Savor the flavor ...BABY

Its been along while since I have blogged about what is going on at Long Bean Farm. Mostly this has had to do with having to deal with the plight of the modern day farmer. The weather and needing to pay bills. This winter was the coldest and wettest many in the Brazos Valley can remember. It had a huge negative affect on my crops and I had to start working extra hours as a nurse to cover the losses in curred from starting the CSA spring season late as well as limiting themembership. The good things is that we recovered from the drought and will probably have less pests. So I have been neglecting the blog. Well the bad weather is over and I am happily harvesting those thigs that survived the cold wet season. Some of these things grew slower than normal and I have noticed that as a result of this they have a much more intense flavor. My spinach is amazing and the carrots that wintered over have a wondrful sweet earthy taste that is excellent in soups. The beets greens are especially green and abundant.
I served a spinach salad on Easter and my mother remarked to me that the spinach reminded her of the kind she used to be able to get in bunches at the the local grocer or farmstand when she was younger. She commented that she had forgotten what Spinach really tasted like and that the flavor was strong.
My moms comments got me really thinking about why my spinach tasted different. First of all my spinach was planted in late early February and the spinach she gets in the bag was plantedMarch and harvested in 20-23days forcing quick growth using lots of commercial fertilizer. My spinach had 20 days longer to absorb the nutrients and manufacture the vitamins , chemicals and most importantly the flavanoids that a mature slow grown vegetable provides . It is the flavanoids and phenols which provide the aromas , flavors and colors of spinach but more importantly it is these flavanoids that provide antioxidant acitivity that are helping to make our immune systems healthy so that we can fight off diseases and cancers.

So... Why the baby vegetable craze.... Why are people so willing to pay so much for packaged washed food that does not provide the nutrients of thier cheaper mature unwashed counterparts . It is because the word baby elicits a picture oof something pure and good in our minds and it is already washed and in a ready to serve bag. Commercial agriculture has tricked the well meaning vegetable eater into thinking that the baby greens are more nutrious and pure, when in fact these mildly flavored quickly grown foods ounce for ounce do not provide the same nutrients that thier mature slow grown counterparts have. Here are a few truths about baby vegetables that are similar to human babys...it doesn't cost much to make one but the are costly once you get one. The same thing goes for baby veggies.
The cost to produce a 10 ounce bag of baby greens is about 1/2 of the cost of the mature ones . Less days less water less chemicals, quicker turn over in the field and quicker return of investment.

Now i want you all to understand that I am not plugging my CSA as I do not need anymore members ... I have a waiting list .... but I want my CSA members and all the people who choose to eat mature strong flavored vegetables to know that they are doing the best thing possible for thier bodies.

This week my CSA members recieved about 9 pounds of slow grown just picked lettuce , spinach and other greens and nutritious herbs . They paid about $28.00 for this food. this works out to about $3.10 per pound. The lettuce and other baby greens bought at the store sell for about 2.99 per 10 ounces. making the same weight prepackaged food cost $4.78 per pound.
I do not know how to calculate the value of better health but I do know the cost of illness. Become rich by investing in the right food for your body. Easy and mild are not always the routes to success.

Soil seeds and water

Summer vacation is over and we are all back doing what we are supposed to do . Me in the garden and the kids in school. It feels good to back in the old routine. ....





As many of you know I do no enjoy the long hot summers of Texas and given the oppurtunity I head for New England when Icant stand it anymore.When I left in July for the East Coast it was 104 degrees and everything looked like it would burn up at any second. Prior to leaving Tammy and I went out to the farm , weeded, hoed and trimmed back all the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants . We were hoping with the regular watering of my two new Student workers .. John and Michael that the tomato, pepper and eggplants would make it throught until the weather cooled some and the rain came.


Now there is always a price to pay when you leave things untended and to be sure when we got home there were lots of tall weed in both the test garden and the farm from the little rain and the watering that went on while I was gone .We spent the last 2- 3 weeks getting rid of lots of weeds and preparing the soil for the fall crops ..... that was alot of work espeicially in 100degree weather.

The picture to the left is what the backyard garden looked like when I came home.


I am happy to say because of the faithful work of Micheal and John we have managed to carry 20 tomato plants, 12 pepper plants and 10 eggplants through the summer . We should have lots of cherry tomatoes to eat about mid october .
We have been blessed with gentle rain over the last few weeks and despite the continuing heat many of the seeds we have planted have started to sprout. What is more special is the plants that are popping up as a result of me letting the plants go to seed over the summer. So far I have cucumber, watermelon, arugula , beans , long beans and basil sprouting up all over the gardens . I pull most of them but the ones that have started in a good spot I let grow . These plants are special because they would not be here if it were not for the rain . Watering alone does not seem to make these plants sprout it takes gentle rain. Amazing....
Well there is a break in the rain and I am heading out to put some more seeds in the ground and take some more pictures .... Have a great week

Local Food and the Prom

It's been a busy week. The ground at the farm finally dried up enough to be tilled and weeded. So for the last 9 days I have been pulling weeds and grass and tilling , digging potatos and onions and staking tomato plants. Amazingly all that rain had a benefit , several of the tomato and pepper plants that got frost damage and I had thought were goners have come back to life. The garden is recovering from the flood and most everything has bounced back from being waterlogged. I may even have to start watering again . That rain we had on saturday gave people in bryan 1-2 inches of rain but it did'nt rain a drop in Edge and Kurten . i guess thats what they mean when they say 90% chance of rain.

