Some wins and some losses

The dry weather has kept slugs at bay, but the cool temperatures (up until today - hit 90 at 2:30 here) have delayed some vegetable growth (but I did see a pea flower this morning). We've ordered some more meat birds and laying hens and have 3 turkey poults coming our way, but the hawks did get two of our favorite birds - a strong white plymouth rock layer and - sniff, sniff - our lone bantum rooster. All's quiet on Longhaul Farm without the banty's call.

We're pining for June, when we get a reprieve from planting and can focus on maintenance and other tasks around the farm. And this also marks the start of the CSA season, kicking off on Friday, May 31, with a member gathering and distribution of the first basket. We'll update the blog posts weekly so folks know what's coming their way... holding off now because you never know what might explode or whither away in the next 10 days. 

More progress on the greenhouse

With help from Dane, we put up the insulation, outer cedar wall and cap on the greenhouse foundation. Next we'll put up the inner wall... and then, finally, we'll be ready to figure out the actual framing.

Recipe w/ corn + tomatoes

Corn and tomato savory pie (adapted from smittenkitchen.com)

OK, OK, so why am I publishing this recipe in May, when corn and tomatoes are still 3 months away? Because I used my frozen veggies... inspiration for everyone to stock up during peak season for a taste of summer even on a rainy spring day.

Ingredients: pie dough, tomatoes, corn, onions, herb (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.), shredded cheese (I used
cheddar), mayo, lemon juice, butter

Preparing: Make your pie dough - you'll need a top and bottom. Caramelize several onions (I used 6). Spread onions on the bottom pie crust. Then layer tomatoes (I used frozen-then-thawed roasted cherry tomatoes), corn (I used frozen-then-thawed kernels), herbs (I used oregano), salt and pepper, shredded cheese. Repeat the layering. Pour about 1/2 cup mayo whisked with juice from one juicy lemon over the filling. Put the top crust layer on, scoring for steam release. Brush with melted butter and bake at 400F for ~40 minutes, or until crust is perfectly browned.

Eating: Serve with a fresh salad. Can be eaten warm or room temp.

Dish history: I can finally make a good pie dough (thanks, Olga!). Plus, we are chipping away at our frozen vegetables during this spring hunger gap and today's humidity reminded me of a summer pie.

A quenching rain

It's been a dry spring. But today's rain has hopefully soaked the fields to the core so that all of our little seedlings can grow. We are putting in our precious tomatoes, eggplants and peppers this week. And they'll be joining a nice spread of veggies already in the ground: kale, collards, spinach, lettuce, chard, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, carrots, peas, beets, fennel, cilantro, celery, radish, turnip, onions, leeks, parsnips. Basil and beans are following shortly.

Take a look at these before-and-after photos - the first one taken 2 years ago today in 2011; the second taken yesterday.

May 2011

May 2013

2013 April Work-ation

Thank you from the bottom of our double-dug beds to all of our friends, family and neighbors who joined us on Saturday for our Spring Work-ation!

We spent the day yesterday taking in all of the amazing work that was accomplished in just a few short hours because of the time and energy you put in. I'm sure there are some sore muscles and maybe some farmer's tans/sunburns out there in the crowd, but I hope it was well worth it.

Can you believe what we accomplished together?!?... Thank you for:
- planting 1,000 onion plants
- edging and weeding 8 vegetable beds

- harvesting spinach and kale

- prepping 4 new beds for planting
- getting that huge boulder out of the pathway : )
- clearing tons and tons of rocks
- building a beautiful flower bed
- clearing the red pine field

- helping clean all the dishes after lunch

- helping cook in the kitchen while others were outside in the sun
- making the orchard look like a truly beautiful place
- digging 26 blueberry and 2 tree holes

- moving more tons of rocks

- building the fire pit

- shoveling gravel onto the greenhouse floor

- moving that chicken coop!

- consuming lots of food and beer together, and

- singing songs by the bonfire.

It is days like Saturday that remind us how awesome our friends, families and neighbors are. We love building this farm and community with you.

Enjoy some videos and photos...

A frantic day of planting... and now patience

Getting that last tree in

Our 25 fruit trees arrived three weeks earlier than planned, but with a lot of hustle and some crucial babysitting by grandma, the orchard has been planted! We now have Asian pear, Seckel pear, sweet cherry, pie cherry, peach and plum trees nestled into their holes, watered in well and happily mulched. These are 2-year-old trees, so nothing but 3-4 foot wisps, but we are patient - in it for the longhaul - and looking forward to the sweet taste of the summer of 2016.

South-facing view of the orchard

Spring's progress

Wow. What the first warm day of spring will do to you...

I spent today transplanting hundreds of leeks, sowing various radishes, watering in our recent kale, collards, spinach, onion, scallion and shallot transplants, and popping peas back in the ground that had surfaced after watering and wind. It was hot in the sun, but boy did it feel good after what seemed like an excessively long winter.

This photo of the farm shows off our greenhouse foundation wall, tool and wood shed and lots of beds prepped and planted (those that are tunneled off with plastic). We've got hundreds of tomato plants started and almost ready to move out to their holding beds. Peppers are up. Eggplants are up. And I'll be starting some basil, cilantro, dill, chervil and other herbs tomorrow and we'll be transplanting lettuce and chard. Oh, and our tree delivery will arrive any day... the orchard is coming along.

Seneca in her tent while we work in the orchard

The food waste challenge

Did you know that Americans waste at least 40% of their food, from field to fridge?

Call me crazy, but I see 3 loaves of banana bread...

This statistic disturbed me and my friend, Krystal, so we have tackled food waste in our own lives and kitchens and decided to tell our stories at the recent Just Food Conference held in NYC. We were two among dozens of presenters who discussed and struggled with issues of food justice, food sovereignty, farming and food education.


We both intersect the waste stream, preventing food from filling our landfills. We use all of the food parts, re-purpose leftovers into delicious meals, never waste abundance, compost, have animals to feed scraps to, and on Longhaul farm, we collect neighbors' and local businesses' compost all year round.

At the end of our presentation, we issued a food waste challenge. Here's the blurb from our facebook page, which you should check out:

"How much food do you waste? We challenge you to separate out your food waste for a week to see how much you're wasting. We want to hear from you, so post pictures or tell us what you are doing to reduce food waste in your kitchen! Get your family and friends to take the challenge!"

Consider the food insecure, our broken ecological system, the money wasted and the packed landfills the next time you toss a potato with a few eyes or those aromatic parsley stems or last week's leftovers from your favorite restaurant. Once I learned about the ins-and-outs of food waste in our country and the world, it was impossible to go back to my previous ways.