Winter Farming

Are you wondering what's happening on the farm in the winter? Now that the fruit has been harvested I bet you're thinking it's the life of Riley on the farm?

Au contraire mon frere!

As soon as the last truck load of apples departs, we begin winterizing all of the remaining equipment and finalizing all of the end of the year book work for each of our orchard blocks. We also take some time to prepare around the home place for cold weather.

The end of year book work includes a meeting with each of our landlords with whom we farm (we have four)  and a reflective meeting between Bill and I regarding each of our own properties, p.s. the latter is an ongoing event:) We also meet with our farm lender, Alan, to review our progress and plan for the next year. This year we proposed adding an additional 50 acres in Union Valley to our farming operation. Yesterday Alan approved it, so yee haw after we tie up a few more loose ends we'll be farming 132 acres!

The increased acreage will require detailed planning this winter as we decide what our labor needs will be and the hierarchy of leadership. We had our first meeting today in the shop with a fire in the stove and our top three employees. Using a large visual showing each of the different blocks we're farming including Union Valley, Bill asked everyone to think about what our labor needs will be for 2012. Our guy in the field gave us a report on the remaining Manson Grower employees at Union Valley. We all agreed someone experienced with the Union Valley block in spraying /tractor driving, irrigation and frost protection would be a huge benefit to us during our first year. We finished our meeting with a plan to recruit one of those people.

Meanwhile, back at the home place I wanted to share some of the clean up and winterizing.

We use to have a large cottonwood tree where the guys are working.... You may notice a stack of wood to the left? We hope the lopsided pine tree will grow more evenly without the cottonwood next door.

We're looking inside the Ritz, I mean the chicken coop. Notice the insulated quilted door flaps? Those are added to keep cold winter air from blowing in on a cold winter night.

In addition to the door flaps, I've added a heat lamp. All of the ladies appreciate it and reward us daily with eggs throughout the winter.

Christmas lights are the final touch. Every night it looks like a party in the coop. Of course I'm jealous, so I have to check it out every now and then.

That's Miss Kitty ruling the roost. I think I was witnessing a squawk off but I'm not sure. If you're wondering, that's Big June watching me take the picture. You can't get anything by Big June.

Here's winterized Leo. He gets a heated pad. I've since added another layer of winterization to his bed that I'll show you next time. It includes a protective wind flap. He really approves of the upgrade.

This is winterized Garth and Marlo. They get the heat lamp in the garage. It's a huge hit since they've decided to share the bed. Marlo hangs out there even during the day.

And don't worry I haven't forgotten about the festive winter ale. We should be bottling in the next day or two!

Thanksgiving Past

T'was the night before Thanksgiving, and I was dog tired. We had had a big day of farm book work and had just sat down to dinner. I had just put my lips to my wine glass for a slow soothing sip of merlot, when Bill jumped out of his chair announcing he needed Parmesan cheese for his spaghetti. Then both Duncan and Felicity became alive from their passed out repose on the couch and raced to the door barking like only small dogs can do. If I was an old lady with severe hearing loss, it would be a perfect arrangement but alas.....it's not.....a perfect arrangement. So Bill let them out into the night and proceeded to the garage to get the cheese from the freezer. Both little dogs raced by the dining window barking and spinning out in the gravel, and I said to myself, "God, I hope a coyote gets them" as I finally took a sip of wine.

All of a sudden as if on cue, I heard one of the dogs cry out in a shrill scream and then the other one. Fortunately, I was still in my exercise garb including my GT-2110 Asics running shoes. I knew it was up to me alone to save the dogs since Bill was buried in a freezer looking for cheese. I flew out the door, and as I was running I heard a coyote call out by the chicken coop. Thanks to my Asics, I was notably fleet of foot and nimble as I ran down the stairs and jumped onto the lawn. I saw Felicity half way to the lawn, and she was fine. My land speed increased as I passed her and hit the lawn looking for Duncan. I quickly realized this was pointless since I was in a complete blackout. Then he silently trotted up to me. The three of us high tailed it to the basement door where we discovered we were locked out. I beat on the door hoping Bill had found his cheese and would be available again.

