Sweet Corn

As I had said in an earlier post, we are trying sweet corn this year.  By all appearances, so far so good. We have tassels and on some we have ears with silk forming.  Way cool.  When we tried indian corn and popcorn some years ago we had nice, fully formed ears of corn.  Obviously I am hoping for the same thing this year.

We still have tomatoes growing at the Farm and in the canoe garden.  They are a hybrid bred specifically for containers.  While they are not setting fruit abundantly yet they are very healthy.  Did I mention the eggplant that are coming in?  They look so good and will be ready for harvest sooner than later.

White cucumbers and other exotic seeds

Today I found a white cucumber at the farm.  I forgot I planted the seeds.  Last year I bought a bunch from Burpee and they sent me free seeds.  I'm sure the seed package says something more exciting than white cucumber.  Like Cucumber Ice, or Icee Cucumber, or Ghost Cucumber.  Anyway we are growing white cucumbers.

Speaking of exotic seeds, I am growing some cool stuff and maybe (or NOT) I want to find seed for them next year.  I've grown an empty Coors light bottle, and an empty Corona light bottle, and an Absolute bottle, and packages for Utz potato chips, and cookie packages, and Doritos and... Ah, Urban Farming.

Those accidentals are amazing.

O.k., enough tongue-in-cheek.  I pulled all the sad and sick tomatoes and started spinach, lettuce, and mustard in their place.

I also am excited about the eggplant doing so well.  Did I say how pretty the sunflowers are?  I know, all of the sudden we have sunflower going to town!  Who knew, I had given up.  I guess the birds didn't get to them all after all.

Come see!

Got Tomatoes?

We really don't yet.  I don't quite know what is happening.  I'm getting ready to mow, water and weed and take a hard look at the tomatoes and their blooms.  I looked Friday and they don't seem to have many blooms.

I'll let you know what I find later.

3 days on the Bay

We spent three wonderful days on the Bay with the teachers at GSB this past week.  I'll tell you all about it when I finish this post later in the day!

So, the folks at Karen Noonan Center take us out to an island that was a home to folks who lived on the Bay and worked the Bay.  Long story short, the rising seas have won.  Now those very shrunken islands are a rookery for brown pelicans and cormorants and gulls.

There we are among more birds than you can count, more nests than you can count, and more babies and eggs, and hatchlings than you can count. Wow.  Plus we are looking for remnants of human existence.  Sea glass, bottles, brick, arrow heads, etc.

Surreal.

I could talk about the beautiful moon rises, and sunsets, and sunrises, and the Milky way so close you could touch it.  But, on the last day we scraped grass beds looking for creatures.

We found hog chokers and flounder and oyster toad fish and grass shrimp and crabs and busters and most everything, except a seahorse.  11 years later the seahorse still eludes us.

This year we had the privilege of having Richard LaMotte come and share his expertise on sea glass.  He shared his travels around the Bay and world looking for sea glass as well as helping us identify the history around the pieces we had found earlier out at the rookery.  Check out his book - Pure Sea Glass, Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems.

The next day we had two birding experts share their knowledge of birds and e-bird.  They helped us understand how we can incorporate birding into our curriculum while also using e-bird to document our sitings and adding to the real work of scientists around birding and the environment.  Too cool!  Their dedication to birds and teaching are commendable.

Bay experiences are all pure magic and the CBF folk never forget that and neither should we.

5" and counting

Between our last big rain and today's ongoing rain we are up to 5" of rain at the farm and it is still raining.  Everything seems to be enjoying the rain.  Our oldest set of sweet corn is bent over due to all the moisture and, now, loose soil.

I hope it recovers.  The rain barrels have been replenished and are actually overflowing.  Our summer staff retreat starts Monday.  I look forward to seeing all of he teachers again and experiencing the bay all all she has to offer!

When it rains, it pours and a barred owl!

Holy cow, I love rain, we need rain, but all at once!?  That was one heck of a storm.  Over 4" were recorded in some places.

I usually water early in the morning to beat the heat.  Due to the aforementioned event, I didn't have to water.  So Kate and I went to North Point State Park super early this morning to let Dooley and Rooster get their run on.  We weren't in the woods 20 yards when a huge bird flew from one branch to another, crossing our trail about 15 feet up in the canopy.  We at first thought hawk or eagle since we see both regularly at North Point.  But when it landed it looked so owl like and it didn't make any noise flying or landing that we thought, owl?

Out came the binoculars and sure enough we were looking at a mature barred owl.  The book says they get to be 21" tall with a 42" wing span and this bird was all of that!  So we watched it and it watched the dogs and it was cool.

So I thought I might talk to it. A barred owl's call sounds like "who cooks for you, who cooks for youuuuuuuuu"  I can mimic that by modifying my mourning dove call I do with cupped hands.  So I call a couple of times and the bird perks up.  Then we started hearing a a weird little screeching kind of call from behind us and it seems to get closer to us as I call the owl.

Then, out of nowhere, a baby barred owl lands in a branch right over our head and is looking down at us.  It seems that baby thinks I'm mommy.  Way cool.  I stop calling and we watch the baby mesmerized.   After a few minutes of watching this cool little owl 15 feet over our head, we headed down the trail so momma and baby could reunite.

As soon as we were about 30 yards down the trail momma flew to baby.

And that is what it is all about!

Pumpkins!

The pumpkins are now trying to grow pumpkins.  We've had many blooms, but had not had any fruit try to set - until the last couple of days.  There are about 4 little pumpkins starting to grow.  Unfortunately pumpkins can be susceptible to blossom end-rot.  Blossom end-rot occurs due to a lack of available calcium and one reason for that is dry conditions and another reason is uneven watering.  We've experienced the first and have been trying to avoid the latter.  We shall see.

So, the Mexibell pepper is hot.  I was expecting some heat, but wow.  Not habanero hot, but a far way from sweet.  That said, I liked it and it added a nice kick to my Angry Feathers.

Edamame

We have edamame growing!  Little soy pods that will be plumping up soon enough!  Can't wait.

Mexibells and strawberries

I planted a new pepper this year called a Mexibell.  It is a sweet pepper with a kick.  We harvested our first one today.  A beautiful red, small flying saucer shaped pepper.  We will let you know how it tastes. I also harvested more than a quart of strawberries red, ripe and a so sweet.  The berries re not as large as in the June harvest, but the flavor is so intense.

Everything is looking good except for the tomatoes I am going to be replacing with other crops.

Wild Blueberries

Today we ate wild blueberries while hiking and birding at North Point State Park.  I do forget sometimes that everything we eat started wild.  We humans cultivated, and cross-pollinated, and hybridized (wow, that's a word) all, o.k., if not most of our current eats. How about that.  I often ponder the first folks that put the first whatever into their mouths!  Brave people.

We also ate blackberry with the squirrel and saw bird eat wild grape and wild black cherry.  There were other trees and bushes with fruit that wasn't ripe that we couldn't/didn't identify that the wildlife will be loving soon.

Wanna see birds and wildlife?  Find the food source!  That is our mantra!

See ya in the wilds.

GIANT sunflower(s)

We've had a horrible year for sunflower germination, both at the school and at home.  We planted lots of seed and have very few plants. Ironically, we planted all different kinds of sunflowers from a couple/few different companies.  I just read in Organic Gardening that birds LOVE sunflowers in the two to four leaf growth stage - micro heaven I suppose!?  Any who, lots of seeds, few plants.

The crazy thing is that we have two GIANT sunflowers in the school garden that are accidentals from last year.  They are crazy big and beautiful, and just hitting their stride.  Stop by and see them.

So, the fusurium wilt is getting bad.  I've lost one tomato plant completely and a couple more are going south.  These are the ones that we started in the grow room and I believe they were heirloom, or organic.  I'm going to search through my seed packets and notes to see if I can see which.  They other problem is that I stuck them in a place I planted tomatoes last year that gets the minimum sun.

So much for my pledge of hybrid and crop rotation, and, and, and...  I am going to pull them in a day or two and start a second planting of I don't know what yet.

The corn is showing off as are the pumpkins and zinnia, and peppers, and edamame, and snap beans, and eggplant.  Too cool.

Thanks again to the Hopes and Couches for watering and weeding while I was suffering surfing.  Yea for them!

Check out the Front Porch Farm plots through out Belair-Edison.  Hybrid and water is working! Yum.

Go to a County Fair, or as many as you can.  Kate and I went to Talbot County Fair yesterday and had a blast and gleaned a lot.  Crossing the Bay to see Bay-based agriculture is always a thrill.  I am always encouraged to see how Maryland is helping farmers be Bay friendly by promoting sustainable agricultural practices. A few baby farm animals and rescued horses, donkeys, and mules always helps to warm one's heart too!

See at a Fair!

Buy local challenge - Its on!

Do it, take it, have fun with it!

http://www.buy-local-challenge.com/

See ya at the farm stand!!!

Omnivore

I am one.  Michael Pollan has taught me alot and every now and then I have a vegetarian day or two, I even now enjoy putting all kinds of veggies in my mouth that I sat staring at and crying about at my childhood dinner table.

However, I can also be a meatetarian.  It is not unheard of from me to serve three meats and a pasta.  I also love Paradise By The Dashboard Lights, by Meatloaf.  We all of our guilty pleasures.

That said, here is a great link from Fine Cooking about ribs, where they come from and the potential for each cut.  Enjoy. Be sure to add some corn and fresh, sliced tomato with basil...

http://www.finecooking.com/item/44564/rib-roundup/?&lookup=auto&V01=&V02=&V03=&V04=&V05=&V06=&V07=&V08=&V09=&V49=&V50=&Taun_Per_Flag=true&utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=20120710-pork-ribs-recipes&utm_campaign=fine-cooking-eletter

It's corn season

I love corn and tomato season.  Follow the link below for to the Organic Gardening page for some recipes.

When I find good corn at a farm stand I'll buy an extra dozen or two. I husk it, and clean it all up while I bring water to a boil and then cook the corn for about 2 minutes. I then dunk or rinse in cold water until cool. I then cut it off the cob and put two ears worth or so in each freezer bag to wait for me in the freezer until winter.  Yum!

http://www.organicgardening.com/cook/grilled-mexican-style-corn?cm_mmc=GardentoTableNL-_-971636-_-07102012-_-grilled_mexican_style_corn_title

Harvesting and pests

I ate a very delicious banana pepper from a Front Porch Farmer's plot this morning.  The Front Porch Farmers that are watering have good looking plants with lots of blooms, forming fruit and in some cases big fruit.  It seems that we are experiencing some fusurium wilt both in our garden and FPF plots.  It doesn't seem to be bad, but we will see.

Speaking of plant problems, the horseradish is hosting harlequin bugs and they will need to go.  We've also had some carnage from human pests - peppers smashed and plants broken as well as flowers pulled up and blooms plucked just to be left on the ground.  This always makes me sad and frustrated.

We try to educate, we try to share and such blatant waste and disregard is always disheartening.

Ah, the life of a farmer.

On a positive note, we had our first ever garlic harvest this morning at GSB and about 8 plants produced.  They are now drying in the office!  Yum and they smell so good.  Yee haw!!!