Sundora Farm

Pause in Production

2012-01-30T07:41:00.001-08:00

After a lot of thought and careful weighing of options, I've decided Sundora needs to take a break from producing for other families this year. For the last three years I have loved producing food and caring for the pigs and chickens. I can't tell you how good it felt to wake up each morning during the season and head out to greet the fields in the morning light. I loved the hard work, the produce, the seed catalogs, playing with the piggies, the field planning, transplanting, market, CSA pickup, washing veggies, mornings with my harvest crew, the list goes on. I am very lucky to have had a wonderful, fun-filled, exciting three years of doing the farm... "So why stop?" you're probably asking... I'm taking a break because while the farm has been ecologically sustainable, it hasn't been financially sustainable for me. I am hoping to take a year off, keep a big garden with my head farmhand, right hand woman, and dear friend Lynn, and play around with different business models in hopes that I can find a way to reinvent the farm, and maybe start fresh at a later date. While I will miss the piggies, the CSA members, and the larger scale gardening, I am greatly looking forward to getting back to gardening just for the love of it. I know this season will leave me feeling refreshed and excited, just what the doctor ordered.

Piggles... all growed up

2011-08-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

August Has Arrived

2011-08-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

August has arrived, and with it has come a great bounty from the garden. Things really are producing better than they ever have... I've got greenbeans, pointy cabbages, summer squash, cucumbers, eggplant... the list goes on. Counting myself lucky to have such a plethora of food these days...

A photo summary...

Lynn: Head Farm Hand/Soon-to-be Garden Partner

Carly: Valued Workshare

Chloe: Cute Chick in Residence

Lupines and Piggies

2011-06-09T05:05:00.000-07:00

This season I feel incredibly lucky to have survived the rains without any economic or ecological damage. My heart goes out to the farmers across the state who have suffered greatly at the loss of their spring crops, the flooding of their fields, the erosion of their soils... thank goodness the sun has finally come out and summer has arrived. Hopefully we will all be lucky enough to have a season of plentiful harvests ahead of us.

I'm running into a challenge I've never experienced before.... my fields are almost full and I still have a bunch more to get outside! I've got cucumbers, many kinds of winter and summer squash, as well as melons out in the field under row cover. There's broccoli, a whole field of potatoes, lots of beets and carrots, many salad mixes, lettuce, swiss chard, the list goes on... it's an amazing feeling to have so much growing already, I'm just hoping I'll continue to have room for more! We'll make it work somehow!

Baby winter squash under row cover...

All in all things are going really well so far. I've got some fantastic workshares this year, but I could actually use a couple more! With the Randolph Farmer's Market this year as well as the restaurant account with The Harrington House opening June 16th in Bethel, VT on top of the 30 member CSA, I've got my hands full! It's already an exciting season, and I have every confidence this will be our best season yet!

And now, here's a photo update of the happy piggies...

Season Three Here we Come!

2011-05-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, full-time off-farm work has ended, and full-time farming has begun! The greenhouse is quickly filling up with seedlings, the fields will be plowed shortly, and the animals are out in the grass...

Leroy has been helping me seed trays...

Last Thursday Lynn and Carly, my two right-hand farm gals, accompanied me to pick up the piglets from Hogwash Farm. We got Tamworths again, two girls and a boy, third year in a row!

Preparing their dishes for food and water after the long ride...

The chickens observing from the sidelines, waiting to catch a glimpse of our new farm loves...

And now, it's my pleasure to introduce Elouise, Winifred, and Elliot Winchester...

We also have a new rooster care of Nancy and Dave at Hogwash! We've named him Clancy Farnsworth, he's a Buckeye, and very sweet. He's already loving his ladies Carly and Lynn...

Claire's Top 10 List of Exciting Varieties for 2011

2011-03-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

My first round of seeds from High Mowing Organic Seeds arrived yesterday, which means onion, eggplant, and peppers will be seeded tonight! As I sorted through the packets on my coffee table last night, I realized I'm growing an especially exciting array of produce this year! So, I thought I'd highlight some of my favorites here(all pictures and variety descriptions taken from http://www.highmowingseeds.com/).

10. Organic Miyashige White Daikon Radish - Popular Japanese daikon that can average 2-6 lbs each while remaining crisp and tender for pickling, fermenting or storage. Pure white with a pale green shoulders when exposed to sun. Best grown for fall crop.(Raphanus sativus)

I've heard so much about these radishes, but I've never actually tried one! So, I decided I have to figure out what all the fuss is about!

9. Organic Sweet Chocolate Pepper - Early maturing and high yields! Appreciated not only for its unusual color, but also for its remarkable earliness, heavy fruit set, and tolerance of cool nights. Medium sized peppers are uniformly long and slightly tapered with long stems. Developed by Professor Elwyn Meader at UNH.(Capsicum annuum)

Anything with chocolate in the title gets my full attention! That combined with the unusual color and heavy fruit set makes this a must-grow for this season!

8. Organic Lemon Cucumber - HEIRLOOM Specialty variety prized by discriminating salad chefs for its delicate flavor and crunchy bite. Round 3” fruits turn from pale greenish yellow to lemon yellow (the best eating stage) and then bright golden yellow (when it most closely resembles a lemon). Easy to grow and does well in short summers. Fruits perform well in cool conditions. Works well in large containers.(Cucumis sativus)

This variety was recommended by my Grandmother in Oregon. She's been growing these for a long time and told me I wouldn't regret giving them a try... by george that woman was right! If you can find a more tender, beautiful cucumber I dare you to try (thanks Grandma!!)!

7. Organic Musque de Provence Pumpkin - HEIRLOOM - Gorgeous French variety also known as Fairytale. Richly colored green background and orange glow become increasingly buff when ripe. Fruits are large, often weighing 15-25 lbs, flat in shape and deeply ribbed. This edible pumpkin, often enjoyed cooked, is also traditionally eaten fresh. Cut from the middle like a wedge of cheese and slice very thinly. The flavor is exceptionally complex and sweet with a nice light crunch. May sound strange, but it will surprise you!(Cucurbita moschata )

This pumpkin has a Cinderella kind of feel to it, which I love. Anything that sets the fairy-tale mood is fine by me.

6. Organic Arava F1 Hybrid Melon - GALIA - This green-fleshed tropical melon is deliriously aromatic, sweet and crisp. Arava is a reliable producer year after year in High Mowing’s trials and one of our staff favorites. Galia melons were developed by crossing a honeydew to a cantaloupe, resulting in a perfectly round melon with smooth, netted skin that turns yellow when ripe. Medium-size melons average 2-3 lbs.(Cucumis melo)

People have demanded more sweetness, so here I am with a delicious melon to soothe your pallet in the middle of the August heat... it's just one of a handful of varieties I'm trying this year.

5. Organic Beta Mix - A mix of the best baby leaf varieties from our beet and chard groups. This mix will revolutionize the way we think about our beta greens, showcasing them as tender and delicious with the texture of spinach (without the oxalic acid) and the sweetness of Russian kales. The mix includes Bull’s Blood and Early Wonder Tall Top beets and Golden and Silverado chard.(Beta vulgaris)

People rave about beet greens, and I have to admit they are a little foreign to me! I feel like if I am to take myself seriously as a farmer I need to be fluent in the language of the beet... here goes nothing!

4. Organic Hon Tsai Tai - Dark green leaves with purple veins and stems have petite florets that are best harvested right before the bright yellow blossoms open. Similar to broccoli raab in culture and use, with a much sweeter flavor and delicate texture. Young flowering shoots add a sweet, mild mustard flavor to fresh salads, lightly steamed, in stir-fries, or in cream-based pasta dishes. Best grown in mid to late summer when the days are becoming shorter and stems elongate.(Brassica rapa var chinensis)

I love the color combination here as well as the promise of mustard flavor... can't wait to saute this one...

3. Organic Yellowstone Carrot - Something new for the lunch box! Sunflower yellow carrots are long and slender averaging 9” at maturity with strong, feathery tops. Yellowstone is extremely productive and adaptable to many growing conditions. Beautiful when mixed with other specialty varieties for a colorful display. Pick early for a tender, mild flavored treat! (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)

People have seen orange, they've seen purple, but have they seen yellow in their bunch of carrots? I'm gonna go ahead and argue no... so here I am, widening people's definition of "carrot"... you're welcome.

2. Organic Baby Doll F1 Watermelon - Yellow icebox type. Early maturing melons are slightly oval in shape with medium and dark green stripes. Fantastic bright yellow flesh with small brown seeds. It’s sweet, crisp flavor topped our taste tests. Fruits are very uniform and productive, weighing 10-15 lbs each. Harvest promptly as fruit has a tendency to split when ripe in the field. Excellent variety for direct markets or shipping. (Citrullus lanatus)

I was obsessed with watermelon for the better part of my pre-teen years... needless to say when I saw High Mowing offering a yellow watermelon I jumped right on board... can't WAIT to taste this one!

and last but not least...

1. Organic Red Kuri Squash - Also known as Baby Red Hubbard and Orange Hokkaido, these teardrop-shaped, strikingly red-orange squash from Japan have very smooth, sweet, dry flesh with deep orange color. The most reliable yielders even in cool, short seasons. Fruits are 3-4 lb size. Improved HMS strain with greater uniformity than other strains.(Cucurbita maxima)

What can I possibly say about this perfect specimen? The flavor of this squash is perfect... It's my new favorite winter squash and I'm confident you'll love it too.

No Top 10 List is complete without at least one honorable mention... this year's recipient is a favorite from the first year of the farm. I loved the tenderness and presentation of this variety, but didn't grow it last year because I couldn't seem to find organic seed anywhere... When I saw High Mowing offering this gorgeous little head I couldn't resist... So please offer a warm "Welcome Back" to...

Organic Caraflex F1 Cabbage - Green “sweetheart” cabbage for fresh market. Caraflex is well known for its thin, sweet leaves that are delicious eaten raw or in stir fries, slaws or egg rolls. Small heads average 1.5-2 lbs. Plants are extremely uniform and have good wrapper leaves for insect and sun protection. (Brassica oleracea)

Well folks, that about does it for Claire's Pre-Season Top 10 List... However, stay tuned! I'm still waiting on potatoes from FedCo... I ordered over 100lbs of seed potatoes this year, that's more than triple what I ordered last year... I'll have everything from blue potatoes to fingerlings to storage potatoes... more on that when they arrive.

