CSA members don't forget the holiday greenhouse sale.  Tuesday November 26th 10 - 2 or to 4 if you call ahead and make an appointment.  You''ll find swiss chard, kale, collards, lettuces, micro greens, herbs, popcorn, milling corn, grape tomato,and more.  See you then.

The Blessing of Bees

After spending the last few weeks helping to harvest the apples in the orchard, I am reminded of the importance of bees.

Restoring an old orchard that has been neglected like the one we've been working on takes a holistic, long-term approach. We've been working on restoring the soil fertility (especially the mycorrhiza), welcoming natural predators (bats, spiders, sheep in the summer) back to the land, practicing appropriate and not over zealous pruning, and generally caring for the whole system. We've already seen a larger percentage of surviving trees than we thought we could bring back to health and production. Each year, the quality of produce goes up. The first year we were lucky to get cider apples. This year we had some delicious dinner table apples and maybe, just maybe, even a small few that might make a couple months in storage. While we are no where near finished bringing the orchard back, we are taking the right steps to get there in a few more years!

Through those years we hope to keep our closest allies, the honeybees. Bees are the magic pollinators on the farm. Not only do they pollinate the apple blossoms, but they work on the veggies in fields by the house and the herbs and culinary flowers, too! Because we focus on a full, seasonal system that includes natives and wild habitat along with our delicious food, the bees have food near by that is safe and organic all year round.  Luckily, we have strong healthy bees working beside us on the farm.

A few of you who have stopped by our farm stand have mentioned your own interest in becoming beekeepers. Talking to Les directly can help you find more specific resources. However, in my spirit of thanksgiving to the wonderful bees, I thought I'd share a documentary that I have seen recently called Vanishing of the Bees from 2009. It's even on Netflix! This movie highlights the concerns over thousands of bees disappearing and decimating the bee population. Even if you have no intention of starting your own hive or planting food for bees, this video is produced well and tells an important story we should all be paying attention to.

I'll be back on the farm this weekend to help harvest more apples. Hope to see you there!

Do's and Don'ts: Farmer's Market

The Modern Farmer recently posted an article of Do's and Don'ts for Farmer's Markets. I agree that the Farmer's Markets presents an interesting situation on etiquette. It's not like shopping in Walmart and it's not like shopping in a pricey boutique. After attending farmer's markets for years as both producer and consumer, I have my own set of Do's and Don'ts. It differs from the article. I think it gives a little more respect to the producer when you are walking around the smaller markets. The East Troy (village of 3,000) farmer's market is vastly different from Madison Capital Square market on Saturday. Smaller markets demand more communication between consumer and producer. Plus, I think those at the larger markets would appreciate it, too!

Do: Take samples or ask for a sample. I don't think you should just grab something and then after it's in your mouth claim it as a sample. Producers love to show off their hard work and convince your taste buds you can't live without that yummy cucumber. However, producers have a right to delegate how much of a sample you get. It is free to you as a consumer, but not to the producer.

Do: Ask tons of questions! Consumers have a right to know where their food is coming from. Every farmer at the market is not organic. Every farmer is not working on soil health. Not every farmer picked the produce recently. Knowledge is power!

Do: Bring your own reusable bag. The farmer's market is the PERFECT place to show off your stylish eco-bag. Producers usually have some plastic bags, but it's so much nicer when we all consider sustainability. :)

Do: Ask for quantity deals. Most producers have extras at home or are willing to work with you if you are canning or making your own hard cider. Some items are only sold off the farm for legal reasons. You might not notice a sign advertising a producers' special deals, so ask!

Don't: Skip people in line. Yeah, this is a crappy thing to do. Producers work hard on giving as much speedy attention to everyone as they can. Patience will reward you and keep others happy, too.