Saturday night was the Bryan High school prom . My son and his date were treated to a romantic dinner prepared by my husband who apprenticed with a French chef for 6 years . It was a family effort with a table beautifully decorated by his grandmother . 80% of the ingredients came from our farm. The menu inspired by Julia Child , started with a fresh field green salad, steak diane, freshly harvested herb roasted purple potatoes, green beans homemade sourdough bread and creme brulee made with eggs from our chickens. I do not believe that they could have had a finer meal in BCS and Im sure his date appreciated not having to stand in a long line out in the rain in her prom dress waiting for a table with all the family and friends of the Texas A&M graduation

none at all, a little , way too much

Okay I cant help but talk about rain. 2 months ago I was wondering if we would ever see the fruits of our labor due to the severe drought, frequent frosts and highwind. But then it finally rained . Everything started growing and as you can see by the picture of one of our March harvests , I was very grateful and all the CSA members were happy.

We all felt happy and hopeful when the rain came. So then we planted corn and potatoes on valentines day. It rained that night and up came the corn and the potatoes. Then no rain for 10 days then HIgh winds and just as the corn came to 12 inches high it frosted. Now if it had rained the day before the frost the corn would have been fine but without moisture we lost most of the corn, squash and tomatoes. So we planted again ,it rained and up came the new corn ,some of the sqwuash recovered and the tomatoes are coming along. The beans are up too and all is well....
i hope
Last weeks share was good as usual. I am hoping there will be a good share this week but.... now its rained alot.

As most of you know the main farm is on Harbert road in Kurten about 18 miles from town. My father and mother in law keep thier cows out there so they keep on eye on things for me when I can not get out there daily. My father in law said the garden was still there just a little wet. So today I decided to go out to have a look and pick some veggies for todays shares. Well the creek has done rose!!!! things were wet enough yesterday but last night and this morning we got a total of 5 inches of rain on top of the 6 or so we have had in the last week. We never could make it to the farm because most every pond , tank and creek was over its banks and several bridges were closed between Bryan and Normangee. Maybe I need to get a boat.... Hmm I wonder if the IRs will count that as a farm expense.....

Well luckily my backyard garden has faired well with all this rain(but not as much as Kurten) and we were able to make shares for everyone.

The cost of Frost

I am sure that those of you who read my blog are wondering whats up...no blogs from vicki
Ive been busy replanting.. At the beginning of april all looked really great . We had a little rain , the corn was 6 inches high and the potatoes were 12 inches high.. Then came the wind sucking the mositure out of the plants and MR Frost came sailing in for 2 hours. The corn took a huge hit and the potatoes got nipped , 73 tomato plants gone along with the squash. I was devastated. Luckily it was early enough that I have had time to replant but we wont be eating corn and squash until 3 weeks later than planned.

The weather is what makes farming such a challange. The drought in Texas has been devastating for most farmers. For me on a small scale the losses equate to thousands ( no crop for the farmers market or HEB. ) But luckily with watering ( thank you Wixon Valley water) I was able to meet my commitment to the CSA members with a little left over . I got off easy. FArmers north of Bryan though got hurt bad. Most every farmer who planted from Temple to NOrth Bryan lost thier entire corn crop. A client of my husbands called for Sorghum seed to replace the 90,0000 of corn he lost on his 300acres. To make things worse as I learned on my income taxes he cannot write this loss off as an expense. Its not easy to be a farmer..

So why do we do it.. I do for the joy of when things do grow, for being in the sunshine and seeing the look on the faces of the people who get the produce. It makes the struggle worth it and makes me appreciate life.

The good news is .. the new crop of corn is up and the potatoes are recovering. See you later

Spring Break locavore style

Spring break is here and with that comes a change in my routine ...well at least for a week. Just like every parent we have to think of things to do during that week. For our family it is a chance to do one of the things we enjoy most ...cooking . So my husband and I are home this week and we have brought out the recipie books and magazines to find ways to incorporate all the wonderful things we grow in our garden . This is a great oppurtunity to teach the boys how to cook by letting them loose in the kitchen with a recipie and a little supervision. It occupies thier time and helps them take responsibility for answering that question all parents hear far too much during vacation....What are we going to eat???!!!

During this break Micah my 17 yo is learning to make pasta . So far it is going great. Last night we had Beef Stogonauff with homemade eggnoodles and lemon parsley gremolata accompanied by fresh spring salad (from the garden ) and Italian lemon pie. Yum

Tonight is Ravioli stuffed with a meat or cheese which will be seasoned with ingrediants from the garden and tomato sauce made with the last of the homegrown tomatoes from last falls harvest. Our accompanying dish will be sauteed spinich.

