Bluebirds and Beginnings

Here's what we've started so far this season

Heirloom and High Altitude Tomatoes

Aurora-Prairie Fire-Silver Fir-Sasha's Altai-Sub Arctic Plenty-Mikarda Sweet-Polish Linguisa-Soldaki-Hungarian Heart-Odessa

Peppers

Napolean Sweet-Feher Ozon Paprika-King of the North-Hungarian Yellow Wax-Buran-Black Hungarian

Greens

Pak Choi-Kan Tsai-Pablo-Grandpa's Admire-Jericho-Tatsoi-Arugula-Radicchio-Emerald Oak

We're also trying Turkish Orange and Pingtung Long Eggplants, Dr. Whyche's Tomatillo and Watham Broccoli.

The onions are overflowing with Alisa Craig and Red Marble mixed in with King Henry Leeks and Red Celery.

Yesterday we placed our barn wood bluebird box up just in time for the arrival of our Western Bluebird pair. It took them exactly 3 minutes to investigate a possible new home for this years brood or two.

We're also raking in our cover crops in certain beds to amend the soil and change the structure a bit. We'll be experimenting with turning it over into the bed after it's grown a cycle and using what's called green manures.

Green manures integrate cover crops with seasonal food crops and serve as a mulch and replenisher simultaneously. This in theory should cut down on "weeding" and provide habitat for beneficial insects.

Mmm...coffee bags filled with straw and bean shells. It's starting to smell like fresh coffee in the greenhouse

Squash Blossom Farm CSA

Garlic Harvest

Uncurling

this is the last week of the garlic dry down in the ground. we've had some rain but all seems well. the scapes we're testing have nearly gone vertical and are very firm and Salty built some racks to dry them on. We'll give them at least another month to dry in the air.

The music garlic oils were rich after being pulled and dried 3 weeks ago. We mixed it in some homemade

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
1/4c spicy mustard
1-1/2 cup olive oil
splash or two of apple cider vinegar
3 tblsp local honey
2 garlic cloves
pinch of sea salt
combine and shake

Tastes delicious on salad in homemade coleslaw or for marinating veggies and chicken.

What is July without Dragonflies?

The garden is finally taking off. Sometimes it seems so ridiculous to wait for peas in July when we're already starting crops for the fall and looking at the first tomatoes make fruit. But the Montana Marvels are delicious.

We're cutting back the "head high" early comfrey and nettles to make a nutrient tea for the heavy feeding crops and drying the other half for my Herbal Salves and Teas. The three rows of 50 foot beds we're digging this week are to accommodate next years CSA. The remaining Siberian Tomatoes, Montana Salmon Squash and some of our favorite Spaghetti Squash will be making a home there. With these being all short season varieties we're hoping that the late season hoop won't be needed. But, either way they'll be cycled out with one of next years garlic crop.

The garlic crop this year is looking great. I pulled the straw last week to start drying out the bulbs and the soft necks have finally made a strong showing. They do seem to shape up a little slower than the ophio-hardnecks. We've cut the garlic scapes on half the ophios and let the other half ride out till they uncurl and stand up straight. From that trial half we'll leave 1 out of 10 in the ground to form bulbils to increase our seed base. Giving us about 200 feet of heirloom bulbils to develop for the next 3 summers, tediously dividing them until they form full size bulbs. These ophios will be naturally adapted to our unique micro climate on Squash Blossom Farm.

Interestingly, the garlic near our center perennial purple carrot does seem the largest. Giving yet more merit to companion planting. Louise Riotte's book is always close at hand. I was introduced to her by a dear friends in the Mountains of North Carolina nearly a decade ago who had the medicinal wisdom to pick nettles without feeling a sting.



Nettles is very balanced for iron and vitamin K intake. I've been mixing dried nettles into shakes, making sun tea and herbal vinegar hair rinses. It was an indispensable drink when I was pregnant with our little guy to keep my iron and vitamin K levels up naturally. A recipe for a facial and hair toner is below.

Herbal Vinegar Toner/Rinse
16oz apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Dried Nettles

Combine, bottle and infuse for at least one month in a cool dark place. Shake every couple days to activate the herbal constituents. Apply with cotton ball for a facial or pour about 1/2 cup on your head for a hair rinse. I like to add a few drops of rosemary essential oil or peppermint.

Sharing the Harvest

This season we have some infrastructure projects to fine tune and build. Our hoop houses need some mending and strengthening from the beating they've sustained since 2007. The wind can be severe but will be useful for our turbine. We also have a reclaimed glass/strawbale greenhouse we're building and fence to finish.

We're really close to completing the fence. The 73rd and last fence post was set on Sunday! We have a few gates to make and wire to tack up and the half acre is enclosed. I have never been one for play pens but this one rocks. Our farm is machine free so all our post were hand dug and set by Salty over the last few seasons with some assistance by J-Bird and Papa P. I of course provided the morale boosting and beverage support, which did include some homemade hot cocoa, plus I did swing a hammer and marked out the property to get things going.

Even though we're not selling this year- we're still working the rows and testing out some more heirloom and short season vegetables while providing enough food for us. Our plan is to offer a CSA next season and will then have a strong structure support to make it easier.

The CSA will be a mix of about six Shares for 20 weeks and options include

Traditional Veggie Share-$25 per week

Veggie/Spelt Bread Share-$30 per week

Harvest Shares-sponsored

The handful of Harvest Shares is for families limited on fresh food purchases that is growing in the Flathead Valley. The number of shares we can support is dependent on donations and our growing space. We hope several small contributions even as little as 1$ will add up to share food with 3 to 5 families for the 2011 season. The families will pay what they can afford and in return receive seasonal harvests for 20 weeks.

We have been exploring this option over the past year in an attempt to really open the fresh market to a diverse mix of age groups. Especially children who constitute the majority of Food Stamp recipients and are dramatically affected by their early food choices.

As of March 2010 Flathead county currently supplements 11,744 people with their Food Stamp Program. I found this to be a substantial increase from previous years

2009 ::8383 people

2008 :: 6007 people

2007 :: 5581 people

Based on information I found in the US Census Quick Facts and Montana Department of Health- I calculated the number of people on Food Stamps in the Flathead Valley was at an alarming 10.69% in 2009. I then compared the March Statistics for the number of families in the county on Food Stamps from 2007-2010.

This year was up by over 3361 people compared to 2009 and you'll notice from 2007-2010 the number of people more than doubled. The economy is faltering and it shows in the number of people requiring food assistance. More than likely this number is higher as some families try to go it alone without government help.

We believe in "Feeding All Regardless of Means" which was coined by my sustainable agriculture mentor, Christof den Biggelaar. Besides guiding me on companion planting, crop rotation and cultivation he really emphasized food that is community supported and based. His recent project on the "FARM Cafe" provides meals exclusively from locally grown food donations and without a price tag. Individuals pay what they can afford or trade their skills for food. This is what our Harvest Shares are about on a Community Supported Agriculture Scale where the Farm Gives Back to the Community.

So spread the word as your garden grows and if you have families in mind for our Traditional or Harvest Shares let us know.

The Garlic Saga Continues

Alright! So our Hardneck Garlics are making a strong showing this spring. The Softnecks are a little weak though? This is are first season trying softnecks as I wanted to practice braiding so hopefully they shape up.

We find the hardneck oils and flavor hard to beat-they make up three quarters of our crop. These beautiful green leaves in early spring really perked my interest in growing more food this season. It's always amazing what survives a Montana winter.

Dethawed

It's Grow Time!