Farm life 2016

It has been a long time since I posted in my blog! Sometimes life, work and other priorities just get in the way of finding time to sit down and write!

This year has been tough for growing food or just about any work we are accomplishing outside on the farm; extreme cold in the spring (late frost in May), and a fair amount of rain this summer, along with some very hot and humid days! We also had a little excitement on the farm; a lightning strike hit a downed tree on the edge of one of the fields! We ended up calling the local fire department as we had no way of getting water up to the fire to extinguish it!  Yet, despite natures best effort we are seeing some results.  When I planted the garden, after the late frost, I thought we were back on track, but the seeds I purchased this year turned out to be terrible! Literally, nothing came up from all of the seeds I purchased! After two weeks of not seeing any production I went back to the company where I purchased our seeds and they replaced everything! I have purchased seeds from this company for the last four years and have never had this problem? They knew I was not some stranger and happily took care to replace the seeds.  

Grapevines after late frost

Lightning strike on a down tree near one of our fields

To help the garden this year, after the seed fiasco, I started making manure tea with our cured horse manure; it really has helped speed up the growth of the plants.  I take dried horse manure and place it in an old sock and let it steep, covered, in a bucket for a week. The result is water filled with nitrogen to feed the plants. I carefully pour the liquid gold down near the plants; being careful to not get it on the leaves (I didn’t want the leaves to burn in the hot sun from the nitrogen). 

Beets and just to the left underneath the blue bucket is my horse manure tea

Last fall I planted garlic for the first time in our garden and yesterday I harvested the garlic; we now have 34 beautiful garlic bulbs curing! The garlic really took in our sandy soil with the addition of other nutrients added to the bed. We now have beets, carrots, swiss chard, and tomatoes flourishing in the garden. The good news on those bad seeds and the late replant is that all with the exception of the swiss chard can be harvested after the first frost. Thus, the time lost in getting started won’t be too impacted; we just may not have the large carrots and beets we normally dig up. Now that I have dug up the garlic bed I will be planting some lettuce and spinach in the bed to continue using it for the growing season.

34 bulbs of garlic harvested!

Garlic bulbs hanging for cure; we will cure them for about 3 weeks

Swiss Chard

Tomatoes (yes, I know they need to be pruned and tied up!)

Carrots

The grapevines this year took a really hard hit in the late frost; every single vine was hit with the frost! For the remainder of the season we have been working to not create too much distress for the vines and held back on some of the pruning.  It seems to be working but now we are faced with the scourge of gardeners; the Japanese beetle! Those mother#*$&@$’s are working on decimating the leaves on the vines! A while back I heard that if there are soybean fields nearby the beetle population explodes; our neighbor to the north of us planted soybeans this year and guess what? So….now I am on the hunt to come up with a plan to go after the beetles! There are a number of ideas out there but the problem with most of those ideas is the rain; with lots of rain, you have to apply whatever solution you did before the rain. We used to go up and pluck the suckers off into a container full of dawn dish detergent but with this population that will be tough. I have heard of spraying with soap and water but again with rain you will be at it every day! I have heard of traps but the problem with the traps is they actually attract more beetles to the area! So…stay tuned I really am not sure how other than spraying we are going to beat these bastards!

We took on a couple of projects this year with the help of our son William; one of which he hopes to produce income for the farm. We are harvesting down trees in our woods for firewood, or campfire wood or specialty wood for those who might like to craft their own creation. There is enough wood that we will not have to cut any live trees and for the project and if we start any live tree cutting we will bring in a forestry expert. The woods near the farm are important to the farm and to just go in and randomly cut would be foolish beyond belief!   The beauty of this project is it is helping us clean up the woods. One just has to look around and you can easily find trees that have fallen on to other trees (they are tricky to cut down) and removing them for future wood sales.  William had this grand idea that we could remove a number of trees, split the wood and sell it but has quickly learned that one tree is a lot of work! Despite the heavy work load it is coming along slowly and we are getting the downed trees out while managing small areas of the woods. One of the species of trees that has plagued the woods and is slowly making its way out into one of our fields is the black locust; this tree is a fast growing tree and the wood is incredibly hard! It takes a toll on the chainsaw! They grow incredibly tall in a very short amount of time and as fast as they grow they get blown down in heavy winds; unfortunately they fall onto another tree pushing that tree down as well! It is our hope to get to the trees that are doing this damage and help the other trees to prosper. In doing so, we uncovered a beautiful maple that we will be able to tap for syrup next spring!  

