Winter Farming

Our hired guys got a pruning break a couple of weeks ago because of the snow in the trees. The wind and sun kicked in this past week to clean all of the snow out of the limbs so the guys could resume their work. Gonzalo is pruning a Red Delicious tree at the Union Valley block.

This is on the hillside facing the lake. Cuco and Bill were commenting on the abundant fruit buds.

Cuco is in charge of the pruning crew since Arturo has not yet returned from Mexico. He's doing a really good job being the temporary crew boss. 

We've had a solid group of 11 guys pruning for us beginning in December. The amount of acreage we have will keep them in steady work throughout the year. 

These reds will probably go to Manson Grower's Cooperative and be sold over seas (exported).



This is Alex our smart new mechanic. Here he's working on Triangle C's John Deere 2240 . This tractor was purchased new by Bill's dad, Ernie, in the mid 70's when Bill was a senior in high school.  It served as the primary farm tractor for many years.  It has needed a rebuild for a long time. 

It's just fabulous all the equipment Alex has repaired so far! Another example, Bill's Nissan truck has had a sticky clutch since the day he bought it seven years ago. I'm not going to lie, I have always avoided the Nissan since shifting causes whiplash. Now, thanks to Alex, it shifts like butter. Yay! Our necks are going to last longer, and I'm not going to miss hearing Bill's string of obscene truck names everytime he shifts.

Alex, cleans and preps for new sleeves, pistons and the works.

This is a picture from last November of the worker housing in Union Valley. Manson Grower's Cooperative employees have vacated so we're working on cleaning, repairing and painting. Rodolfo will be in charge of this block of housing: Check in and out, Repairs, Monthly filter changes, etc.



In December Rodolfo and Victor cut down the 7 acres of failing fugis in Union Valley. We've established there are ~ 4 acres that are healthy enough to graft. Should we graft them to galas, Kanzi or .....? We'll be meeting with fieldmen in February to gather information for a decision.

Every January we meet with our accountant to give her the prior year's financials. Our accountant is uber colorful, and of course this is her dog, Pandora. The tax season is Pandora's opportunity for lots of sugar from the clients.

This was such a fun read that I just have to recommend it! It's a memoir about a successful New York city writer, Kristin Kimball, who abandons her career to farm. She really is a good writer, and her farming story is so intense!

Here's an essay she wrote for GourmetLive that you can check out.

Food + Cooking: Gourmet.com

She's opening the daylong Small Farms Conference at Oregon State University, February 25th. The conference will cover 21 topics including, Writing about farming! I hope we can make it.

Snowstorms

Before the snowstorms last week, we had Winterfest in Chelan. Check it out!

Fire and Ice from Sy Stepanov on Vimeo.
If you watched the video, you'll see that we didn't have any snow in Chelan around the middle of January. This made for a busy return after the holidays. No rest for the farmers! Bill immediately started the crews pruning, and the pace didn't slow down until last week. That's when the temperature dropped and our weather (at least the Seattle area) made the world news for breaking records in snow accumulations.

So you know what that meant? Leo needed a blizzard hut ASAP!

The biting winds were too much for his wind flap and he let me know. He has a cranky yowl that makes me hup to it. I quickly gathered supplies that in combination with his heated bed made all the difference. 

Bill is on his way to get firewood. We keep pre-cut apple wood in old apple bins so we can move it from where it's stored to our carport with the tractor. Sounds dreamy right? Most of the time it is. Then there's the occasion a pack rat travels up with the bin of wood. Then the disturbed rat scurrys from the bin of wood into the engine of one of our cars. Good times on the farm!

The hens were terrified of the white stuff. They refused to come out of their coop for water. I began to  worry about their eggs dehydrating, so I pushed each one out the door and off the ramp hoping they would learn that snow was OK. I did this each morning for three days, and then they figured it out. This should go in a book titled, "Foul Weather for Fowl".

Here they are hens/snowbirds! This morning they came out on their own even with the additional snow from yesterday.