Now that I have made you hungry here are some of the recipies

Lemon parsley gremolata

lemon peel from 1 whole lemon ( yellow only)use vegtable peeler then chop finely
1/4 cup frimly packed fine chopped italian parsley
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
mix together
Serving suggestion
Toss with 3 cups of cooked pasta, 2 tablspoons of olive oil, 1/2tsp kosher salt and 1/4 cup parmesian cheese

serve over any stewed beef or lamb

Sauteed spinach

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2tsp redpepper flakes
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 heads of spinch about 1 lb
1Tbsp balsamic vinager
1/4tsp of kosher salt
Sautee farlic and pepper flakes in oil in a large saute pan for 1 minute over medium hear.
Add spinach in batches cooking about 1 minute before adding next batch. Using tongs turn the spinach allowing it to wilt Oce wilted season with salt and finish with balsamic vinager.

Hope you have a great week and eat well.

stress or starvation

The lack of rain has been a serious issue in Texas for several months. I have been forced to change the way that I do things in the garden as a result of it. I am not a big fan of watering but in order to make a harvest out of the investments that i have made in out land in Kurten I have been watering 2 x a week. . Its not easy to water 3/4 of an acre . I have had to build irrigation using 1/2 inch pvc pipe sections about 20 feet long with 4 sprinkler heads and a hose connection . I have built a total of 10 of these so far . and I move them around the garden. I have also started using the system used by the A&M system digging trenches between my rows and running water down the trenches in order to water the roots of the plants. It takes a long time to dig a trench 100 feet long 5 x in one afternoon.

The stress of ]all this work is exhausting but my efforts are paying off and the plants are growning. But of course not like they could be if

if it would just rain.

This drought has really made me think about how reliant we all have become on the modern water sources we have available . Im not sure what i would have done 100 years ago if i was trying to grow food for my family with a shallow well or if I was really lucky a tank to get water from. I guess we would have been really hungry. I would really like it if any of you old timers out there could tell me how your parents or grandparents would get through times of drought like we are having now.

Have a great week. I think it is going to rain on SAturday.... . Vicki

A New year

It has been a long time since I have been on the blog . I could give a million excuses but I will just blame it on the holidays...... Although I have been neglecting the blog I have not been neglecting the garden. In between working as a nurse and dealing with the holidays I have been spending the majority of my free time preparing the garden for the spring . Since October we have put 8 tons of compost into the garden soil in Kurten and redesigned the watering system. Changing the watering system became a necessity as we have had so very little rain in the last few months.

I am happy to say that the hard work is paying off and thanks to the rain we had last week we are right on target for pickup to start in late January or early February.
So what do we have to look forward to.... Early on we will have spinich, lettuce , kale, collards, broccoli , cauliflower ,beets, swiss chard, and herbs. In march we should have green onions and if all goes well with my covered rows ,green beans and all kinds of crazy asian greens that can be used for salad or stir frys.

That leads me to the next topic ... why greens in the winter... We need more nutrients in the winter to boost our immune system when we are not getting as much excercise and sunshine like in the warmer months Unlike summer vegtables which have alot of water (which we need more of in the heat)and lower amts of nutrients per ounce, winter vegetables like greens, broccoli and cabbage ,spinich and swiss chard have a high density of nutrition and have the least calorie content. Leafy green vegetables are:• low in calories• low in fat • high in protein per calorie • high in dietary fiber • high in iron and calcium • and contain high amount of phytochemicals particularly beta-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene• Contain carotenoids, flavonoids and other powerful antioxidants that have cancer protective vitamin A, vitamin C, lutein and folic acid• Good source of enzymes besides all that they have all these wonderful properties
Low in Calories: Green veggies make great food when you’re on a diet. Green beans, cabbage, leafy greens are low starch and low in calories and can help fill your stomach with nutrition, but not calories.
High Protein: Vegetables like broccoli and romaine lettuce have high protein content. It is interesting to note that plant protein is superior to protein that you get from meat sources because it is much easier to digest. A half cup of broccoli contains 3 grams of protein. Certain blue-green algae like spirulina and chlorella contain a protein content which is higher than any meat, soy and wheat. Spirulina consists of 65-70% protein and does not contain any fat.

Phytochemicals: Green vegetables are rich in phytochemicals, particularly romaine lettuce – and darker green leafy vegetables like spinach, zucchini, brussels sprouts, garden peas, Swiss chard, kale, collard greens, mustard greens and turnip greens. These green vegetables contain the powerful antioxidants beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. Dark, leafy green vegetable a day may keep the ophthalmologist away! Zeaxanthin and lutein are two carotenoids that are found within the retina of the eye. A six-year research study at the National Eye Institute, Maryland found that lutein and zeaxanthin may nutritionally help to protect against blindness (macular degeneration). It was found that lutein and zeaxanthin can help to reduce the risk of AMD.1 Macular degeneration affects 1.2 million Americans.
High Fiber: A diet high in fiber content helps prevent constipation, and also aids in lowering cholesterol and weight loss management. Green vegetables are rich in fiber content particularly broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, green peas, kale and other dark green leafy vegetables
High in Calcium: Calcium is important for strong bones and teeth. Calcium in the blood helps regulating the functions of muscles and nerves. It is important for clotting of blood. The outer leaves of cabbage, broccoli leaves, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and kale are especially rich in calcium.
High in Iron: Iron is found in hemoglobin, the red pigment in blood, which is essential for transporting oxygen in the blood to all parts of the body. Iron is also required for many metabolic reactions. Iron is needed in cellular reproduction, which is an ongoing process in the body. The extra iron is stored in the liver, bone marrow, and the spleen. From here it is converted into hemoglobin as and when the body requires it. Green vegetables are especially rich in iron, especially avocado, asparagus, and broccoli.
Potassium and Magnesium: The American diet is said to be low in potassium and magnesium. These minerals are present in high amounts in dark green vegetables. Potassium and magnesium can be linked to healthy levels of blood pressure and blood sugar.
Folate: Folate is a B vitamin. Folate promotes heart health and is said to help prevent certain birth defects. Folate is necessary for DNA duplication and repair.
Vitamin K: Just one of cup cooked deep green vegetables supplies nine times the minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K. Vitamin K is essential for the clotting of blood.Normalizes pH level: Too acidic a pH level is caused by a diet high in sugar, starch and fats. Green vegetables can nutritionally help your body normalize its pH level.
Enzymes: Enzymes support a healthy digestive system. When eaten raw, green vegetables are a good source of enzymes. Enzymes help to break down food, into smaller substances so that the nutrients can be absorbed by the body. Enzymes also help to eliminate parts of foods that are not useful to our bodies. Remember, generally the greener the food the higher in nutritive content.