The second big project is one that William took on his own; he is removing the brush trees and fencing that connect two of the fields. Years ago someone put up a barb wire fence between the two fields and separated them but now William has gone down the row and removed the fencing, and pulled the scrub trees out.  This will be good for the two fields and the current tenants of both fields will be able to connect them and increase their crops. All of this work has occurred on some very hot and humid days!

Our foraging for food this year has gone well; Sara found a nice patch of morels in our woods. We have never had any luck finding morels in the woods but this year the conditions ended up being perfect! She spotted the tasty fungus around a dead elm and we noticed that the bark was falling off of the elm; it seems that might just be the key? Sara also did an incredible job bringing home asparagus this year; we must have consumed over 20 pounds of fresh asparagus this year! Plus the asparagus bed in the garden this year produced a nice bumper crop as well!

Tasty morels from our woods this year!

I am always amazed at how quickly life on the farm can take a sharp turn into an abyss of chaos or unforeseen difficulties; fortunately for us, our work in growing food, is primarily for our consumption. Thus when difficulties arise it is about learning and how to approach the problem that can best solve the problem. The respect I have for those who are selling their vegetables or working their farm is something we all should have! Consider the following facts:

·         Small farms made up the majority of the 800 farms that disappeared from the Wisconsin landscape in 2014, according to new national agricultural data. http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/number-of-small-farms-in-wisconsin-continues-to-drop/article_2760181d-ae69-517f-b5e2-d1871dd823fe.html

·         Current laws and other legislation are in fact hurting small farmers, whether it is the water use, or the ability to compete with large industrial types of farms.

·         Not a single word of the small farm plight has been discussed by any politician in this election cycle.

Our future in having locally sourced food from small farms is something we all should be concerned about. Supporting a local economy is by far better than buying into a global idea that only benefits large industrial farms.  When you purchase produce at the farmers market you are feeding more than just your family, you are feeding the family who sold you the food.  My lessons this year have taught me the importance of perseverance and realizing what this could have been like had it represented the whole farm on a larger scale! Imagine how Wollersheims felt knowing that the vines were not going to produce grapes this year due to the frost or an entire field destroyed by fire or pests! We are very lucky in the sense that our issues were not going to cause us financial ruin but instead were only minor setbacks for our own food source. 

The Annual Deer Hunt on the farm

Preparing to butcher our buck

I spent time thinking about this blog and what I wanted to write.  When I first started my blog my interest dealt about writing about life on the farm and as a chef growing food.  The significance of this comes from my belief of having access to good quality food and showing to the outside world how to go about growing food for your family.  Life on a farm is about life and death, it is a constant, and we may witness the birth of an animal or the end of life.  We are surrounded by wildlife that may prey on other wildlife, coyotes, hawks and other creatures will roam the fields as they hunt for food.  Like the animals we too have come to understand hunting for our food. Managing the farm includes keeping the balance of life under control and only hunting what you will consume.  We are not hunters of antlers and trophies, we are hunters of food.  I am not judging those that hunt for trophy nor am I suggesting we are better because of our hunting reasons.  We are excited if our bounty for the year includes a large buck but we are excited if our hunt includes a large doe. Our freezer is often stocked with vegetables from the growing season and venison from the hunting season; it is preferable to raise, hunt or forage our own food.  The simplicity of doing this is not political, it is not based on social media memes or other glorified reasons, it is based on using what is in front of you and providing for yourself with what you have available. 