Don't: Return food. I'm sorry but I completely disagree with the article above. Returning food is gross. It's touched a bunch of other peoples' hands, been rolling around in bags, and been standing out in the heat and often sun for longer than it should be. If food is accepted as a return, it can't be sold to someone else for food safety reasons. Maybe if it's a canned good or something in sealed container, but for our fresh veggies and fruit, no thanks. That being said, if you have a serious problem go back and talk to the producer. Most people are willing to accommodate you in some fashion. (On a side note, we sometimes get people asking for returns when they don't understand what fresh food means. One woman asked for a return on our farm fresh eggs because the yolks were too yellow. She didn't understand that a healthy egg should have a bright and deep yellow color to it. We gave her back her money but also explained why they were great. Sadly she had already thrown all the eggs out!)

Don't: Come to the farmer's market right at close. The fresh items will always be at their best early in the morning or opening of the market. You are cheating yourself by waiting till the end. Producer's don't mind selling to you as they pack up (well, most don't), but remember that these veggies have been out in the heat and sun all day and need to be put in a cooler right away.

Fall Fermentation

I thought I'd pass this great opportunity on to our readers. Not too far away in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, October 4th-13th, the Fermentation Fest will occur. This festival includes tons of amazing classes and talks on ways you can connect to your food. From canning tips to making your own sourdough bread to wine and hard cider making to homemade cheese production you'll explore the vast ways fermentation plays a vital role in our food. There is also a farm and art tour that gives you time to explore the region and, most likely, see some of that great autumn color of Wisconsin!  It looks awesome; I hope to see you there!

Tonight at Wednesday Evening On the Farm we will gather around the a small apple wood fire sip cider and talk about snack packs for school or work.  We've collected 25 ideas to share and get you started creating your own.  See you tonight!

Baby ears for eating!!

Harvesting "Baby Ears" for sale!!

Oriental - Baby orn

Silks are starting to show on our Re orn variety.  Harvesting Baby Ears, putting in jars with 1/2 tsp salt per jar, then 1/2 water - 1/2 vinegar. Blue variety is in tassel.  Rest to follow/

Will harvest 1st pears/apples late this week.  Will trim apple limbs/trunks (not alive) this week.  Grape vines, will be trim as well to allow light into the fruit.

Still fighting improper plant growth.  mow - mow - mow

Posting

My keyboar has lost two letters, so sorry for the "No Posts".  Will get you all up to spee when I get it repair.

Working Hard?

So, obviously the blog posts have gone by the wayside. Sorry about that! The summer is the busiest season. There is weeding and watering, harvesting and replanting for fall crops, and all the livestock. No matter how much you love what you do, there are days when you need a little more to keep you going. My (the almost witty daughter) favorite way to keep inspired is to listen to podcasts while doing field work. I thought I'd share a couple of my audio crushes right now.

If you are feeling like food is boring or you just don't really care anymore, try The Food Craftsman. It's new and has so far focused mostly on California creators. I have hope that as it continues and its audience expands we'll hear more from around the country. The show is short and sweet with great quality. I finish an episode feeling inspired and energized on all the awesome things we can do with the food we eat, not to mention exploring niche business markets!

Scott Mann is brilliant and has created a vast network of very talented people working in permaculture and agriculture. The Permaculture Podcast features interviews with some of the brightest and most entertaining people. It focuses mostly on permaculture which is the agricultural system focusing on care of people, care of earth, and care of surplus. This is manifested in everything from solar power to food forests to local banking. This podcast serves as both an introduction to the many varied world of permaculture and expert details found no where else. It has also quadrupled my reading list, which is an impressive feat! Our farm isn't necessarily a permaculture farm but many of the tenants cross over to our mission and work.

Pat and Les will be back soon with more pictures and updates on the farm. In the meantime, let us know what your favorite podcasts are. How do you stay inspired to use local foods and organics?

How To: Start Chicks

Our second YouTube video! This is just a brief intro on how to start new chicks off growing strong. Enjoy the video and please subscribe on YouTube for more videos!

  In honor of June tonight at Wednesday Night On The Farm  we'll talk about "Where have all the wild roses gone?".  We'll show you the simple things we did to save a patch here, my 25th wedding anniversary gift from Les (that I received years ago and has been moved three times),  since its so close to the solstice we'll talk a bit about its celtic meanings as well as others and we'll share one of our favorite tea blend recipes featuring rose petals.  You can even take a start home with you if you have a good place to start one of these very special wild flowers.
  Gather round for questions and answers on topics of your choice.  Sit down and relax or take a little walk.  If your a bird watcher,bring your binoculars - several of the nestlings are just beginning to fly.  