So here is my recipe of the week.... Simple and Easy. Greens and Garlic..... 8 cups of chopped greens, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tablspoon of minced garlic and a dash of cayenne pepper. Heat oil in a wok , cast iron fry pan or a non stick skillet over med high until it starts to bubble add the garlic and cayenne , cook for 30 seconds , then add greens stirring for 4 minutes or until bright green and just starting to get tender add salt give a quick stir shut off heat and cover. Serve within 5 minutes with your favorite pan seared pork, steak or chicken and a baked/ or microwaved sweet potatoe for a complete nutrient packed , satisfying ,high fiber, immune system boosting meal.
Have a great week ....

Apples, Cranberies and Lobster

What a strange title... I am thinking about those things because I just got back from a trip to New England. My husband and his parents and I went to see the foliage . Charles parents have never seen the leaves in color so as a way to celebrate thier 50th wedding anniversary we took them on a guided tour of New England. Charles's dad is a farmer and plant breeder so he was very interested in seeing farms. His only other request was to eat seafood everyday.

I grew up in New England and have many friends in the fishing business. One of first stops was to a small fishing villiage called Pemiquid. Its harbor is full of lobster boats . It was a beautiful calm day but the boats were not out. I asked my friend Ricky who is a part time lobster man and he said that the problems in the economy had trickled down to the lobsermen. People were not eating lobster becuause it is a luxery item and the price had dropped down so low to $2.00/lb that the fisherman could barley afford to take thier boats out. The fish buyers will still marking them up and making a profit. There are no subsidies for lobstermen. I enjoyed the cheap lobster and ate as much as I could. If anyone out there wants a contact for some cheap lobster let me know

Next we went to an apple orchard for fresh apples and cider. My father in law( who is a farmer and a plant breeder) was so excited to see a real cider press and orchard . He had never had fresh apple cider before and it was so cool to see his face when he tried it. The local small orchards have had to change the way they press cider because of all the food contamination scares. Instead of using a wood press they use stainless steel now . Many old presses have gone out of business. Luckily this orchard could afford the equiptment . The cider was great. This cider has a disclosure on it stating it has not been pasturized and it may be unsafe for people to eat raw food. Thank you government for the warning but Ill take the risk Some things are just better not heat treated.

The last day of our trip we went to a small cranberry bog . We were lucky and the owner was there and gave us a tour. We got fresh cranberries and all the csa members will get a 1/2 pound bag this week. Massachusetts used to be first in cranberry production until about 1995 ( mostly small family farms)but when everyone realized how nutritious cranberries were large company owned farms were started in Wisconson and the price dropped from $1.50 a pound wholesale to 60 cents. Many of the small picturesque bogs have been sold for realestate because the families could no longer afford them. It felt good to be able to buy my cranberries direct from a family grower. The cranberries I bought were spray free . The farmer said that becuase she did not spray her cranberries were not as perfect as the ones raised on commercial farms and so she was only able to sell them for juice price. I am glad to know I have spray free cranberries and the look and tast great.

Im sure by now you are getting my point. It is important for everyone to support small local agriculture . Without our support All the things I love to eat that made my trip to New England wonderful could be a thing of the past . I appreciate your support for my farm and I hope you are enjoying the taste of real food.

Speaking of real food. We had a frost at our farm in Edge. The summer squash took a hit and so did the peppers. Luckily I still have some peppers and squash growing in town in Bryan. What was strange about the frost was that My in laws garden which is 5 miles up the road from mine in Edge had no frost at all. So I guess those tomatoes will keep coming for the next couple of weeks. Next week the long awaited Broccoli should be ready . I am so excited. See you at pickup....

Cows and Volunteers

Farming always has its surprises some good and others not so good. In early July I had a beautiful stand of small watermelons in the garden I was very excited about them because there was not much else besides purple hulled peas and okras left to harvest. Well one day as I was sitting in the living room relaxing my husband comes in and says... its a good thing you are relaxed... you won't be for long.... the cows got in the garden.

