Busy autumn

Before the frost rolled in and destroyed many of our crops I managed to cover about 100 feet of two rows of tomatoes with hoops and plastic. So we will be open several weeks into November selling those little gems.

The fall colors have really turned out dynamite this year. Could be the long, hot smoky summer and the early hard frosts but whatever it is it's delightful.

We've switched to an 11am opening which should be giving me an easy start to each day but I'm still finding so much to do that I can hardly get to the stand on time.

Kale! I've never raised it before but I'm taking a liking to it. What a lovely aroma! and one of the varieties I raised has a gorgeous purple color.

Happy Halloween everyone!

What insomnia is good for

Spent a little more time getting this animation code dialed in:

Gotta head out now and move some sprinklers.

almost working right

Just about got it right, (tomatoes)

Running so late

Seldom have we been planting the main season crops so close to the solstice but at least I'm getting them in a little before that. 100 tomato plants in this morning, 36 mixed squash and a couple dozen watermelon plants too. I also pushed in about 500 feet of our customer's favorite the Incredible sweet corn.

This last week I pushed in just shy of 1000 feet of sweet corn, Bodacious type as well as about 200 feet of  mixed winter squash and about 230 feet of watermelon (Charleston Grey, Jubillee rattlesnake type, Moon-N-Stars, and Black Diamond).

I tell you, it can be tough at times. My back gets sore and my worries weigh me down but the open sky, bird songs and the gorgeous mountains which surround our lovely little farm soothe my spirit.

Only a few days of spring left, hope you each and all relish them with gusto :)

Spring scramble 30

Busy, busy! Soil prepped for corn seed and first transplantings but waiting now for the irrigation ditch to be filled. Maybe a week, 2 tops from history and rumors of how much work the irrigation district has done.

This is our 30th year! have I mentioned this yet?

Splendid spring to you all!

Strange spring days

What a strange spring we are having! Rain, rain, rain. I'm behind in the nursery work this year. I'd say again but last year I was way ahead of this year's schedule. I'm also staring down the business end of a carburetor rebuild for dad's little Farmall Cub which I have sort of developed a mental block against. And my bro is still trying to find time to get over here to finish bleeding the fuel lines on the Massey Ferguson. Which means all these things cancel out since the ground is too wet to plow much less plant anything in. Weeks of rains still in the forecast too.

I've been reading a lot of other farmer's accounts of this spring so I'm not feeling too bad about where I'm at. Many of us struggling with wet and cold conditions. And I have got a fair number of maters and melons in the nursery, just running a bit late which might not be bad at all if they can't go in until June.

Fielder mountain is gorgeous this morning with vivid green growth and a parade of puffy clouds strolling along with a few storm giants in front of it.

The bluejays, doves, grosbeak, finches and sparrows have been busy at the feeder this morning. I'll have to dump them the last of this bag of seed and pick up another soon. I've got to say if you have fruit trees especially apple or pear which are bothered by coddling moth it really pays to keep feeders in your yard. The birds love coddling moths for a snack. The pear tree in our yard never has any coddling moth holes in the fruit.

Wishing you each and all a splendid spring day.

Waking up to snow

A lot of us in Oregon waking up to snow on the ground this morning. A couple flurries have blown through here but most of the inch or so we had has melted off already.

Mom's 2 new solar dancers (a dinosaur and a "whale") are rockin' and jiggin' on the back of the couch by the front window. I just came in from putting the heater in her car so it'll be toasty when she goes to the Needlers meeting later on.

A bunch of little chores on my list today. We picked up perlite and vermiculite at Grange Coop yesterday so no more excuses, I'll be mixing soil today. Gotta wash trays & pots too.

I-5 has been rumblin' crazy busy since about 5 this morning. I can see a bunch of silvery flashes from cars and trucks racing by. The rest of Fielder above I-5 is completely vanished in a wall of heavy fog.

In the midst of life's pains, fears and worries there is still time for comfort, small joys and humble pleasures; don't ignore them!

A glorious late winter morning.

Settling in for a lazy Sunday morning nap. Oatmeal & toast for breakfast w/ Ayurvedic Roast coffee substitute & hazelnut creamer, so yummy!

Was watching "Values of the Founding Fathers" on CSPAN but it got kinda boring after the opening speech. Mom watched "Knit & Crochet now" off the DVR then snoozed off. Easy Listening on the Music Choice now.