Bee stings and Parkinson's disease

Q. Within a week of having a reaction to a bee sting (the skin was hot, red, swollen and blistered), the tremors in my right hand and jaw disappeared. I’d had them for three years and had just gotten a referral to see a neurologist.
My mother and her mother had Parkinson’s disease, so I suspect that is where I was headed, though I hadn’t been officially diagnosed. Have you heard of this before?
A. There may be scientific support for your response to bee venom. We were somewhat surprised to discover research demonstrating that bee-venom injections have benefit against Parkinson’s disease (Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, September 2012).
The Michael J. Fox Foundation funded a study of bee-venom therapy in a mouse model of Parkinson’s. The results were positive. French researchers are recruiting subjects for a clinical trial (MIREILLE) to assess the value of bee venom in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

This from today' St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Maybe that is why providence brought me another bee swarm yesterday??!!

New Bee Swarm!!

Had about 2500 guests showed up about 1 today!  Settled in the deep super we were still pulling some honey out of.  So I picked up the super bare handed and in a short sleeve shirt.  Set it on a set of supers we had ready, and looks like the queen bee approves!!  Left the top cover slightly open as the workers are going in top and bottom yet.

This is a more "blond" hive than the other we already have at the house, but still some darker color on about 20% of the workers.  More drowns than I would like to see, but the price was right!

WELCOME LADIES!!

Specialty corn and squash/pumpkins!

With the wet and cool conditions we are late in putting some of the crop in.  We do have what seed we had carry over of for blue corn, red corn, white corn, and a cleaned up version of the yellow corn planted.  We developed these for home "millers" to buy.  Should produce 30 bushel blue, 200 red, 400 white, and potentially 300 yellow.  We also have the Pumpkin we developed.  2 years ago, the pumpkin we chose for Thanksgiving made 5, that's right five, pies from 1 pumpkin.  We are also the only ones we know to grow a squash that is excellent for "baby food" because of the sugar content, and low fiber/stringiness.  Call and reserve yours now as all these go fast!!  Organic farmers, the yellow and white corns make excellent silage and feed stock.  Unlike most breeders, we test our lines by planting at 60,000 plants per acre.  If the won't stand or produce an ear, the do not get to add their pollen to the mix.

Website Woes!

Well, the past couple weeks have been interesting on the tech side of things. Me, your almost faithful webmaster Danni, has had a host of server issues (ha ha see what I did there . . . host. . .server). Those issues have finally been solved. Now, it's on to getting things up to date and functioning properly.

The web form for CSA memberships is down right now for most users. If it's not working for you please call (920-210-1238) or email (blacksheeppat@gmail.com) directly to sign up for your CSA this year. The form should be fixed by the end of the day. However, we want to get people signed up as quickly as possible before the first week. If you've been procrastinating or debating signing up, I strongly encourage you to call and talk to Pat or Les about the CSA and what it can do for you.

Youtube videos should also be posted tonight.  I'll post a link to our channel on the homepage of our site when we go live. This is our first adventure into a new internet community. Please welcome us there and come watch our videos for tips and updates on how the farm is growing. Let us know in comments what you'd like to see us cover. Better yet, subscribe and tell all your friends to, too!

Update!! 6-2-2013

Well, looks like the rainy period is over.    After the last two years of drought, we are not complaining!!  Will work on getting the next sweet corn and the popcorn in by tomorrow night.  Onions and most potatoes are up, no CPB's yet!  Shallots are coming up, some specialty corn, first sweet corn, and should have some squash, pumpkins, melons, and  cucumbers breaking ground.  Pat has a lot pf the transplants in the ground, and they are starting to take off and go.  Still a lot of weeds to get under control, always something!!

Plan to make grass hay in about a week.  Will be nice to have some put away for next year, and some to sell!!  Need to get pasture program going as well.  The animals have been keeping well fed though as we keep cleaning up.