If you haven't ordered your CSA share yet, there's still time! Send me an e-mail, (SundoraFarm@gmail.com) or give me a call(802-522-6877) to reserve yours!

Posters!

2011-02-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

Posters are up and brochures are out for Sundora's 2011 CSA!

To pick up a brochure go to Bud & Bella's Bookshop or Three Bean Cafe right in downtown Randolph. You can also email SundoraFarm@gmail.com to get a brochure!

Kittens and Baby Birds

2010-08-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Today has been a reminder that the cycle of life is always working here on the farm... I've had a coup of chickens that I essentially rescued this past winter, that have been pecking open all the eggs that they lay. So, after months of trying to decide whether or not to keep these chickens who are literally eating away at the farm's profits, I finally decided to end their lives in the name of the farm's financial sustainability... my friend Carl came over to help me do the job. It's never an easy decision to end an animal's life, one I took very seriously. And when it came time for followthrough it was done with no lack of respect for the animals. As I tearfully placed each one of them in the compost pile I thanked them for their lives. Being year old hens we didn't feel they would be useful for anything other than broth, and quite frankly we thought they would yield more nutrition if they were returned the soil to help the garden grow next year... I walked away feeling sad at the loss of healthy birds with bad habits all the while knowing we had done the right thing for the farm.

Meanwhile, this morning at 6:45 I picked up the two newest members to our farm family, soon-to-be mouse assassins. This grey kitten is Leeroy, a 6 week old kitten with a gentle little way about him. He is certainly the friendlier of the two...

And this is Roscoe... I can already tell what a serious business man he is going to be, I've been referring to him as a kitten ninja as he seems to have his mousing skills already underway and seems to have less time for canoodling... This dynamic duo will be housed in the barn, keeping the mice population in check while they keep an eye on the overall whereabouts of the rest of the farm critters...

These baby robins included! They were born last Tuesday in the nest their mother has been lovingly laboring over for the past few weeks in the CSA pickup area in the barn... mama is around, feeding them and keeping them warm on these cool nights. I'm sure she's not pleased to have two aspiring snipers camping out in her personal space, but honestly they are so small they probably won't even understand that her children could be food. Today Roscoe had the opportunity to devour a beetle, and after pawing it forcefully for about 2 seconds he ran off having found a piece of hay that looked more promising... mama robin has nothing to worry about...

And finally, this morning I got out to take photos of the pigs!! They are HUGE now, and will continue to become giants for 2 more months with us. George is a sweet brute who loves more and more affection each day. Now when I enter the pen he comes over and leans against my legs immediately, waiting for a good rub down... Gladys is still rowdy and causing constant quarrels, but I'm just happy she's keeping things interesting as none of them seem to be plotting an escape...

and then there's Flossie, who just always seems confused. I think she is torn between being George's girlfriend and Gladys's right hand lady... and rightfully so, those two really do demand a lot from her... I try to give her tummy rubs and good scratches as often as possible.... Pigs are happy, birdies are safe, and kittens are deepening their skill set... everything is as it should be.

Henrietta

2010-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

So far we've had 4 CSA pickups this season, and things are off to a bit of a rocky start... two plantings of head lettuce bolted before I could get to them, I didn't plant enough broccoli raab at first so not enough of it budded at the same time to make it worth it to give out. Most of my cilantro has bolted too, my snap peas got too heavy and collapsed by trellis... never a dull moment!!Shareholders have been getting a good amount of kale, collard greens, and salad mix though, among whatever other goodies we find ready out in the fields each week.

I am hoping that very soon their baskets will be filling up with more than just greens and snap peas!

And now the tale of Henrietta:

Henrietta was just another nameless chicken among the ranks, a number if you will. And then one day about 3 weeks ago as I went out to her chicken tractor to feed her and her friends, I noticed that something was wrong. All the chickens were crowded in the sun away from the back of the coup making lots of noise. When I crawled into the coup I found little Hen Hen( her new nickname) hanging upside down by her foot from the nesting boxes, who knows how long the poor girl had been like that! I went over to her immediately and eased her little body back up into the nesting boxes... her foot came immediately free. I knew that cocky little Gus Gus would never allow me to crawl out of there with one of his ladies in hand without giving me a good beating, so I quickly exited the coup and snuck around back to pull down the back flap behind the nesting boxes that I usually collect eggs through. She was still sitting there in the nesting boxes, so I grabbed her and secured the flap once more without the slightest retaliation from Gus Gus. Mission accomplished.

Once in the house little Miss Hen, Dad and I washed her little leg that was already swelling, and got her some water and food. After a little bit of relaxation time in the porcelain sink in the house, Hen Hen and I made our way out to the barn where I promptly made her a little hospital hay nest in the front stall with her food and water right next to it so she could eat and drink without having to move...

Since that day Hen Hen has been healing really well. Since she is all by her lonesome in that stall, I open up the doors and let her free range with me during the day while I'm out there. She's still limping, but she moves pretty quickly regardless, getting stronger and stronger everyday. The other day I was out in front of the barn watering the piggies, and here comes Hen Hen down the front steps of the barn, hobbling over to stand next to me as I did my chores. Then she followed me inside to get grain for them, and back out to feed the piggies. She takes her farm tasks very seriously... I'm thinking about making her full time staff... we'll see how her references pan out...

In other news, things are getting really big in the field! We've got baby broccoli coming soon, basil, green beans, cherry tomatoes, the flower garden, and summer squash are also on the way. This heat is causing everything to kick into high gear, and while it's making it harder to keep up with the weeds, the veggies are really taking off... I'm a proud veggie mama.

Activity

2010-06-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today all the tomatoes got into the ground! This year we've got Pruden's Purple, Green Zebra, Sunkist, Yellow Perfection, and Black Cherry. The cherries will be PYO (pick your own) for the CSA, which is a new addition this year.

We also got all the eggplant into the ground, there are three different varieties of that as well!

The flower garden is also coming together slowly as things are ready to be transplanted out...

I've always heard farmers talk about how they could work from dawn until dusk and still have more work to do and I never quite understood what they were talking about, but this year that's all changed! I feel like there's a never ending list of projects to be done now that the frost-free zone has arrived (we hope!). Piggies need to be moved, tomatoes need to be trellised, winter squash needs to be transplanted, greens need to be seeded, onions need weeding, the winter garden needs mulching, the flower garden needs all kinds of love... the list goes on. But the great thing is things are growing, and well! I tend not to irrigate my fields because I feel like the plants should be able to fend for themselves, so far I've been successful with that approach, I hope that luck continues!

Before I sign off I thought I would leave you with some photos from the garden, the bakery, and one of my good little Abner with his ladies... the farm is a bundle of activity these days...

CSA Season Has Begun

2010-06-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first CSA pickup of the season! Shareholders got salad turnips, mesclun, radishes, garlic scapes, dill, and kale or collard greens in addition to a little baby basil plant to take home.

This year Sundora farm has close to 40 shares going out every week compared to 25 last year, and so far so good! I've got a fantastic group of volunteers here helping me weekly, and I have to say we're way ahead of where I thought we would be.The fields are getting fuller everyday, and things are really taking off.

Wildflowers are in bloom all around the fields, baby lettuces have turned into teenage lettuces, and the snap peas are flowering!

Meanwhile the pigs have tripled in size since I got them and only continue to get more lovable. George, who was the least interested in me in the beginning and was maybe even a little aggressive, has discovered that right between his eyes is his favorite place to be rubbed and that little tummy of his likes love once in a while too... Flossy is also warming up quite a bit, but Gladys doesn't seem to understand why everyone wants to touch her. I try to give her her space.

In other news, my bread is now being sold at Chef's Market! You can find my french breads there and sometimes even my bread sticks, dinner rolls, and cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting too. I make deliveries on Saturday and Monday mornings by 10am.

Finally, Sundora Farm could use a few things to help out with this season.

#1. Cardboard boxes (medium-sized) and brown paper bags for delivering bread and packing up shares at the end of CSA days.

#2. Old milk crates or big plastic bins that you no longer need(they don't have to have lids).

#3. 5-gallon buckets

I think that's all for now! If you have any of these items to donate, send me an email and we'll figure out a good dropoff time! SundoraFarm@gmail.com Thanks!!

Progress

2010-04-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Using draft animal power on this farm has been a goal of mine from the very beginning. But as a new farmer with already so many balls in the air I don't have the time needed to devote to learning to use horses to work the land. Someday I know I'll be able to integrate them into my farming system but for now I've got plenty on my plate. So, yesterday, on a beautiful cloudless Saturday, I had my friend Carl Russell of Earthwise Farm and Forest bring his team of draft horses, Kate and Ted, over to the farm to ready my fields for the season.

With the use of a walking plow and a good set of harrows, Carl and his team got my fields loosened up and ready for planting into come Monday morning. Carl is very knowledgeable in the field of draft animal power and helps coordinate Animal Power Field Days in Tunbridge, VT every year. I feel so lucky to have him just over the mountain.

In other news, the piggies all have names now. This little girl is Flossie. She's the sassiest out of all of them and also the friendliest. She already flops over to let me rub her tummy.

The other two in the picture with their little house are George and Gladys. George is the most protective of the three. He will probably take the longest to win over. And Gladys is my big sturdy girl who I think aspires to be a professional rugby player. She certainly knows how to stand up for herself.

Overall the farm is coming along nicely so far this season. Peas are in the ground, lettuce, arugula, and spinach are all growing in the green house. The garlic is growing big and strong thanks to my friend Jan helping me weed and re-mulch it last week.The flower garden is getting a make-over as I reform the beds and mulch all the walkways with mulch hay... things really are taking shape!

Just a little look ahead, May 8th is the Fiddlehead Festival up at VTC. The farm will have a booth in addition to lots of other local farms, businesses, and crafters. It's always a lot of fun with great food and good people. I hope to see you there!

Fresh Air

2010-04-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung here at Sundora. This gorgeous weather has both chicken coups outside. Crow and his ladies (above) are all out free ranging around the farm, while Gus Gus and his girls are tractoring on the front lawn.

I've been moving them twice a day so they get new grass and bugs to keep them busy. I bought those hens at a couple months old from another farmer, and when we got them they were not happy campers having been trapped in a small space with almost no bedding and stressful living conditions. All winter they've continued beating up on each other, so I'm hoping that constant moving onto new land, some fresh air, and new bugs to chase and eat will help distract them from picking on their siblings. So far so good.

