These Days

To help you all understand how much love and pain goes into growing your food, we thought we'd share a typical Puzzle Peace Farm day:

After hitting the alarm snooze on the phone for the 4^th time, roll out of bed at around 6:30 with guilt that we are 30 minutes behind for the day, putting our overall work deficit at around a month and a half.  Feed and water the pigs, goats, chickens. Milk the mamma’s.  Eat a quick breakfast, most often oatmeal with fresh milk, but hopefully eggs with a mix of fresh veg’s and goat cheese on this day. 

Arrive at the farm around 7:30, providing the truck hasn’t had another episode of the won’t cranks. Summertime daily harvest time!… cukes, zukes, squash, beans(every other day along with…), okra and tomatoes. Get them back to the wash room before it gets too hot. Wash them and put them away, hopefully finding enough room in the refrigerator.  If not, packing them away in a cooler with ice bottles while pining for that walk in cooler we wanted to have operational a month and a half ago.

It’s pushing ten o’clock now. No rain in the forecast? Better start watering. This brings on another bout of wishful thinking. If only we had money to buy that drip tape.  Instead we drag soaker hoses and rainbow waterers around that we managed to buy in ignorance way back when we had money, before we started farming. They get the same job done as drip tape but are much more time and labor intensive. This process repeats throughout the day.

Between watering we balance a steady stream of priorities with lists made from lists from previous days or weeks past. Often what seemed to be “do or die” yesterday but didn’t get done becomes less important today for some reason beyond my comprehension. Even more common is the side tracking. For example… While planting that cover crop in the pathways of the asparagus we realize that wiregrass (aka Bermuda Grass if you desire it’s presence) has crept in. This aggressive invader must be dealt with ASAP to prevent a complete and overwhelming takeover in a matter of days. An hour or so later the list becomes the priority again.

Other typical side tracks and items on the list:  weeding; pulling off rotten tomatoes while pruning; injecting BT (Bacillus Thurengensis, a natural bacteria that infects and kills many larval pests) into the base of infected squash to kill the vine borer that has all but killed a large majority of our plants (hopefully its not too late); moving goats, pigs and chickens to fresh ground; hoeing weeds; prepping and seeding beds; working on our equipment (tractors, small machines, and /or vehicles); trellising cucumbers and tomatoes; turning under cover crops; adding a super to the bees; working on infrastructure (plumbing, sheds, walk in cooler, animal shelters…); mulching, pathways and individual plants; and of course weed control, among others I have forgotten at the moment.

Lunch/break time is usually taken around 1:30 or 2, after everyone has become delirious from the heat. Usually a dip into the cool waters of the creek behind the house is enough to revive our spirits and appetites. Lately we’ve been eating fresh vegetable sandwiches for lunch.  There are so many options that it doesn’t get old; cucumbers, squashes, tomatoes, onions, kim-chee, pickles, radishes, greens, carrots, fresh goat cheese… all or parts put on fresh bread we’ve traded for at market or a local bakery. Oh, and mayonnaise… ‘tis a crime to forget the mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

After we’re nice and stuffed and hot (we refrain from turning on our A/C to conserve energy.  Proud to say we haven’t used it and don’t plan to use it this year. It helps that we have shade trees around us) it’s either a short siesta, house work, yard work, uptown for errands, or a combination of the sort. This is also an opportunity for recreation… blackberry picking, mushroom hunting, more swimming… I personally find it hard not to indulge in a midday nap for 30 minutes to an hour.   

At around 4 it’s back out to the field and on with the list. It is still miserably hot but gradually getting cooler and more bearable. By 6 o’clock I’m ready to work all night. I had rather work hard in the evening than early in the morning. With Lindy and the interns it’s just the opposite. So, unless we have sweet potatoes or some other transplants to go in the ground, they usually take off at around 8.  Not to say they are done. I usually continue working until it’s difficult to distinguish between cultivars and weeds, then it’s back home to dine on the fine meal lovingly prepared. Then we clean up our mess, make lists, relax for a few minutes, and prepare for bed. It’s now well after 10 and we’re all worn out. Can’t wait to wake up late tomorrow!

Please, come join us…

Thomas

Under my feet, baby, the grass is growing.

