July 11th-15th

Hello everyone! This week, Ingrid and I went on another farm visit and then Ingrid went on break for the week. We toured Barstow’s Farm and tried their ice cream which was sooo good!

The weather was hot and sunny but at least it gave our plants (and our weeds) and well needed boost!

Our pesky rabbit friend named Peter.

BARSTOW'S LONG VIEW FARM!

Here we go on another farm visit!!!

We knew two of those on staff at Barstow’s from the Farmer’s Market, and they were kind enough to offer us a tour of the farm! Even though they only grow a few vegetables, it was great to see another kind of agriculture, with curious cows, mounds of silage and a beautiful view from the hill of the farm.

At the beginning of the tour, they showed us this killdeer that had conveniently set up a set on their driveway. It was neat because we had never seen a nest made on the ground (or a killdeer, for that matter) and it seemed a risky place to lay eggs. The killdeer seemed to know it too, because it was pretty protective, so we didn’t go too close. Funny how we always find some wildlife on our farm visits.

We got to see how the corn silage was held down by the tires to ferment, and smell told us it was almost ready! Even stronger was the million gallons of liquid manure in one of the silos that was a little overwhelming in the hot muggy air.

We had bought compost from Barstow's at the beginning of the summer, and now we personally saw how it is made. They use the compost from the manure and bedding sometimes even adding the plastic utensils from their stand to slowly decompose. The mounds need to decompose 12-18 months before they are ready to be used in a garden.

The cows were a little stressed from the heat but still curious about their visitors! Barstow's has about 400 cows total and 400 acres of land.

We got to meet some of the milk cows and saw the milk tank and station.

This curious cow’s name is Paula!

We got to see the calves that had been born in the last month. They were so cute! Each had their own pen and plastic dog house like structure to live in until they are old enough to join the heifers. About 200 calves are born each year on the farm!

Ingrid petting the newest addition to the farm. This calf was just barely a week old!

Afterwards we treated ourselves to their homemade ice cream! It was soooo good!

We really enjoyed our time at the farm and thank our Farmers' Market friends for generously taking us on the tour despite the heat!

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Back at the garden after Ingrid left, I made a goal to make the garden weed free by the end of the week, and I was really excited that I succeeded! Here is a photo montage of Tuesday and Wednesday weeding and caring for my circle garden research project.

This carpet weed never gives up! Circle garden on July 12th.

Squash in one of the mounds

Beans

Basil

Carrots

Spotless!

This Thursday's Farmers' Market was absolutely wonderful!!! For the first time, there were things to sell! The radishes had been begging us to harvest them, and they were a rainbow of pink, white, purple and red (Easter Egg variety) so I bunched them colorfully.

I never could have done it without Ruby, one of our mentors, who rushed to the rescue with baskets, bags and rubber bands to prepare the produce. We harvested most of the radishes, kohlrabi and the basil, which was getting wild.

The market was a wonderful success and I talked with a lot of interested locals who wanted to know more about the student garden on campus. Luckily, I had brought some pictures from previous years and the brochures from the Miller Worley Center for the Environment. Many people thought the radishes were beets and the kohlrabi was insanely popular that we sold out! Several customers had never seen kohlrabi and were eying it as if it was an alien vegetable, but after explaining what it was and what to do with it they seemed eager to try it.

Looking forward to great weeks ahead!

Sunny days,

Paula