Well as you could expect 22 cows can eat some plants. I learned that they love little watermelons and overripe cucumbers. They do not like purple hulled peas very much and they don't even touch the eggplants.

So here is the surprise.... they must have stepped on quite a few of the small watermelons becuase in August after we got that rain and I had spread compost all over the garden watermelon plants just started popping up everywhere in the section they were before. Well I let about 25 of them grow and surprise this week after the rain we have little watermelons . They should be ready for the first scheduled pickup next week!!! What a treat. One was ready to pick today so it cut it open while i was working in the field and it was amazing.

Of course now we have what I hope is cow proof fence.

Speaking of cows we have have grass fed beef cows available for sale. We will deliver to the butcher of your choice and you must pay for the butchering separately. Please contact us if you are interested and we will give you the price details.

Here in Bryan and CS we were spared with the hurricaine . The rain was a blessing for us and my gardens look great. However there are lots of people in shelters in B/CS who did not fare so well. . Please consider volunteering at your local shelter. The experience will be as sweet for you and the people you help as one of my volunteer watermelons. NOw that I don't need to be watering everyday I will be giving up one of my days in the garden to help out with the health care needs of the evacuees. They need help badly. Hope you can help too.

Early to Bed

When I was growing up my favorite books were the little house on the Prairie Books. My favorite being Farmer Boy. I learned alot about what it took to be a farmer and some good farming tips. I was fascinated by the way that the whole family worked together and the bounty that they were able to provide for thier family and the people in thier community. They also had alot of fun. That life was foriegn to me because I grew up in middle class suburbia and we did not have a garden except once. My mom grew radishes. I did have neighbors though and i was always asking to see what they were growing. One thing that has stuck with me is that farmers go to bed early and get up early. I have always been an early riser and I used to be in bed by 9pm. Over the past few years I have gotten out of the habit of going to be early mostly because my kids are older and they stay up later .Lately though I have been really tired. School started this week so I decided that we all should go to bed earlier. Well guess what. After 4 days of going to bed before 10p instead of 11 or 12 I woke up yesterday morning feeling great. Whats more I am waking up earlier and having alot more time to plan my day and have time to myself.
This is good for the blog as well because here i am before 7 am.

I am headed out to the garden to hoe and plant. Things are looking really good . I am really excited about the spinich and lettuce . Looks like we should have some in the first basket. The corn ear worms did some damage to the corn but we are not giving up and will be replanting this weekend. Peppers and eggplants are going strong and we will have lots of those.

Have a great holiday

Summer Vacation

I am back....... My husband Charles and I had an amazing vacation to the east coast ( Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut.) This vacation was the first time that my husband took more than 3 days off of work in years so when we left I was worried that he would not be able to relax but he did . It was hard not to with the beautiful places that we went to visit. I used to live in Maine , Connecticut and Massachusetts and consider New England one of the most beautiful places in the country. Even though Charles has travel on every Continent he had never been to these states. So we started with the coast of Massachusetts .We stayed in little town called Marshfield at my parents ( a block from the beach). Morning walks on the beach, lunch at a seaside restaurant outside overlooking the ocean and lobster dinner at my parents house(complete with newspaper on the table and yummy clam chowder) .

Next Charles and I went for a drive up to Maine up the coast and then onto Millonocket Maine. We stayed at Baxter State park in a little cabin where we hiked the appalachan trail, fly fished, canoed , swam in crystal clear water and cooked over a campfire. Baxter state Park is one of the most Pristine places in US .

It was so great to share this place with Charles who loves the outdoors as much as I do. I would reccomend that everyone who is able goes and visits this place.

We went to Connecticut after Maine where I surprised Charles by taking him to a old playhouse in Ridgefield to see our favorite singer , John Hiatt. Great concert.

We ended our vacation back in Massachusetts for a few more days at the beach , touring around Boston and even visited a farmers market where niece (who has the family green thumb) sells vegtables for a farm she works at .

This farmers market was in Cohassett Massachusetts. It was about the size of Bryans farmers market but on a beautiful grassy common surrounded by 300 year old homes.

Vacation is always a wonderful thing ,but it always comes with a price. I"m not talking about the monetary one. I am talking about the double time ,that no matter how well planned your vacation is , you spend catching up on everything that you forgot about for 12 days. In the case of gardening it is weeds. I will say that I was thankful for rain and everything I planted before I left,got off to a great start.

Well thanks to a tractor, a tiller and some hard work all the weeds are under control . I am happy to be home with my hands in the soil.......

Hard Work , Old timers , and Ice water

I havent had a post on the blog for a while . Ive been working. ...Watering, Harvesting, building fence and irrigation, running after cows , picking okra( a daily job) , weeding , planning, watching , learning and praying.

We have all worked hard these last few weeks, the soil is ready and we have started planting for the late summer and early fall harvest. We are just finishing up the new irrigation system and will be able to water to get those seeds up and started.

I have to say that I am very thankful for all the hard work of my husband Charles, his Dad and my 3 sons Micah, William and Tj . They have all put in some hard work in the sun to help me get the garden ready for the fall.
We have nothing left to do but rest, wait for rain and water if it doesnt for the next couple of weeks.