Delaying my writing of this blog came from concerns of others, who currently are not of mind to read about hunting and anything to do with guns.  I am empathetic to the feelings of others whose lives impacted by a gun or gun violence.  Sadly, we live in a time where many will resort to a gun to undo the life of another. This is not new but due to social media and the internet we are assaulted with the behavior almost daily.  The exposure of the violence is not something we should ignore or believe it is going to just go away.  As a hunter this bothers me for many reasons, the first I do not want to lose my right to hunt game for food and the second there are people in this world who have no respect for human life. 

One of the views of our hunt this year

Hunting in general has been a way of life for some and yet a denied right for others; early modern Europe hunting was exclusive to the noble and in fact controlled by the noble. Pheasants did not have the land or rights to hunt in many forests and those rights were held by only the noble.  Hunting for sport was more important than allowing the citizens to hunt for game.  Today we have two kinds of hunters, those that hunt for sport and those who hunt for the meat. I would fall in the latter category.  

The experience of hunting can be demanding, cold, and harrowing and yet exhilarating all at the same time.  Opening day is the day when you find out if you properly prepared yourself for the elements, and prepared your rifle to accurately shoot.  Depending on the weather you may find yourself bundled in multiple layers and as you head into the field you can feel every one of those layers weigh against your body.  I started to carrying a back pack with me when I go out; I can carry extra water, gloves and other extra garments that will keep me warm and more importantly in the field longer.  I also carry extra ammunition, my field knife, binoculars and rifle stabilizer in the pack. We usually head out just before sunrise to (I say “we” if someone else from our family or friend will be joining us on the hunt) find our spot to sit. Throughout the year you can observe the fields and get a pretty good idea of where you should be sitting opening day or throughout the hunt.  If more than one person is going out we have a plan of where each of us can shoot or if we are going to be moving around to create movement from the deer.  Sara will sleep in and head down later in the morning; when she comes down her weapon of choice, a cup of tea! Sara will walk the woods, to try and drive any deer sitting tight in the woods, towards me.  She has done this for quite a few years and in fact she will also purchase a tag for hunting, but I am the one who will fill the tag, if I can.  I always enjoy Sara’s company when she walks the woods and meets up with me after her foray, and she enjoys the exercise making her way through the woods, plus she can work on her trails for the horses.

Once I arrive to the area where I am going to sit I will quickly look around before settling in for the long haul.  The opportunity to shoot will often happen right away on opening day, the deer are not running until those first shots ring out.  If nothing is moving I unload my pack with any items I may want to have nearby, binoculars etc. This year we had snow on opening day; this is usually a good thing as we can track the deer in the snow a lot easier, although, I can track deer fairly well in snow or no snow.  It’s kind of humorous when you start to think about life on the farm as it is all about feces; this can be manure for growing crops, inspecting to see what animals are making their way around the house and hunting, as we look for fresh feces giving us signs of deer or other animals we may be hunting.  I swear sometimes it’s all about the shit! I digress though and want to point out there are other signs we will look for; deer beds for example are areas where the deer pressed down the grass as they were laying down. These beds can be very telling, they will point to the trail they ran off to or upon further inspection let us know how long ago they may have been in the area.  In the snow you can look at a track and identify if it is fairly new just by cut of the snow or how frozen the ground is where the track is left. 

Sitting in the cedar scrubs waiting for the deer to pop out!

This year Sara had pushed out three deer and I took my shot only to miss! I was pretty upset because I had taken the time to site in my rifle this year, and even went out and purchased a new scope. Unfortunately it was off, and as I learned the second day it was really off! I stayed out all day on opening day and after taking the shot I did not see much to shoot at and in fact the closest deer I did see was in another field across from our farm. The second day sitting and I had a nice doe pop out in front of me, I took the shot and I missed.  Completely flabbergasted and angry; I don’t usually miss and in fact take a lot of pride in only having to take one shot to put an animal down.  I literally left all my gear in the field took my gun back to the house and went upstairs to retrieve another rifle. Sara asked what was wrong and all could respond was to explain I missed again and have no idea why the site was off so badly! Perhaps, it was fortuitous in the end, because when I returned to my spot and settled in, another large buck came charging at me from across the field. This guy had no idea I was settled in behind some scrub cedars, and when he realized my presence he stopped jumped one of our fences but when he landed I shot and put him down with one shot! It was a surreal experience for a couple of reasons, the first watching this buck racing down the field towards me, at an incredible speed, in itself an awesome sight and the second watching him fly over the fence, well above my head, I knew this time I am not going to miss! It is important for me to put the animal down quickly, not just because it is humane, but also to keep the animal from running off, and having to track an animal that has been shot, and with every move it makes in that condition, the meat will change.  The single shot worked and the by the time I walked up to the buck life disappeared from the animal.