The chickens have some new friends on the farm now too... the piglets have arrived! I picked them up from Hogwash Farm in Norwich, VT this afternoon!

Here they are patiently waiting in Dora's dog crate in the back of the car. I've got a boy and two girls just like last year, which I am really happy about. It's amazing how surprisingly small they are after having 200+lb hogs in the fall. I haven't named them yet, but as soon as I do I'll make sure to let you know.

So far they seem to be much more trusting right off than my last batch, which I'm sure can be immediately attributed to the fact that they didn't get out of their pen within the first 15 minutes and have to be chased around the farm and caught by my brother Jake and I like last year!

They sat in their little crate in their new pen for about 3 minutes, and then immediately shot out and ran right into the electric fence! After a little squeal and some jumpy running, they were off exploring their new digs. I took that as my cue to go grab some corn and start our interactions off on a good foot. So with a scoop full of delicious treats I sat down in the middle of their pen and sprinkled some kernels in front of me while I waited for their curiosity to get the best of them...

Sure enough within 2 minutes the boy (who I just might name George since he is the most curious so far) came right over and started eating, keeping one eye on me every moment. We went on like that for 15 minutes, me staying very still, them eating, watching me closely, and every so often getting the courage to lean forward and smell my boot, or my pant leg before suddenly turning back to their food to continue their snack time. I'm going to go in their pen and spend at least a half an hour with them every day like I did last year with Herkimer, Flo Jo, and Crysta. Those three pigs last year were some of the friendliest animals I've ever met, and I have every confidence that this group will be just as lovely. They really are my favorite part of the farm. I'm so happy they're finally here!

Ben and Crow

2010-03-31T14:07:00.001-07:00

Today Ben, my farming partner and dear friend, packed up his Kia(a.k.a Kitty) and left on a grand adventure to work on another farm crew about an hour away. But before he took off he said he couldn't say goodbye without getting a final picture with his pride and joy, Crow. He is so proud of that rooster, as he should be having raised him from day one. That is one handsome bird.

While it is incredibly sad to be losing Ben as a part of the farm team and household, I couldn't be more excited for him as he starts this new chapter in his farming career and life. I wish him only the best. He knows that he is always welcome back here anytime he likes.

Beginning the Season

2010-03-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

The season has begun on the farm! On a gorgeous sunny day last week I set up a rather makeshift potting table outside the barn next to our new pile of Fort Vee Vermont Compost Company potting mix, and went to town seeding tomatoes, onions, and leeks. I'll do another round of seeding in a month or so when I have more table space and lighting.

For now the trays are inside under the primitive light setup I constructed in the mudroom. The seedlings will remain there until the hoop house is set up with tables instead of the cold frames that are in there now, and warm enough at night to keep those little guys alive.

In other news, the CSA still has a couple open spots for shareholders! So, if you are interested in a share for this summer season, you can still get one! I also have one remaining work share position available. So, if you're interested in a share or work share please send an email right away!

There's still time!

2010-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

The deadline for 2010 CSA shares has been pushed back to March 19th. We still have a few slots left, so get your order form in soon! If you don't have a brochure, please email Claire at SundoraFarm@gmail.com for a digital copy!

In other news, seeds from High Mowing arrived in the mail the other day... getting very excited for the start of the season...

CSB Creations

2010-02-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

Lately there's been a lot of baking going on in Sundora's kitchen! I've been creating new things each week for the CSB shareholders, like basil mozzarella bread and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting... so I thought some mouth watering pictures were in order! Enjoy!

This is the seasonal fruit tart that I've been offering, this time with apples...

Brochures for 2010 Growing Season Now Available!

2010-02-01T06:03:00.000-08:00

It's official, Sundora Farm is now taking on shareholders for the 2010 growing season. Below is a small version of our brochure for this year, just to give you an idea of what it looks like. If you'd like a digital copy just shoot me an email and I'll get you one right away! SundoraFarm@gmail.com Spread the word!

Community Supported Baking Begins

2010-01-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of our CSB (Community Supported Baking) and it went really well! We have 7 families to start out with but will welcome more! Please let us know if you're interested in joining!

I was in the kitchen from 6:15 to 12:30 baking french bread, dinner rolls, fruit tarts, whole wheat sunflower seed flax bread, and white sandwich bread among other things. I'm going to try to have something new for my CSBers to try every week and have the opportunity to order the following week. Today I made rosemary-chive french rolls for sampling today and they were a a real hit. I'll be making those weekly, if not for customers, at least for my family. We love them!

That's all for now, but I will leave you with these photos of bread bounty...

Spontaneous Adoption

2009-12-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

So lately our two roosters, Gus Gus and our Black Australorp(whom I will from here on refer to as Mr. Lorp) have been fighting... and Mr. Lorp has been winning. Gus doesn't stand a chance next to that guy. It had only been a little blood on his back, so we were letting them fend for themselves for the time being. However, yesterday afternoon when Ben entered their coup, Gus looked like he'd just been in the dirtiest of street fights. His gorgeous white head dress soaked in blood... it was time to intervene.

So, we took Gus Gus and his friend Big Tuna out of the main coup and set them up in a cage in the second horse stall that was being used to store hay. We knew Gus Gus couldn't return to that coup, but we had no idea what to do with him.

Gus Gus is perhaps our favorite chicken, and certainly not one we're ready to part with. At the same time, he and Tuna couldn't stay trapped in that tiny cage forever. Without a better alternative, Gus and Tuna spent last night in that cage with hay on two sides for them to nestle into, a pan of food, and a waterer full of warm water that we had to change every few hours to keep it from freezing... not at all ideal.

This morning during breakfast Ben suggested I jump on craigslist.org to see if anyone had chickens they wanted to get rid of. I had toyed with the idea of expanding the laying flock anyway, so now seemed a good a time as any. Gus and Tuna needed friends, and they needed them soon... three hours later Ben and I were on our way back from Washington, Vermont with 20 chickens in produce boxes and a huge dog crate in the back of the car... when I make up my mind about something, it happens quickly.

So now we have two coups full of chickens. Our old coup houses our 7 Black Australorps.

And the second horse stall has been fully set up to house not only Gus Gus and Big Tuna, but their new friends, a mixture of Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks.

While I ran around buying another waterer, water heater, more shavings, and food, Ben hung up our old set of nesting boxes in the second stall and made sure the chickens were safe and comfortable in their new coup.

Since these new chickens are 9-10 months old, they are already at laying age, which means that come tomorrow morning, we'll be getting about 15 eggs a day! Three Bean Cafe has agreed to buy our eggs in addition to the bread they already buy from us for their paninis! Needless to say, we're really excited about this wonderful addition to our farm family!

Sundora Bread Share 2010

2009-12-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

It's official! Sundora's Winter Bread Share is starting on January 6th! I've got order forms at the following places in downtown Randolph:

-Three Bean Cafe -Holiday Beauty Salon

-The Depot -Fenix Fine Foods

-Patrick's Place

If you can't get downtown or would rather have a digital copy, please send me an email and I'll get it to you!

I decided to change the structure of the bread share a little bit. The session is still 10 weeks long, and now I'm going to have people purchase credit at the beginning of the session. Credits range from $50.00 to $150.00 in $25.00 increments. So once you have your credit, you pre-order your items, and come to the farm every week, or every other week, whatever works for you, and you pick up the item(s) you've selected from our list. Each week that you order something, we will deduct the price of your product from your overall credit. You can add to your credit at anytime. Bread share members also receive a discount on all our items. Those prices are reflected on the Bread Share Order Form.

Pickups are every Wednesday from 1:00-6:00pm.

A list of our products can be found a couple posts down. We're also willing to take requests (within reason)!

The Three Little Pigs: Closing Remarks

2009-11-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

The following is a reflection I wrote about the final step in my journey with the pigs.

Saturday November 14^th was a day I had been dreading for months. A vegetarian for the four years leading up to this event, I wasn’t sure I was cut out for this kind of involvement in my food but I was jumping in headfirst anyway. If I was going to eat meat, I had to hold myself responsible for the process that meat goes through before it gets to my plate. And I had raised those pigs for meat, so making their transition from life into my freezer as easy and smooth as possible was what I was determined to do, no matter how heartbreaking.

The previous day, we set up the pig trailer in their moveable pen and scattered bits of their favorite treats all over; corn chips, moldy bread, stale muffins, stinky cheese. They clumsily climbed in with little effort on our part, and shortly thereafter we embarked on the journey to Steve’s; the location of the next day’s events. They spent the night there, jammed in next to one another in that trailer, protected from the constant rain by a tarp.

The next morning we found them calm, sleepy and relaxed, completely unaware of what was coming. I climbed up on the wheels of the trailer, ducking under the tarp to lean down and comfort them one last time. Patting each of them on their backs I thanked them again for their delightful piggy lives and said goodbye, silent tears streaming down my face. After jumping down from the trailer, I excused myself from the crowd that had assembled to witness the process, and retreated to my car where I collapsed in sobbing gasps. Devastated. After a few moments, I gathered myself together, took a deep breath, and rejoined the group. Everyone was drinking coffee, sharing stories, and laughing, I tried my best to put on a smile and make the best of this.

When the butchers arrived, I explained in a collected, logical manner that I had grown quite fond of those pigs and didn’t want to be there when they died. “Well when are you takin’ a walk then?” Mark asked in his strong Vermont accent, smiling. I went into the house immediately where I found Josie, a shaman and one of Steve’s stepdaughters. “Are they starting?” she asked with a sympathetic smile… and the dam I had built to hold back my tears started to crumble … then I heard the first shot go off, followed closely by the other two. My heart sank.

Sitting there at their kitchen table Josie and I spoke about the importance of those animals and what they represent. Josie told me about her constant awareness that her life is made possible by other organisms giving up theirs. A humbling realization. She told me that there’s a great sense of responsibility that goes along with that knowledge, a responsibility to live each moment intentionally. It made me realize that my feelings of sadness were a necessary part of really knowing and owning this process of raising my own food. Those pigs were loves of mine, and now they were sacrificing their lives (unknowingly) so that mine, and the lives of others could continue… I had found a deeper gratitude.