Leo's not into it. He's howling at me to protest the snowy weather and his 2012 job description. With Garth gone, he's now the senior animal on the farm. That means it's his job to protect the perimeter. He's trying to negotiate for just the porch area, also he's really missing summer and a hot carport to roll around on.

2012 Cherry Institute

A week ago we attended the 2012 Cherry Institute in Yakima, WA. Still no snow in Eastern Washington, so we had a stress free drive which included a glorious sunset.

We heard at dinner that night from our fieldmen at Stemilt that the consumer response to the Pinata marketing this fall was super strong. The general consensus is that top of the pool Pinatas this year should do better than ever. That was good news since our Pinatas are at the top the pool every year, and every year their return has been weak for a club variety.

The information at the Cherry Institute on Friday provided us a few take homes:

• The 2011 cherry season was the longest, 94 days, with very good returns because of the long season, great demand early in the season due to California troubles, and it was a record year for exports. In 2009 the state shipped the same amount of fruit in half the time.
• Exports remain strong because the exchange rate is very favorable and is expected to remain strong in the near term.
• Cherry acreage is up 5% from 36,000 acres to 38,115 acres but is less than what was expected of a 56,000 acre projection.
• The middle class outside the US is expected to double by 2020 to one billion households.
• Bill prefers to read famous quotes on his free trade show calendar than listen to the food safety information.
• Food safety challenges
• Bringing the chemical storage up to code
• Changing cultural practices in the orchard
• No jewelry worn by employees
• Nothing stored on bin when fruit is harvested
• Drinking station located outside of a picking row with a garbage can nearby
• Dirty bins are cleaned or sent back
• Signage everywhere
• Use the audit checklist as a guide for food safety
• Sure Seal is an organically approved product to prevent rain induced cherry cracking
• 50% less cracking maximum
• 3 weeks & farther out result in almost 0 cracks
• Check for cracking suseptibility
• Pick 50 cherries and submerge in distilled H20 (room temp)
• Maintain regular irrigation schedule with consistent moisture levels
• Regina & Lapins have low risk of cracking

Check out the link below to read what people in the Washington state tree fruit industry deem as important issues for 2012!

http://www.growingproduce.com/article/24658/a-glimpse-into-the-future-your-headlines-for-2012

Farmers on Holiday 4

I know! Can you believe it? A fourth installment of the Farmers on Holiday! This can only mean one thing, we had an amazing holiday!!

After a week in NOLA, the crew moved to Shyla and Grayson's home in Long Beach, MS for Christmas and New Years.

We helped Natalie make her delicious Honey Walnut Prawns on Christmas Eve. People around the world talk about this taste treat. In places as far away as Dubai in the UAE or the Gold Coast of Australia people are still raving about it.

 

Ta da! A culinary work of art both for the eyes and the taste buds!

The newlyweds were short on a supply of Christmas stockings on Christmas eve so we improvised with assorted foot wear. Santa was very generous filling the boots, and we needed all of it too! But apparently Gunner needed it more...

As you can see Gunner is suffering from a lack of blood sugar. Look how weak he is! So when we left our boot loot unattended one afternoon, Gunner self medicated with select items from the candy basket. I'm happy to report he regained his vitality and stamina immediately.

Natalie is so excited to be opening her present from her parents.

Oh, is that not the sweetest blanket ever? Were you thinking those might be the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club dog show winners? Easy mistake, but no those are our family dog portraits.

The newlyweds beaming with delight after opening their long awaited wedding quilt made by Aunt Linda.

 I know you've been wondering about Dexter ever since you read about his long trek across the US. Well, here he is with Shyla at Foxwood Farm. He's doing great and actually really likes it in the South. He's ridden almost every day either by Shyla or Erin (the girl who has a half lease arrangement with Shyla). Dexter and Shyla hope to win a blue ribbon in a jumping competition this spring.

There they go. Nothing better than a warm 70 degree day to ride outside.

On the way home from Foxwood Farm, Grayson stopped in at The Shed. I thought that was the name of a wrecking yard. The outside of the building was covered with rusted corrigated metal and junk. I was impressed to discover The Shed is actually a barbeque & blues joint. I have to say, this was the most exotically Southern place I saw in our travels.

