Dragonfly Farm

SUMMER TIME!

2010-07-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, Summer time and the living is easy...Well, not quite. When you live on a farm life takes on a whole new meaning, time seems to fly right past you and you don't even know it- I can't believe it was March when I last posted! I just finished a farm tour of about 12; 7 children and 6 adults. It was nice watching the kids chase our chickens around the pen, they all laughed when the chickens tried to fly. They met our baby goat, Jerimiah, and fawned over how friendly and adorable he is. We also had a cheese making class last weekend of around 20 adults, including my Mom, Aunt, and some of my Aunt's friends. My daughter Brianna's new lab pup is settling in nicely, and today they swam in the back pond together. His name is Sawyer.
Our milking cow Gracie is giving 5-6 gallons a day, and at the moment we have no clue WHAT to do with it all. Lately I've been making Chevre, Baguettes, Mozzarella, Butter, Cream Cheese, Cottage Cheese and Ice Cream! Our chickens are doing well in laying production and our goats are as happy as ever, you could say things are going wonderfully.
-Besides this ridiculously warm weather of course.

An Unconventional Farmer in the 21st Century

2010-03-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

It's day break and the sun is coming up over the ridge, it's a clear and crisp 22 this morning. I don't think it even made it to 42 yesterday. Yesterday the whole day was cold and windy not a great day to be outside digging beds. So instead I spent the morning feeding the animals and getting ready to go to the ag show.

As I spent time meandering through the booths and visiting with the local residents who just happen to be my neighbors at the ag show, I had to stop a moment and think. It started as I attended a panel discussion on farming in the 21st century. There happened to be a young woman there who had written a book, her name is Lisa Hamilton and her book is called "Deeply Rooted", unconventional farmers in the age of agribusiness. She herself does not farm, she realized some time ago just how hard and exactly what it took to farm. So instead she writes about it and tells farmers stories.

I didn't get a chance to attend her earlier talk but showed up for the panel discussion with other farmers. As the discussion proceeded one of the older farmers, a gentleman who farms beans, stated "I come from a line of farmers, my father, my fathers father, have all worked the land." As I listened to his story and mulled over what he had to say, I couldn't help but think, I don't come from a line of farmers, and I am not a man, my father was not a farmer. When my daughter grows up, she'll say, "My Mother was a farmer" my grandchildren will say, "Nana was a farmer".

It appears I have achieved the status of the Ultimate Unconventional Farmer in the 21st Century. In 1998 a study was taken by the FDA and 9% of farms were run by women, the organic movement had a somewhat higher percentage of 21%. For a women of Hispanic descent the stats get a lot smaller and are almost non-existent. It appears women in farming and agriculture are very few and far between yet nestled here in the Four Corners area of Colorado I look around and see a few. You have Holly who runs Napier Farms, Judy and her daughter, Heidi, who have Rowher Farm, and then myself and my daughter Brianna own Dragonfly Farm. We all run our own Farm and handle most everything on it. Small operations trying to make our living and living off our land. We are all different with different ideas and farming experience but are all working towards the same goal.

It takes a lot to farm and it is not something for the weak of heart. It is never ending the things that need to be fixed or have to be built and it seems to grow by the minute. There is no time off especially when you own animals because you can't just leave them for a trip or vacation. It takes a dedication, a huge commitment to a certain lifestyle but I think it is well worth it. I have no regrets and I would not change it for anything. It's cold sometimes, hot sometimes, rainy, windy, snowing but when I go outside and look to what I have accomplished myself it is all worth it. I come from a good line of hard working women.

So as I go about my day feeding chickens, moving baby chicks to a new area, feeding and watering the milking goats, watering the greenhouse, I can stop and thank the Lord for my simple success. I am a small farmer in the 21st century who just happens to come from a line of beautifully rich, dark, women of Hispanic origins. They taught me the meaning of hard work, the meaning of family, and showed me how to think outside the box. They gave me a sense of who I am by just letting them be who they were. These are the women I come from, the women who showed me how to make tortillas, tamales, and who I share a common bond with; FAMILY .