I thanked Josie for her words and headed outside to take part in the process I had begun with those pigs. There before me was Flo Jo on her back on a sawhorse-like contraption, being cut in half. Mark and Dave, the butchers, were working carefully and quickly in the rain… I felt myself getting choked up. Walking around to the open side of the trailer I saw Herkimer and Crysta, both motionless as if they were in a deep sleep. And yet again I was overcome. What were we doing?! Just then Ben came up to me. “They were all quiet. It happened quickly,” he said. The butchers said that pigs rarely went that quietly. We discussed the fact that those pigs had been touched by countless humans and heard a range of loud noises (power tools, hammers, etc) in their time, so when that gun went off they were startled, but panic was minimal and brief. I looked over and watched as Mark handled Flo and felt all my fear melt away. The terror and uncertainty I had been drowning in were gone. There was a gentle respect in Mark’s movements. Sure Mark and Dave made jokes (not about the pigs) and laughed as they worked, but I welcomed their light hearts. They had treated those pigs in a humane way with no lack of accuracy. Yes, of course I still felt heavy with grief, but that grief was evenly matched with my appreciation for their skill and respect of my feelings as they cared for the bodies of the animals I loved. As I watched them work through the day my sadness lessened and I become more fascinated by the process. What beautiful animals those pigs were, inside and out! Those men had managed to turn a potentially scary, brutal, messy experience into a rather meaningful, almost enjoyable morning for me. After seeing every step (minus the first one) of the process first hand I knew it was one I had to, and wanted to go through again. I had made sure those pigs led fantastic lives up to the very last moment, and that was something to feel good about.

Mark and Dave told me several times what remarkable animals I had raised. They were healthy, lean, beautiful pigs, the product of a happy life. It comforted me to know that the fresh pasture, room to run around and wrestle, and ample amounts of affection had resulted in the best meat we could have hoped for.

It feels good to stand here at the end and know that the process was a success. And now that I have tasted the end product I feel even better about it! During their lives the pigs nourished me emotionally, and now they’re nourishing me physically. I do still have moments of sadness, missing the way they leaned on me waiting to get their tummies rubbed. But mostly I feel thankful to have had the opportunity to know and love those delightful animals. I am a better person for having embarked on such a challenging, rewarding adventure. And it’s one I plan to repeat over and over throughout the rest of my days.

Sundora Bakery Pricing

2009-11-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Word is getting out about my bread! So, I've decided to list some of the items I offer as well as some prices to give people a better idea of what I have going on here. But before I begin, let me give you a quick snapshot of what my baking is all about. As a local farmer, I'm looking to use as many local/ethical ingredients as I can. Right now I use local wheat from Butterworks Farm, local eggs and honey, and fair trade sugar. I'm hoping to use fair trade vanilla and chocolate, and local sunflower oil (which is also from Butterworks) when it's ready in a few months. My loaves are made in small batches and are mixed, kneaded, and shaped by hand.

Prices*

Loaves:

100% Whole Wheat $5.25
Whole wheat with flax $5.50
Whole Wheat with Sunflower Seeds $6.00
Whole Wheat with Sunflower Seeds and Flax $6.25
White/Wheat Hybrid Sandwich $5.25
Cinnamon Swirl (which has a white/wheat hyrbid based dough) $6.50
My take on a French Bread $4.00

Rolls:

White/Wheat Hybrid Dinner$3.00 for 6/ $5.50 for 12

Bulky Sandwich $3.50 for 4/ $6.50 for 8

Rosemary Chive Dinner $3.50 for 6/ $6.50 for 12

Sage Dinner $3.50 for 6/ $6.50 for 12

*Prices are subject to change slightly as I incorporate more local ingredients.

I am also open to taking requests if you don't see the kind you're looking for!

To place an order or get any remaining questions answered please call Claire at 802-522-6877 or email her at SundoraFarm@gmail.com. Orders must be placed by noon on Sunday for pickup on Tuesday at the farm. Pickup is between 8:00am and 4:00pm. We are located at the intersection of Beanville Road and Route 12 in Randolph.

Community Supported Baking on the Rise

2009-10-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been spending a great deal of time in the kitchen every week baking. As we move out of the regular growing season and into the colder months, I find myself wanting to bake almost constantly. I think this is because last winter I worked at Great Harvest up in Burlington as an early morning sweets baker and absolutely loved it. It's the best job I've ever had outside of farming. So I have been continuing to use the skills I picked up there to feed my family and make a little money on the side.

I've been making both whole wheat and wheat/white hybrid sandwich loaves, all kinds of dinner rolls, and even some french bread in addition to almond white chocolate chip brownies, almond vanilla cakes, apple crisp, cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip pecan cookies. I've been selling bread, rolls, and cookies every Monday during our retail time here at the farm and I'm also providing Three Bean Cafe with bread for their paninis.

So, with all the fun I am having baking, I've decided to do a winter bread share from my home, I'm calling it Community Supported Baking (CSB). It will work just like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in that people will pay up front for so many weeks of bread, rolls, or sweets, and then come pick up their goods on a designated day each week during the baking term. The first round will start in November. I'm still getting prices together, and a few other logistical things, but once I do I will have order forms available via email and also at a few locations in downtown Randolph. In the meantime, if you're interested in ordering bread, rolls or sweets from me, please don't hesitate to send me an email or stop by on a Monday between 1:00 and 6:00pm to check out my baked goods.

Winter Veggies

2009-09-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, Part II: Cold Frames

We farmers have the veggie bug, and we've got it bad. The short growing season in Vermont just isn't long enough for us to get in our full helping of cultivation and little greenlings (a.k.a. baby plantlets). So, we do the only natural thing, extend the growing season as much as we possibly can! How? Cold Frames! This way we can keep growing mesclun, onions, leeks, carrots, and asian greens even after there's a blanket of snow outside.

So, the other week I threw together a prototype of a cold frame out of some spare wood we had left over from the tomato trellises. Here is Ben being his own interpretation of Vanna White.

My cold frame is 8 inches tall in the front, and 12 inches in the back. It's got a storm window for the top(also called the light), and I just sized it to fit the window perfectly. There aren't any hinges on it, and I didn't include anything to prop it up because I wanted to be able to completely uncover the cold frames on the random warm days of fall. I plan to prop it up with different sized pieces of wood later on in the season when neccesary. Keeping it simple.

This is the cold frame uncovered in the green house, all ready for me to direct seed carrots into... and then me actually seeding the little guys.

Each cold frame will have its own thermometer mounted in it so we can carefully monitor each one's temperature. We want to do this to make sure that we prop them open when they get above 70 degrees. When you're transplanting into cold frames, it's important to keep in mind that the plants you start in seed pots aren't used to really high temperatures. Plants that are tolerant to colder temperatures from the beginning will do better over the winter of freezing and thawing.

Now, keep in mind that I have never grown anything in cold frames over the winter. All the information I have shared here I learned from Eliot Coleman. He came to the NOFA Winter Conference last year and gave a wonderful, informative workshop on his winter harvesting. He also has a great book called "Four Season Harvest" that's a fantastic resource for this kind of winter food production. I recommend him highly.

That does it for now, but I'll write more on baking and the approaching end of the 2009 growing season in the next few days! Stay tuned! Same veggie time, same veggie channel!

Preparing for the Cold

2009-09-20T10:47:00.001-07:00

Fall is upon us, with our flowers starting to close up shop and the threat of frost in the wee hours of the morning. But even with the season’s end on the horizon, there are still many things going on on the farm. Let me catch you up on what you’ve missed… there’s a lot so I’ve broken it up into sections. Today I will do the pigs, and over the next few days I'll post about the cold frames, the end of the season, and the baking I've been doing! Okay, onto the good stuff...

The Pigs

Well, let me start by saying that they continue to be hilarious and lovable. We are having great fun with them. Last week we built them a new house on skids. I have included step-by-step pictures so you can see all the little pieces that fit together…

This is the base frame the rest of the house sits on...

The bare-bones frame and walls going up...

Ben putting the trough on after the tin roof had been attached...

We built them a new house because they are far too big for the other house they’d been in all season, and they were beginning to show us how bored they were in that same pen... ripping down their tarp, nosing branches onto their fence, etc. So, we called up our mentor Steve to see if he’d be willing to lend us some portable sheep netting and a couple batteries, he was.

So, we hooked up our pig house behind the truck and I took off driving over small boulders and through waist high weeds toward the site of the pig's new home. With Ben guiding me I was able to pull the pig house back behind the barn and back the truck out of there safely without falling off the cliff right next to me... all it all, it was quite a successful off roading experience.

Once we had the house in place, we set up the sheep netting, hooked up the chargers, filled the trough with food, filled up the water bucket, and got ready for the pigs to make the big transition the next morning.

The next day, with mom and dad along for the adventure, we all gathered around the pig pen, each at our stations, ready to help the pigs get acquainted with their new house. Ben distracted them with some corn while I snipped off the ties that held the end of their old fence in place, opened it up, and connected the (non-electrified) sheep netting to each side of the opening. Then Ben called the pigs over, showing them the new opening.

Now, I had thought the pigs would go charging through the opening into their new pasture land, so excited at the site of new soil to plow up with their little snouts. Not so. Those pigs stood at the opening of that fence, where the electric fence had been, sniffing the air, rooting in the soil, and not moving an inch. I had read that it's thought pigs associate some level of magic to these electric fences, and while I don't know if I quite believe that pigs even understand the concept of magic, it certainly seemed that that hypothesis wasn't far off. Those pigs knew that they had gotten shocked at that exact spot before and weren't about to risk that happening again.

After a while Flo Jo got over her fears and went alone, into the unknown wild of the new pen, grunting happily the whole way. Meanwhile, scaredypants #1 and scaredypants #2 were still in their old pen, grunting at Flo Jo, probably getting a report of the new digs. After Flo Jo had collected a sufficient amount of data, she headed back to the old pen to have a chat with the other two. But even after their pow-wow, they weren't sold. So they settled in to take a nap under their shade tarp. Ben and I had already been out there for an hour or so, and mom and dad had gone inside. We were running out of patience. So, we took down their shade tarp which stirred them up, but they still weren't crossing over. After trying watermelon, cracked corn, and pig pellets, we finally gave in and hand fed them corn chips. This did the trick!

