prepare plants for market in exactly the same way we do it for planting in our own fields. Plants will typically double in size in 7-10 days.

Our plants are way more hardy than those from the local green houses. Typically the green house grown plants are tall, lush and lanky. When transplanted to garden or field conditions they need to be protected and often suffer severe set-backs in growth. They will eventually recover but are usually set back by a couple of weeks.

We make our own potting mix from our own compost, peat, pearlite and a small charge of organic fertilizer. The mix is light weight disease free and works very well with small plants. The potting mix is available for sale at our booth at the farmers market.

Beyond the initial fertilizer charge which lasts two weeks we typically fertilize the plants with a dilute mix of fish emulsion. We water with this mix once every week.

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Market Debrief

The Market Debrief  is one of our favorite family meetings. When our children have kids of their own one of the things they will tell them is about is our family round table after the Farmers Market. This usually takes place over lunch:

In the Debrief each of the children would share stories about things that happened at the market that day. Things we learned, things that went well and sometimes things that didn't go so well.

There have been many funny things that have happened over the years.
  • Reed had one customer that wanted to negotiate a $1.50 bunch of radishes for $0.50. We had some very nice radishes and Reed was immovable. The customer kept asking for a better price in increments of $0.10. How about $0.60, then $0.70, etc. Until they got to $1.50. At which point Reed said, "Yep, that was the price."  Then the customer gave him a $0.50 tip and paid $2. He said that was the most entertainment he'd had all day and he admired Reed's negotiating skills.
  • When she was 10, Andrea would sell lots and lots of flowers. We'd bring 15-20 buckets to a market. She would sometimes go around to the front of our tables to work with customers on arranging them and helping with special requests for colors or sizes. A woman stopped by dressed very very nicely (at least by farmers market standards), clearly on the way to a special occasion.  Andrea took both of her hands, looked into her eyes and with a big smile said you are dressed very beautiful and I have the perfect bouquet of flowers to match your outfit. The lady about melted and said, "I love your daughter, that really cheers me up". She was visiting a friend in the hospital who had cancer.
  • Jenna is our family artist.  She does a lot of work with herbs and potted flowers. Her signs and tags are beautifully arranged and written. The first market of the season  about 5 years ago she was arranging some pansy's with bright festive blossoms and a photographer from the Post Bulletin stopped by to take some pictures. Her picture was on the front page above the fold. (Must have been a slow news day). We had 8 articles in the PB that year. We have some very full scrap books.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

A Mothers Day Blessing for Lisa

A mothers day blessing for Lisa and all the other mothers of young and not so young children.

Ten ways Lisa blesses her family, friends, church, and community.

  1. She prays for her family. She texts her family frequently to see how she can serve them. She makes many trips to school and college to participate in her children's activities.
  2. She makes our favorite meal for the 1000th time even though she'd rather have something else. She gets up early to make lunches before school. (Even though teenagers are able to make them themselves, as evidenced by the fact that they can make a lunch when mom is gone. Maybe more like they'd rather make lunch than have dad do it.) She makes great meals for our farm workers.
  3. She takes a college course in music theory so she can better understand what her oldest daughter is doing. (What if Reed wants to be a brain surgeon? The prerequisites alone could take years.)
  4. She does laundry daily during the summer just to keep up with the chore clothes. (There are a lot of chore clothes.)
  5. She buys a good used car from time to time. (When she bought the Jeep it was so nice that Reed our 15 year old said why would anyone buy a new vehicle for 4x more...exactly.)
  6. She cares for her parents and speaks with them often. (Including a recent surprise trip to Iowa to visit.)
  7. She serves at school on numerous occasions.She serves at church in the orchestra and teaching Dave Ramsey material. (Wow she is good at that. She taught twice this week.) She accompanies her children when they play musical instruments.
  8. She spends every Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market as a farmer vendor. She shops at the market for as much of our family groceries as possible. She encourages other farmers.
  9. She uses her new sewing machine to make quilts, hand bags and dresses for her family. (She got a great deal on the new one and resold her old one for a great price to a happy new family.)
  10. She helps many friends less fortunate than we are and donates extra produce to Channel One.
Look at the close parallels to a great mom's activities and this scripture...