Dreamt about Sparky last night. We curled up on the sofa and watched "Peanuts" cartoons with Snoopy. 1st time I ever cried in a dream but Sparky licked my face and made me laugh.

I've been called out to estimate a big orchard job near Provolt this week, fingers crossed. Not sure how big, just told it was "many" trees, grapes and berries.

The yard is frozen and the birds are busy at the feeders. Mt. Fielder has draped a shawl of fog across its shoulders.

"Midnight at the Oasis" just popped up on my Spotify list. Boy, that brings back a long corridor of memories. "You don't need to answer, there's no need to speak".

Y'all have a super awesome late winter day :)

Almost done planting

Just have 1 last row of late summer squash to plant tomorrow and we'll finally be "laid by". A nearly mythical state wherein the amount of work to be done suddenly drops off. Last year I planted well into August but that was just because we started so late.

Just about everything is in flower, tassel has begun to emerge in the corn and the early watermelon are already bigger than a softball.

Lots and lots of weed control to do but between the craftsman rototiller and the ol' Cub cultivating tractor I'm staying a pace ahead. Was tilling besides the cucumbers when I had the delightful realization that I would not be fighting tall weeds to pick my cukes this year. Last year I had to spend so much time fixing automobiles and equipment it was a real mess. Still some bad nutsedge which will cut into production but at least I won't be shaking Johnson grass seed out of my hair.

Gotta head out soon, sure hope it's cooled down a bit. So very glad the ditch has remained full after GPID did some repairs earlier in the week (during our water days unfortunately) I'm just about caught up again.

If everything keeps clicking along at this pace we should be ready to open for sales to the public in about 2 weeks. Our 29th year!

A wonderful summer evening to you each and all.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and watermelon

Thousands of linear feet of summer fruits and veggies planted, gotta prep some fresh corn ground tomorrow. Low water on Sunday not even a surprise. Mulch and driptape mounds are soakin' wet and plants are lovin' it. Gotta do a few more things in the flower bed but we've got sprout there too.

Busy Spring 2016

Been poundin' busy for just over a week now. So far have finished soil prep and planted Bodacious sweet corn, Incredible sweet corn, Jubillee watermelon, Black Diamond watermelon, Charleston Grey watermelon, Moon-n-Stars watermelon, 4 kinds of cantaloupe, Ogen melon, Crenshaw melon, Juan De Canary melon, honeydew, Collective Farm Woman melon, Table Queen winter squash, Butternut, Delicata, Buttercup winter squash, Witch-Kissed pumpkins, Howden pumpkins, Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins and about a dozen more oddball things like radish, turnips, parsley, okra etc. which I had leftover from last year and just piled together and intercropped with the pumpkins.

Next week I will be planting 3 kinds of cucumbers and summer squash and beginning soil prep for the later fields of corn.

Rock on with your bad self! :)

Hey EverybodY! Sorry it's been so long. This season's farming has been fiercely tough so I've had to direct all my energy into work. Harvest is well under way with only the tomatoes still holding off in turning ripe. A giant pile of cantaloupe, Ogen melons and Juan De Canary melons have been giving me sore muscles instead.

Here's a great article any of my farming friends might find interesting: "They tell me not to get angry. But if I am honest, sometimes I do. "

On the precipice of planting

Fingers crossed I will be breaking ground tomorrow or Monday. Got the Cub International clucking along like a happy hen so I can jump the gun before the Massey-Ferguson is out of the shop and run the disk across what I hope will be the 1st field of corn.

Greenhouse busy

Tomato plants are nearing 6 inches tall. Ogen melon working on their 2nd true leaf while Crenshaw, Athena, Hannah's Choice and Hale's Best cantaloupe are all starting to emerge. Peppers are also up working on their 1st true leaf. Many more trays of plants to come some different some the same.

Supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow so won't be doing any tractor work yet. The Massey-Ferguson is still in the shop but I'm really gonna try to run the cub this week. Can't wait to try the plow, disc and terracer tools that came with it.

We're getting 3-4 calls a week interested in the farm but so far no one terribly sincere. Seems like most people don't understand we are selling a farm not a house. Sure there is a house but it is incidental to the farm. That's why we're figuring on running another year or even two if we must. You don't sell an operation like this to just anybody :)

Plum flower have already started setting fruit, pears and cherries are in full blossom and the 1st apple flowers opened up today. Even got a few peaches and nectarines set on. Various bees, wasps and diptera flies have been crazy busy getting that pollen moved.

Hope spring is filling your senses with delight.

Savage Creek Farm for sale

7.68 acres
1780 square foot residence.
Deep well with new pump.
Remodeled barn & other out buildings.
40+ fruit trees ranging in age from 80+ years to new.
30+ cottonwood trees ready to be cut for mushroom logs.
100s of grape vines of many varieties.
Sales building & big parking lot.
Rich, healthy soil loaded with life.
Plentiful irrigation.

Spectacular view of Mt. Fielder and surrounding area.

For 44 years this little family farm has been a successful business in the Rogue Valley. The last 27 years our family has been lucky to live here. We have raised and sold tremendous quantities of some of the finest tomatoes, corn, peppers, cantaloupe, melons, yams, grapes, apples, pears, plums, cherries and more products too numerous to list.

Sadly we lost dad three years ago and the work load along with navigating the stairs of a 2 story house have just become too much for me and mom. So she has decided to sell and we are hoping to find someone who will not only love the place as we have but also take advantage of the business we will be leaving behind. Many local clients are accustomed to stopping here throughout the spring and summer months.

In the picture the house & barn are located near the bottom & the sales room & parking area are near the top left. North is to the top which is also the bottom of the hill a stones throw away from the lovely & very fishable Rogue River.

For more info contact guy@savagecreekfarm.com or call 541-582-2059 between 9am & 6pm Pacific time.

Metamorphosis

Big news at Savage Creek Farm! After 27 years of fun and frolic we are moving on to other pursuits. Our little family farm has never failed us but this 2 story house and its stairs are getting to be too much for us old folks. We're really hoping we will be able to find someone who wants to continue farming here and running our great little fruit stand.

Winter suspension

Still fighting some virus or other but starting to feel a little better. Moved some furniture around today and realized quickly how out of shape being sick has made me.  Been popping fevers whenever I do even a little bit of activity too.

Had part of a poem come to me in the dark last night:

Barefoot on the cliff of history
toes curled over the edge of the abyss
balanced above the void
the future vast expanse
beyond all visions and thought

Winter head cold.

A runny nose is soooo infuriating. It makes it hard to work, concentrate or be comfortably productive. It's disappointing that 100 years of intense medical advances, scientific breakthroughs and other modern marvels have never yielded anything like a remedy for this tedious suffering. The closest thing I've ever found is a pint of my mom's spicy salsa juice. It works great at reducing discomfort but only for about 40 minutes and I just can't drink it all day long, it's too spicy!

I spent the day moving wood chips and cleaning up around the place between bouts of self-pity and nose-blowing. Ma went to the Needlers in Rogue River for some social crafting.

Gotta go put in the pizza now, y'all take care and stay warm.

Happy 2015, all 7 billion+ of you.

Brought my baby Kiwi plants in before the hard frost settled in. I've got another 100 or so seeds waiting to plant in a week. If this cold doesn't hold, my potting soil is frozen hard.

Wishing everyone a happy 2015. Despite all the worrisome things, it is still a glorious world full of wonder and beauty.

Solstice solicitudes.

Wow! Around three quarters of a year since I posted here. Gonna stick a speed tag in my browser and start trying to write here more. Thoroughly fed up with reddit and Twitter, I would feel better shouting into my own echo-y tin can here. Paul McCartney is on the radio and I'm studying neural networks with Geoff Hinton via Coursera. Good stuff, I've worked with neural nets before, way back in the late 80s but so much has changed since then. Fun to stretch my brain a little but for the first time in my life learning something new is tiring. I've literally fallen asleep during several lectures and that should be hard because Geoff is a hoot. His sense of humor is subtle and deep. It's just a bit past the winter solstice and I'd like to wish you each and all a prosperous winter/summer (depending on your equatorial relationship.) a very Merry Christmas and an especially happy new year.

nothing like some time mixing soil in the greenhouse to restore my inner peace. Kinda feeling a little melancholy as I continue on with this years farming operation, suppose I'm missing Dad. But the melons, peppers, and tomatoes are sprouting good under the fluorescent lights in the plant room. Gonna eat my pork salad wrap for lunch then finish planting another tray of bell peppers and some ogen melons. After that the lawn should be dry enough for me to prune on the apples some more. Y'all have a rockin' great late winter day.

2014 underway

Tomato plants are a couple inches tall in the sprout room and the small greenhouse is prepared to receive them tho I still have some clean-up to do in there. Gotta get the seed order out this week, it's getting late with less than a month of winter left. There's been some snow in the hills but we're short of water. Nothing like the catastrophe faced by southern California and still a lot of rainy season left so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will be enough.

So, so busy

It's still above 95 out there so I've taken a little time after dinner to flop down in the dark, cool basement. The season is finally starting to shape up. All the crops are dialed in so we'll have at least a little of all of our mainline products with at least 2 plantings of each variety. A few weeks ago I was on the verge of despair that we'd ever catch up but in the last week a lot of plants just sort of exploded. Now I'm in a panic to get my tomatoes staked and wired up before they sprawl beyond saving. With all the planting done my schedule has gotten simpler but every hour is still used up with things that should've been done yesterday. Stay cool!

Playing with the 21st century!

Donate Bitcoins Setting up my accounts and stuff to accept bitcoins. If I can talk mom into it we might be accepting these at the stand this year.

Minty wintery delight

Every few years I like to try a new endeavor on the farm. Last year it was beneficial herbs and teas. I even managed to get a tea Camilla which is still doing well. But last year was a pretty tough solo mission for the Guyman and I just barely managed to end up harvesting some miserly little piles and bags of leaf and flower. (nothing federally disapproved of, so don't ask) I was a little disappointed but I know these things aren't one-shots and settled my mind on other things while giving the tea thing a rest.

Just now as I came back from the greenhouse on a whim I stopped at the shelf where I dried my herbs. I gathered a nice bag's worth to half-fill a tea ball. Agastache, small leaf Japanese green tea [leaf and flower], Manuka, and Wintergreen berries. Agastache is sorta like minty catnip and Manuka has a sagey taste tho it's no sage.

YEAH! It's really good. Much of my disappointment has been washed away by this single cup of tea.

I hope your winter day has been surprised with some undisappointing delight too or will be soon. Rock on!

Sun, sun, sun!

Having such a great day. Started out kinda down but once the fog blew off and the sun warmed things up I really started going. Pruned a bunch on the apple trees and worked on cleaning out the pond. If the rain doesn't come too soon I might just get it lined in time to have some water put away for the dry part of spring. Hoping to get the tiller going tomorrow and put in our first row of spring onions, peas and maybe some spinach.

It so bright and warm for a late winter day, it really make me want to roast some hot dogs and marshmallows!

Ice, ice, ice

We've had a bit over a week of hard frost now. Great for killing garden insects but not great for outdoor activity. Our highest daytime temps have been around 36°F. Low nighttime temps have been 20-26.

Sadly I've also hit a patch of 'writers block' with my software design work. So turning my mind to work in the greenhouse and what field work I can get done when the sky melts for a little while.

Winter is always tough but my electric blanket is waiting for me at the end of each day. Keep out of the wind!

Rain, rain, rain

Gotta love it! Been inside so much I've finally had time to write something on here.

Fall cleanup is still majorly under way. Turning to the dusty confines of the basement and the winter greenhouse for places to put stuff as revamping the house for Xmas continues. Will post some pics when we're done decorating the tree.

Hope to get out this week and do some mushroom hunting. Getting a little late for some things like chanterelles but the more exotic characters like bluets might start showing up soon. Seen a lot of boletes and various agaricus in my recent wanderings.

Autumn auguries

teetering on the top of the orchard ladder as the last rays of twilight silhouette branches of the yellow delicious apple tree. Picking apples by feel from the spindly, gnarly, gnobby branches. Yes, autumn is upon us. 

We'll be out of sweet corn for about a week, until the weekend or the 8th or so at the latest. The last field is taking its time getting ripe as the days shorten and the nights cool. 

To fill in the gap we'll have plenty of large, ripe, red tomatoes some beautiful red and yellow delicious apples, sweet green grapes with a golden autumn blush and finally our usual unusual assortment of culinary and beneficial herbs.

Labor Day dalliance

We'll be laboring on this fine Labor Day.

Corn, melon, tomatoes, squash, cukes, grapes, apples, plums, peaches, potatoes, onions and maybe even some green beans in stock today.

I should be out picking corn already but the puppy sleeping on my lap is slowing me down.

Y'all take care and have fun.

Summer grind

My poor, sad, ol' blog has all but withered under Ra's Blazing Eye. Like one of my pumpkins being sucked dry by Coreidae.

Well, your loss has been the cantaloupe's gain. We've begun to harvest some really great melons and this evening I [finally!!] was able to pull in a whole bucket of tomatoes.