After just a couple corn chips, backing up after each one, I was able to lure all of them over the "magic" line, and into their new home. They were rooting around and grunting happily almost immediately. So what we thought would be a quick 2 minute transition, turned into a 2 hour coaxing game of lure the pigs with tasty treats.

And now the pigs are happier than ever...

Fresh Veggie Mondays

2009-08-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ben and I have decided to open a little farm store here on Mondays during the season from 1:00 to 5:00pm. We will have veggies and herbs for sale every week, and hopefully some baked goods and t shirts as well! We're working on finishing the sign for it right now and will make sure to post pictures of it when we get it up.

Please feel free to come by the farm on Monday afternoons and tell your friends! We'd be happy to give farm tours and/or answer any questions you might have about local sustainable agriculture as well!

Chickens are out and flowers are in bloom!

2009-08-07T18:10:00.001-07:00

Things have been pretty busy around here now that the weather is finally cooperating! The veggies are in full swing, the pigs are getting huge, and the laying hens are out in their brand new chicken tractor complete with nesting boxes and roosts. Ben has been working long hours to get this thing up and running, and I have to say it gets the job done. The hens seem really happy and safe, which is all we can hope for. Ben is a proud papa.

The chickens are mostly black australorps but there is a white sultan chicken(among other random additions) that we've named Guss Guss. I think she looks like a mad scientist. She's a tough ole bird and seems to hold her own pretty well despite her dainty head dress. She's my favorite.

The rest of the chickens seem healthy and lively.

Constantly up to something and always with that guilty expression on their faces... I don't trust them for one minute.

This is our first season growing flowers, so our "cut flower" garden was a huge experiment. I had no idea what varieties to choose or when exactly things would bloom or for how long. So I just got a random assortment after reading their descriptions in the Johnny's catalog, and hoped for the best... and I have to say it's been wonderful so far and seems to be thriving despite this crazy season we've been having. The flowers are beautiful and they attract a great variety of beneficial insects. Here are some pictures...

OPEN HOUSE!

2009-07-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, Ben and I are opening up the farm for an afternoon so that you all can come see, in person, what we've been up to this season. So, please come by the farm this Sunday, August 2nd, between noon and 6:00pm, take a tour, have some iced tea with us, and bring your friends! We hope to see you soon!

Sundora Farm Luncheon

2009-07-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Every year Bethany Church holds the Talent and Treasure auction as a fundraiser. This year we decided to donate a tea luncheon for 6 to take place here at the farm. So last weekend 6 ladies came over to our house all decked out in mudboots and tea hats, ready for an agricultural spin on a tea party.

Our afternoon began with a tour of the farm. I showed them the fields and the flower garden, the pigs and the chickens while answering questions about cover crops and local agriculture.

The tour ended in the CSA pick up area, which we had turned into the ultimate tea party location.

There were cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwhiches on freshly baked homemade bread, a lovely local salad, a frittata, salad turnips and dressing, lemon squares, and a delicious spread of fruits.

The ladies enjoyed tea, both iced and hot, as they sat together in the barn tea room laughing and sharing stories.

We are hoping to make this luncheon an annual event, so keep your eye out for it next year in the Talent and Treasure Auction!

Tomatoes and Chicks

2009-07-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got our huge tomato transplants out into the field.

They are all trellised between wooden teepees made from wood seconds from the Howards in town. We have four different varieties: Buffalo (your basic red all purpose tomato), Pruden's Purple (which is an heirloom that's pinkish purple and deliciously sweet), Green Zebra (a yellow and green striped tomato...

also quite tasty), and Striped German (a yellow and orange/red tomato that's perhaps my favorite tomato of all).

They already have flowers on them, so fruit is on its way!

Here are the chicks! I know you've all been waiting to see their little faces... Ben has been working hard to make their new

home in the chicken coup (where the pigs started out) as safe and comfortable as possible. They seem really happy.

And finally, I'll leave you with some more lovely pictures from our days here at the farm...

Finally, an update!

2009-06-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence! CSA season has been a crazy time for Ben and I, and the blog has had to take a backseat. However, I will attempt to catch you up as best I can!

The piglets aren't piglets anymore! Flo Jo, Herkimer, and Crysta have grown so much in the past month! They love their outdoor pen so much better than being in the chicken coup.

We were able to transport them out into their new pen a few weeks ago by throwing some cracked corn in the back of Dora's dog crate, and shutting them in. We then loaded the crate onto our garden cart and wheeled them right into their new pen. It was the smoothest transition we could have imagined... when they emerged from their crate they immediately put their noses to the soil, rooting around in pig heaven. Before we knew it they were covered in mud and running around playing tag in their yard. They are the happiest pigs I have ever seen.

One of my favorite things to do is to come up to the side of their pen (which is 20x50), yell "Come on guys!" and start running for the other end of their pen. When they hear that they all come bursting out of their little tarped in shelter and chase me down to the other end.

It took a little bit for the pigs to figure out that they could trust me, but now we have really comfortable interactions.... this is my sister Andrea rubbing Flo Jo's tummy!

In other news, Ben has baby chicks! We don't have any good pictures of them since they are under a red heat lamp, but once they get a little bigger I promise to post some.

They are black australorps. There are 25 of them.

We're still removing rocks daily... many of them are too heavy for us to move ourselves...

So the tractor does a good amount of the work for us. Thank goodness.

Our CSA has been going for three weeks now. Honestly I have to admit that we have far less produce than I had planned. From the rain and cold in May to a lack of experience in planning the season out, the first shares we've put out have been smaller than I had hoped.

But our shareholders have been tremendously supportive and are looking forward, as are we, to the green beans, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. For now though, we are enjoying plentiful amounts of salad turnips and greens! These turnips can be pink or white and they can be eaten raw. The white ones are a little spicier than the pink ones, and both have delicious greens. I'm trying to get the town of Randolph addicted to them because they are an early, quick root vegetable that's as easy to grow as it is tasty. So far our CSA seems to like them and the Randolph Farm Stand even bought a few bunches from us last week! Such excitement!

This picture is one that Ben took of me a couple weekends ago. He thought the world needed to see what farmer Claire wears for Sunday chores... Sometimes it just feels better to be out in the field in my pajamas...

Now I'll leave you with some more pictures from the farm and a promise to do a better job of keeping you posted! Enjoy!

Goings on...

2009-05-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

Life is getting easier and more routine these days. Ben is here now, he moved in on Wednesday, but he's still getting settled.

The lilacs are in bloom.

The greenhouse is full of little plantlets right now. I've got 97 trays seeded, so our tables are at capacity. I transplanted 4 trays of salad turnips yesterday to make room for the rest of the flowers... They seemed really happy despite the heat.

I discovered this old lawn mower in the barn and decided it was time for him to earn his keep... he's been trimming the grass in front of the hoop house for a couple days now...

Things are running smoothly...

The Great Pig Escape of 2009

2009-05-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

The pigs arrived yesterday, and proved within the first hour home that they are a force to be reckoned with...

Allow me to introduce Herkimer (the token male in the middle), Florence Griffith Joyner a.k.a Flo Jo (the oldest girl on the left), and we haven't found a name for the littlest girl yet. She's quiet, so I'm still getting to know her... I'll let you know what I figure out.

My brother Jake and I brought the little guys home in Dora's crate, and set it in the middle of their pen. They were quite shaken, so we didn't force them out right away. When they finally came out (after a little coaxing from Jake and I), they emerged only to run around their pen and find the one place where they could slip through the 3 strands of electric fence to freedom, led by Flo Jo. Jake and I, never having had pigs before, did the only things we could think of. I scrambled to grab some grain and Jake tried to get ahead of them to keep them from running up into the woods.

After herding them around the pasture for a good 15 minutes, we were finally able to get them into the back side of the barn where Jake immediately caught one by the middle. It was wiggling its way out of his arms, so I run up, grabbed its hind legs, and carried it, upside down, (the way you carry piglets without hurting them or yourself) and we put it in our old chicken coup which I had, luckily, cleaned out earlier that afternoon in case the storm was too bad and we needed to put the pigs in there. Jake was then able to catch the other smaller piglet, and we quickly put that in the coup as well... the only one left was Flo Jo, the ring leader... I tore out of the back of the barn and couldn't see her anywhere... but I could hear her. She was really stressed, and breathing/oink-ing loudly behind the well house. She saw me coming behind her and ran for it... fast (thus the name Flo Jo came about). She stayed down in the pasture as we continued to try to herd her down into the barn, but after another 5 minutes of that we were both losing steam... she took off up the hill toward the pond. I was close behind her but she got past the pond before I could head her off. I followed her up into the woods, keeping her in sight the entire time. I didn't have my phone on me, and I didn't know where Jake was. It was just me, alone with Flo Jo, in the woods. My only hope was to get her to head back down the hill... I ran uphill as fast as I could without keeling over, glasses fogging up the whole way, tearing off layers of flannel as I went. Finally she found a patch of something she liked and stopped for a snack. At that moment I heard Jake call up the hill for me. We yelled back and forth as I directed him south before turning up the hill to herd her back... it worked perfectly. She booked it back toward the house... I lost sight of her but Jake could see both of us and yelled directions to me so I would know where to go as I scrambled down the hill. When we got out of the trees, she was way ahead with Jake. We followed her down the hill past the barn, as she headed around the back of the house and headed toward the road. I sprinted from the driveway, rounded the front corner of the house, and was about to turn the next corner when I came face to face with Flo Jo... we both stopped in our tracks, shocked to be in front of the other. Flo Jo turned right around and ran back into the flower garden in front of the kitchen window... It's got a 10ft retaining wall going down to the basement level on one side... she was trapped... or so we thought. Flo Jo jumped off that wall in a split second and hit the ground running, olympic running athlete pig that she is.

At that point Jake and I had been running as fast as we could for about a half hour and I didn't have anything left in me... we gave up as we watched Flo Jo run off behind the Sugar house and into the woods toward the brook... Jake walked after her and I decided to follow... the only thing we found was a hoof print in the mud... she was gone.

I came in the house feeling really discouraged, my first day as a pig farmer and I couldn't even manage to keep them in a fence... I took a shower and ate some dinner, feeling like a total failure the entire time. We called all the neighbors and the state police to let them know we had a piglet on the loose... we hoped someone else might have better luck capturing her than we did...

