MARCH 3, 2000
Can this really be March? It came in not like "a lion", but more
like mid-April! Trees and flowers are budding and blooming, and
we're
worrying that another cold snap is inevitable! The past 2 weeks
have
seen the garlic jump about 4 inches, and it looks GREAT! We had a
river scare 10 days ago after a torrential rain storm (I'm sure many of
you heard stories about the flooding in Northern KY), but our river
(the
Kentucky) didn't get up quite high enough to get the garlic! We
have
made up some of our rain deficit from last year's drought at
this
point, but still have a few inches to go.
MARCH 28, 2000
The wind has arrived!! We are about to blow off this hilltop
today, and our temperature has gone down a good 20 degrees! All
the
beautiful daffodils are bent over double and pollen is swirling off the
elm trees like snow. I love this time of year, though, looking
out
across the river valley at the trees just beginning to leaf out on the
other side. There are little pockets of that yellowish-green new
leaf color here and there amidst still very wintery looking oaks and
locust
trees.
The cute little wrens are stashing nesting materials EVERYWHERE!
You can't leave anything lying around outside, or you will find it has
been used as a stash spot. They are building a perfect cozy nest in a 5
gallon bucket on the front porch...first just twigs and leaves, and now
a soft layer of moss. It's so interesting to see the progress!
OCTOBER 17, 2000
Finally!! Time to write again! The earlier and earlier
sunsets are forcing us to stop outside work sooner in the evenings, or
at least giving us the excuse to stop! It's a tired time of
year...
the farmers' market has been going on since April 15th, and after our
last
market (October 28th) we go straight into planting next year's garlic
crop!
Overall it seemed like a pretty good year, although we found that
plenty
of rain can be almost as hard to garden with as too little! The
weeds
were unstoppable!!
FEBRUARY 3, 2001
What a winter we've had this year! And it's not over yet!
We were still planting garlic in late November when the seige of arctic
air began. The ground froze solid and put an end to any more
planting,
and most other outside work as well. As it turned out December
was
our coldest on record. And what a bear it was! But we did
manage
to have a white Christmas, and even had time to take some hikes in our
woods to see the frozen waterfalls and other icy beauty. A bit of
a thaw in January gave us a chance to do a few things in the garden
before
it froze up again, and now we're in that grey nether world of
February!
The grow table is sprouting all kinds of onion sets, lettuces and
kales,
and giving us hope for an early spring. The next project is our
annual
trip to Bayou LaBatre to pick up the EcoLogic fertilizer for the
year.
It'll be nice to get away for a couple of days to someplace warmer, and
the "girls" (Echo and Luna) will love a trip to the beach on Dauphin
Island
to romp in the sand and drink too much salt water!
JUNE 10, 2001
Well howdy! Time is obviously flying by and we are into the 2001
garlic harvest already! Tonight is an early night, quit at 8PM to
be prepared for an early Monday, with some help from our friend,
Josh. He's been helping us once a week since last fall's
planting,
and being young and energetic, he helps us get a lot done in the time
he's
here. He will also be a big help in getting our produce to market
more than once a week this summer.
The garden is blossoming, both literally and figuratively! We
were in a bad drought for so much of the early spring, and all of a
sudden
WHAM! rain! And almost too much of it all at once!
But
now we've had a few days of sun and warmth, and the garden is showing
its
appreciation!
FEBRUARY 1, 2002
So much has happened both on the farm and in the world since my last
entry! We were in the thick of last fall's festival season when
the
World Trade Center towers were hit. As we sat making garlic
braids
in our kitchen on the morning of September 11th we watched with horror
the events unfolding before our eyes on TV. Two workers
arrived,
stunned from hearing reports on their car radios on the way in, and we
all watched together, shocked and silent.
Somehow, the days kept on passing, with a kind of dreamlike feel.
We especially noticed how clear and blue the skies were for days on
end,
and how eerily silent it was in the garden with no aircraft passing
over
for those first days. It was a very sad time, and our work was
something
to focus our energies on to keep us going.
The following weekend we had both the Garlic Festival at our Lexington
Farmers' Market and the Ohio Valley Harvest Festival in Louisville
scheduled.
We had been working feverishly to have enough braids and bagged garlic
ready to cover both events, when suddenly we wondered if the events
would
even take place! or would anyone even feel like attending these
events
if they didn't get cancelled?
We were amazed, after the fact, at what great crowds we had at both
events. Everyone seemed to need that sense of community, spending
time with old friends and assuring each other that we could get through
this!
And so life on the farm is gradually settling back into the old
routines,
even if our world is fundamentally different now. We finished our
market season the last week of October, had the best garlic planting
weather
we've ever had in November (dry and warm!), and had the opportunity to
go back to the Farmers' Market in December for 3 weeks before
Christmas.
Our market had been offered space in Victorian Square in Lexington, a
city
block all under one roof, refurbished as a shopping/entertainment venue
about 15 years ago. It worked out perfectly for Blue Moon Farm,
as
we have always missed out on the Christmas market for our products, had
an abundance of greens to sell, due to the long warm fall weather, and
we loved being in the sparkling holiday atmosphere! Some of our
market
vendors are still hanging in there, and hope to go all the way through
winter until we move back outside in spring!
