Posts by Bob
Harvest #5 – August 24th
Great harvest, great crew, great campout but a bit soggy picking – hey – that’s farming! Big thanks to Gonne Asser (2nd from L) who organized the teen picking crew of Clara, Elie, Julia, Nora and Talia plus the Fields family (on truck) Jordan, David and Trenne. We didn’t actually weigh the harvest but my…
Read MoreFourth Harvest
A gorgeous campfire under the stars with juicy conversation followed by a lovely morning’s harvest. Thank you (L-R) Roger Cuthbertson, Luca Gunther, Andy and Caroline Vaaler. This harvest was the perfect quantity for the Joyce Uptown Food Shelf (which happens to be around the corner from our volunteer corn pickers’ neighborhood!). Thank you, one and…
Read MoreReality Check
What happens when corn gets hit by powerful winds? Just take a look. These photos were taken a week and a half after a violent thunderstorm passed through our farm. What will this mean for the harvest? Though the younger stalks in later plantings have curved themselves upright, the older stalks from the first succession,…
Read MoreSecond Harvest
Thanks to (L-R) Ann Iijima, Oscar (holding Mona), Lauren and Evra Brooks, Smack, Addie Rosenwinkeland Julie who picked corn for the Camden Promise Food Bank in North Minneapolis. It ws a lovely morning for the harvest but the damage from Sunday night’s huge storm was evident and the harvest was much smaller than Monday’s. None…
Read MoreFirst Harvest
Monday morning this intrepid group picked the first corn of our season: nearly 1,000 pounds, which was delivered to Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester. Thanks to (L to R) Sarah Purdy, the Sloo family (Ayva, Myranda, Mindy and Mark), Smack, Julie and Sarah and Ida York. In a little over an hour this…
Read MoreStraight line winds
Sunday night we had an epic thunderstorm with some of the most violent winds I’ve ever seen. In the morning I found the corn had been knocked sideways – most of the stalks were standing at a 45 degree angle. I worried “What will this mean for the harvest?” Update, Wednesday August 12th. Turns out…
Read MoreBob’s Foodshelf Project
As spring 2020 approached, the outbreak of Covid-19 was on everyone’s mind. Thinking ahead to this year’s farm season and the likelihood of the pandemic affecting food supplies, we decided to dedicate a portion of the farm’s acreage to growing food for distribution by foodhselves. Second Harvest Heartland in the Twin Cities and Channel One…
Read MoreWassail!
With instruction from our mates Tim and Lesley Brooks in the UK (see photo below), we wassailed our apple trees this year. A cold-hardy group gathered at the farm in January (near the time of “Old Christmas” in the UK). We had a potluck feast then performed the Wassail ceremony with hard cider, recitations, song…
Read MoreBerm 1 Trees and Shrubs, September 2015
Most are doing well, a few have failed. Also in the mix are chives and daffodils, but exact locations not noted. At the moment it looks like another 19 trees and 13 shrubs to complete the berm next spring . . . Here’s the current listing, east to west. Shrubs in italics. [Planted 2015] Rhubarb Apple: Roxbury…
Read MoreFarm Finance and Resilience – Musharakah part 1
I keep hearing that “Access to Land” is a key challenge for folks who want to do well by the soil. That the high cost of farmland and the consolidation of farms into mega-operations over the last few decades make it really difficult for younger farmers especially, to get onto the land and employ practices…
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