The grass is greener these days and not just on our side of the fence. The black clouds swirl around us and we can literally see thunderstorms strike our neighbors as we hook up more sprinklers and know this one won’t touch us either. Well, that was the beginning of the June, towards the end we all got it good and we are all grateful. We would much rather deal with a little too much than far too little. And thank Glory, we only had hail once.
Our story of blessings in disguise:

The first of this month brought a 10 minute high wind and hail storm. It was a Thursday afternoon and Thomas was trying out a new market that evening in Boiling Springs. I stayed back with the interns, Matt and Erika and we frantically planted all the sweet potato slips we had cut as the clouds rolled in and the lightening and thunder crept closer. The storm arrived, the market yielded an understandably low attendance, and our field was laid out. Most of the leafy greens: kale, chard, pac choi, and turnips were beaten and shredded. The tomato plants were down from their trellises, and the squash plants were all pointing the same direction, on thier sides. Our gratitude was directed towards the market which did not yield much of an income but had unintentionally saved most of the week’s crops by requiring us to harvest a day earlier than usual and 6 hours before the storm hit.

Salvaged Hail Damaged Pac Choi

My dad asked me the other day, "So, I thought that farming was supposed to be less stress but it sounds like your job is just as stressful as anybody else’s". No and yes and yes, Lee. I replied that the stress is just as strong as everyone else’s but mine was based on a reality I believed in and was worth it because of my conviction. A little high on the horse, are we? Probably. I think what I meant was that I personally prefer to be concerned with producing food and anticipating (laughably) nature than answering to boss hog up in the office. But I honestly can’t say I blame or judge anyone who chooses or prefers the latter. The grass is greener over there when it tops a heat index of 110 and we absolutely cannot go hang out at the pool without sacrificing our meager income, so we work. Or when it’s Sunday and you just worked Monday – Saturday, and nope, no day off this week either. Or when you finally make it to dinner at 9:30 pm, pass out a little after 11 and are up again before 6. Or that we came home from market with produce and are broke again before the end of the week. No, this is not a pity party; I do not feel sorry for myself and I don’t want anyone else to feel sorry for us. I’m just through with handling misconceptions or juggling appearances.

We work hard and we are tired all the time and the growing season is rough. Our physical fatigue, dehydration, and heat stress give way to major contemplations about our way of life, absolute fits of rage and panic and complete mental and emotional meltdowns. But is anyone’s grass really any greener? Knowing that tomorrow might and most likely WILL bring any of the prescribed hardships does not change the fact that we will be up tomorrow by 6 as well, and it’s already after 11.

Now that you’re good and depressed, we’ll get to the fun stuff. So here’s our anecdotal pork story for the month:

Thomas went to RS Central Farm (go toppers!) last week to get our next round of pigs that will hopefully be ready by the holiday season. He brought home, honestly, three little pigs that were just weaned and so very cute. They are a mix of heritage breeds which means amazing flavor and great marblezation, and…borderline feral tendencies. We set up their electric fence paddock as usual and set the first one out. The little guy ran straight through the fence and took off for the woods. We all looked at each other and started running. Thomas, myself, Matt, and Erika started a cross country sprint/hike/walk/delirium that lasted 2 and a half hours. At one point we ended up with the piglet back in the paddock. We started back for the house, and turned just as he charged through the fence for a second escape. About an hour later I found myself hiking through all the back trails with a glass of water for Thomas, (he had yelled up and asked me to bring him one while he had his eye on the pig) only to end up in a Mobius strip of woodlands. I never did find Thomas in the woods but he came out later on his own. That night we went to sleep with Peter, as we came to name him, on the loose.

The following day we monitored Peter through the back window, watching as he came up to eat the bait/feed tray we set out for him by his friend’s pen (Loretta and Lucion have been gold star piglets so far). We moved his feed closer and closer throughout the day but ultimately Thomas snuck up on him while he slept. Peter was napping heavily and Thomas was treading lightly, taking almost 10 minutes to walk 25 feet. He paused, fearful that Peter would take off, then snatched him by the leg. Peter paused, apparently groggy, then proceeded the squeal like only pig farmers have heard. Thomas carried him into the pen and held him until he calmed down. It was here that he earned his last name – as Peter Peebody urinated all over Thomas.

Puzzle Peace out,

Lindy

Wild Things

Bradley doesn’t know he’s a pig until it starts raining. Normally, we keep him in a paddock for controlled intensive rooting and grazing practices. In the past we’ve had two to four pigs in this kind of setup, moving them every week or two weeks, letting them completely clear out an area, then moving them to fresh ground and so on. This was working until Veronica and Hoagie went off for processing, leaving Bradley by his lonesome. You could tell he was lonely and a bit bored, laying down most of the day, staring off into space, getting skittish when we came around. Then the kids came. All five baby goats in 2 weeks. In a flurry, following some intense hail, we moved the kids and their mamas into the same pasture where Bradley’s paddock was located. Think little square within big square.  Shortly thereafter, we had Jersey and Wheezy jumping the fence to eat Bradley’s food, Bradley escaping his paddock to play with the kids, a circus. So we do what good farmers do when things get out of hand. We roll with it. We left them to each other, mostly out of guilt for leaving Bradley by himself. We started milking the goats for ourselves, making cheese, feeding Brad the leftover whey. Then one day when we returned the mamas to the pasture after milking, we watched in awe as Bradley latched on to Jersey. A 100+ pound pig suckled a 100- pound goat. 

The next day Bradley came around the corner caked in red mud after a good downpour, shortly followed by twins Ronnie and Donnie….also covered in mud. Goats don’t even like the rain so to see these two caked was a rare sight. The next rain, all the goats ran to their shelter, and Bradley followed as a good tribe member would, wondering why it was time to go to the shelter. Then he noticed the rain, and dove right out the front door.

This month we also got our very first interns. Erika and Matt are currently working and going to school in Asheville, studying sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology. Living in Thomas’s old camper and working for a meager stipend, great food, and an intense educational experience, they are helping us move as fast as we’ve been wanting to move for a long time. It is truly amazing what just two extra people can do. It helps greatly that their attitudes are encouraging and their work ethic is strong. They’ve helped us create and stick to a regular work schedule and challenged us to eat less and less from the local grocery store. With two extra mouths to feed our grocery bill has actually gone down. That may have just as much to do with our increasing yields…

The heat waves have sent us into summer schedule much sooner than anticipated. We’re getting up at 5:30, taking an extra long and late lunch break and returning to work until dark so as to dodge the extreme heat of the afternoon.  Dewberries are ripe and providing our mid morning snacks and the occasional cobbler. The days are hot and long but our meals are more and more satisfying by the day.

O, Death

It is a difficult thing, raising meat. We can put on a front and brush it off and make jokes but the truth is, our hearts break a little each time we say our goodbyes to animals we have raised from babies. We are not vegetarians because we need these animals not only to provide for our sustenance but to heal and improve our land. The goats and hogs over the last year already have helped to completely eradicate kudzu in some areas and have sent the multi-floral rose, wild blackberries, and greenbriar into retreat. This has helped to establish healthy pasture, fertilizing it all the way with real organic material. We name these animals out of respect and it speaks to the fact that they all get individual attention, care and love in their lives with us.

Early this month, we took Veronica and Hoagie off for processing. There is a degree of disconnect when the meat comes back vacuum sealed a week later but the farewells are tender. Thomas was ready to keep Veronica as a farm mascot. She wasn’t too thick (we think she may have been the runt of her litter) and she had really warmed up to Thomas. He scratched her head and petted her every morning at feeding time. He had given Veronica a sweet talking to about her future and thanked her for her company. When the trailer pulled up, she didn’t get on. We tried feeding the hogs on the livestock trailer a few days before we were going to take them off. We figured they’d get used to it, be accustomed to getting on it to feed, and it would be easy enough to load them when the time came. All three days, Veronica would not go on the trailer. Meanwhile Hoagie and Bradley ran up and down the ramp, feeding multiple times every day but Veronica went without food or water and we felt like she understood where this trailer was headed. We hoped for a seamless transition and instead were challenged to take this matter into our own hands, and our hands got dirty. We had to muscle Veronica by repeatedly coaxing her towards the ramp with food as we created and re-created and adjusted a chute which she repeatedly fought her way out of. Eventually though, she just walked on as if it were no big deal. Hoagie followed and 3 hours after the round up began, it was over…until the truck broke down somewhere less than halfway to our processor in Tailorsville. We wanted the entire end to be as short and painless as possible but were now in a position where we had to bring our babies back home, feed and water them on the trailer for another day, and try again, this time with more success.

Two days before we loaded up the hogs, Ronnie and Donnie were born. The cutest healthiest twin baby goats we thought we’d ever seen. One night we left Jersey and Wheezy in the pasture and the next morning we arrived to see two new lives just walking around, keeping near to their mama. That night we experienced a horrific storm that produced golf-ball sized and larger hail. Most of our large transplants in the field were shredded. Broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce were pounded into submission. Entire crops we were banking on and had been nurturing since January were gone in less than 20 minutes, or so we thought. Moments before, as I saw the clouds approach, I began to pray for a healthy rain, enough to nourish our small crops, and specifically, no hail. It’s safe to say I’m not in charge.

Chick chicks growing up in their new mobile unit

Dora and Ronnie, respectively.

 



The next day, I forced intentional death as I thinned carrots and beets. One minute I was hanging my head in sorrow over dead plants, the next, killing plants. What a juxtaposition. We went through rows in our field quickly choosing which seedlings to keep and which to discard so the others have more room to grow. In a span of 4 days we experienced life, death, tragedy, miracle, frustration, anger, and remorse. We spent the next week just trying not to lose it, which most farmers do from time to time.

The week before Easter, we went out to scrape together a harvest so we might have enough to go to market in Charlotte. The unexpected happened, we had a wonderful harvest. Tons of spinach, salad, lettuce, turnips, and radishes had flourished while we were focused on what all was going wrong. Those paired with fresh pork made for a really good market and one we appreciated for EVERYthing it was worth, and I don’t mean the income. After we gave thanks for our field, and a little tender care, most of those hail beaten tomatoes and broccoli recovered and started to take off. Two days ago, we harvested and ate some of the most delicious broccoli we'ver ever had and I'm sure the flavor had just as much to do with our gratitude as our taste buds.

Hungry Hearts



Thomas bedding up sweetpotatoes for slips



For us on Puzzle Peace, March seemed to come in like a lamb and out like a mangy son of a beast. The early warm weather had our spirits high and ambitious. Early in the month, we went to the RS Central Farm and bought a great little pig, Bradley, at their annual auction. Bradley is half Birkshire and half Hampshire, white with a belly that is ochre, I’d say, and hams like we’ve never seen on a piglet that small. We were brave and put him in the rotational fencing with some real hogs, Veronica and Hoagie, who are a week due from harvest There were lots of squeals and running wild for a few hours, especially as Bradley was having his first electric fence experience. By the second night, Veronica and Hoagie were snuggled sleeping with Bradley nestled in between.

Middle of March brought 550 asparagus crowns (remember, ambition is the key word this month) followed closely by 50 day old chicks. Shortly thereafter, we got the gumption to put tomatoes in the ground a full month before the “last frost date”.

We’ve been concocting organic fertilizer tea recipes, all of which so far, smell like the ocean and not in the good way. But it does seem to perk the plants up.

Oh yes March and April play this trick on us every year. Anything is possible. Our energy is back and we’re working 12 and 14 hour days, eating dinner sometime around 9 or 10. The field and the new rows are so nice and neat with just slight weed germination, and the mulch is really working! Reality sets in at some point. With us this year, it came with the cut worms on the new sprouting asparagus, tomatoes, and broccoli; with the wild turkeys munching the kale, the 4 wheel drive going out just as we were getting reliant on it. And then a root rot thing we are still dealing with. A cold snap came and we lost about half our tomato plants in the field. We thought we were prepared for that one. Good thing there are 300 more waiting in the wings.

Thomas has been glued to his mushroom I.D. books as the wet weather at the end of the month sent him out searching for fungi. He returns with samples from various patches and starts the spore prints. No tasty edibles so far but there are some trusty spots we’ll wait for.

 

Cutting rows on the contour in our "bowl shaped" field to

keep beds sturdy and drainage steady.

First sprouts from our purple asparagus crowns.

Other miscellaneous happenings…We’ve been digging up wild elderberry plants down by the creek to transplant in a wet spot in our field in hopes the water loving plants will alleviate our issue along with providing wonderful fruit… We were fortunate to salvage some farm infrastructure from a farm that moved across the country. Translated, we will be renovating a sweet mobile hen house to suit our needs; much less work than starting from scratch. And we acquired the material to construct various other mobile shelters. We can’t help but brainstorm about other endeavors… goats, turkeys, rabbits. I don’t see how farming could ever get to be a bore. So many possibilities.

Jersey and Weezy are ready to pop any day now with kids and sweet milk! Our struggle to find interns has proven fruitful. We hope to have at least one person by mid April, 2 by the first of May.

We’ll have fresh pork for the Charlotte market on April 16^th, along with spinach, radishes, perhaps kohlrabi, turnips, and salad mix, sweet potatoes, and maybe some wild edibles like poke salet and green briar shoots. Its been so long it seems.

Hope to see you soon.
Pray for rain… but not too much.

Puzzle Peace Out,
Thomas and Lindy
　

Fire and Rain

February 7th went down in the farm journal as "Blazer Mudslide Disaster Day." You see, Thomas came driving down the driveway at a "very reasonable speed" in a mild rain and pulled in to park. However, the tires locked or the mud gave way, or maybe the Blazer hadn't been driven in a while...but it kept going all the way down the bank and into our very first three trays of transplants for 2011 which we were trying to harden off so we might get them acclimated and into the ground this month. Thomas grabbed plants by the hand full and Lindy re-positioned the stressed out little seedlings that afternoon. Final count: we lost half of the first brussel sprouts, yellow onions, and cauliflower. That was the last time we got measurable rain until the very last day of February. The Blazer wouldn't crank again for 2 weeks so it stayed parked in the front yard as an everyday reminder of the incident. From this we learned never to curse the rain, it might just leave you alone. 