DECEMBER 10, 2002
I'm so glad I call this "Random thoughts when there's a minute to
write"!!
As you can tell by the dates, things have been busy, to put it
mildly.
Our 2002 garlic crop was GREAT! The spring flood came in April
and
some of the garlic patches went under the river, but it went back down
quickly and the garlic was fine. Rains kept up til around the
start
of garlic harvest, and then they SHUT OFF!! The first garlic out
of the ground was muddy, but by the time we were on the last varieties
the ground was like cement! It was really hard on the equipment,
and resulted in short tempers and much hand-digging, but we got it
done!
The rest of the summer was a severe drought that put a real crimp in
our vegetable production. We got our first baby squash in August
(usually June), and never harvested enough tomatoes, peppers or
eggplants
to sell. We thought it would never rain again, but boy were we
wrong!!
All it took was the arrival of garlic planting time and the rains and
snows
were upon us! November was wet, wet, wet, and as soon as December
started we got a snowstorm and frigid temperatures that totally stopped
our planting. The weather forecast tonight looks better, so we
should
be able to make some good progress in the next week.
The big news from the farm this year is the addition of a 14' X 48'
greenhouse! We're excited to think about being able to extend our
season, both early and late. Updates to follow!
The "family" is doing well, Echo, at 11 1/2 is the old lady. We found
a tumor on her leg that was cancerous, and it has been removed.
We
keep our fingers crossed. Luna Blue turned 5 in September, and
has
become a real lover. She thrives on hugs, and snuggles right in
for
them! Machashi is now 6 and is a sweet kitty. He spends a
good
portion of his winter days in a little bed by the fire, or climbs on my
lap to sneak under the bottom edge of my sweater to nap!
Leo and I are tired, as usual this time of year, but already looking
at the seed catalogs and planning and plotting for our next season!
We wish you and your family the best of the holiday season, with the
gifts you can't find in the mall....gifts of love, peace and
harmony.
Merry Christmas!
JULY 23, 2003
Well! It sure has been a long time since I wrote! We have
our 2003 garlic harvest hanging in the barn, curing, and are trying now
to get the rest of the garden whipped into shape and making some money
for us! We're currently picking Roma beans, Provider beans,
blackberries,
baby squash, a few flowers and this week will be the first basil
harvest.
The spring was not kind to us, with way too much rain and even more
grey
days. It took us until late June to get most of our summer sets
in
the ground....it was too wet to prepare the ground for them. Just
as things were beginning to dry out it was time to start garlic
harvest,
which means everything else takes a back seat! During the course
of garlic harvest the ground went from globby mud to cement! We
found
ourselves in disbelief that we were doing the rain dance after the
monsoon
season we'd had!
We've been back at the farmers' market every Saturday since April 12th.
MAY 11, 2004
This is not a normal spring on the farm. In March, Leo was
elected
President of the Lexington Farmers' Market. With him putting in
about
40 hours a week on that job, our spring planting is suffering.
Good
thing garlic is planted in the fall!! The crop looks wonderful at
this point, and we are beginning to get excited about the harvest which
will begin in 2 weeks or so. We have been selling "Baby Green
Garlic"
at the farmers' market since it opened April10th, and this weekend will
have Garlic Scapes for the first time this year. We have one
customer
who calls scapes "garlic candy"!! She keeps a bag in her
refrigerator
to munch on for a snack! A lady after our own hearts!
The struggle continued all winter of whether to go through the rigors
of applying for USDA Organic Certification this year. It's a real
heartbreaker for us.....something we've worked so hard to keep up since
1994, and something we were so proud of. Finally in a fit of
sanity,
we decided it was just going to be too much paperwork- documenting
every
seed we put in the ground for tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuces, kale,
spinach,
beets, squash, flowers, fennel, basils, parsley, cilantro and on and
on.
Not such a big chore for the agribusinesses who grow only one crop on a
farm! That's only one reason we decided to give it up, and I must
say that just having the decision made was a great relief.
So we now call ourselves "sustainably grown", and continue to do
everything
the way we 've been doing it for many years.......since long before we
were ever "certified" in the first place! Our customers know us
and
know that we didn't grow organically to be cool, we did it because it
is
our philosophy.
FEBRUARY 27, 2006
Wow!! Can it be 2006 already? I can't believe it's been
so long since I wrote! I guess it's a sign that our lives just
keep
getting busier! I know 2005 was incredibly busy for us.....our
farmers'
market, the Lexington Farmers' Market, started a Sunday market the end
of June, so we lost our day to "catch up" from the week past, and
gained
a second trip to Lexington each weekend! We also started a Garlic
Scape Pesto project, and were able to offer a limited amount of
delicious
garlicky pesto (NO basil!) to our customers. They flipped for
it!
This project ate up (no pun intended) a tremendous amount of time, as
we
do not have our own commercial kitchen, and had to drive one day a week
an hour each way to a friend's kitchen to process the pesto. We
owe
a debt of gratitude to Buddy Hall of Applecreek Farms who was so
generous
with his time and expertise in helping us to create this successful
product!