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark to provide food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field (or car) and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the pour and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothes in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments (and soap) and sells them and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothes with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: many women do noble things but YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the rewards she has earned, and let her words bring her praise at the city gates.

Proverbs 32:10-31

Any comments for Lisa, a great mom?

Friday, May 10, 2013

Market Menu for May 11, 2013

We will have the following items at the market for May 11, 2013

Dandelion Greens
Salsa
Cipotle Smoked Peppers
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Jumbo Pansys
Herb Plants
 - Rosemary
 - Basil - Sweet Italian, Tai, Lemon, Holy
 - Mint - Spearmint, Chocolate, Organge
 - Tyme - English, Posey, Lemon
 - Sage
 - Parsley - Curly, Flat Leaf
 - Stevia
 - Curry
 - Cilantro
Tomatoes
 - Brandwine
 - Early Girl
 - Big Beef
 - Yellow Pear
 - Roma
Peppers
 - Red Bell
 - Yellow Bell
 - Jalapeno
 - Habernaro
Dried Garlic
Dried Herbs
Lisa's Soap

Radishes a Disarming Project for Jenna

These stories are from when the girls were very young, June of 1998.

We wash the radishes and count out 10 (or so) and then put a rubber band around them to get them ready for market. Jenna was helping bunch the radishes and asked me if she could put the NECKLACE on the bunch. I usually remove the yellowed baby leaves from the radishes. Jenna wanted to know if it hurt the radishes when I pulled their ARMS OFF. I told her that it didn't hurt and it made them look pretty. So she was merrily helping me DISARM the radishes.

Andrea had a garden party one Friday afternoon to pick radishes with her friend David. They picked and packed 40 lbs of radishes. Andrea was supervising and the end result was excellent. The radishes were spotless, stacked in neat rows, in the tubs. I picked another 40 lbs after I got home. They were premium radishes picked at the peak of flavor and color.

I figured we had so many that we'd have some left over. To my surprise, people hauled them away so fast that we were sold out in about an hour. The cloudy and rainy weather the previous couple of weeks was just perfect for radishes. We did a repeat performance the following week.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How to Grow and Use Dandelions

You know those annoying yellow blossoms that fill your yard in the spring. Well the greens from those plants prior to blooming are very bitter and very good for you.

We intentionally plant crops of Italian Dandelions for harvest all summer long. These are cousins of the yard variety and do not bloom the same way.

We take several pounds of greens to the Farmers Market each week and often sell them all.

Dandelion greens are full of vitamins and are a diuretic. The bitter flavor stimulates the digestion.

Settlers used to make salads of these greens after the long winter to improve their health and vitality.

Monday, May 6, 2013

How to Grow Pansies, the Edible Flower

How to grow pansies. Pansy's are about the easiest flowers on the planet to care for. They are initially started from tiny seed and grow slowly. So are typically grown for about 12 weeks under sodium arc lamps in the green house from around Christmas time to March. At this point the baby plants called plugs are transferred to packs, pots or baskets for their ultimate destination.

If given enough room to grow they will develop into large and prolific blooming 4-5 inch plants. Most pansy's are way over crowded and do not develop well. We plant ours in jumbo 4 inch pots (The pansies below are planted in 4 inch jet black pots).

The blossoms of pansy's are edible and can be used to garnish salads. One of Reed's favorite shock the customer ploys is to grab a pansy blossom and eat it. Some how I guess he thinks that is supposed to sell more Pansy's. I think people probably just think he is weird.

If they are crowded in packs or baskets the pansy's will grow vertically and not fill out well. If they are separated later they just fall over because they are used to leaning on their neighbors.

Pansy's like fish emulsion fertilizer similar to most other garden plants.

Pansy's like cool weather and will tolerate some shade. Plant them early as they tolerate frost well. We often have them freeze solid in pots or packs.

Our pansies survived the recent 15 inch show completely unprotected. They looked fresh as a pansy when the snow melted.

Yellow and Blue colors sell very well at our Farmers Market. This is Minnesota Vikings Country!

See us at the Rochester Farmers Market for you spring pansy needs.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Praise for the Children

Parents should take every opportunity to praise their children for a job well done. Teens know that it is our job as parents to praise them so they may not always take us seriously. It is very cool as a parent to have adults that are interacting with our teens give them positive feedback.