Plan today to plant pumpkins/squash, popcorn?, to wet to work ground.  Selling fresh harvested greens, spinach, and hope to add chard, kale, and scallions by mid-week.  Customers include CSA members and "River's Edge Market"!

Still have local  openings for CSA members.  First distribution mid June!!

Two more goose eggs hatching!!  Received 15 turkeys this morning too!!

The farm office at planting time.

Greens and herbs from the greenhouse and fresh wild violets.  Stop by the farm and pick some up!

Two new arrivals on the Farm!!!!  They arrived Friday morning, with our goose person coming to visit on Saturday!  Talk about timing!!

 

The nettles are in, though it is late this year, so it may be a short season. Pictured here are fresh nettles, steamed, and an awesome Nettles Soap.  Remember we do the picking for you so you don't have to get stung. And, you get them in a paper bag so that if you do not eat the whole batch you just let the rest dry in the bag for use later.  If your not familiar with nettles ask us for more information about this spring special, highly nutritious green, that is a part of cultures around the world.   

This picture doesn't quite do our pastured/free range eggs justice but you get the idea.  When you buy eggs from Black Sheep Enterprises each doz will have a variety of egg shells from our heritage and heritage crossed hens.  The doz will include eggs that come from blue, green, white, off white, various shades of light brown, med. brown, dark brown, light brown speckled,  or darker brown speckled eggs.
University research indicates that eggs coming from growing conditions such as ours have higher Omega 3's and nutrients than from conventionally grown hens. Our eggs come in clear plastic so that you can enjoy the variety and colors so we ask you recycle these containers, or bring your own container.  We also gift wrap with raffia and a chicken feather for that special occasion for free.  We've been told it's the perfect gift for the person who has everything or that foodie geek you never know what to get.  

Have split these apart, and now have organic hops plants for sale and ready to set out.  Call for more info. 

We got back into the field, (and it was dry enough to get back out too!!), soil still cold, brr!  Able to get potatoes and onions in.  We got in about 900 potatoes, (estimate 1300 more to go), and about 500 onions,(estimate of 2600 to go)  Next in line after these will be to start "The Indian Legend " Three sister's Plot""!!  Corn to be put in first, come out and we'll tell your kids/grand kids the story.  Then the popcorn which is an organic open pollinated variety I developed.  And transplants of brussel sprouts, tomatoes, sunflowers, and on and on!!  Pat to pick up seed shallots, and broom corn seed tonight.

Still have CSA memberships available!

Newest addition by its choice!

Had a least weasel join our operation last December.  To small to hurt chickens or their eggs, and this one seams to come and go.  Lives mainly on small mice type rodents.  Some people believe het are among other things witches familiars!

First Cherry Tree in Full Bloom.

Lamb water slide

Winter came back!  Cold, wet, rainy!  Shetland babies all went to the pasture to play in the wet grass.  When Mom finally got them back to the dry lot, they had to have several goes at the "water slide"!!  The tarp had been attached to the fence when the barn blew down last winter.  Now, with an East wind and the rain, what fun to chase each other up and tumble back down!!!

Activity todate:

Well, winter left for a few hours so we are getting a chance for some field work.  Cannot do a total field yet, but progressing!  Worked some in orchard clean-up, so more wood available for "meat smokers", also cleaning up equipment in the old bee yard, should have some boxes to sell cheap!  Watching for morels and wild asparagus.  Checked the mower out and started to mow between the grape rows, their buds look strong this year!  Getting ready to move sheep and goats back on pasture.  Should have two more ewes to drop lambs, and 1, (maybe 2) goats to go as well!  Getting about 15 chicken eggs per day, turkey setting, geese laying and setting, 2 nests, and the ducks, who knows!!!  They have snuck off into the wetlands and have a couple of hidden nests somewhere, with  one hen setting.  Started planting potatoes and onions outside, and prepped an area for early plants.  Plenty of activity in the greenhouse with starts for outside, and small offerings of spring greens.  Great to eat fresh veggies again.

Had two bee hives lost to colony collapse.  Still more to do, but have 20# of honey so far.  Other naturals coming are violet flowers, white only so far.  What a way to say SPRING with a salad with violet flowers.  Order a pint today!!  Nettles, cattails, and other natives are coming on too!!