We are without a doubt very lucky to live on a farm where we can hunt and have the equipment needed to haul back our carcass after field dressing the animal. Field dressing is extremely important and if handled wrong the meat can be ruined! It is important to carefully remove the organs without piercing them and to make sure the animal has bled out properly. If at any point you do not do a good job you are at risk of tainting the meat and ending up with a very poor quality.  Once I have successfully field dressed the animal I will walk back and get our tractor and haul the animal back to hang for skinning and butchering. 

After field dressing the buck

The next stage is just as important when it comes to butchering the deer. I understand the importance of hanging the meat for a period of time before processing, but the hanging time can also have other problems, first being the weather! If it is not cold enough outside to hang the deer for any extended period of time, it is better to skin and butcher the meat quickly. The key is the cooling of the meat; I will butcher the animal into the primals and quickly and get them into the freezer or an area where I know it will be cold enough to store the meat for further processing.  The other reason we struggle with hanging our venison is we have numerous coyotes in the area and when they smell that meat they will be out! I have always butchered our deer the same day or within two days of the kill and honestly the meat is excellent.  The work that goes into the butchering is not easy, especially if you are working to remove all of the meat without damaging the meat.  I will debone all of the primals, it really is not a good idea to utilize the bones from venison and due to CWD it really is not safe.  The other important part of the butchering is to remove the fat, venison fat is not tasty and in fact it is what will make the venison taste off.  The primals are broken down into the neck, shoulder and its fore shank, the loin or otherwise known as the back straps, the round and the hind shanks. Inside the carcass are the tenderloins.  You can get some meat from the flank and brisket, but it will depend on the size of the animal as to how much you may get.  Once I quickly removed the primals I will cut them into the fabricated cuts, steaks roast etc.  Any stew meat I will decide to either keep as stew meat or process it into sausage or ground venison.  Finally I seal everything, label it and place it in the freezer.  It can be labor intensive but having that meat in the freezer will ensure we have meat for most of the year and we will not have to purchase any meat for the house.

The point of this blog, sharing my experience with those who want to hunt or hunt already and are like minded about hunting.  Life on the farm is just that life, it comes from the ground and all around you and how you manage that life on the farm is about preserving the balance of life. Consider if we did not hunt, the deer population would grow exponentially and cause crop damage and other wild life would be impacted.  The act of hunting for food is just that the hunting for food and it is no different than raising chickens, or other livestock that will eventually be slaughtered for food. The difference being you will not always get a deer and you are not purchasing any feed for the animal, unless they are eating the crops. 

Skijoring on the farm 2016

A few years back Sara and I discovered the sport of skijoring; having a horse tow a skier, usually in a race, or a course with jumps or other obstacles. In our case we choose to traverse around the farm, Sara rode one of our horses and pulled me on my skies. It truly is an amazing experience to only hear the sound of the hooves of the horse as your skies glide through the snow.  This particular horse is 26 years old, Rhythm, and having him work like this and do so well was also nothing short of spectacular. We are working our quarter horse to take over the work and hopefully by the end of this winter we will have him pulling us on our skies.

We have been waiting for snowfall at the farm; it really has been a mild winter and we finally received enough snow on the farm to skijor! This year I attached my GoPro to my riding helmet to share the experience. I apologize as the video is a bit jittery, due to it being attached to the helmet! Watch the link below and let us know what you think of our skijoring adventure!