Eventually, he came down totally mystified as to why everyone had disappeared and then reappeared in the basement. I explained the drama, and we both stared at Duncan as he stood shaking. I found a scratch on his back that was brand new. Evidence of the attack! Poor Dunky. We applied some antibacterial spray to Dunk's scratch, and I put a coyote survivor scarf on him.

I know you want to see his scratch..... OK, I'll show you.

Duncan is a Bichon so he has tender skin.

T'was the morning of Thanksgiving and Bill and I had a to do list that was a mile long. We were hosting the dinner, so there was no time to waste. I cranked the Marvin Gaye Pandora station and began jiving as I cleaned house, peeled potatoes, and made stuffing. Bill started smoking the turkey, making dinner rolls, cleaning windows and taking pictures of squirrels.

See I'm not even kidding.

The secret to Bill's efficiency was tucking all of his supplies in his overalls and strategic window choice as he worked outside cleaning windows. He did the kitchen windows as he baked his rolls, so he could see them when he directed me to open the oven door. He did have to out-shout Marvin Gaye or knock on the window to get my attention.

Finally, most everything was done.

Guests were due to arrive in a few minutes, so I told Bill it was time to get cleaned up. He got ready to head up for a shower. I was looking out my clean windows marveling at all the sights that I could see through a clean window, then I saw this!



Do you see the coyote in the middle of the picture? He was back in our yard in the middle of the day!

Bill had already dropped his overalls, but that didn't slow him down. He armed himself and headed out into the yard. I said, "Don't hurt him!" He just looked at me. In my mind, I had to make a choice...

This.....

Or this....

So I didn't stop him.

Bill's a very good shot, so it didn't end well for the coyote. I helped Bill dispose of him and thanked him, but I still felt bad for the coyote. All of this was done in a matter of minutes. As you can see Bill still has his slippers on. He didn't have to remove much to shower, so he was ready by the time our guests arrived.

And that's how we "get 'er done on the farm!"

The Blueberry

The Blueberry is for sale and that's so sad. She's a good Blueberry that drove both of our daughters safely to and from college over miles and miles of highways. I bet you were expecting to read about a fruit? Sorry, but this is about the end of the Explorer era on the farm.

A month ago, I washed her preparing her for the used car market. It was a sentimental time for the two of us during her photo shoot. I wanted her to know how appreciated she was for her dependability with the girls during their teenage years. As you can see, she's so majestic in her royal blueness, so strong with her V8 engine, so flashy with her sun roof, leather seats, climate control and bug guard. Let me show you inside The Blueberry now that she is clean and shiny!

Impressive! Don't you want to buy her?

Cleaning the Blueberry was exciting. Both of our girls drove her resulting in some historical artifacts buried in the seats like this matchbook for instance.



Interesting, I thought to myself as I studied the front.

So which of my lovely daughters collected this?

After lots of artifacts were collected and disposed of, I moved to the vacuuming part of the job. Here my heart had a jolt when I encountered this creature next to the vacuum hose hook up.

Meet Wilma the black widow spider. I didn't see her until after my hand passed close to her. She informed me that if I crossed her again she'd take a bite. So I did exactly what you're thinking....I sucked her up into the central vacuum system. It was a little gross when I heard her body get sucked in, thwack! Later Bill asked me if I had disconnected the hose from the main unit because if I hadn't Wilma would scurry back out through the hose. Yes!!!!!

Our Explorer Era began the spring of 2001 when Shyla found Philberta, the '92 Explorer.

Shyla helped purchase Philberta when she was 16. A couple of years later, we sold her to a couple of old guys from Leavenworth who sounded exactly like NPR's Car Talk brothers. I'm not even kidding.

After Philberta, we got the green '96 Explorer called the Exploder.

The Exploder eventually had a transmission problem so we replaced it through the work of a friend/mechanic. We thought since we had more money invested and a pretty good car mechanically, maybe we could use her on the farm, but our hired guys didn't like her. So we sold her to a family that was in need of a starter car for their teenage daughter. Really that was The Exploder's destiny, so she drove away happy! Both the teenager and The Exploder.