I've learned that 50% chance of rain means 50% of Brazos County might get rain ,that cows can turn on a faucet to get a drink , okra grows in 5 minutes, why they call them Zipper cream peas, that its not the curly cue that tells if the watermelon is ripe , its the thump and the yellow spot, that cantelopes fall off the vine when they are ripe , and that the best dinner in world is a few handfuls of purple hulled peas , a fresh tomato and a melon for dessert while I am watering the garden and watching the sun go down.

Last week I was wishing we would get a little of the rain from the hurricaine I watched it rain on one side of the road and not the other and felt frustrated. Then I looked up in the sky at a double rainbow and remembered to pray and thank God for blessing me .

I am off for a week of vacation to rest up for fall farming... Hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine and hopefully a visit to a potato farm and Johnnys Seed company. Oh yeah fly fishing and eating lobster too. Have a great week.

6 amazing weeks

Taking pictures of what is going on in your garden really helps you realize what you have accomplished in a short period of time. We started to till the ground up at our farm site for our early planting of potatoes and broccoli and kale in mid febuary . In late march and early april we started putting our tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers , watermelons cantelpes and squash plants in the ground. By late april we started harvesting a little squash ,onions and radishes. Then came the first week of may with a lot of squash and the beginning potato harvest yielding over 75 lbs . The garden has produced over 500lbs of produce in the last 6 weeks. I am totally amazed.

Last week I was pretty stressed out about the heat and the drying wind . I was sure my plants were going to shrivel up and go away. We watered every 3 days and most everything has made it. Only the pickling cucmbers seemed to suffer but even they are making a rebound .

Today was a great day at the market and my csa members got a heavy share this week. There was tomatoes, squashes, cucmbers eggplants and peppers. I was feeling pretty blessed. but i was overwhelmed when i got out to the big garden on harbert road and found that even though i had picked tomatoes and cucmbers yesterday morning there were lots more this evening. To make things even better as I was giving all the plants a drink I noticed lots of watermelons and cantelopes that I am sure were not there a week ago. They have grown so fast that these two melons took up residence in the last 10 days under the wheelbarrow. One is a black diamond and the other a carlolina cross. There are watermelon vines everywhere. I am hoping that everyone will get a nice cantelope or 2in thier basket next week.

This weeks harvest etc....oh yes salmonella free

This weeks harvest : Despite the heat and wind we are still harvesting enough vegtables for a generous share weighing more than 12 pounds. This week share will have; cucumbers, squashes (yellow, spagetti, 8 ball, patti pan and acorn), tomatoes, long beans , herbs, peppers and eggplant.
The squash beetles are back and I am hoping to keep them away with wood ashes and sesame seed oil. If i am successful my second planting of squashes will be bountiful. Squash beetles are borers that kill the plant by boring into the plant base and laying there eggs inside of the vine nearest the root base. I put the ashes on the base of the plant and the sesame oil helps it stick. hopefully this will deter them. If anyone else out there has a people friendly method to deal with these pests let me know.
The news has been full of stories about the salmonella contanmination of the Roma Tomatoes. Buying local seasonal vegtables is the best protection from these kinds of diseases . How did that mess happen ? More than likely tomatoe crops were infected by poor human sanitation practices on the commercial farms . The sad thing about this is it is impossible to find the source as the tomatoes are shipped to a huge packaging plant from many different places and mixed together. Salmonella is waterborn and well ,it is wet in those places . Those viruses will flourish given the right opputunity and enough time.

Local vegtables are picked , sold and consumed in a matter of days versus weeks on the commercial end. They are also ripe and thus loaded with antioxident nutrients that naturally fight off these germs and bacteria. Commercial tomatoes are often picked green sprayed with a chemical to make them look ripe. Because the fruit does not ripen naturally it does not reach its nutrient potential.
I believe that more people die from disease related to poor nutrition including the voluntary omission of fresh fruits and vegetables than the rare outbreak of disease from waterborne transmission to vegetable crops. I am more concerned about people avoiding fruits and veggies altogether because of the fear of contaminated food. I am saddened by this event for all people.

the gift of a garden.

Im not sure what I should compliment first, my husband or my tiller. I think I will start with the tiller.

For the last couple of years I had been getting by with my old small tiller and a hoe. That worked great until we had the big expansion out to the land in Kurten. As you can imagine breaking up pasture land with a tiller made for a backyard garden was not fun. I was determined to take things to a bigger level. So with perserverence and some help from my father in law with the tractor I got the soil broken up. The tractor only breaks it up in rough pieces so then I would go back over it with the little tiller. Lots of time for little results. I started my search for a big tiller and almost got a really nice used Troybuilt horse from Ike's for a great price. Problem was that my accountant(my husband ) was in Australia when I found it and by the time I got the okay it was gone. I was seriously disapointed because they have stopped making them so If you know anyone with a used Troybuilt Horse that is selling let me know. Well my husband who hates to see me disapointed started searching for tillers and the day before my birthday we went to Sears and picked up my new tiller. Now this tiller may not be a Horse but, it is the Cadillac of its kind. The tines go forward or reverse and it is self propelling. It made fast work of the 1/4 acre that needed to be tilled for purple hulled peas and pintos.