For the people who asked for edible soybeans ----- they're coming.
Breaking ground today.

Catgrass and Wheat Grass

Our own cat enjoying an organic tray of wheat grass!!  We still produce wheat grass, cat grass and sprouts on special order!  We are not the cheapest, but we know we are a truly organic producer. in the area.   If organic is important to you, check the certification or growing practices of your supplier.  We hope you find they are too!!  

Standerd Bronze Turkey's

we saved one hen and one tom after the winter holidays, and they made it through the winter.  She has been laying an egg a day, so we have 14 in the incubator, and she is still laying and setting now on more. 

Tom here doesn't have much to do most day's with only one hen, so he displays for the sheep and goats to keep in practice.

The turkey's are Standard Bronze.  The Broad Breasted Bronze we all drew and colored in grade school was a selection from the Standard Bronze as seen here.  And the "White" bird we all know at Thanksgiving was a sport that was chosen from  the Broad Breasted Bronze.  These birds can reproduce without human intervention, but the Broad Breasted and the White both need human help.

Bee update

Checked the rest of the hives tonight.  Lost two hives very recently.  No dead bees outside, or in the brood cells, so I think the queen died over the winter, and the hive just died out.  So we have 4 deep supers to spin out in the morning, (probably 40 pounds) and then let the good hives clean up.  If they were diseased, we would burn the equipment instead.

Checked the bees again today.   Heavy pollen flow going so this hive will be growing stronger everyday.  Pollen is coming from the Pussy Willows in the marsh, and other trees.  Can only get better for them as I found a Dandelion today which should start a heavy nectar flow too.

WHICH MEANS   HONEY!!! 


Nice to have such good willing workers.  Unlike most hives where the bees are one color, notice these vary from blond bees to almost all black.

Today at the Jefferson Public Library there will a program on "The Three Sisters".    Black Sheep Enterprises has done a "Three Sisters" plot for six years. Besides Les having such a great time telling this story and watching families come at planting time and returning throughout the year or just in the fall we have recorded yield increases over repeated years on the same ground.  Les and I will be there to learn more and hope to see others there too.  You may also enjoy following our plot
 again this year here in Jefferson.  The program runs from 2-3 PM at the Jefferson Public Library.  To learn more go to www.jefferson.lib.wi.us

New 4 horned ram!!!

Raising 4 horned Jacobs has a challenge in getting the perfect horns for your breeding stock.  We thought we had a great set on a young ram last year.  However his horns are so big that the bases are growing together.
Talk about headaches!!!

This year our male lamb is from a different female.  I think the pair got it right this time!!  Even with big horn bases, he should have a beautiful set, and his color markings are excellent as well.

I'd love to use him in our flock, but he is to closely related to the whole flock.  He is old enough to wean, and needs a new home!

Shetand lambs

Introducing our other Shetland lambs!  Both are females, so from our 2 ewes, we have an all black male and 3 ewes to help build this breed in our flock.  Call and set a time to come visit the spring additions to our farm!!!
We have goats kids, other lambs, and over 100 baby chicks, some for sale!!!   Check out a local CSA membership too!

Meet our new addtions

Meet our black lambs for 2013!!!

As many of you know, it has been a tough two years with drought, family demands and medical needs, and limited capital for operations.  However, we love farming and the challenges it presents, so we are back for 2013!!

We named our operations many years ago, "BllackSheep Enterprises" with Pat and I being black sheep of our families because we grow using organic methods for, vegetables, fruit, food grade grains, and livestock.  We also have a pair of black lambs this spring.  Both full blood Shetlands, the male of these twins definitely has the greying gene, but the female may not.  This means she may "stay" black.  (Picture is when the first born was about 15 minutes old.)

So - changes for the year-
Pat has cut back to only the farm to give it the attention it deserves.
We will be doing a CSA for 10 to 12 subscribers.  Details coming!
We will have/do have free range chicken eggs for sale.
We are starting to get Duck eggs for sale to specialty bakers..
We plan on having Turkeys for Thanksgiving and Geese for Christmas.
Watch for all the benefits from being in our CSA.