So you can understand why I've been so taciturn.

As we switch gears going into the height of summer I'm really hoping I'll have time and tech to take up my old hobby again soon.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

My mom's 75th birthday is today and she'll be celebrating it in Kansas with her brothers and sister. Hope you have a super great time, Mom. You deserve it.

End corruption of our government

A movement is afoot to return control to the American people.

Tough summer day in spring

2nd planting of corn put in today. Boy was it hot! Being a miser with an inflatable swimming pool (thanks Todd & Robin!) full of water for my little lettuce and cabbage plants. I sure hope I don't use it all up before the polywogs get their legs. The big greenhouse has some great looking bean, tomato, cuke, squash, cantaloupe and watermelon plants in the ground. I'll be taking that down in a few weeks when the danger of late frost is officially past and those little plants should boom up into big plants. If we're lucky we'll have production maybe as early as the 1st week of July.

A delightful spring Sunday

what a delightful morning. Rotten night's sleep but a delightful morning. Sparky's asleep in my lap, warm cup of tea at my elbow. I can hear mom snoring and a few roosters still crowing. There's some lovely sunshine out there but even though I've got so much to do I'm not gonna ruin such a peaceful Sunday morning with tiller noises. Oh! now I can hear birds singing in the front yard. Sweet music to you all today.

Surprise! a rainy spring day in Oregon

Just filled the bird feeders and we have quite a flock in the yard.

The greenhouse is filling up quickly with lots of little plants. Hundreds of tomatoes already putting on dark green growth and a big flush of new herbs and interesting flowers. Still waiting on a bundle of new plants to come in; they won't ship until the danger of frost has passed.

Sunday I plugged the next set of mushroom logs with pearl oyster spawn. One more round for the lion's mane mushroom and I'll have my 1st experimental runs going. Also have some cardboard spawn and some delightful sawdust spawn running in my sterile chamber from both oyster and a wild lion's mane I found in fall. The spawn from that wild mushroom is wonderfully aggressive, growing quick & bright white.

Next week I'll start planting the early melons. I'm also hoping the weather will moderate for a few days so I can get the 1st greens field rototilled and the big greenhouse inflated. Once that is up I'll be planting the early garden of summer squash, cukes and tomatoes in there.

Wishing you all vigorous growth and rich soil :)

A great winter day.

Rototilled our 1st two late winter/early spring garden plots this afternoon. Hoozah! Really nice to get the tractor out under the open sky and a bright yellow sun. Mom and I also managed a supply run to Medford this morning. Lunch at Tintin buffet. Just all around a great day. All is lined up to start planting lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and other garden greens by Monday or so. Hope these late winter days are giving you each and all the same fine treatment.

Late winter frosty

25°F out there this morning. 42 in the greenhouse with 2 heaters running. Have reached about 1000 plants in there, another 400+ seeded in and kept warm in the sprouting room downstairs. I'm planning on trying to inflate the big greenhouse in the next 10 days, start getting it ready for more transplants plus early tomatoes, peppers, squash and cukes. If this sub-freezing junk will go away I'll start prepping soil to put out the greens, lettuces and cabbages.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, just really busy here. Keep finding your happy place.

Winter struggles

Well, my cold decided to hang around some more & I didn't get the floating row cover down, darn it. Did manage a few baby steps on my job scheduling app though, that was nice. Hope you had a good Tuesday.

Greenhouse complete.

A view through the newly finished door. Mixing a little more soil next as you can tell from all the bags.

Winter wrestle.

I've been having a challenging morning but making a little progress despite the struggle. Alas not on the greenhouse, that'll wait until this afternoon. But cleanup is going well now that equipment is cooperating. A tiny bit of sun is showing through the winter haze.

Greenhouse beginnings

Happy New Year!

Sending us all a fine & fortuitous 2012.

Christmas misfortune

My friend Terrie's sister lost their home & possessions in a house fire Christmas evening. We're all pulling together trying to help them out, if you'd like to participate in the helping, here's a place for coordinating contributions & donations.

And a special thanks from me in advance for even a prayer of help.

Life moves on

Got the 1st leg and rafter of the small greenhouse put up on the back of our house yesterday. 9 more to go plus 2 pieces of polyethylene to top it and 2 ends to cover plus a smattering of slats, stakes and gussets. Tomatoes are growing great in the basement along with some super happy looking cukes and zukes so the greenhouse is becoming a pressing issue.

Xmas behind us, New Year ahead. Lots of work to do real soon & already falling behind on the pruning and spraying of fruit trees. But I wouldn't know how to operate if I wasn't behind schedule :)

Hope life is turning over little treasures for you all.

We've got the unpleasantness of the funeral and the pleasantness of seeing so many wonderful family members behind us now. The hard, cold, icy snap of the last 2 weeks is abating before a stormy night tonight. I'm starting to get my mind back on the work plan. Tomorrow I plant tomatoes, squash, and peppers. Wishing you all a fine late autumn night.

God Speed Johnny

At 3:45pm today our father Johnny Giesbrecht at last set down the burdens of this world and went on to that great adventure which awaits us all. He was surrounded by his loving wife and children and was in no pain. We're all grieving here but you needed to know Johnny to understand why that grief comes with a silver lining. Though dad was often a sombre man he was never one to dwell in grief. His humor and stick-to-it-ness support us even now. Dad often said "Take care of your job & the rest of your life will take care of itself." and with that we should all get back to the business of living.

Late autumn relaxations

another foggy Oregon morning. Aunt Anna & I are enjoying a nice pizza breakfast with hot tea.

Uncle Leo, aunt Margret & uncle Ben left a little early yesterday, uncle Ben wasn't feeling good so they made sure he had plenty of time to rest at the hotel before their flight left this morning.

Dad is resting ok, but he's got the hiccups pretty bad.

It's Sunday, so no work for me today :) Hope y'all enjoy this fine day and find many inspirations.

2011 season end

Hi folks! Just wanted to let everyone know we were throwing in the towel on 2011. It was a great season, we had lots of fun growing great food for you all but business has slowed down too much and we've just got too many chores that need doin' so next year will be even better. Thanks again & God bless you all.

autumn check-in

Busy! Good weather means good work. Mom & I are gonna break routines and run errands in town this evening. Hope fall is treating you well.

Prizes from my niece

My niece is having a giveaway! on her blog "Cooke's Frontier", 3 boxes of cereal & a 25$ Walmart gift card. Check it out & sign up at Cooke's Frontier. Expires in 3 days, on Oct 12th so get on it!

Dad inspecting the gala apple harvest.

Sweet seedless grapes

Today's canning corn orders

Some went out in bags so it wasn't all cased. Lots of happy canners!

Here's our little buddy Sparky enjoying one of his favorite repasts....

Cantaloupe crown pick is upon us!

Gotta go crash into my bed soon, must get up early while dew is still on the melons to pick them and pack them in before they get even 1 degree warmer. It's the crown pick, I'm predicting better than 4 wheel-barrow loads. Sizes are running A-1 to freakin' huge! And just standing over a bag of these things is like intoxicating.

And on that note I'll tottle off to dream land.

Sweet & fragrant !

I'm just astounded by how many large cantaloupe are coming out of the field. Their fragrance fills the stand & even seems to billow a ways out into the breeze where I sit in the shade.

Still a steady trickle of our regular customers finding their way to our new/old location & here's one now!

Summer sales & fun

Cantaloupe continue to come on strong. Saw one of our good regular customers, Randy, at the post office & told him where our new/old location was. He showed up shortly before closing & picked up some corn and 'maters.

GPID sent out the ditchwalker yesterday & hooray! today the water is full and deep. Now it will be interesting to see if we can keep any water into the week. In the meantime, the extra power service is really paying off. We've been able to run a big sprinkler across the top cornfield in just 2 passes. Really soaked the fields too.

Hope these fine summer days are delivering a harvest of fun.

Sweet, sweet melons

Can hardly believe how great the cantaloupe crop is turning out to be. Glowing feedback from everyone who has taken one home & the crown pick is still to come in. Now if the water stress just won't squelch the late season fruit set we'll all be happier. Corn is coming in really nice too, just picked the 1st of the "Incredible" type, a little young but so tender and sweet.

Gotta go now and pick a few more mickey-lee watermelon, sure don't wanna run out.

Y'all have a fun day.

Corn harvest begins

Nice bit of corn coming in, and the cantaloupe are so sweet. Wow! was the stand busy today, the melons sold like crazy.

Lots of familiar faces coming in all day, "rediscovering" us back at our old address in our new location in the same building we used to have down the road. A few new people have also been brought in from our web presence. Which I find very cool, thank you much!

Work will be intense this week as we lean into the beginning harvest-avalanche so posting will be sparse and sporadic.

Here's a heartful of peace for everybody :)

Fresh cantaloupe

Just picked these sweet Oregon beauties!

Sweet and pretty

Yummy plums

Morning chicken cackles

I keep forgetting about the eggs. We are now carrying eggs from my sister-in-laws chickens. Finest quality, these chickens are fed the surplus from our garden so they eat as well as we do. Supply is limited so get here early.

Green beans!

Green bean harvest has begun. Only 5 to 10 pounds a day are becoming available now but we anticipate a much larger harvest as water and labor allow us to increase.

Getting some color

Summer vicissitudes

Whew! what a long, hot day. A little business at the stand, mostly our regular regulars. Now enjoying a banana popsicle while waiting for the delicious smelling B.E.L.T.s mom is making. Today is our last full irrigation day, hope to have the last field finished by midnight. Electricity coming on Tuesday will make watering easier, I might even get a full night's sleep next week!

Have fun & stay alert.

Open for business

Dad's summer job

Here you see dad, my brother & I moving the new power pole for the additional irrigation pump. And the resulting green tag (hooray!)  This was a very stressful job for dad, so glad it's over.

Opening day

We will be opening tomorrow, Wed. August 3rd around 10am. I say around because we'll be around before that :) Cukes, zukes, sweet onions & red taters along with a few other goodies will be in supply.

Sorry I haven't posted more frequently but I'm doing most of the garden work by myself this year due to dad being busy with other stuff & chemo, so I haven't had much time to blog. Add to that the new website for Savage Creek Farm I've been working on & you get the picture. Speaking of pics I'll have a few new up shortly.

Lookin' forward to seeing you all down at the stand. Have fun and stay alert.

We have bean!

Getting closer

Last corn planting for 2011

Cement work

Last week we poured the slab for our new selling location. Here's Amber, Rodger, Todd & Travis finishing up the final troweling. It turned out beautifully. A little more carpentry to put up a couple walls & it'll be done but we might open before then so don't be surprised if you stop by for some squash or a melon & things are still looking a little rough.

Earning the pity of Sisyphus.

Once more I envy Sisyphus, he just had the one job to worry about.
But at least these wonderful cantaloupe are growing so nicely.
Hoping this fine summer day fills you with joy.

Trying to identify this tree.

We thought this was a black walnut for years. Now it has flowered we are sure that isn't correct.

Update: It's Sumac. Soon to be a very short stump.

Blueberries!

Dad on his cubby.

Summer solstice delights

Popsicles are so wonderful on the 1st day of summer.

Cold Spring plantings

We're scrambling to get mounds pulled before the next block of rain blows in. Harvest in the greenhouse has begun with Zukes, cukes & broccoli. So far just enough for friends & family but in a few more weeks we'll have enough to open, although the broccoli will be done by then. We've got 4 fields of corn planted with the 1st 2 out of the ground already. Funny what we heard from the uncles in Mississippi: their corn is tasseling already!

I'm off to work, wishing you a delightful Memorial Day.

1st harvest 2011 !!

We ate the 1st bok-choi out of the greenhouse stir-fried w/ chicken, broccoli, other veggies & sesame-peanut sauce for dinner. So delicious! Gonna have to start selling soon.

hot & cold spring day

It's sooo hot in the greenhouse. Well, so hot anyways, especially when compared with the chilly breeze outside.

Ice on the water buckets this morning but everything in the greenhouse was fine, whew! 1st zucchini should flower in about a week.

a little greenhouse action

the 1st of our pak-choi type chinese cabbage is just about ready to cut, some of the lettuces are getting close too. Gonna have to scramble to get the stand moved and open before the broccoli starts to head. Here's a pic:

long time no blog

An apology to any regular readers I might still have, we've been mighty busy with the greenhouse and garden so it's been hard to find spare time to write. I'm gonna line up the stuff so I can blog from my android phone & then we should see a more regular flow of posts. In the meantime, here's some cuteness to assuage the hurt.

rain delay

Starting to burn our way into our spring planting dates as the rain continues to sludgify every open soil surface. The brief periods of dry coming up in the forecast won't help much either but I'll sure take every hour of open sky I can get.

Nonetheless, it's a beautiful winter day in early spring.