Often times I have heard it said that God knows our hopes and dreams but we need to be patient for his timing. Having a garden large enough to feed other families has been a long time dream of mine, one that I have had since I first discovered my passion for gardening 23 years ago. I big venture and one that would require the help of a team . Now through the years I have owned acreage out in the country but the not everyone wanted to play on the team so 5 years ago I put the dream aside and moved into the city minus the oldest team member. I had resigned myself to the single life with kids and a small lot in a nice subdivision. Well the time came that I started dating , I met people through friends and of course joined a dating web site . Now I met lots of nice men but noone that had my interests .Besides that I wasnt having much luck with that rock hard clay in my backyard. So, One day I laid my head in my hands and prayed to God and asked him to send someone into my life who liked kids and shared one of my interests. The next day I saw him on the dating website , his profile said "enjoys gardening" lives in Bryan. Now the pic was'nt that great but what the heck... at least he might be able to tell me what grows in Bryan soil. So my first correspondance was about gardening and my need for help. Well when people share a passion a friendship develops and a month later we had our first date and about 2 weeks after that I had my hands in his soil and was securing barbed wire on t posts out in Kurten. We got married in his backyard garden ( now ours) 15 months later. I thank God everyday for my husband , who shares my dreams and buys me romantic gifts like a tiller and a pedicure to clean up those garden feet.

Birthday Equipment

Today was Vicki's Birthday. I could tell you how old she is but I think she might kill me!!! Anyway, one of benefits of getting a year older is that you get PRESENTS!

For the last two/three years the bulk of the work at Long Bean Farm has been done with a combination of a tractor (basic land prep) and a hoe. Both pieces of equipment are very useful and have their place. But the farm seemed to be missing something.

Mostly more hoes!!! I say that in the most polite way....but you just never seem to have enough hoes around when the spring and summer grass starts sprouting.

How do we fix this issue??? This has been a question that comes up almost every weekend. The answer seemed to be that we needed something smaller than a tractor but bigger than a hoe. It was decided that we would get a tiller that would be big enough to make rows yet narrow enough to till between rows. The decision was made.....

After hours and hours of surfing the net and mucho phone calls to equipment sales people we were more confused than ever! It seemed like there were 100's of choices. All had benefits and drawbacks. The project would require more thought! Well, the discussions continued...and the grass continued to grow. At some point you just need to close your eyes and hope for the best.

So, this week for a "not so romantic birthday present" Vicki got a tiller that is self propelled and can put up rows.

Ok, we all know that birthdays for your wife require a "romantic present". Too many of us husbands buy practical gifts for our wives birthdays thinking that we are doing something to make their lives easier and that our wives will really like that. But, we very soon find out that we missed the boat entirely and we should have just bought something soft, lacy or chocolate.

Well, I hope I didn't fall into that trap....but you never can tell. So, to hedge my bets (really the tiller) we made an impromptu stop at the nail salon after the farmers market!

Once Vicki gets the hang of her mechanical hoe I'll post some photo's and a review of the equipment.....

Got any Bread man...

We wouldn't want you to think that all we do is farm...that would be boring. Not to say that farming is boring but if that really was all we did then we would be boring!

For the last few years I have been on a quest to learn how to make 3 breads.

• Homemade "light" bread like my Grandma
• French Country Bread
• Ciabatta Bread

The "light" bread was not that hard to get a handle on. It is a simple yeast bread that you can make and eat every day. In our house we now make almost all of our daily bread using this or a variation of my Grandma's recipe.

Next on my list was French Country bread. I have great memories of the fresh baked Country bread I picked up every couple of days from Valentine's Bakery in Albury, Australia. I don't have any idea how they made the bread and still today they will not share any of their secrets.

This crusty bread with a light and somewhat airy crumb has proved to be my biggest challenge. To this day I have not been able to master this loaf! I can make bread with the right crust but the wrong crumb. I can make bread with the right crumb but not the right crust. But, never have I been able to combine the two! If you have any good recipes LET ME KNOW. Don't get me wrong....I am not giving up.... But, I needed to try something else for a while.

So, bring on the Ciabatta! I tried a half dozen recipes. But, none of them were just what I was looking for...nice crust with a light and holey crumb. Then I saw a recipe on "The Fresh Loaf" website. Here is the link... ciabatta. I couldn't believe how simple this recipe sounded!!

I started the bread in the morning and it mixed just as was stated. Believe it or not it really does take about 20 minutes of mixing in my Kitchen Aid for the pancake batter you start with to become a dough. After the dough came together I poured it into a bucket to grow!

As you can see there wasn't a lot of dough. But, the recipe said I could expect it to triple in size....so, I had high hopes!

Well, after the dough was packed away for the rise I went to work at the farm. Oh, right I am not talking about that in this post.

When I returned from a very hot morning with my hoe.... Ok, i said I wasn't going to talk about farming in this post but that time I was! Much to my surprise the dough had MORE THAN TRIPLED and was full of bubbles!!

So far so good... Now came the hard part. That was to get the dough out of the bucket. But, as the bucket was well oiled that was not an issue and the dough slid right out onto the counter and settled in on top of the flour. I looked at the dough and it was FULL of all sizes of bubbles. The recipe wanted me to cut the dough into 3 pieces...but as we had already planned to make a fresh tomato sauce and salad with veggies we collected that day from the garden I figured 1 big ciabatta would work best. Also, I was a little worried about killing all of those great bubbles!

