Maddy doing her mountain climbing exercises

Vegetables are done, but Dahlias are still producing

2010 Harvest Round Up

Faithful Fans, I have to offer my apologies for a rather sparse season of blogging. As you know, this year MCF decided to build on previous Northwest successes and has expanded to multiple East Coast locales.

Our first site, located on a fertile south-facing moraine in SW Syracuse was geared towards vegetables. We got off to a late start by planting in mid-June, and our selection of vegetables was not quite as locally inspired as I would have liked; specifically, we planted "Beefsteak" tomatoes and "Green Bell" peppers. And that was it. After much soil amending, watering, staking, etc, the tomato crop....got eaten by the deer. And the pepper crop.... got eaten by the deer. Shown above is the one (1) sad pepper that grew from the deer-shredded stump left of our 6 plants. The onion and squash are of course from Wegmans.

Our next site was at Otisco View Vineyards. I wish I had pictures because we did get a lot of grapes. They were small and unidentified varietals, but they sure were sweet and Maddy ate her fill throughout the summer. Stay tuned for more updates from OVV, as I just finished pruning back the canes and next year should be even better.

Lastly, the Warm Brook Venison Farm holds a lot of promise as our first meat producing facility. This weekend will be opportunity #1 to fill the Miller freezer with delicious free-range and organic red meat--and to avenge the loss of our tomato plants....

Maddy loves her new alligator pillow

Cool Picture of Firewood....

Courtesy of of the Urban Farm Store.

SuperSwing in Maine

It's Maine. It's on an island. At sunset. And it's the "baby swing" with the longest swing radius Maddy has ever been on. What more could she want from her evening?

Spaghetti? Spaghetti! (and sauce!)

Blueberries

I'm so proud of our little girl, she picked me some Cilantro the other day, and now she knows where blueberries come from-and more importantly-where to find more!

Walking (a few weeks ago)

Tim

I've found the solution to my deer problem. Some call him..... Tim.

Varmits

I had a pair of nice tomato plants in Syracuse. By that, I mean I had had two nice plants. Until the deer got them. All the good stuff, mowed off 2 feet up. A drought in Oregon, ravenous deer in Syracuase...how am I going to put food on the table?

Old Chair+stack of books+ACE bandage=

=A makeshift highchair!

Tiger

Ceviche

Maddy and Grandpa H enjoy some halibut and shrimp ceviche. Who wants more raw fish? Maddy does, Maddy does!

Skiing up Mt. Hood, last week of June

Leeks

Fresh from the garden... right into venison stew.

The Magic Bush

There is one spot where Miss Madeleine has been able to stand unsupported on her own two feet: the magic bush. Usually she has a bit of a Dumbo complex because while she really should be able to stand, she just doesn't believe in herself enough to do it spontaneously.

Enter the magic bush on Thurman Street. It's interesting enough to spend time investigating, but not strong enough to support her. She she can pat it. And poke it. And meanwhile she can stand.

Update: There is also a magic lavender bush in front of our house. Now we can just go outside for standing practice.

Update #2: Uh-oh, Maddy is no longer interested in bushes. And therefore.... she no longer can stand on her own!

Smiling Swinger

Learning to use a Spoon

Free Fertilizer!

Amazing. One day I'm discovering that via some anonymous benefactor the farm now has a lawn mower. The next, we've got a power tiller, with a full tank of gas. The next day what shows up, but case after case after case of fertilizer boxes! Never mind that this fertilizer is "Palm and Hibiscus Food"--since it's normally $7.99 a box and is now free, this farmer isn't going to be a choosy begger.....

4 Years of Anticipation...

Finally, my Portland Experience is complete: Voodoo's Maple-Glazed Bacon Donut!

It may be darkly lit. It may be 2am. It may be one of the few donuts on the menu with a G-rated name. And while I thought the Tang donut I had last time was pretty good, mmmm, this one sure does live up to the hype. I've long been a fan of maple+bacon, but maple+bacon+donut is indeed a trifecta perfecta!

Tomato Forest

Here we are and it's May already. Summer is sneaking up on us, today's hailstorm notwithstanding. I'd like to have tomatoes out in the garden by the 4th week of the month, so it is nice to see that these starts are coming along.

Some are "early varieties" with an estimated 55 days to fruiting but a few of these plants are a little confused and keep trying to flower prematurely, so bud trimming has become a daily event.

Today I did the third and final transplant, these now being the biggest pots I can fit indoors, and it was an opportunity to trim back some lower leaves and plant the starts up to their necks in soil to encourage development of a more robust root bundle.

BBQ ribs--yum!!