March Planting in Colorado

2010-03-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a great week this week; we started with snow and seem to be ending with snow. I'm happy we have had a few days of nice sunshine and 50-59 degree weather, it was beautiful. I'm glad this cloudy weather is today, that way I can head on out to the AG expo without wasting my sunshine.

We were able to get a bed dug this week which is great. It seems to take us at least a day a bed for a 5-10 or 20 area. Deep digging is a lot of work but we are hoping with our lousy soil that it pays off. It requires you to dig a 1 foot trench and then loosen the soil down another foot which becomes extremely difficult in our rocky little enclave. This is what takes us so long to dig the bed which I think normally we could get done a lot earlier if not for the rock we have to deal with after the 1 foot initial trench. The picture I borrowed just to give an example of what it looks like. I need batteries for the camera then we can show you exactly what it looks like.

Dad and I finished the inside chicken brooder area that the baby chicks can go into after they come out of the brooder. We have a lot of work to do on the coop this year as it has been leaking this winter. It could be that we just had so much snow but I want to make sure next year even if we have as much snow it stays drier. Those little ladies are the life blood of the farm as they are now producing about 4 dozen eggs a day. These eggs travel down to the local community grocery stores and are able to be purchased throughout the winter by our local community. No carbon footprint there being they travel a very close distance from the farm to the local store. Sometimes the mornings eggs are that afternoon on the shelf's, you can't beat that for fresh! Currently the little ladies supply Dolores Food Market, Zuma Natural Foods, and Let it grow Nursery.

CSA is still going well and I have bene making my deliveries to Durango weekly, thanks to my steady customer base I survived winter. Some of the days were nasty but all and all it was a great winter and my first winter CSA year. Thank you my Durango Customers for your support and continued interest in our farming endeavours.

-Teresa

Sunny Sunny Sunny

2010-03-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

What a glorious morning! It has been two days now that we have been blessed with wonderfully sunny weather. It's nice and crisp this morning coming in at about 20 degrees with the blanket of snow still covering my planting beds. There appears to be some areas up by the greenhouse that can more than likely be dug today and covered before the next storm sets in.

In Colorado during the spring it can be a constant battle or rhythm with nature to get your planting in. I would like to look at it as a balanced rhythm she gives a little I get a little. A constant reminder of how I am not in control of every aspect of life. I guess this could be somewhat unsettling for some but for me I am reminded that I don't need to be in control of everything. Let go sometimes and just let God.

Patience is the virtue that is always needed when you become a cultivator of the land. You can sometimes feel the pressure of wanting to get everything in so you can get to the market just a tad early. It's the patience that should win out in the long run because it is just that you need when those early beds you coddled freeze in June.

So, as I look towards the day today I am thankful that I have been blessed with much. I am going to plan my day keeping in mind the few days I have before the next series of storms hit. I am going to say a little prayer that I can get what I need to get done in between those breaks and enjoy my life as a farmer.

Pea Planting anytime soon?

2010-03-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

So I wake up this morning ready to face the day and look at digging my next deep dug bed to find it snowing. Not just a little drizzle of snow a full fledge storm, so I turn on the news to find out what it states and sure enough. WINTER STORM hitting the 4 Corners area. Just when I thought it was safe to go in the water and dig my beds I have been snookered.

Needless to say it does not appear that much pea planting will be done this week. Truly farming in Colorado is it's own unique experience. I guess I will make some soap and cheese this week. Those are always good things to do during our winter snow events.

As soon as spring starts to hit the air it feels time is a wasting. It is interesting I spend winter in somewhat of a languid relaxed state and then as soon as it gets somewhat warm I start to panic. Happens every year like clock work, I keep thinking I have to do this, I have to do that.

So this evening I have Brianna making brownies for us as we discuss the meaning of from scratch or homemade. She is really determined to make things from scratch and not from that lousy box of brownies. Actually it was pretty entertaining to listen to her expound on the homemade versus from scratch methods of cooking.

Cheese Making Room

2010-03-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

It is spring and the time for new ideas, so I have been mulling over the idea of a separate cheese making room. I am still in the planning and contemplating mode but I have almost decided the expense would be worth it. Here in Southwest Colorado in my area there is not one for miles only in Durango. Cheese is a big item at the market and it has a fairly good profit ratio especially since I use my own goats milk. I have already filled out all of my information for the Raw Milk Association of Colorado and the state filed paper work for the Raw Milk statement. Which makes me good to go as a raw milk dairy using herd shares. To take the step further into cheese making I need a separate facility to process. It looks like I don't really need too much equipment to process on a small scale but I do need the facility. I had been thinking of converting the garage area to this type of room but wondering if that is the most cost effective way to go or if I should just build and plumb out a new structure. I need to make sure I go with the best but most cost effective idea in order for it to pass Paul's (husbands) inspection. If it does not he will veto the idea....

Spring Time is here

2010-03-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

I was thanking my Lord yesterday for spring time and then the fickleness of a Colorado spring started rearing it's ugly head. It had been nice the past couple of days and had been drying up, when all of a sudden I wake up this morning to a light dusting of snow. I have to say I am not happy. I had my whole day set to deep dig some upper beds even though it was still a little wet, but my day has since changed.

Lately I had been planning on getting some soap making done and such, so looks like my agenda has changed. Wait, wait it looks like the sun is breaking through the morning and maybe just maybe it might clear up. I can only hope.

I have a few deliveries to do today not too much but I should finish up early enough to have a little time this evening to plan my work for next week. We also need to start more seedlings for April planting, tomatoes, brocoli, leeks, and others can be started now for planting in the GH in April. Busy Busy Busy once spring hits there is no slowing down for us.

Monday Morning Rush

2010-02-27T06:48:00.001-08:00

It seems a life time ago I worried about that morning morning rush to get dressed, ready and out the door for my Monday morning comute. I would spend countless hours getting to and from work and my whole day would be wrapped up in this one pursuit. Everything would evolve around the driving, preparing, and returning from my one and only goal work. Wow, have things changed since then, I no longer spend all my time getting ready and driving to work. Oh don't get me wrong I still spend a lot of time working but its no longer the commute.

It is a simpler lifestyle, time goes by with the seasons as this is my clock. I love being able to be home with my daughter and enjoying the time I spend with her. She is the last one in my house and is growing up so soon. I love being able to sit and drink my coffee without rushing to get dressed so I can be out the door to get on the freeway. I love being able to sit down and take some time out for a little prayer anytime I want too. I think most of all I just love being out of all the day in day out cycle of work drama. The highlight of my drama on the farm is when a new baby goat is born or when being a toddler their head gets stuck in the fence. It's pretty simple here but what a blessing. After being in both worlds I would not trade mine for anything. I no longer need to worry about matching bags, shoes ect not that I really ever did but the goats really don't care if I am in my pajama's to milk them. The only thing I worry about now is keeping warm in the winter and that can be a job in itself, especially since it started snowing again.

2010-02-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

02/21/2010
Sunday Morning and the snow has not stopped coming down and quite frankly I am beginning to wonder if we shall every see the ground. The branches on the trees are heavy with the white blanket covering them. They seem to be almost lying down as they bend to the weight of the snow. This week it started on Friday and has been coming down every since and looks like it will continue on until Monday. The house is cold today I am not burning wood because we have to cut more and have not had the time. The wood I have I am trying to keep for the evenings only, that way it will last a little bit and we don’t have to stress
Time off is almost over now as we work through the third week of February, yes snow is still on the ground but it’s marketing and seeding time. Funny, how it seems like I have not had any time off at all or at least not enough. I have been working on marketing all week long. Website is finally up and running yeah! www.dragonflyfamilyfarm.com. I have been working on it now for a few weeks and I am pretty happy so far. It was not to difficult so I am completely happy that it is almost finished.
It has been cold these past few days I think temps dropped down to single digit again. Its hard to think of planting when it is that cold but I don’t have a lot of time I really need to get on that. It’s so cold the chickens are laying so slow and I keep saying they better pick up or we are going to have chicken for dinner.
The last of my ladies are being bread now. Charlotte is visiting her boyfriend as we speak so she should kid in July as I have staggered most of my ladies to come in at different times. This will insure a lot longer milking cycle and a steady supply even in late winter when I have to milk in the cold. I am really going to try and get a milk barn done this year; I really need to focus on that.

2nd Week of February

2010-02-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day

Its quiet this morning no one is awake yet, I love the stillness of everything as the sun breaks over the ridge. The only noises to be heard are outside, as I hear the rooster’s crow as they announce that morning is upon us to the farm. The house itself is quiet and a little cold, not even an ember is left of the evening’s fire. As I put on the mornings coffee I contemplate what the day has for me and take some time out to give thanks to my Lord for the great day that awaits me. It is a beautiful day today with the sun shining and bringing warmth to a cold Colorado, it is only about 21 degrees and this is not too bad for a February winter day in Colorado. It appears we will be blessed with sun for the rest of the week that means we should be able to start planting the greenhouse. I should be able to get in lettuce, greens, carrots, and maybe some Brussels sprouts this week, even with it still freezing those should be fine. I just line the beds with the heating cables for the soil and it raises the temperature a little. That is all the little seedlings need to get started and I cover them with a little agribon and they are good to go. I will uncover them in about a 3-4 weeks and then be presented with the miracles of growing undercover as I raise the covers in March to peek inside.
The chickens, these ladies are still slow in laying they are taking their sweet time to gear back up costing more and more money. What this means is when they usually take 4-6 months of feeding to lay one egg and then you add another 2-3 months in winter of no eggs your profit margin starts to look real thin. We shall see if we even break even this year between the cost of pullets, feed, cartons, and lighting I will be lucky if I do.
Goats will not be kidding until April so that is when our babies are due to arrive on the scene. I went over to my friend Vicki’s at “Weehavano Ranch” and she has new babies, one of her does gave birth to a beautiful male who looks to be the next sire. This beautiful young man is quite the male specimen and his markings are incredible he is going to grow up to be a very handsome buck. I am hoping for mostly females myself but we shall see what we come out with. I am not too sure I am ready to keep a buck and boy do they sure smell to high heaven when they are older.
Well it’s been about 2 weeks now and the website is up and running, it still needs some tweaking and a little cleaning up but all in all it looks great. I am happy with the website company who makes it fairly easy to start it. I managed to get a PayPal cart on there and now people can order our teas and such when they are away, I also added my herd share fees and initial start up on it too. I am trying to make it as convenient for people as possible and also drive a little more traffic to us with a web listing. Right now it is a work in progress and will take me a few more weeks to get it completely finished and looking like I want it. I am trying to place everything from our CSA shares to our pre-orders for hogs on it with access to receive payments on everything. Hopefully this will make bookkeeping a little easier being that it will track all payments on a weekly basis.

First week of February

2010-02-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

February and winter still has a grip on southwest Colorado. It’s snowing this morning as it has almost every week these last few weeks. As I look out the window I can see the heavy wet flakes coming down almost like rain. It’s creating a nice white blanket that I am sure I won’t uncover until spring when the sun starts to heat up our winter white farm.
The goats are non to happy as they do not like to venture out into any inclimate weather. If a slight drop of rain hits the roof they are in the barn running for cover. We laugh and say how they are fair weather goats. This all changes of course when the food bowl is filled if this happens when there is a blizzard going they will be out in a second knocking each other out of the way to get to it.
The chickens I am struggling with this winter it seems I am lucky if a get a couple of eggs from them lately. It seems between the cold and the less light they have quit laying and now to boost them back up is a struggle. They are costing me a pretty penny especially after I feed them all year not to be laying.
Its way past time to sit down and get our planting organized and I need to do that this week. I have been occupied with facebook lately my new little winter game but I need to break this as spring is coming quick. We have some of our planting mapped out already and this week Brianna and I need to work in the greenhouse. We should get on turning those beds in there and hopefully we have eliminated the problems we had last year with white flies by freezing it out.
I am going to start seedlings this week for lettuce and such that can pretty much almost go into the greenhouse. Lettuce is a hardy crop that can grow during winter here in Colorado. One of our neighbor farmers usually can grow it all winter with maybe only a 2-4 week slow period. She has really got the 4 season winter greenhouse down to a science.

Now that it is February I have to start getting a routine going, so it off the facebook for me and we have started our hard cheeses, soaps, and teas so that we will be ready when market arrives. This year we should have quite alot going on and we need to make it as sustainable and as cost controlled as possible. We need a new milking barn but that will have to wait until mid summer so we have the funds for it. First thing we are going to start this spring is the new raised beds all along the greenhouse and that should eat up money relatively quickly. Lots of planning goes into a small working farm. You can very easily go broke without it.

Winter In Colorado

2010-01-22T17:33:00.001-08:00

We are in the middle of our beautiful Colorado winter. It has now been snowing all week long pretty much non-stop. It's a quiet time now for us as we only have the goats and chickens to take care of. The green house is now frozen and hopefully it will kill all the white flies that were in there right before Christmas.

Winter is a reflection time for us here, we spend the days reviewing just how blessed we were this last season. Taking the time to see what went right and what went wrong and on ways we can improve our little piece of Heaven on earth. It seems the seasons go and come for us so fast when you live by them. Before you know it I am getting ready to order seeds and we have already plotted out some of our planting areas. We decided this year we are going to add more raised beds outside the green house as these are easier for us to manage.

As the days now grow longer, I think my quiet time will soon come to an end. I am so fortunate in what I have been blessed with. The time to work hard and the ability to do it and then the time to take a rest and allow my soul to spend time in some quiet reflection. I firmly believe we really need this time and I am so thankful I have it. As winter has it's firm grip on my land I am happy to enjoy the thoughts and musings of spring.

Autumn

2009-09-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

As the sun comes up this morning there is a chill in the air, it seems autumn is upon us. I am not quite sure I am ready for the change of seasons, but then again she waits for no one. It has not froze yet but it has been at least 39 a few mornings. The hot crops like cucumbers are starting to suffer the cool mornings. I am not sure how much longer they will make it, I might try and cover them but a lot of times it is not quite worth the effort. Aah better to yield at times to mother nature as she changes the season.

I am being entertained this morning as I watch from up my window upstairs. Sonny, the goose is brawling this morning with pearl the goat. I watch as Sonny chases Pearl around the pen biting and snapping with his wings spread out in the largest, fiercest way he can manage. It's very entertaining being Pearl is usually the bully and has control of the farm as she pushes her way through everyone. Not this morning though, Sonny has managed to disrupt everyone in the barnyard with his squawks and honks as he continues to bite, hiss, and chase Pearl through the yard.

I just love mornings, the peace and rhythm of daily life on a farm intertwined with outside influences that sometimes interfere with that. I think it is the rhythm I like the most the daily milking at 7 am and 7 pm, morning breakfast, aah morning coffee brewing as the day cycles through . I had the chance to travel to a monastery this year and spend the weekend. Yet now, at this time, it seems I am so far from that peaceful time of tranquility . I enjoyed so much the daily early morning bell for prayer and the closing of evening with compline.

It seems somehow as life crept in I lost my rhythm. Each day as the outside influences came in I lost my balance to the world. So as autumn closes in I am focusing on my own monastery and I am closing out the world's voice and working towards my own rhythm and cycle.

We have so much to do before winter closes in but we have to prioritize and get the things done as we can. The things I have on the list of chores are to finish out the new goat area with shelters for them and finish up the wood burning oven outside. I wanted to get in some new raised beds but I am not sure if I am going to get to that before winter comes in. So I guess I will have to add them into next years farm goals. I already have things on that agenda and one of the areas I need to do is get my new milking room finished. It seems things just never get finished and it is an on going labor of love.

Summer got away from me!

2009-09-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been months since my last post and I had not even realized it. Life on a farm takes its own time. It demands much of your time and things always need to be done. I looked up and realized it was getting close to fall the leaves are changing and the nights are getting cooler. Harvest is in full swing and the canning process is humming along with green beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, salsa and hopefully much more.

So far this summer we have moved our fencing several times and the electric fence idea never really worked for our pigs. We are getting ready to level and set fencing out for out dairy goats. I decided to move them from the area they are by the chicken coop out into there own pasture area and build a shelter and hopefully a milking room.

The goat milking is going full swing and I am milking twice daily. We are soon getting ready to breed our other two Saanens for spring kids. Hopefully I will be able to continue milking until early spring then maybe take a few weeks off in February and pick right back up in March. It's demanding of your time but I so love having fresh milk. I have learned to be very picky about what they eat can really control the taste of the milk. Our milk comes out smooth and creamy and you don't even notice that it is not cows milk.

Cheese making is going great and I am doing a lot of soft cheese and yogurt. I am getting ready to do a couple of hard cheeses this week. It has been a great season and as it continues on I am very happy about our outcome. We have made a lot of advances to our sustainable lifestyle and have progressed nicely to be able to provide quite a lot of our own food. It has been a journey and I have been dragging Paul along kicking and screaming.

Brianna has started homeschooling again for the year and is doing fantastic! She pretty much has taken all the responsibility on herself and is completely becoming a beautiful young adult.

We started new chicks this past week so that they can get a good start before winter and be ready to lay first of spring. I am hoping to get these through the winter without losing the whole lot as I did in early spring last year. I decided to go with a September start instead of November like last year. They should be pretty large when the early predators come out in spring and hopefully they will not mess with them. We have more rooster then we anticipated so we need to cull some of them before winter.

Well off to the kitchen so I can continue to can, make cheese, and render fat into lard.

Electric Fencing

2009-05-14T03:03:00.000-07:00

I started to put up the electric fence this week and this is an all new experience for me. I have no clue what I am doing and only hoping I don't electrocute myself. It seems fairly easy and not too labor intensive a couple of post and some insulator poles. I have almost got it fairly even and just need to set the post where my gate will be. This is where the pigs are going to go as I have an area I want them to really dig up. I am hoping they eat not only the brush in there but the weeds to. Then I can call them porkarators like Joe Salan does. Paul says's I need to stop reading books because I come up with all these hair brained ideas from all these books I read. I told him I was saving us money and not having to rent a big tractor to till up and clear the area. We not only get an area cleared but we get organic, clean and healthy meat too. Doesn't seem to be a down side to me.

The pigs are doing great and they are actually right now the easiest animals on the property to care for. They happily go about there business all day long of digging and eating and digging and eating. They stay in the pen we have them in until the fencing is ready without a problem. The goat on the other hand keeps landing on the back porch eating my plants. It's Pearl and she is the baby and totally a bad bad bad girl. Her mother Sage is happily out in the far field munching away. Don't get me wrong if she is anywhere close to the grain bins where we keep the chicken scratch, her grain and the pigs food she will knock them over. I will look out and there she is with her head in the bucket.

Markets started this week and went great. The weather was fantastic and the sales although a little lower were still good. I am not sure yet if this economy is going to effect the market this year and I am have hope that it isn't going to be too bad. This year the farm is all the income we have coming in due to Paul's layoff. So I am hoping to be able to eek out a living with it. This year will be a hard and true test. It's all in God's hands and I trust that with whatever comes I have my faith in him to endure.

Blessings
Teresa

Market Days!

2009-05-10T05:53:00.001-07:00

Well the markets have started and we are off and running. Market Day in Durango went great the weather was sunny and the temperature was absolutely wonderful. Getting there was a great accomplishment due to anything and everything went wrong the day before. The county had a water line break just as I was pulling vegetables to rinse. We had to wait all day for the repair to be done so that put me way behind with the vegetable pulling. When the line broke I had bread rising also and bread to make no hand washing no bread making. When the water finally did come on the kitchen aid broke. So then it was no kneading but by hand and there is no way I am kneading 30 loafs of bread by hand. :)

So off to the store in the middle of it all to buy a new kitchen aid. Now I had not planned for this purchase and it was more money than I wanted to spend but bread is a big part of the farm. So I did not not want to not spend the money. Finally bread maker in tow I get home only to see the bad goat with the pigs feed bin turned over and her head in it.

Now Pearl the baby is getting fat and what is it from? It's from her knocking over the bins or crawling through the smallest hole ever into the chicken coop to get at the grain. Pearl is very bad and basically has the run of the farm. She is just so darn cute!

The turkey's have now made there home in the goat's stall so they no longer want to go in the chicken coop at night. It's the goat's pen for them. So now in the one pen are Sage the momma goat, Pearl the baby, 2 little goslings, and 8 turkey's. Poor Sage I am sure she has no idea of what is going on.

The little piglets are as happy as ever in there knew little condo and veranda that Paul built for them. We have purchase the electric fencing so as soon as we get that in the condo will move. I really need for them to clear out some of that North side of the property. So off they go the little grubbers to cultivate, clear, eat, get fat and be happy.

It's Sunday morning and it's so quiet no one is up yet. I love mornings on the farm with the sun just coming up and the dew on the grass. It's a little chilly but I like that. There is no time like morning with it's crisp, fresh, and new day beginning. As I go to sit on the patio and have a cup a coffee, I give thanks for my week. I am thankful I can wake up every morning in this beautiful Southwest country. I am thankful for my family, friends, and neighbors. I am thankful that my lord has blessed me with this life.

Blessings

Teresa

May is here!!!

2009-05-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

May is here and everything is in full swing. All the drips in the greenhouse are in and functioning on a timer. This makes watering much easier and much more effective. Most of the drips are done outside and I only have 2 more areas to finish. That's two more weeks of planting early crops like beets, carrots, and onions and such.

Paul and I prepped a new deep dug raised bed yesterday and I think I am going to try trellis cucumbers in it. It's up by the greenhouse. I have several more raised beds going up there they are a lot of work being I use a deep dig method but I hope they pay off. I really amend the soil using compost and spent deep bed hay the goats and chickens have been on. It's all about sustainability everything gets used.

It's raining today and I have been working in between rain storms outside. My rain collection barrel from the house is working great. I have one barrel full and another almost full and I am going to see how many I can get today. I will use them to water the upper flower and herb beds next to the house. I am also going to set the herb beds up on a drip system so when I am out of rain water I can use the water system more effectively. This is my first rain water collection system so I am not sure how much I can collect or maintain.

Our season is so short here in Colorado it seems sometimes you can't wait to get started. We have to be careful though not to plant out too early. Especially the hot crops like tomatoes and eggplant which are doing great right now in the greenhouse. We installed a swamp cooler in the greenhouse which I got from my friend Linda free. It's doing great at cutting down that mid afternoon heat which is extremely hot. It reached 130 in there last summer so I am hoping to reduce that down this year with the swamp cooler. Paul says's I take better care of the vegetables and animals then him. He said we don't have a swamp cooler in the house but the plants have a swamp cooler.

My first market is next week and I should have Pak choy, gourmet lettuce mix, radish, mustard, chard, tarragon, sage, chives and oregano. Early season here is lots of greens and herbs. I have not planted a mesclan mix yet I need to get that in because I have a cusabi dressing that is great on them.

Time to get back to work,

Blessings Teresa

Great Weather

2009-04-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

Finally we had some great weather yesterday and got to lay out some more drip lines and plant onion sets and carrots. Today our schedule is to get the upper layer of drips done and plant out some potato's. My goal is to have two harvest of potato's one early and one towards fall.

The Pok choy in the greenhouse I growing like crazy I am going to have to see if it will last for market. Not sure yet so we may be eating a lot of pok choy. The spinach should and is looking terrific. I have notices grasshoppers in the greenhouse so I am going to have to pick up some Nolo bait. (all organic) I also have to pick up the swamp cooler for the greenhouse that will make it easier to maintain a cooler temperature. It can get really hot in there last year it was around 130 some days. Not too conducive to growing much. Tomatoes and Peppers usually like it around 80-95.

I am almost ready for visitors I only have a few days left until May which is our scheduled open for daily guest. I am hoping they gave me a chance to get set up and ready. The will really experience a working farm otherwise.

Blessings

Teresa

Wind Wind Wind

2009-04-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well it's been ok for the temperature but the wind has been killing me. I am ahead of schedule as far as my planting goes so I am still doing great but this wind has been putting a damper on my planting. Last week I got onions, beets, carrots and spinach planted. This week I will work on more onions, spinach, carrots, beets, peas, greens, kohlrabi, broccoli and others. Today so far is looking great and it's nice and sunny.

The little chickens are growing like crazy and so are the geese. