Category Archives: chicks

In the Share: Week 16

chickens, chicks, cucumbers

CUCUMBERS F/P  The second planting is coming in now and contains the same varieties as the last round, including the picklers shown above that make great pickles but are also great to eat any way you like.

TOMATOES F/P  Just one or two this week mostly from our hybrid reds.

SWEET PEPPERS F  The cool weather has slowed their ripening.  Partial shares will get them next week.

FINGERLING POTATOES F/P  Austrian Crescent fingerlings are waxy and delicious roasted with some…

GARLIC F/P  artichoke softneck variety.

SUMMER SQUASH F/P  Zucchini or yellow squash

RED ONIONS F

BASIL, HOT PEPPERS OR CUTTING CELERY F/P

NEXT WEEK:  Peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, carrots and onions.

FARM REPORT:

On Thursday, 60 freshly-hatched chicks arrived.   We immediately got them to food and water and warmth in the brooder.

If all goes well, these little fluff balls will be laying eggs by February.  Half of the flock are Golden Comets, that are supposed to lay lots of brown eggs. The other half are our favorite breed, what the hatchery calls ‘Easter Eggers’, since they lay colorful eggs (blue, green and kind of a buff color).  We tend to call them Ameraucanas.  Either term describes chickens that are descended from the blue egg laying chickens from the Araucana region of South America.

The first few weeks are critical times for these newborns.  We check on them regularly to make sure they are happy.  They are just about a week old now and already seem to have doubled in size.

Meanwhile we moved the older flock to fresh grass just in time for their first birthday.  We’ve seen an uptick in their egg production since the weather has turned so nice.

In the Share – Week 23

carrots, chicks

CARROTS F/P  Finally we have carrots to harvest after an unusually long hiatus throughout the summer. Most of the spring crop rotted in the ground, making these darling roots really a pleasant sight.

SWEET POTATOES F/P  Orange ones this week.

TOMATO F  Just a few left.  Frost may come on Saturday.

BROCCOLI P The last of the crop except a few side shoots

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  Mostly green peppers for you as we prepare to bring them all in before frost.

EGGPLANT F Just one small one for the full shares.

LETTUCE F/P  Butterhead or red leaf

GREENS CHOICE F  Bok choy, Swiss chard or Gai lan.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Cilantro, dill, rosemary, thyme or hot peppers

FENNEL OR KOHLRABI F Anise or broccoli flavored bulbs

GARLIC F/P  The last garlic for the 24-week CSA shares.

NEXT WEEK:  Sweet potatoes, greens, peppers, green tomatoes, carrots and beets

FARM REPORT:
The weather has turned exceptionally dry these past weeks.  No rain is good for the Outstanding in the Field dinner tomorrow night and good for the farm crew.  The irrigation pond has plenty of water so we continue to irrigate the few crops that remain in the fields. 

The 2-month old chicks are enjoying the warm weather and their expanded area in which to forage.  On Monday, we took away their “run” that had confined them to a chicken wire-enclosed area and set them free in the yard surrounded by electro-netting. As soon as the door opened they started exploring their new range and learning about electrified fencing. 

 
 
Each chick in turn would walk through the fence with a jolt and then rush back in a few seconds later.  This was a moment where we benefited from not having a dog around while each of the 60 chicks had an educational moment.  Two days later they seem to have learned the limits of their new space and are happily hunting for bugs and chasing each other, wings flapping.

In the Share – Week 20

chicken coop, chickens, chicks, gai lan

GAI LAN AND BOK CHOY F/P  Bunches for stir-fry

TOMATOES F/P  The last good week of tomatoes is upon us.

ROMA BEANS F/P  Tom has a recipe for green beans and tomatoes in his post.

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  More sweet bells and horn-shaped sweeties.

EGGPLANT F

KOHLRABI F  The first of the fall crop.  Peel well and enjoy raw or lightly cooked.

CILANTRO, DILL OR ARUGULA F/P

NEXT WEEK:  Peppers, greens, eggplant, sweet potatoes, lettuce and kohlrabi. 

FARM REPORT:
First, an update from week 16 regarding our flock of 60 chicks.  They are over a month old now and have moved to a coop in the fields.  They are very energetic and healthy little girls.  They stay in a protected run when they are outside to keep them safe from hawks, etc.  Every few days we pull the coop down the bed so that they get fresh grass.  The love to eat anything green that we can throw at them.  Today they got some bok choy leaves that didn’t make the cut for the CSA. 

Meanwhile the 2-yr. old flock got a new patch of weeds to work on today.  They are happily stripping off the seeds of the annual grasses that are such a nuisance for us. 

In the Share – Week 18

chicks, monarch, wildlife

 Okra season

TOMATOES F/P

YELLOW ONIONS F/P

SWEET PEPPERS F/P

GREEN BEANS F/P  By Saturday we should have some Roma (flat-pod) beans, but there are still some nice “normal” beans to pick tomorrow. 

DESIREE POTATOES F  Cream of flesh and rose of skin.

SALSA PACK, EGGPLANT OR OKRA F The stars of the late summer.

EGGPLANT P

HOT PEPPERS, DRIED HERBS, OR RADISHES F

NEXT WEEK:  tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salsa packs, roma beans, garlic, and the first of the fall greens.

FARM REPORT:
It has been a whirlwind of a week here.  The summer harvest continues, we have begun to plant the high tunnel, the barn remodel is in full swing, and we are attempting to tidy up the farm before 100+ guests arrive on Sunday.  Along with the crabgrass and the foxtail, there are many crops to see.  The Sunday hayride will bring you past our half acre of brassica family (broccoli, cabbage, kale, etc.).

 
You may also meet some our resident wildlife.  Remember those friendly butterflies from two weeks ago?  Here’s another one, by itself this time drinking nectar from a zinnia.
 
 
 
 
The monarch larvae can be found all over our farm on their favorite plant, the vining milkweed.  We started the practice of leaving this “weed” wherever we find it.  Even climbing up a tomato plant it does no harm to our crops that it uses as a trellis.  The monarch eggs will be laid on it and larvae will hatch and quickly devour every leaf.  That’s what I call a win-win situation.  The butterflies eat our weeds and we in turn leave them their only food source. 
 
 
Thanks to the stellar killing power of our nation’s favorite herbicide, milkweed is declining.  Keep an eye out for the vining milkweed in your gardens and protect it.  It is pretty common and is easily mistaken for it other vining cousins.  The stem is thick and upright with heart-shaped leaves.
 

In the Share – Week 16

beans, chickens, chicks

 

BEANS  ?  We will pick the patch tomorrow for the first time and we may only have enough for either full or partial.  Whoever misses this week will get some next week.  We planted beans four times this summer and are happy to get some finally to grow and fruit!

TOMATOES F/P  Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and heirloom and hybrid slicers make up the mix.

DESIREE POTATOES F  Creamy yellow inside and blushing pink outside.  All delicious.

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  The peppers are ripening now.  Their are Carmen horn-shaped red ones, yellow and purple bells.

EGGPLANT P

RED ONIONS F/P  An assortment of three types including the Tropea onion, from the Ruggieris ancestral homeland.

SALSA PACK OR EGGPLANT F

HERBS OR HOT PEPPERS F/P  We are sending in dried herbs, dried cayenne peppers and fresh hot peppers.  The basil may be gone for the season.

NEXT WEEK:  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, salsa packs and garlic

FARM REPORT:
Thursday morning we welcomed 62 new residents to the farm.

 Day-old chicks were shipped overnight in a cardboard box from Cackle hatchery in Lebanon, MO to the post office in Kearney where we picked them up and quickly got them to their new home.  For now they live in the brooder, a large box in the barn where we can keep them safe and warm.  Their first food from us goes on paper towels to get them started eating.

The chicks are Americaunas which lay blue, green or pink eggs, Dominiques that lay brown eggs, and Brown Leghorns that lay white eggs but don’t expect any eggs from these little girls until sometime in February.  For now we check on them several times a day and make sure they are staying warm and well-fed and to get some free entertainment.  Kitten videos are okay, but these little girls (and 2 boys) are pretty darn cute.

Since they have arrived their downy coats have gained the first feathers on their wings.  Once they have all of their feathers we can begin to let them out for short runs in the grass.  By the Harvest dinner (Sept. 13!) they should be out in our little coop with a yard to explore.

And we saw this in the field – mating monarchs!