I made a couple of light folds to shape the bread and drizzled a little olive oil over the top and put it on a section of bakers paper for the final rise. The bubbles were still intact and it looked like this just might work.....

The oven was pre-heating and all was on schedule for a nice dinner. After the oven reached it very high 500F I slid the bread into the oven closed the door (that's right no extra water for steam) and hoped for the best.

After 15 minutes the house was beginning to sell like bread and I had my first look. It looked GREAT!! There was HUGH spring in this dough!! But, it didn't look done yet....so I let it go another 5 minutes. After the 20 minutes I pulled the bread and sat it on the counter. Maybe this was the one. Maybe this ciabatta was the one I had been searching for!

The crust was right...light brown, a little hard but not thick. One test to go....the crumb...would it be too dry, too wet, NO HOLES!! Only one way to find out and a by now the fresh salad and tomato sauce was on the table. No turning back now, just cut the bread!!!!

Amazing!! It was full of holes of all sizes. It was light, not too wet or dry. The crust held the crumb but was not over powering. But, how did it taste? Again...Amazing!! It was flavorful without being to yeasty. This was going to add just the right touch to our fresh meal.

I was hoping there would be some bread for me to have with butter and jam (peaches from the farm) for breakfast. But, that was not to be. I guess that is a positive vote from the family! During dinner we all talked about the veggies and about the bread. We all agreed this is something we should make at least once a week!!

Two down....one to go......

Dig This!

For the last few years we have tried to grow potatoes. Each year we have tried different approaches and if I were to be honest the results have been disappointing each year. However, as this is a learning project I will add that each has been just a little better than the year before!

Just like in years past we prepared the soil and added compost to the tops of our planting beds. As in years past we bought our seed potatoes from the local farmers Co-op. Lastly, like the other years we planted on February 14th. Ok, planting potatoes isn't very romantic but at least you get to spend time with your "hoe"....LOL....

Well, now we get to the changes....we planted the seed potatoes about 6 inches deep and then covered them with compost. NOT soil as in the past. We also added (as a side dressing) all the ashes from BBQ joints we could find. We figured that since potash is good for root development this should help with the potatoes development. After all, they are roots!

Ok, I won't bore you with photos of plant development, etc. But, let me just say that we had good weather in general between February and April. There were only a few frosting nights and not too much rain. There didn't seem to be any insect issue, at least above the ground.

Fast forward to April 26 and it is dewberry season. The potatoes have grown to near waist high and have great foliage and you can even see some of the potatoes pushing out of the soil. As you can see the plants are healthy and seem very happy.

I didn't mention this before but we planted 2 types of potatoes. One was a Red skinned and we planted 10lb of this one. The other was a White skinned one. We only planted 5 lb of this type.

It looked like all the plants had grown very well..... If you are not familiar with potatoes they are the plants to the left of the lime green "greens".

We let the spuds go for another month. They had flowered and the plants themselves had started to turn yellow and seemed to be dying. We had already harvested a few plants just to get a taste of what was to come.... So we knew that most of the plants were indeed ready.

May 17. That was harvest day! We were all very eager to see just how many potatoes we had

gotten. Even my brother from Vega, TX was here for the event!! As you can see the digging was manual. We started at the East end of the garden and moved West. Little by little more of the tasty spuds were brought to the surface. It was a nice cool and overcast day so the work wasn't that hard but boy was it humid!!

As made our way down the rows we laughed about how we would prepare our favorite potatoes recipes. Baked with all the fixin's...boiled and then pan seared with fresh herbs. Broiled with fresh garlic and onions...soup...french fried...it seemed like the list went on and on and on.

As you can see we go all sizes! The crop was MUCH bigger than we had expected!! It was MUCH bigger than any other potato crop we had ever had!!! We got big ones, small ones (which we are saving for planting in the fall), round ones and long ones. Oh, that reminds me...we planted some fingerling potatoes in our back yard. They yielded great too!!! We even got some cool purple ones.

Ok, not all was good in spudville. As we went down the row we noticed that we were only digging up red potatoes. So, it appears that we don't have what it takes to grow the white potatoes. OH well....

Anyway, when all was said and done we harvested a HUGE 71.43 pounds of potatoes. What was the return?? well, we planted 10 pounds of seed potatoes so, if my math is correct that would be 7.143 pounds of harvested potatoes per pound of seed planted. Would that be a 714% return? Maybe I should have invested my retirement in potatoes and not Tech Stocks!!!

Needless to say we we were pretty happy about what we dug up......and we will now have a farming practice for future production! I do have a question...does the amount of BBQ consumed during the growing season have any relation to the total production of potatoes or is it only the amount of potash applied???

Who's Hoeing Now?

I wanted to let everybody know that not only Farmer Vicki works out at Longbean Farm! That's right we all (the family) get to help. No, I'm not complaining. I enjoy hoeing weeds....it gives your brain a chance to wide down and put all the worries of the day behind you.

I am sure hoping those peppers in the foreground start flowering and setting peppers soon! I am looking forward to some of farmer Vicki's fresh stuffed peppers! It is one of the many things that make the work that much more worthwhile.

If like me, you like peppers let us know. We would be happy to hear what kind you like and how you like to fix them.