1 Year Old!

Madeleine's First Birthday Party. Momma made yummy chocolate cake, and Maddy finished all of her piece, and some ice cream too!

Farm Update

Here we are, April 15th and multiple crops in the ground. Front left foreground: onions, and garlic beyond that. In the distance is Romaine, and in a row along the right are two types of sugar peas.

Taxes

Uh-oh Maddy, looks like someone procrastinated and hasn't filed their taxes yet... Find us that Salvation Army receipt for your outgrown baby clothes, and do it quick!!!

Keeping up with the Millers

Since the east coast Miller Homestead seems to be stepping up to a bit of a vegetable growing contest, I had to hurry up and get some Romaine in the ground today. The first flat, with about 12 plants, hit the garden this afternoon. Another round is here, still under the lights awaiting a date with the dirt next week. To the left, tomatoes which appear to be on track for mid-May transplanting, and in the foreground some eggplants which were seeded just today.

Peas

Some people plant by calendar dates. Some plant by phases of the moon. I think I'm going to stick with religious holidays. As per Irish tradition, the potatoes went in at St. Patrick's day. And today I've started a new tradition: peas on Easter.

Keep in mind that my garden is in the shade, chronically waterlogged, and at 600' of chilly altitude, so unfortunately there's no sign of potato shoots yet. And these Sugar Sprint Pea starts will probably just be fodder for hungry baby slugs this early in the season. But with efforts to make Rochester the new American Bread Basket, I've got to do something to get the growing season started if I want to have my farm stay competitive in the marketplace.....

Momma and Maddy @ the Park

Maddy's First Bike Ride

She loved it, and has declared that she's "never going back to that slow-moving stroller again!"

Growing Indoors

Today in Portland was sunny and the temperature made it up to 65 degrees; not too bad! And today in my basement it was 68 and sunny for 13 hours straight, just like it is every day--not a cloud in the full-spectrum sky! I planted these seedlings on the 19th, and the lettuce, peas, and some of the tomatoes are up.

My brother's start technique is to plant just the right number of plants for what he wants, and to do it in big peat pots suitable for transfering out of doors. I do things differently, and plant in a 4-to-1 ratio of seedlings to desired transplants. I sow into small trays and along the way select out the most robust starts to transplant into bigger pots. Thus as the plants grow larger and there is less space under the T5s, I've selected out the most vigorous plants.

On Egg Duty

Maddy is trying to crawl up the ramp into the coop but look out, there's a chicken on your 6! Good thing your bum is well padded. Wait.... chickens don't eat dirty diapers, do they?

Warm Spring and Sunshine Brings Backyard Flowers

Suddenly I'm into womens' fashion...

Mmmmm, bacon-y shoe goodness!

Cheap Labor

I need to get the farm in order, and I don't want to turn it over by hand. Fortunately I know where to get some free help!

Garlic

Here's the garlic bed that I put in last fall. Some of it was from seed, some from garlic cloves. I wish I could remember--hopefully I wrote it down in my garden notebook. If not, no matter. The garlic is now about 1 foot tall, which is even better than the weeds in other beds!

Looking Pretty for Baptism Day!

Who doesn't love a good book about Monkey's?!

Waiting for the bus to the next beach?

poolside at the Maui house

Bundled up in PDX (and needing a trip to Maui!)

Mossy Tillamook Tree Monster!

Cheerio on the noseio

Loves to eat!

Mmmm, Thai food again! I love my spicy vegetables!

Maddy Crawls!!!!

Family Portrait

A nice warm sunny day in February, time for a hike up Angel's Rest. Last time we did this hike was about a year ago and Gretel was carrying Madeleine inside....now she gets to ride in style thanks to her hand-me-down backpack.

Maddy is really into books

Mirror mirror on the wall....

6 feet up in a Tree

Some people may ask: "Why is that baby climbing in a cherry tree? Isn't that dangerous?!?" But the better questions might be: "Why have the cherries been blossoming since the end of January? How messed up is the climate?!?!"

My Mind on My Money

One dollar. Two dollar. Ten dollars!!! Maddy is counting her winnings from Joe's football pool. Guess who predicted the final score!

Tuna Shopping

Good news, I've found a cheap source of tuna! The co-op down the street sells both of these jars of tuna, albeit at different ends of Aisle 3. Both are local tuna, caught local and processed local. Both are from Sweet Creek Foods. Both are 7.5 ounces. Both contain "tuna", although one of them lists a second ingredient: "love." One of them costs $6.88 for the privilege of eating this yumminess. One of them costs only $3.19... Guess which one my family will be eating from now on!

Retro Picture of Pumpkin