After dinner I headed out to the hoop house because I hadn't gotten a chance to check on the seedlings at all that afternoon. I slipped on my Crocs and headed out to the barn. I was half way up the driveway when I heard what sounded like a squeaky car engine, and then a really short squeal came after it, and I knew immediately it was Flo Jo. I whipped around to see her standing in the field between out house and our neighbors. At that moment I heard my mom, who was standing at our kitchen window (that overlooks that field) doing dishes, scream, "CLAIRE!!" "I see her!" I yelled in reply. I booked it in the back door to the breezeway, threw off my Crocs, jammed on my rubber boots and headed out into the field. In the time it took me to get out there, my mom had gone out the side door, around the house, and was standing in the middle of the field.. it couldn't have been more than 20 seconds... that surprised us both! That woman can move! At that point Flo Jo was standing at the back corner of our neighbors house, so I ran as fast as I could in front of their house and when Flo Jo saw me she ran back up the hill.

I decided that it was time to stop chasing. She obviously wasn't going to go far, I thought if I got some grain she might come around... I walked into the barn to get some grain, which is stored right by the chicken coup that the other pigs were in, and found Flo Jo standing outside the chicken coup door, staring at her siblings through the chicken wire, oink-ing loudly with them, wanting to get inside. After initially scaring her outside accidentally, she came back in and stood 10 feet away from where I was standing at the door of the chicken coup. I unlatched the door, opened it wide, and talked quietly to her, all the while keeping an eye on the other little ones inside... they were perfectly still, and terrified, poor things. After a couple minutes, Flo Jo gave up and ran past me right into the chicken coup. No catching necessary. All three pigs were back home safe. Thank goodness!

Shortly thereafter I talked to Nancy from Hogwash Farm on the phone. We laughed about how ridiculous my first day was. She congratulated me for surviving. She said that in the future, there's no need to chase them. She said that catching at least one of those pigs in that specific situation was a good idea because they don't know this is home yet and also don't trust/know me either and therefore wouldn't just come to food. She said that as long as you have one pig, the other pigs won't go far. Pigs are herd animals so they will stick together. She also suggested keeping them in the chicken coup until we get to the point where they come toward me instead of running away when I enter. The other recommendation she made was to put a physical fence around the electric one so that when they are bigger they can't get out and eat our crops! Needless to say I plan on doing that!

All in all, yesterday was pretty intense, but looking back on it, it's pretty entertaining. I got a run for my money, literally.

Be in awe...

2009-05-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick one...

The hoop house tables are finished! Everyone admire their loveliness... oooooh aaaaaaaaaaah

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I just have to show you how gorgeous the crabapple trees are right now...

Stay tuned: the pigs arrive on Thursday!!

The Season is Under Way!

2009-05-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

Well, I moved to the farm almost a week ago, but I've only been farming full time for the past two days since my last exam was on Tuesday... which means that I am officially done with my college career! Life has begun! I can't tell you how amazing it is to be living each day, doing what it is I love, on my own terms, at my own pace! This has already been such a great experience for me, but it has had no shortage of challenges!

Before I get into the craziness that has been my life as Farmer Claire for the past couple days I'll just say that the garlic continues to get bigger and more beautiful every day. It feels so good to see something growing as we get the season started. It's a reminder of all the wonderful things that lie ahead!

Before I begin, let me say that this is me being completely real about my learning curve in an attempt to keep things honest and open... I'm having a blast but I don't know everything. So this is as much a discovery process as it is a very familiar comfortable way of life for me...

Alright, so this week I realized that I needed to lime our soil heavily before Fred came to plow on Wednesday since we need to raise our pH by a full point! However, Wednesday morning arrived, and since I had been in Burlington the day before finishing up my exam and running errands I totally forgot to purchase the lime! So I frantically called Ben at 9:00am (who was still in Burlington) in an attempt to figure out how we could calculate the amount of lime to use... after consulting many books, our brains, and our soil test we decided that I only had a couple hours til Fred would arrive and it was more important to have some lime on than none at all (We've since figured it out and will apply the rest soon).

Instead of continuing to freak out I pulled myself together, picked up some lime from Central Supplies and spread fifteen 40 pound bags of lime over the first half acre. We know that's far less than we will need, but at least it was something. Our soil looked like a light snow had fallen on it...

Fred arrived that afternoon and did a fantastic job roughing up the ground. He went back over the area we limed with his plow and then turned over the new parcel I marked out behind the barn.

When Fred was done, my worst fears were reality... there were huge rocks everywhere.

So today I spent the better part of my morning out there with a demolition bar, trying my darndest to get as many of the big ones moved as I could... but with it being so muddy and the ground being so uneven the tractor was no use. I had to give up... Hopefully after the rain lets up I'll be able to make a bigger dent in the boulders out there. For now I've decided to focus my energy on other things.

Like the plants! I think I've got about 40 trays seeded at the moment.

I've been using a soil block maker which takes a bit longer than the plastic seed trays to set up, but it has a much smaller ecological footprint which is why I'm sticking with it!

Those little seedling trays have taken up all the temporary space

I had set up for them in the hoop house, so today Jake gave me some carpentry lessons as we constructed our first hoop house table out of the hemlock we got from the Howards! Soon the whole greenhouse will be full of those tables. I have to be honest, I'm really happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to make more!

Finally, before I head to bed I have to let you know that our t-shirts have arrived! We got them done at Green Mountain Imprints in Shelburne.

They've got our farm logo on the front and a great line drawing of the barn and the hoop house that Jake designed for us (it may look very familiar as it has appeared on this blog once before) on the back.

These lovely shirts come in red, navy blue, chocolate brown, or a mossy-green color. They are printed on organic cotton and are $18.00. Shoot me an email if you'd like one!

Home stretch

2009-04-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ben and I are in our final week of classes, which means that I will be moving to the farm on Friday! I can't tell you how excited I am to be there full time! So, in preparation for that, Ben and I had quite a bit to get accomplished on Sunday!

We are building our hoop house tables out of lumber from the Howards in town in an attempt to keep things as local as possible. They are giving us locust boards which are fairly rot-resistant, high quality boards and they are very reasonably priced, which makes them the best choice for lumber in my book. They are currently finishing up their sugaring season (being the farming rockstars that they are) and should be able to get lumber to us by next week. So, in the meantime we have set up temporary tables in the hoop house out of saw horses, buckets, and scrap wood.

The other temporary station we had to construct was our potting area. The lumber for the rest of the floorboards that we need to finish the workspace floor in the barn is also coming from the Howards, so until that floor is laid we need to have another area in the barn to pot things up.

We were lucky enough to find this old workbench in the barn. I hosed it down and disinfected it for good measure and set up a workstation right outside of our other horse stall. Our potting mix is from Vermont Compost Company, our trays are recycled from another farm, and that little metal do-hicky you see on the top left side of the bench is our soil-block maker. We are all set to start seeding next week!

Another project I started was to clean out an "office" space for myself in the barn.

It's in the hay loft and overlooks the front field we'll be using this season...

I think it will be my quiet space to plan and take a breath! We're thinking of putting in a couple of windows to brighten it up...

While I worked on all those projects, Ben put the chain saw certification classes he's been taking to good use. He ventured up into the woods and came back with the logs we needed to make our roll-up sides on the hoop house (this is why I call him the woodsman, among other things).

Those roll up sides were a huge project and took Ben a good chunk of the day and a large amount of creativity to construct, and while we both had our doubts about them, I think it's safe to say they are high quality.

I am so happy to have those done! They look great! We could have gone with the commercially made ones, but these have more character!

And finally I just want to leave you with some pictures of what's happening around the farm. It seems like everywhere I turn there's something beautiful to be present to.

Mulching Indoors

2009-04-20T07:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I spent a good hour putting the finishing touches on the floor in the hoop house. It's got a thick blanket of mulch hay on it now, which means it's all ready for tables. Hopefully we'll be able to get those started next Sunday.

While I did that, Ben went to work on the tractor, servicing it to get it ready before the season begins in 2 weeks! Such a handy man he is...

Later in the day I began making a compost pile, something I am very passionate about! Compost is such an integral part of a healthy farming system, so knowing how to do it well is a must for farmers, especially new ones like me. I made this particular pile from horse manure, leaves, and wood shavings that came out of the chicken coup when we cleaned it this winter. I'm following a technique I learned at Rio Muchacho Organic Farm in Ecuador when I interned there in 2006. This compost pile(if everything works correctly) will get hot as the bacteria break down the organic matter in the pile and convert it into available nutrients for us to use. The end product will be rich, dark compost that we can then spread on our fields. Very important stuff, and something I could get absorbed in for entire afternoons.

It's amazing to think that in 2 weeks I will have completed my college career and will be living down on the farm full time. I can't wait...

New Life

2009-04-13T13:58:00.001-07:00

Ben and I ventured down to the farm this weekend to find the hoop house steamy and very much alive at a toasty 75 degrees! There were even a few dandelions mixed in there. I have to admit that I was really relieved to feel just how warm it was despite the light snowfall outside! I knew the hoop house was a good purchase, it's just really nice to see that we did everything correctly and it's working really well! I can't wait to get seedlings in there!

I spent a good deal of the afternoon on Sunday peeling stickers

off the banana boxes my mom so graciously collected for me during her afternoons volunteering down at the food shelf. These boxes were then laid out over the entire floor of the hoop house. It was so sad to have to put cardboard down and smother the new life that had emerged in our absence, but we really can't have grass growing in the hoop house. Next weekend we are hoping to begin building the tables that will hold our seedlings so we need to have the grass under control.

Now that the cardboard is down we will put a layer of mulch hay down on top of that which should suppress the weeds entirely.

This weekend Jake and Ben worked really hard to get the window and the door installed in the hoop house. I don't

know what I would have done without those boys.

I am not very handy and find myself much more useful on the vegetable growing side of things, although I am learning slowly. So, as you can imagine, having the boys there to aid me in the finishing touches of the hoop house was such a gift! Hopefully next weekend we can finish the roll up sides, and the structural aspects of the hoop house will be finished!

In addition to getting the hoop house opened up, I also moved Sunny's paddock from behind the barn to run on the uphill side of our plot and then open up out into the far field. In the space that freed up I was able to plot out the next chunk of land we'll be tilling up for use this season. In a few weeks Fred will be coming back to break that ground and incorporate lime over both plots, and then we'll be all set to start the season in the soil!!