As the weather warmed and the soil dried out, we broke ground, built beds, seeded and successfully germinated sugarsnap peas and spinach, transplanted brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, broccoli, onions, and kohlrabi. We're still waiting on the beets, carrots, and turnips to poke through the soil. For the better part of February, we kept sprinklers running.

Hoagie and Veronica

So as to stop referring to areas of the field as "you know, where the okra used to be", we gave each set of beds a distinct and honorable name. This month, the Three Sisters and the Morning Star plots were planted. Both of these fields refer to our shared Cherokee heritage though we ignore the possibility of shared geneology.

Every battery on every piece of equipment and almost every vehicle went dead at some point during the month of February leading the more paranoid half of Puzzle Peace Farm to declare a universal electromagnetic shift and thus the beginning of the End. That would be 4 vehicles, 1 Gravely, and 1 John Deere within the matter of two weeks. Well, the dirt bike didn't die, but it did get a flat tire, fell over, broke a rear view mirror and scratched up a car not belonging to either of us.

Oh yes, and Thomas turned 30 on February 20th, much to his dismay.  We had a nice fire and potluck in the 60 degree weather featuring the food of our dear farmer friends and family to celebrate.

Right now, the hens are laying. We are gathering a few more eggs each day. Jersey and Weezy, our alpine goats, are with "kid:", job well done, Manchester!  And Veronica and Hoagie are wallowing and rooting and growing ....their "one bad day" is fast approaching.


The beds of the Morning Star field



Jersey and Wheezy, respectively.



February 23rd went down in the farm journal as "FIRE". We took a lunch break, leaving the field around 12:00. In blessing our food, we gave thanks for such things as our water supply, our opportunity to farm family land, the warm dry weather that allowed us to prep our field and seed for the spring. At 12:15, Thomas's dad, Jim called and screamed into the telephone "THE FIELD IS ON FIRE!!!". Thomas grabbed his fire extinguisher (and his sandwich) and we ran for the truck, speeding for the field. We could see the smoke half a mile away. Apparently the electric fence was rubbing some wire grass the wrong way and, well, we've got a lot of bermuda grass. One little spark and it was up in flames. The fire spread to the well, singeing the electrical wire and knocking out our water supply. Jim was on the tractor tearing up the field, trying to create firelines with the disc harrow. Thomas was guarding the beehive, and a dangerously close stack of flamable railroad ties with the fire extinguisher. Lindy and Seth (Thomas's brother) were stomping it out, burning up their boots. Fire was out by 2:03. Crops safe. All 4 parties involved safe. Bees safe. It was a good day.



We are grateful for the rain, our water supply, the field, the opportunity to farm family land, and now fire extinguishers and tractors.

Puzzle Peace Out,

Thomas and Lindy







In the Cold Rain and Snow

The month of January has been a trying time for us at Puzzle Peace. As we clammer to come up with a plan for the upcoming season, we are excited, overwhelmed, and regretful that our winter projects are not where we want them to be. This month we took inventory on seeds and drooled over pictures from our seed suppliers' catalogs as we ordered more of the same, debated back and forth over which varieties to try and added a perennial stand to our regular planting of annuals...look out for asparagus three years from now. The onions and garlic we planted in December were mulched and the much anticipated soil test results finally arrived. With ph, CEC, and NPK up, it looks like we're doing something right.

The winter projects chugged along as we created a grow room out of the spare bedroom (below), which allowed an early jump on transplants when there was snow on the ground.



Our new grow room for seedlings.



Onion Sprouts



We started work on a packing shed, a luxury that has elluded us for too long, took down a small deer fence in order to construct an enormous deer fence that might actually work, began moving Lindy's greenhouse from her former life as a bachelorette farmer in Rutherfordton, and aquired a milk truck body which we hope to convert into a walk in cooler very soon.  In the thick of these long term projects, we fed goats, hogs, and chickens to help them through the winter when green pasture is an unappetizing shade of brown. Right now we're chomping at the bit for a series of dry days so we can re-shape beds and finally put the first seeds and sets of 2011 in the ground. Here's to spring which can't come fast, or slow enough.

puzzle peace out,

Thomas and Lindy