Everywhere there was random junk hanging from the ceiling and stuck to the walls. Also, it smelled like really good BBQ.

Customers at The Shed are called "Shedheds," and they bring in junk to continually spruce up the place.  Besides BBQ, you can get some kick ass sides such as G-Maw's Famous Beans, Daddy O's Creamy Cole Slaw, Mamamea's Mac Salad and Chuck's Baked Potato Salad.

Outside there was a rusted pickup bed be with a canopy. It was the "Honeymoon Suite," and it had the biggest bra I've ever seen laying inside. Hey, check out the Wedding Chapel.

Here we're back in Shyla and Grayson's neighborhood. Whoa, is that Easy Rider?

Hey, that's Bill on Grayson's motorcycle.

Grayson, Gunner and Bill with a collection of firewood for our dinner at the beach.

We had white sand and fresh seafood by the sea.

Bill was in charge of the BBQ.

Grayson prepared the oysters with the shucking knife. We ate them on  saltine crackers with a dab of cocktail sauce and horseradish sauce.

Then he prepared the beach fire.

The Southern sisters were pleased with the additional heat of the fire as the fog set in.

The New Year's celebration was a hit even if it was on "Stranger Tides". (you have to say it like a pirate!)

Farmers on Holiday 3

 

We left off in the Garden District. 

 

One evening we rode the St. Charles streetcar to the Columns Hotel that bordered the Garden District. Bill is standing in the Victorian Lounge. Wow, this place had a lot of Southern charm and Christmas atmosphere. The clientele appeared to be more locals and university students from Tulane.

This hotel was built in 1883 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

On the way back we noticed this creepy mansion in the Garden District. It made me think of vampires, and the risks of lingering!

We needed a cab to get us home which was a good 30 minutes away by streetcar. Miraculously out of no where this cab driver pulls up. This guy took his deliveries seriously. He ignored all of Grayson's attempts at friendly conversation and just leaned forward on the gas pedal. Scary! We were all pulling 7 Gs on the way home. When we got to Lee Circle, it really got dramatic as we were all flung to the right hand side of the cab by centrifugal force. I remember starting the Lord's Prayer in my mind, and then we arrived home at La Belle. The driver did it in what felt like 5 minutes! I think that will be the closest I'll ever get to being able to apparate like Harry Potter.

Hey, there's more so don't go away!

Farmers on Holiday 2

Here we are again with the family aboard this authentic steamboat, the Natchez Riverboat, on the mighty Mississippi.

I found these lovely Southern sisters sitting outside on the deck. They were getting some fresh air after having toured the steam engine room.

Big wheels keep on turnin'.

Natalie had a hankerin' for fried chicken, so Grayson took us to the best fried chicken joint in New Orleans, Willie Mae's Scotch House. I never knew I loved fried chicken and butter beans so much. Now I know! 

We didn't dilly dally because we wanted to visit a cemetery. Grayson put the Forerunner in gear and off we went.

Ah, too late! It was 3:00 and it had just closed! Don't the sisters look disappointed? Grayson had completely disappeared. I thought.... is it possible he's transformed into his Army Ranger self and somehow gotten over the wall with the pointy tips???

Turns out he was just his usual self that is really friendly and outgoing, so he made friends with the cemetery caretaker and talked him into opening the gate for us for $10.

Departed loved ones are interred in tombs above ground like this one because the water table is high in New Orleans. Placing three X's on this tomb will bring good luck according to the caretaker. We didn't try it. I felt lucky enough to be standing inside the cemetery.

Many of the tombs were enclosed in an ornate fence that is very typical of the French Quarter.

Reminded me of a movie with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.

Nice photo, Grayson!



The next trip with the Forerunner was to visit the Garden District which boasts the best preserved collection of historic southern mansions. As we walked around the neighborhood, we were duly impressed with their grandness and holiday decor.

Hey, there's more to show you. Stay tuned for more!