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, the garlic we planted last fall has broken through the

mulch we laid, and it looks great! This is our first crop poking up through the ground, and we couldn't be happier about it. It's a pretty small amount, unfortunately not enough to give out in this year's CSA. Instead we are planning to save this garlic seed, and we're thinking we'll end up with about 400 cloves to plant this fall, which will be more than enough for next year's CSA. So I suppose that's something to look forward to!

Before I sign off, I just want to mention that we still have CSA shares available, as well as pork by the half pig, so please write us and check out our brochure. So keep spreading the word, we so appreciate it!

Pigs!!

2009-04-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is a really exciting night for me, and also for Sundora Farm...

I just got off the phone with Nancy at Hogwash Farm, and she just confirmed that we have 3 pigs reserved! So one month from today we will be driving to Norwich to pick up our piglets!! I can't tell you how excited I am about these pigs. It's been a dream of mine to have pigs of my own, and now that dream is coming true!

This also means that come November we will have locally raised pork for sale by the half pig. So, spread the word and please contact us asap if you'd like to reserve a half!

Seeds Have Arrived!

2009-03-23T09:45:00.001-07:00

Seeds are starting to come in! We've already gotten our orders from Johnny's and FedCo, and we're still waiting for High Mowing. It's so exciting to see the boxes arriving!

Also, something I haven't mentioned is that we are going to have an intern for the first part of the summer! Her name is Alison and I met up with her on Saturday. She's hoping to start a CSA at her college and wanted to come check out how ours works, so we're excited to have her on board!

Overall things are running pretty smoothly at the farm. Signs are in the works and should be up down by the road and on the barn in a week or two. We should have t-shirts for sale pretty soon here too, and hopefully we'll be building tables and setting up our potting space in the barn as well. Things are coming along nicely.

Making Progress

2009-03-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

I think it's only fair to begin this post by giving Dora the spot light... I feel like she has been under represented on this blog until now...

She and I started off Sunday by having some fun in the show while Ben was in the barn hard at work...

Over the past couple of days Ben and I tore up a dangerous part of the floor in the barn. There were large gaps in the floorboards that were covered in hay that we decided we'd rather not risk falling in. Luckily we were able to find replacement boards left over from when the horse stalls were put in... we hope to finish off this part of the floor in a week or so.

We also worked on the second floor of the barn sweeping and organizing... as you can see things were really dusty.

This is my"Golly it's dusty in here!" face...

And this is Ben's face covered in dust particles... check out those lashes...

Here is what the second floor looked like when we were finished with it... all the windows and doors that had been strewn all over the barn are now organized and in the same place...

The barn is shaping up to be a really beautiful space...

Finding the Floor

2009-03-04T09:40:00.001-08:00

Since Tuesday was Town Meeting Day, Ben and I took advantage of classes being canceled and worked on the farm all day. I thought about going to town meeting day, but Randino and Mama G went down to represent the Garner clan, or as we sometimes call ourselves, "The 1052 Crew"(1052 is our house number), so I felt like it was okay to stay home and get some work done instead...
We started off the morning with Apple Cheddar Cornmeal Muffins (a fantastic suggestion from Mr.Ben). There's nothing like freshly baked muffins and coffee before heading out into the cold.

The rest of the day was spent out in the barn as per usual, cleaning and finding lovely little treasures along the way. I found an old wire egg basket... and a beautiful glass piece that seems to have some purpose, what? We don't know....

Ben is the ring leader of the barn-sprucing project, and I have to commend him for that. Over the years it's collected trinkets from different families and friends, all of which are covered in dust and straw, waiting to be discovered. So Ben has been out there with his pitchfork and brawn uncovering what appears to be a floor...

While I'm excited to get the barn in tip top condition too, I find that I need a little more encouragement to get really psyched about moving around in the dust for more than a half hour at a time. Ben's a good sport and doesn't give me a hard time when I need to take a break to work on the seed order or other farm related things...

Sunny's out there too, stamping his feet in approval. We think he's just as excited about getting the barn uncluttered and full of fresh air and animals as we are!

I suppose that's probably the first time I've mentioned our hopes of having more animals... at the moment we're considering (and I really mean considering, nothing is even close to final yet) getting 3 pigs, a bunch of chickens, 3 geese (for my dad), and perhaps some guinea hens too. Ben and I are currently working on plans for each of those. We're really hoping we can find a way to make all this work because, in my opinion, farms cannot truly be sustainable unless they have animals to complete the nutrient cycles on the farm... Plus they're just really cute... Anyway, we're thinking it over and we'll keep you posted.

Pressing Farm Chores

2009-02-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a big weekend at the farm... We finally tamed the beast that had become Ben's hair! It was wild and treacherous, and at times I didn't know if we were going to make it out alive, but in the end we were successful!

Now don't underestimate the importance of this

farm chore... and I say farm chore intentionally. Sheep have to be shorn, and so does Ben's head. It's a serious matter...

As you can see, I have my concentration face on in all these photos while Ben is happily watching Nacho Libre...

Now that Ben's hair is under control we can get to other, more pressing tasks!

Like registering the name "Sundora Farm" as our trade name with the Secretary of State and opening a bank account for the farm... Soon we'll be ordering seeds!

In other news, sales of CSA shares are going well so far! Keep calling us and emailing us with any questions you might have. Here's another link to our brochure in case you can't get down to Three Bean or Cover to Cover!

Reflections and Updates

2009-02-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Well this past weekend Ben and I went to the NOFA Winter Conference at Vermont Technical College, and we had an amazing time! We took workshops on raising chickens, draft horses, year-round CSA's, wild edible plants, and having a one-cow family among other things... we were also lucky enough to be able to sit in on an intensive workshop with Eliot Coleman who runs a 4-season farm in Maine! He is an inventive farmer who has written a few well known books such as "Four Season Harvest" and "The New Organic Grower". One example of his creative approach to farming is his planting of onions and leeks in the fall in cold frames in unheated hoop houses. This keeps them just warm enough through the snowy winter months to grow so that when June comes along he has mature, delicious onions and leeks! That's something we hope to try this fall...

CSA Share update: We have been advertising for a little over a week now and we already have 6 people signed up for shares! I can't tell you how amazing it is to have people calling and writing with their interest in becoming a part of what we have worked so hard on for these past months. This really is a dream coming true for us. So thank you for your support and for talking to your neighbors about the farm! We can't wait to share our summer with you!

We're Here!

2009-02-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

The moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived!

Sundora Farm is open for business!

We are so thrilled to have gotten to this place, it's taken a lot of time and organization, but we couldn't be more excited! Here is a link to our brochure. You can either print off the order form in the brochure, or just write down the information we need on a piece of paper and send it in... either one works for us! By Monday we should have brochures available at Bethany Church and Three Bean Cafe!

And please spread the word about our farm to your friends! We are so excited to get this season going, and we hope you are too!

Winter Cleaning

2009-01-26T17:38:00.001-08:00

Lately Ben and I have been focusing

our energy on getting the barn space cleaned out so we have an interior space to do CSA pick-up come summer... that means sorting through decades of barn accumulation with Mama G (my mom Pauline) and figuring out what we want to throw in the yard sale we plan to have this spring. I'll make sure to let you know when we've set the date. It's going to be the second hand shopping event of the season!

Once this space is organized we hope to find an additional refrigerator (if you know anyone who has one they are trying to get rid of, please let us know!), build some tables, and hang up some of the antique farm signs we've found hidden away in little nooks. Hopefully then it'll feel more like home!

Before we started our winter cleaning, the barn was looking pretty sad...

But now that we've been working on it, it looks a lot better!

In other news, we are in the process of creating our CSA brochure! We plan to have them printed off and available by Valentine's Day, which happens to be the same day as day 1 of the NOFA Winter Conference up at VTC. If you haven't looked at the list of workshops and guest speakers follow the link above. This year's conference is going to be even better than last year! So we hope to see you there!

Okay, back to advertising info... We plan to hang up posters around town at places like Three Bean Cafe and Bethany Church among others. So keep an eye out for us! We'll be offering a regular sized share for families and a smaller share for households of 1-2 people, so hopefully there will be an option for everyone! We'll be taking around 20 CSA members, so make sure to get your order in early to secure your spot! Til then, enjoy the snow!!

So Much Snow!

2009-01-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hello! Sorry for the long abscence! With Winter Break from school and some traveling it's been hard to find the time to post, but we're back into the semester, and that means more day trips down to the farm.

This is a view from over on the tree line...

Over the past month we've been getting a lot of snow! It's actually causing some problems for us as far as the hoop house is concerned. Seeing that it's metal and plastic we have to keep it pretty clear of snow so that there's never a lot of weight top or leaning on it. This means that everytime there's a snowstorm we have to trek down here to rescue the hoop house.

This is what happens when I am left to my own devices with a broom and snow that's too high up to reach... Poor broom didn't stand a chance.

This picture is from the Monday before Christmas. Ben was up in Maine, but my entire family was home. So, without Ben to aid me I turned to my trusty siblings, and together we were able to clear away the 2 feet of snow that had fallen that day, in the dark! We were out there with our head lamps, a push broom, and a couple shovels enjoying the snow. It was actually a great group bonding session. I recommend it for all family get togethers! Nothing like a little shoveling to loosen people up and get people working together!

In other news, the farm plan is almost done, which means that we will be ordering seeds soon! We are also working on becoming members of NOFA before the winter conference that's being held at Vermont Technical College (VTC) in mid-February. We will be there, so if you'd like to meet up for a chat we would be excited to meet prospective CSAers! Just shoot us an email and we'll make sure we connect.

Other than that, things are coming along slowly but steadily. I hope to be posting more in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Sealing the Deal

2008-11-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a cold day for us on the farm, but we got a lot accomplished! This is Ben and I wearing our oober stylish safety goggles before building the ends for the hoop house out of 2x4's. The end closest to the field has a door frame we made and the side closest to the barn has a window frame. We will install those at a later date.

Here is Ben working on the door frame...

As we've been working on the hoop house, we've been getting to know Sunny better. In the past Sunny has been a little grumpy with me, so Ben thought it'd be good to bridge the gap and perhaps win him over... he just happened to have a 2x4 over his shoulder when he tried to forge that friendship. Sunny didn't seem to excited... we're going to keep working on him. We'll keep you posted.