Winter working

It's a rainy day but the work goes on in our big greenhouse. We've spent the last couple days cleaning it out after last year's tomatoes & a brief stint of chickens. Dad tilled and fertilized a bed for our first lettuce and cole crops while I was hauling out debris. We'll probably start planting later today.

Dad's heading into the doctor's shortly to (maybe) get his chemo if his blood tests from yesterday came out ok.

Mt. Fielder is putting on a lovely show of fog and trees this morning while Sparky and I enjoy our morning tea time.

Hoping your day is peaceful and lively.

Signs of things to come

We're putting together one of our last seed orders. Holy Cow! the prices have skyrocketed. This and other expenses will have to be passed on to our customers which will not be well received.

This shows exactly what is happening throughout our economy. And hints at just how bad things can become in a very short time.

Hooray! for Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Keep up the good work Scott, it's time for the reasonable and realistic people to put their foot down and tell the whiners to take a Waaa!mbulence out of town.

It's still winter

I could feel the bony grasp of the ol' hags hand through my moccasins this morning.

Forward thinking

Our Egyptian buddy Sandmonkey has an idea for them that sounds like a good idea for America too! A way to circumvent the gridlock of our Dem-Rep dichotomy.

A call to freedom

A fellow I've followed for about 8 years now, the Egyptian Sandmonkey has posted this extremely moving piece about the situation in Cairo. It is a must read cry to duty and a warning to all those of us who wish to live out from under the thumb of tyranny. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

Update: Some a-hole authoritarian has shut down Sandmonkey's site. Until it comes back up, here's the Google Cache of his very fine prose. SM was arrested and beaten after writing this, trying to take medical supplies to his people.

Re:Update: SM has gotten home and seems to be well, hopefully he's resting now. More details on his twitter account. The pigs stole his phone... No offense to actual porcine.

Winter morning reflection

On a lighter note, it's cold and foggy here. The first hole in the sky is shinin' through on Mt Fielder.

Sunny winter day

Today should be round 2 in the fruit tree spraying battle. Really soaked the almond trees yesterday. Apples and pears get it next.

Enjoy this fine day on planet Earth.

Spring's a comin'

Already getting busy with spring anticipation. Also would like to get at least 1 of my software projects finished and released before we get too busy and lose the rain time.

Hope things are sailing smooth for you.

Happy New Year !!

May your 2011 be 1 better than your 2010 ;)

Great Xmas

What a fun, comfortable family Christmas we had. Kept the house warm with a roaring fire while we exchanged presents. Then we packed up a bunch of snacks & some perogas and drove out to see big Sis for the evening.

So now it's easy for me to wish the whole world a Happy New Year too! It's always kinda weird as the last few days play out. We can all use the extra well wishing.

Mid Winter start of planting season

Dad filled a couple of 288 trays yesterday with fresh made soil and I've just about got the plant/sprout room cleaned up. Gotta buy a few seeds but should have early spring greens planted before new year.

I've been having a good time in the dark mornings writing on some software for android apps. Should have my first apps up on Market in a month or so.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Good skygazing to you!

Hooray! Full lunar eclipse tonight! Got my eye on the radar images, looks like there's a clear spot on the back of the next front. Should be through in about 2-3 hours, leaving (maybe) an hour window for viewing right around 10:30. Good sky gazing to you! Thanks Uncle Bob (Amos) for getting me into the stars.

Showery Fall Wind-down

Headin' out to do a little prunin' on the apple trees between rain showers. Mt Fielder is looking quite pretty on this rather temperate late fall day. Hope you're all being productive and/or having fun.

Fall ruminations

Wouldn't you know it, just when I overcome a couple of hurdles and start to make a little progress on my software endeavors, the rain goes ahead and moves out. Darn! good weather means outdoors work.

Not that we were totally sedentary in the rain. Yesterday Dad and I dug a trench in the big greenhouse to drain one of the air inlets and then we fenced an area in which to slaughter the hogs. <-How's that for not leaving a preposition at the end? Also set up a tarp cover for if it's raining, probably the reason it stopped all butterfly effect and stuff.

So we'll probably kill the hogs this weekend sometimes, not sure if I should post pics of that.... probably not a good idea.

Hope y'all are enjoying the fall wind-down.

Cooke's Frontier: Virtual Cookie Exchange on the Frontier!

Here's a neat-o chance to win some Xmas gingerbread goodness from my niece! Give it a whirl. Deadline is tonight at mid-night. Sorry about the late notice.

Cooke's Frontier: Virtual Cookie Exchange on the Frontier!