He makes some wonderful products of his own. You can find his
website
at www.applecreekfarms.com
Other new products were fresh basil pastas made for us with our basil
(green or lime) by our friend the baker, Steve, at Sunrise Bakery in
Lexington.
He and his Mom, Nancy also made some terrific blackberry muffins using
our blackberries, and delicious focaccias with garlic scapes (in the
spring),
and freshly sliced garlic the rest of the season. He makes them
look
like works of art!
So the year really sped by! We could never have done it without
the help (GOOD help) we had on the farm.
There was some sadness in our lives this year too, as our oldest
Rottweiler
(our sweet Echo) reached the end of her long life (long to her, not to
us!) We celebrated her 14th birthday on August 1st, and lost her
on October 12th. She is so sorely missed....the first dog we had
who lived her whole life on the farm....lucky girl. You will find
some photos of her on the "Our Family Photos" page, and a link to a
memorial
page.
Because we'd known for quite a long time that Echo was nearing her
end, we began the search for a puppy. Our younger Rottie, Luna
Blue
is 8 now, and needed somebody to help keep her young. We
needed
to get a puppy in the winter so we would have time for bonding and
training
before the craziness of our season was once again upon us. And
so,
on January 3rd, Moonshadow came to live with us at 6 weeks old!
Her
photo is on the "family" page too. What an absolute sweetheart
she
is. I have spent my winter wearing her out between naps, and
saying
"no bite"!!
Leo started the first fertilization and cultivation of the garlic
patches
today. This may be the earliest start ever! It looks
beautiful
and green, and promises a rewarding season ahead.
MAY 3, 2009
How do I catch you up after 3 years???? Our family has changed,
our business has changed, we have lost dear friends and gained
others. With so much to say, I will be brief with everything, nad
try to be more faithful about keeping this up to date.
Moonshadow, the 8 pound puppy in 2006 is now a 3 1/2 year-old full
grown Rottweiler. She is still a sweetheart, and wants to still
be a lapdog!!
The other enormous change in our family arrived in November 2008, in
the package of a little stray (what looks to be) Jack Russell possibly
beagle mix. We never thought we wanted a "little dog", until he
showed us how much heart he has. Just the fact that he is here to
stay (a small, male dog!!!!) is a testament to his loving
personality. We call him 'Mouse".
Our business has evolved to include a lot of wholesale to
restaurants. We 'broker' produce and meats for other fine local
producers. It is very informal, but helps us all to make a
living. Most small farmers are stretched to the limit with
growing crops or raising meat animals. We don't have sales people
to help us sell, or the time to make the calls and try to convince
unknown chefs to usse our products. Leo has been in and out of so
many restaurant kitchens over the last 15 years, that he knows most of
the chefs in town. We call them every week to see if they need
garlic, so it's not a lot of extra time to ask what else they need from
other growers. Who knows where it will lead.....we just take it
day by day.
In Feb. 2006 I wrote about making our pesto in the kitchen of
Applecreek Farms under the tutelage of Buddy Hall, who became a dear
friend as well as a mentor. We were deeply saddened this February
to lose him to a heart attack at age 67. His business is being
kept alive by his son Chip, and we will work with him this summer on
our pesto project. We will always miss our "Wednesday afternoons
with Buddy", and all the interesting conversations on any topic under
the sun!
Our Lexington Farmers' Market has relocated after 30+ years on Vine
Street! We approached the season with MUCH trepidation, as the
new location at Cheapside Park is a completely different set-up, with
most vendors having to be without their vehicles. Blue Moon Farm
opted for a spot slightly away from Cheapside proper, which allows us
to be with our truck and trailer, thereby greatly expanding our storage
space, and allowing us access to our meat freezer. We don't
really have a good feel yet for how this will ultimately work out, as
we have been "squatting" in an as yet unused space closer to Cheapside,
until the owner starts the market for the year. I will, no doubt,
have more to say on this subject at a later date!
We had a big ice storm in January which left us electricity-free for 8
days. It reminded us how rusty our self-sufficiency skills had
gotten, and gave us a crash course to catch up!! We dug out our
old kerosene lamps when we decided after a couple of days that we
didn't have enough candles for an undetermined black-out! We cut
wood and got our old wood stove back in action after a long idle
period. We learned to read our books before darkness came at
night, and blew the dust off our Scrabble board to keep us entertained
at night. The farm was absolutely gorgeous with everything
covered in ice, and we were lucky that we didn't have any of the major
damage that some others near here did. We lost many branches, but
no big trees came down.
The whole winter was colder than normal, and the garlic crop seemed to
love it! It looks great! We have been digging green garlic
since our market opened on April 11th, and will be looking for garlic
scapes in mid-May. We'll harvest them and get them into cold
storage until the garlic scape pesto project starts when the main
garlic harvest is over.
I think this will have to do for now. We are posting fairly
frequent updates on our Facebook page.
BOOKMARK THIS SITE!
