In my last post from weeks ago I said I was going to introduce you to the Munroe field. Well, then it started to rain again, and again, and in between drops we hammered away at the fields and frantically seeded and transplanted. The Munroe field is our most developed right now with the exception of the home place and it shows in these pics. The field in the fore ground is full of potatoes and brassicas; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kohlrabi. Behind that, you can see the remay which covers our third planting of beets and carrots as well as the second planting of Asian greens and radishes. Just out of sight are the corn and squash.

Here is the kale up close and personal.

On the day I took these pictures I was running the cultivating tractor, a 1948 Super A. These tractors are an indispensable component of our weed management strategy. They where originally built to replace the one horse on a one horse farm*. The steering is offset so you can see directly below you, and there are rudimentary hydraulics on the belly and rear of the tractor.

We have an arsenal of tools that attach to a tool bar under the tractor; furrowers, knives, shovels, discs, all of which serve a slightly different purpose. We furrow for planting tubers and bulbs, then cover using blades we fabricated from an old CAT blade. We run knives and sweeps between rows of plants to slice out weeds just below the soil surface.

The whole set up is called "cultivision" in the spirit of that eras use of "-O-rama" at the end of words to create a sense of wonder; weed-O-rama. I always get a chuckle out of that because cultivation days are sometimes long. It is not unusual to spend 5 or 6 ours staring down between your feet at the plants as they pass through the shovels which are passing through the soil at 2 miles an hour or so. It would be like watching sand sift through an hour glass for 5 or 6 straight hours. When you look away everything still appears to be moving in and down; you got "cultivision".

*no horses were replaced during the creation of this post

Progress in the Field

We have taken full advantage of the recent dry weather. Pictured above are our fields on the Kahout Rd. Bafaw is in the background and you can just begin to see the clouds thickening into what became the major downpour that put an end to our progress late yesterday afternoon. Patrick and I have prepped and fertilized about 38 of the 50 acres we will have in production this year. We have filled the 9 acres at the Home Place with celery and lettuces in addition to all the perennial herbs and flowers that along with the strawberries constitute a majority of the ground there.
Kahout Rd will be home to our 2010 bean crop the first planting of which is pictured above. I hope you are hungry for beans. Our onions and more celery will also go in these fields along with the Solanacea; tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and last but not least the artichokes. Below you can see the field crew planting onions. We plow, disk, fertilize and then till the ground until it is as smooth as possible then plant the onions by hand. This is probably one of the toughest jobs of the season. The crew finished in just over two long days as Patrick and I rushed to finish plowing and fertilizing the remainder of the field.
We will be planting corn and squash early next week at the Munroe Field. I will introduce you to that field then. We already have our potatoes and some brassicas; cauliflower, broccoli, and kohlrabi in there. Then we will move on to Pe Ell McDonald Rd to prep for the late brassicas and more peas and roots.

Barn is Officially Painted!!!

The barn is shown here with its finished coat of paint and trim. We will slowly build the doors over the course of the summer and hope to finish the interior floors this winter. The end is in sight...

Barn Gets Paint

Well, as I promised; one board at a time Patrick and I replaced and repaired the trim on the barn. The final stage was to rebuild and replace the damaged and missing window frames.
Then we taped her all up and Omar from MDK came back to start in on the paint. The body should be finished today and we are hopeful that the trim will be painted and dry before it starts to rain early next week.

Stop the Presses

Boistfort Valley Farm owner and noted tightwad Mike Peroni authorizes purchase of new piece of equipment.

Despite years of the term "new equipment" meaning a rusty old piece of iron that had never been on the property before, and to the disbelief of local residents and coworkers, an actual new implement has been purchased by Boistfort Valley Farm. The new transplanter arrived in early April and I finished assembly late last night, then reassembled all the parts I had put on after my bed time this morning. The shiny red planter is sitting outside the office right now waiting for the weather to clear a bit so we can take it for a spin.

This transplanter was purchased to replace the old unit we have been running for years. That old unit will not be decommissioned, but rather used for a few select crops for which it is best suited. The new N-E-W transplanter features several improvements. It has a carousel which rotates instead of fingers that grip the plants. This system of delivery allows one person to do the work of two. The new units also float independent of one another and will allow us to more accurately plant on uneven ground. Because the new transplanter can be set on a much closer row spacing it will also allow us to cultivate more accurately, and last but not least it comes complete with tanks and a delivery system that will give each seedling a shot of water and liquid fertilizer as it is being planted. That will significantly reduce our water and fertilizer usage and the labor of having to follow each transplanting with irrigation from overhead sprinklers. Please also note the Ferrari red paint, the foam seats, the little windshields for the plants (I didn't think the thing was THAT fast) and the provocative name.....the Mechanical 5000WD. Boy howdy.

Neither rain nor snow....

Despite some of the nastiest April weather I have ever seen we continue to make progress on the barn. MDK has finished their part of this phase of the project. They replaced missing and damaged siding and have replaced the shingles at both gable ends.The east end was a real challenge. It seemed that between the pitch of the roof and the windows and vents that nearly every shingle had to be cut and fit into place.


Patrick and I have been following the crew from MDK and replacing trim and wrap to prepare for paint. Oh, and did I mention that we also hand scraped every surface of this building setting nails to secure the trim as we went? Patrick and I have set lofty goals for our performance and regardless of weather will not quit until at least one board is placed every day; some days are longer than others.


When you look at some of the photos from before we lifted and straightened the building it is difficult to believe that we even took this project on. We are delighted with the outcome and everyone is looking forward to seeing the paint go on.

Hard to believe it is the same barn.

Back at it on the Barn

Shortly after the first of March MDK came back and started replacing the missing and damaged siding on our barn, then moved on to removing the damaged shingles at the gable ends.
We tried unsuccessfully to acquire more grant monies to complete the barn project. We met this winter with our employees and I pitched a number of different projects for the farm to pursue this season. Everyone got behind completing the barn. With limited funds available I begged and pleaded with the contractors, and volunteered myself and dedicated some field crew to try and get the exterior finished. While MDK replaces the shingles we scrape and replace siding and trim.

MDK finished the East gable today and we have prepped the North and South sides for paint. By the end of next week if the weather cooperates the old girl should have a fresh coat of paint to match the house.