Once we got the ends framed in it was time to get the hoop house grade plastic out of the ridiculous amounts of packaging it came in! You know what a pain it is to get a CD player out of the crazy thick plastic casing that surrounds it? Well, take that and multiply it by 10... I suggest taking a good hot relaxing bath before hand and turning on some soothing music when you start in on it. Go to your Zen place...

Once I got the plastic out of the tube of danger and mess that it came in, it was time to roll it out on the ground so it could go up on the frame..

Getting the plastic on the ends was a little challenging because there was this sneaky little wind that would creep up at the most inconvenient times and test our hand/arm strength... but we did it. The ends looked great.

After the ends were up and we had pulled the plastic over the top of the frame, mom and dad came out to hold the plastic in place while we secured it to the frame with this nifty little wire and channel combination called "wirelock".

Here's Ben putting the finishing touches on the hoop house as the sun was going down...

Overall it was a freezing, productive day! Now the hoop house is at least equipped to deal with the snow that I hear we're supposed to get this week. There's still more that needs to be done with it, but the awkward hard parts are over! Thank goodness!

Baseboards

2008-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday Ben and I ventured down to the farm to get a little more work done on the hoop house... Things are coming along slowly because there is a lot of trial and error, but we are making progress!

Since it was a nice day outside, Ben and I carried the table saw outside for ease of moving around. Ben cut all the 2x6's into correct sizes for the baseboards of the house while I pre-drilled and screwed the boards together.

We also raided the barn for doors and windows to put on the hoop house, and we came across the old mudroom door from the old part of the house. So we will be using that as our door. We decided to put the door end closest to the field so we can easily carry things in and out when we're transplanting.

At the end of the day the baseboards looked like this.

It really does take a long time to measure, cut, and connect these boards together but we are taking our time to make sure we do it right the first time... we're hoping to come back down on the 23rd to get the ends built and maybe even get the plastic on! Snow is on it's way and we need to get this covered before it arrives!!

Cold Metal

2008-11-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

After a 2 week absence full of entymology projects and other homework we were happy to steal away from Burlington and spend some time with the hoop house! It's always refreshing to leave the busy bustle of the city and get back to the fresh air of our farm. We can't wait til we can be there everyday...

Yesterday we started putting up the arches after dealing with the remaining four ground posts that we struggled with during our last visit. Two of them went into the ground fairly easily after some careful manipulation of the rocky soil, but two of them refused to go down any further. So, being the resourceful efficient guy that he is, Ben decided that it would just be easier and a lot less of a pain to saw off the tops of the poles instead of frustrating ourselves any further... I supported him 100%. So that's him above, getting ready to saw off the tops of the two poles to get them down to the right height.

This is Jake(my brother) and I trying to push one of the arches into the ground post... it's a lot harder than it looks. Trying to get a curved end into a straight pole is not impossible, but we found that it's certainly a lot easier with two people.

I have to mention, that after struggling immensely with different methods of trying to get the ground posts in the ground and finally succeeding, I was looking through the bag of hardware that came with the hoop house, and found a huge bolt with a large washer on it... it was included for us to put on top of the poles to separate the hammer from the poles when we were hammering, and I didn't notice it!! I said, "Oh no, Ben, look!" And he knew right away that I had failed to notice the one apparatus that would have made getting the poles in the ground 100 times simpler for us. He playfully put his hood up and curled up in a ball on the ground with his hands on his head... "Ben, I'm so sorry!" I laughed hysterically "I didn't see this til just now!!" "Don't talk to me right now" he smiled. One of my less intelligent moments, but Ben was so good about laughing it off instead of getting mad at me. I'm confident that after that situation we are going to be a great farming pair. Being able to laugh at ourselves when we make a ridiculous error like that gives me confidence that we can do anything together.

Once we got the poles into the ground we were able to put up the straight center pole that connects each of the arches together. Next Sunday we'll be buying lumber to frame in the base of the greenhouse as well as build the ends and a door. Hopefully, if all goes well, we can get the plastic on too. We'll keep you posted!

Rocky Start

2008-10-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

The field was covered in frost when we awoke on Sunday morning, and it was beautiful. Yes it meant that we needed to wait a little bit before seeding winter rye in the field and it also meant that we needed work gloves in order to prevent sticking to the stainless steel piping that will eventually be the hoop house, but we were happy to be greeted by it anyway. It really was gorgeous.

Most of the day was spent trying to get the hoop house in order. (below is a picture of what the hoop house looked like when it arrived on the farm)We had to measure out the dimensions of the hoop house and set out the piping to be driven 24 inches into the ground before we started the long process of actually hammering the pipes in... and when I say long process, I mean that it took us the rest of the day to get 10 of the 14 pipes into the ground. This was because our soil is extremely rocky and we couldn't hit the piping with the sledge hammer directly for fear of warping the steel. We used 2x4's as a barrier between the piping and the hammer, but those kept splitting, then we used a hockey puck but that kept flying off of the pipes and eventually broke... there were other attempts, but in the end we just stuck with the splitting 2x4's.

Somehow in the process of hoophousing, Ben and I both ended up hurting our right index fingers doing completely different things. I mildly cut mine on the side of one of the steel pipes while trying to twist it into place, and Ben got his pretty good with a sledge hammer... after some jumping up and down and a quick sprint into the house, we were able to get him washed up and bandaged. Don't worry, he's okay. His finger is a little bloody and swollen, but we're pretty sure that's the extent of the damage... the moral of the story here kids, is don't put your hands anywhere near where you're about to hammer. It's likely to end in tears... and/or jumping up and down.

Ben decided to take a break from hammering and seed the winter rye after lunch . You can see him in the picture below bending down to refill his seeder with seeds...

At 4:00pm, 4 of the posts were part of the way into the ground, but were hitting a huge layer of rock that prevented them from going any further into the ground, so we gave up on those for the day and decided to screw together the arches instead. That way next weekend we can get the arches up and secured before framing the hoop house in with lumber and covering it in plastic.

So, what's the difference between a hoop house and a green house? Well, according to me, a greenhouse has a thermostat and a heating mechanism, and a hoop house is just an insulated structure without an added heat source. This particular hoop house will be used as a protective light environment for our seedlings to be started in. We might also grow some tomatoes in part of it. When it's all put together it will be 16ftx24ft and 8 ft tall... a sizable greenhouse indeed. We're really excited to get it up before there's snow on the ground!

Breaking Ground

2008-10-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is the story of two new farmers starting a Community Supported Agriculture(CSA) venture in Randolph, Vermont this spring. Let's get acquainted...

This is Ben. He's a Sustainable Landscape Horticulture major at the University of Vermont who has been working with the apple orchards up at the UVM Horticulture Research Center for the past two years. He graduates this spring.

On our farm he's the tractor man, the tinker, and the woodsman. He's the technical brains and the brute strength of the operation. He makes a mean tofu stir fry and loves live music more than monkeys love bananas.

And I'm Claire... an Ecological Agriculture major with a minor in Community International Development who will also be graduating from UVM this spring. For the past two summers I've worked on veggie farms, in 2007 I worked on Old Shaw Farm and this summer I worked on Common Ground Student Run Farm up at the UVM Horticulture Research Center. This will be my first time running a CSA of my own, and I couldn't be more excited!

On our farm I'm the business coordinator, overall organization guru, and veggie mastermind. I'll be the one organizing the CSA shareholders and developing crop rotation and planting schedules. I LOVE carrot cake and my favorite word is zesty. I also enjoy finger painting and contra dancing.

So, what is Sundora Farm? Well, Sundora Farm is a mixed vegetable farm that will be offering 20 CSA shares to anyone who is interested in being a shareholder for the 2009 growing season. And what does it mean to be a shareholder? It means that before the season begins you make a payment to the farm in exchange for 17 weeks of fresh, pesticide-free, local produce that you pick up at the farm once a week on CSA Pick Up Day(we haven't figured out what day yet). It also means that you (and your children if you have them) have a farm to visit as often as you like to learn about agriculture and what it means to be sustainable. As new farmers, we are excited to put our collegiate knowledge to good use, and we want to share as much as we can with you! The more we know about how our food is grown and where it comes from, the more equipped we are to make responsible, healthy decisions for both ourselves and the environment.

And, how did we get the name Sundora Farm? Well, there are two animals on our farm that we love, and wanted to include in this new business...
This is Sunny. He's the 27 year old Morgan that my parents have had for the past few years. He's a grounds keeper of sorts, you know, he mows the grass behind the barn and keeps an eye on the perimeter. He'll be keeping us company as we work right next to his paddock this spring.

And this is Dora. She's our 5 year old Briard that acts as a watch dog and frisbee catching machine. In the summer she likes to swim in the pond and run in figure 8's around Sunny despite his lack of excitement at her shenanigans.
So we took Dora and Sunny and fused them to become Sundora. We plan to design a Dora-Sunny hybrid creature soon which I'm sure will appear on numerous T-shirts and other things as the season begins.

Right now on the farm, certain things have to happen before the winter arrives, so Ben and I come down to Randolph from Burlington on the weekends as often as we can. Yesterday we planted garlic.

Garlic is a crop that should be planted right about now, in mid October, and mulched with some sort of mulch hay or straw to be left in the ground during the winter months and into the spring(if you look back up at the picture of Ben, he's spreading mulch on the freshly planted garlic). We decided to plant just a little bit of German Extra Hardy garlic to see how it does in our soil.

We also need to plow the 1/2 acre where our veggies will be, just to break up the sod and start working on soil aeration. We tried cultivating it with the rototiller that my parents own, but it just wasn't doing the trick since this soil hasn't been tilled in 20 to 30 years. We need some help since we don't have the equipment we need to get the job done, so a man by the name of Fred is going to come over this week with his plow to turn the soil. That way next week when we come back to the farm we can plant winter rye as a cover crop. Winter rye adds organic matter to the soil and covers it to prevent erosion from happening. This is a picture of the land that will eventually be vegetables come spring... we'll call this the before picture.

Yesterday we also took a soil sample to give to the soil lab up at UVM to see what kind of nutrients, pH, organic matter, and nutrient holding capacity our soil has. Once we have that information we'll know how much compost we'll need to incorporate into the soil.

Next weekend, in addition to seeding the winter rye, we'll start the process of erecting a hoop house for starting seedlings in, so keep an eye out for that!

Til next week, enjoy the fall colors and remember to support local farmers!!