Now the Blueberry's for sale, and when she's gone that'll mark the end of an era. There'll be no more teenager cars or teenage girls.

Festive Winter Ale!

Before I talk about brewing beer, we need to wish our daughter, Natalie, happy birthday. Natalie is 23 today, and far away in Dubai.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

We chat via Skype so she looks something like this out on the patio with exotic birds chirping in the background. I know what you're thinking..... Dubai? Here's the reason.

Of course, it would be John!

We're celebrating your day, Natalie, with some of that creamy coconut cake. Twenty three years ago, the day after Natalie was born, I celebrated the momentous occasion by relaxing with a frosty European lager. Hey, let's make some festive winter ale!

See winter is here. It arrived on Wednesday with 2 inches of snow. I'm thinking a gnarly beer like Cooper's Dark Ale sounds festive enough!

Another name for this is Brain Dead Brew because it's so easy to make. I'll show you. Remember to put on some good brewing background music. May I suggest some Hank Williams Jr.?

All equipment that comes in contact with the beer needs to be cleaned then sanitized as directed by the Coopers kit. This is the fermentor and lid getting prepped.

 

Now I'm adding the malt for a dark ale. This will make 23 liters of beer.  

I've added the package of sugar and stirred in hot water to dissolve the malt and sugar. Whoa, there was a lot of foam! Now I'm sprinkling the yeast. The yeast will eat the sugar and release carbon dioxide and alcohol. The wort is happiest around 70 and 80 degrees. Actually, so am I.  Let's take a tropical vacation while the beer ferments!

I quickly sealed the container and added the airlock. The airlock half filled with water allows CO2 to escape while keeping contaminants out.

OK, so now we have a massive container of liquid that needs to go somewhere for approximately 6 days with a temperature of 70-80 degrees. That's when I recruited Bill. Luckily, he was in a good mood because of Hank Williams Jr. in the background. That lasted until he got half way down the stairs bearing the great weight, and he asked in a rather rude tone if I could have done this any farther away from it's final destination? Point well taken....so don't make my mistake. Mix all of this close to where you'll be keeping it warm for 6 days.

We put ours in a small basement bathroom with a wall heater. More later when we're ready to bottle!                                      

Kanzi

Before I talk about apples, we have to wish our son in-law happy birthday! Grayson's 27 today, and he's part of our family now! Yay!

Happy Birthday, Grayson!

                                   

This lovely apple is called a Kanzi. We met with Tim Welsh from Columbia Fruit Packers at the beginning of October to learn more about this club variety. It's a cross between a Gala and Braeburn. There are a lot of things going for this variety so we were very interested.

                                  

Notice how I'm listening carefully! Tim personally enjoyed a Kanzi as he told us what he knew about them. Kanzi apples quickly took off in Europe 5 years ago with it's tart flavor. Northern Europeans like tarter apples that are more acidic such as Jonagold, Jazz and Pink Lady. Southern Europe such as Spain likes a sweeter apple such as the Gala. Americans also tend to like a sweeter apple. I think I must be more Northern European because I like an apple that has some tartness.  Some of the Swede is coming out in me.

                                          

Yummy! I would describe this apple as sweet and sour. As you can see, it was good to the core!

Kanzi means "hidden treasure" in Swahili. According to Tim, this apple is grower friendly, minimal russeting, no bruising or splitting. It has a storage regimen like a Braeburn meaning it can store until June. Directly out of the field Kanzi has a strong flavor that decreases gradually in storage. With this in mind, Columbia Fruit Packers along with their sales desk CMI like to wait until the first of the year to begin marketing this apple for optimum flavor.

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Columbia Fruit's planting is 1452 trees per acre. Last year they picked 40-50 bins to the acre and peaked on 72's.

Kanzi is developed, owned and marketed in Europe by Greenstar Kanzi Europe (GKE). They are based out of Belgium. Columbia Fruit Packers in Wenatchee won the competition with other sheds in the United States to have this apple as one of their club varieties. 

Here is a younger block.

We liked this garbage can design for the Safe Quality Foods requirement. It's made out of a recycled chemical barrel and it has a spray on label.  In Spanish, basura means garbage.  Cheap and easy!

Tim took us out to lunch at the Grainery in Quincy. Here's a list of their different paninis. If your new to paninis, they are delicious toasted sandwiches. Tim was a great host!

In addition to Tim, my other resources for Kanzi were as follows:

http://www.orangepippin.com/

http://www.kanziapple.com/

http://www.freshplaza.com/

Royal Reds

Before our apple harvest started, way back around the middle of September, we decided to make a run to Quincy to see the new Honeycrisp called Royal Red. We met with Jim Adams of Willow Drive Nursery to get the low down.





He told us they harvest a few days earlier than the standard Honeycrisp because they color faster.  They're more acidic than standard Honeycrisp with an ideal brix of 10 or 11. These were ready for harvest any day.

The plan was to pick these trees soon so they would store until May 2012. No extra calcium or Mylar needed. Standard Honeycrisp needs extra calcium to prevent bitterpit and Mylar to promote color. The Jones' overhead cooled when it was hot last summer and fall.



I asked Jim how this variety originated?  He said that the orchard owner, Brian Jones, noticed that one limb on a grafted Sanza had outstanding color. Jones grafted that limb to 5 trees in his fugi block. 

The 5 trees we were looking at were almost identical. They had all come off the same limb.

Jim told us the Royal Reds are patent approved. However, the DNA report is pending. They have one or 2 markers different than the standard Honeycrisp. Jim thought trees would be available for purchase through Willow Drive Nursery 2017-2018 at the going rate or maybe $3.00/tree; $1.50 royalty & $1.50 propogation rights if we grow our own.

We were able to ask orchard owner Brian Jones how much nitrogen he had applied to his Royal Reds. He told us 30 pounds/acre. This meant he was intentionally keeping his trees low of vigor. To maximize color in standard Honeycrisp, growers minimize nitrogen to keep the tree's vigor in check, keep crop load reasonable, and prune in the summer for increased light and to also slow vigor. These trees looked weak to moderate to us, and we observed they had had summer pruning probably every year to get scion wood.  We were left wondering if the color was the result of new DNA or the orchard management practice?

So you're dying to know our reaction? The color was consistent and good, but not the kind of outstanding we expected. We wondered why these trees were removed from the other Honeycrisps? We would have liked to visually compare them to the other Honeycrisps managed by the Jones'. As I mentioned before it looked like management practices could account for at least some of the good color we observed. Keeping the trees low in vigor, good crop load management and pruning in summer have a big color impact on Honeycrisps.



Birthday Cake

Answer to yesterday's pop farm quiz follows today's baking lesson.

Natalie, here's the recipe for the Creamy Coconut Cake in a video!

OK, here's another version!

 I like a vanilla cake mix but you can use any flavor. You will need the cake mix, farm fresh eggs, oil and water. Remember to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Follow the cake mix recipe. Easy peasey.

Add the cake mix.

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 cup oil

3 farm fresh eggs and try not to get Steve!

Pour the cake mix into 2 round cake pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

Supplies for the frosting include: 8 oz. Cool Whip, 1 cup sugar, 1 c sour cream, 1 1/2 cups coconut.

Add 1 cup of sugar to a mixing bowl.

1 cup of sour cream.

1 1/2 cups of coconut

Fold the Cool Whip into the heavier ingredients at the bottom of the bowl.

If your cake has a rounded dome on it, you may remove it and promptly eat it.

Cut the remaining round in half.

Add a layer of yummy frosting.

Do the same thing with the second round, and voila you have a delicious 4 layer cake!

Definitely smooth frosting on the side of the cake.

 Sprinkle some coconut on top to create a visual delight! Now put the cake in the fridge for 4-7 days for the best flavor.

It'll be ready on your birthday:)

The answer to yesterday's pop farm quiz as promised!

Which tractor did you choose? I hope you chose the youngest, freshest, virgin tractor? Excellent! Then we agree that the sexiest tractor would have to be the Kubota 8530.