To weed or not to weed...

...that is the question. Do we expend hours and hours of precious energy hand weeding each bed of a 700 X 300 foot garden to give the little plants every fighting chance---or---will it end up as a grasshopper wipeout like it did for Mona last year? She said the day after they weeded the carrots, they were gone. The grasshoppers needed food and since there were no weeds to munch on they moved on to the carrots. Not a good thing to see after spending money, time, and hard work on something. The weeds are getting absolutely out of control though...so do we 'selectively' weed?? Not weed at all?? Weed it all and hope that the grasshoppers leave our plants alone?

Hmmmm....the dilemmas of working in grasshopper country.

The little buggers are all over the place to the point that it sounds like a rainstorm when you walk through the field...they're jumping everywhere and just looking for crops to destroy...

The turkeys, guinea hens, and chickens are doing a pretty good job at controlling the areas where they are, but there are only a few of them and thousands upon thousands of the little hoppers...not a very fair fight. We still haven't been able to get them across the creek to the big garden because of the creek being so high still but we did get the poultry fencing up today so that once the creek does go down we'll be able to haul the coop and the guineas over.

Ok, that's all for my grasshopper rant for the moment...

Oh, and it's really hot...

Ahhh...the joy of food

The joy of food, REAL food is one that can only be enhanced by company to share it with. It is extremely easy to forget; and for some unfortunate people to never have even experienced the pure pleasure of biting into your first taste of a meal prepared with much anticipated ingredients, ones whose arrival you have been awaiting for months. A ripe, juicy red tomato bursting with flavor- yes, actual flavor (not to be confused with those imitations you find at the grocery store) and a tangy pesto made with freshly picked arugula, organic garlic from the neighbor, and rich olive oil make for a dinner you have to just sit back and enjoy each flavorful bite.

We have all become so accustomed to being able to eat any kind of food at any time in the season that we have lost the patience for that first fresh red tomato of the season, instead we just buy flavorless, nutrition poor look-alikes year round because we are a society of immediacy- we want what we want now...we don’t want to wait for the real thing.
I am reading a book, A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi, which describes in great detail the amazing locally grown, seasonal foods they eat each day...freshly pressed olive oil, artesian bread still oven warmed, hand rolled ropes of pasta, wine from the vineyard...and best of all company to savor each bite with. How have we gotten so far away from the celebration that eating should be? A victory of yet another day with fresh food, good friends and family, and a way to reflect on the effort that went into making each flavor come together on your plate; the land who nurtured the seed, farmer who toiled away to grow the vegetable, and the cook who brought it all together with love and their own artistic flare. Instead it seems that most of us pop in a frozen dinner or open unidentifiable ingredients from a can just to fill our stomachs and empty hearts while eating alone.
I hope that if nothing else this summer I will learn again the joy of eating real food, to see the entire process that goes into it, from seed to table, and to enjoy the company of others while savoring each bite. (This is where my shameless plug comes in for you to visit- see, we’ll even cook for you!!!)

Oh yes, and we have lots of weeding to do...by hand...so come on up and join us!!! :)

All in a day's weather

Seriously...I know weather can be strange and that this year has been a bit more unusual for everyone but... really...

 The storm rolling in...

 The hail and rainbow pictures were taken by Bob LeResche, after the sun decided to come out for a few minutes.

All of these were taken within a 6 hour period...

...gotta love Wyoming

Mini Coop

Jake's latest creation, the mini coop, is a portable chicken coop for keeping the chickens safe at night while also allowing us to move them around for grasshopper control. He is getting pretty talented with the design and construction (but don't tell him or it might go to his head ;)

 The wheels came off of some antique farm equipment.

I've also started a blog for the CSA which will give recipes, updates on the garden, and other info...so should you get really bored you can check it out:  Clear Creek Valley Produce

Roots Run Deep

Alfalfa, a crop which was the previous inhabitant of the field where the high tunnel was built, is still a part of our regular weeding. It is a deep rooted perennial which can reach depths of up to twenty feet, so to say to we are fully removing it when we weed would be silly and attempting to do so would be futile. 

I suppose I'm a bit metaphorical. I use what I see in the outside world to understand and justify what is going on in my own life. Sometimes good, sometimes bad...and maybe it's because I have a little too much time to think while planting seed after seed or pulling weed after weed, but I am beginning to see a real parallel between our lives and the lives of plants...both actual and metaphorical. Of course there is birth and death, disease and the ability to thrive, but there is also an individuality that comes with each plant and a status that we ascribe to each kind depending on our use for them...are they beneficial or noxious? Beautiful, luscious plants or ugly obnoxious weeds? And is our judgment of them reality or just our interpretation of their worth? How deep do our roots run? How much do we judge of each other on the surface, not knowing (and not caring) how differently our roots are?

As I knelt on the dirt, pulling away at each weed in front of me I felt like there would be no end...that as soon as I dug one up, twenty more would take it's place... and in this instance I am right. This is why using herbicides and pesticides are sooooo much easier than farming organically (I haven't even started in on the grasshopper issue). It is so much easier to pour out chemicals that will kill these weeds (and pests) than it is to spend hours at a time picking each one by hand... but just because something is easy doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Jake has been looking into the practice of permaculture, which despite it's lack of solid definition, is a way of utilizing nature rather than fighting against it in farming/gardening. It is using beneficial plants and cover crops and mimics the relationships found in nature to decrease the amount of weeds, increase the nutrients in soil, and be an overall better solution to the destruction that we are currently causing on our lands.

We met two other WWOOF'ers this week who are staying at Carols; John, a North Dakota native who had been working on an 8,000 acre canola farm; and Sagel, a PhD student taking a week off of her final year of studies. We got a break from planting and did two days of fencing (which, by the way is not my favorite thing to do) which included digging new post holes, digging up old/broken posts, driving the tractor around in a field with 4 foot high weeds, and tightening barbed wire. When we got to the end of the fence line (where there is a cliff that looks onto a bend in the river) we saw 8-10 large turtles. I also saw a blue heron up close which flew away. Jake also started on a new mini coup for the chickens which I helped with a bit. We finished up on the trench for the main irrigation line from the creek which should make watering the tunnels much easier. Oh- and I planted some sunflowers and pumpkins!

We can finally cross the creek to get to the 'other' garden without making it an all day trip!!







Boys working on the coop

now, if they'll just turn red!!

Planting, planting, weeding, and planting

I think that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as planting goes. We've been planting and transplanting throughout the past few weeks inside the high tunnels but have just started planting outside this last week since this spring has been so cold and wet. The garden across the creek currently takes about 30 minutes to reach via the county road (driving) since the 'creek' is too high to cross...thankfully Steve and Mona are getting a boat tomorrow so we should be able to just jump in the boat and motor across to the other side in less than 5 minutes!! :)

Last Sunday and Monday we did some marathon planting days across the creek planting corn, potatoes, peppers, melons, herbs, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, squash, and....other stuff I'm forgetting. It is AMAZING how exhausting planting can be...up, down, squat, up, dig, walk back to get more seed, break up clay...etc, etc...then you add in the sun and whew- what a tiring day!!

Well, apparently I didn't have enough planting because I decided to do a mini garden at the trailer we are staying in... it really is mini though- just 3 tomato plants, one pepper plant, some basil, cilantro, and parsley... I just hope that the grasshoppers don't eat them all!!!

While we were planting today there was a photographer from 'The Sheridan Press' who came out to the farm to take our pictures for an article they are running next week on the decrease of agricultural land in the county. Jake and I were interviewed last week as was Mona and Carol in regards to their CSA (community supported agriculture). It was a little strange being followed around, having photos taken at all angles while planting...I'm sure he ended up with a few cleavage or bum crack shots with all the bending over we were doing (but hopefully he'll leave those out)... geez, who thought I'd be wishing for knee pads in a job...

I'd have to say that I'm getting more and more used to being 'away from it all' out in the country...seeing deer, antelope, birds...breathing clean air...listening to the sounds of nature instead of the sounds of civilization...and seeing amazing rainbows- from end to end.  It should be interesting to see where we end up come September....  (according to the poll Hawaii is in the lead)