Every market a handful of customers will take the time to stop and tell Lisa or I about something good our teens have done. The kids always have a big smile and stand a little taller when someone tells us about the good job they have done. For example:
  • Cooking is becoming a lost art and we do quite a bit of explaining how to use herbs or vegetables. Our kitchen becomes a summer time laboratory for new ideas and things that our customers share with us. But it isn't unusual for one of our customers to stop by and thank us for a new recipe or preparation technique shared by our children.
  • We teach our teens to always give the customer the benefit of the doubt.  Andrea sold several buckets full of sunflowers to a lady for a weekend party a couple of years ago. The lady stopped by the next week and told her that the flowers were fine for the party but lost some their perkiness during the week. Sunflowers typically will only keep a week under the best of conditions. But Andrea replaced all of them. This lady is a life long customer and still reminds us of how well Andrea handled that situation. This is a lesson Andrea will never forget.
  • Our teens are recognized as a resource and having a high level subject matter expertise. They get asked questions about the 75 different varieties of vegetables we grow all summer long. If they don't know the answer they go look it up. So when one of our customers compliments them they have earned that praise.
  • We do a lot of weird things like make charcoal from wood on the farm.  Reed helped me make charcoal so was able to explain what we did. The customers thought it was fun hearing him and he enjoyed getting the credit for his contribution. I haven't met a teen boy yet that didn't like building a good bonfire (safely of course), which is part of the process of making charcoal.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Once in a Blue Snow

Today Rochester Minnesota and surrounding area experience a weather event that statistically only happens once every 1000 years.

We got 15 inches of snow on May 2.

This is 4 times more snow than we have had in "all" the recorded dates in May going back to 1886. This is 4 times more than every snow fall in the whole month of May for the last 127 years of recorded history. It could be more snow than we have had since the last ice age. Move over global warming a new crisis is upon us.

This spring does kinda feel like an ice age. We have had snow every weekend in April and now the first week in May. The corn and bean farmers haven't turned a wheel and the soil temps are hovering in the mid 30's.

The kids were off of school yesterday, but it wasn't much fun since we were out of electricity the whole day. Trees were down everywhere and it took all day for crews to get power restored. We are only two miles down the road from the electric coop offices so I thought that would work in our favor, but not so much.

Even the Internet, that great artery of the life blood of social media, was frozen due to the power being down. So everyone was reading books and trying to keep warm. How '80's, as in 1880's.

When I was pushing snow in the morning with the 4 wheeler before I went to work (we only had 8-10 inches then), I noticed that the snow was very very blue colored. The local meteorologist said that was because it was so wet and heavy. He said there is the equivalent of two inches of rainfall locked in the matrix. If this melts gradually and soaks in, this will go a long way to restoring some much need subsoil moisture. So even a record blue snow has a silver lining.

Needless to say, I'm a little behind on our little corner of agricultural Eden. Probably good I delayed planting our tomato and pepper transplants a couple of weeks. We already have some six inch tall plants that need to be potted to bigger pots (Friday's project). Last year we were harvesting greens several weeks ago. This year they are barely up.

I am convinced that when the weather man says the average temperature is such and such for the day. They get that number from averaging all the extremes together. Average weather seems like a mythological thing like unicorns and blue snow.

Rochester's outdoor farmers market starts Saturday. That will be fun.

Got to go rototill some snow!

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Jedi Master of Root Growing

Reed is our Jedi root grower. He has done an amazing job with this since he was very young. He is very good at planting onions and can do about twice as many plants as two other people.

Two years ago he'd pick, clean and sell 300 lbs of sweet summer onions a week at our market. He would completely bury a six foot long table with beautiful sweet onions. He called this strategy "Pile them high an kiss 'em goodbye".

He also loves radishes both to eat and to sell. 100 lbs of bunch radishes a week was not unusual.

Potatoes is the other specialty crop he excells in. He digs and clean about 100 lbs of nice little baby potatoes a week. When he was little he wasn't heavy enough to get the fork in the ground so we would work together, with me digging and Reed picking the potatoes off of the plant and carefully putting them in the tub we picked into.

He is also very good at leeks. He peels them and clips them, and afterwards they shine; a beautiful shade of white.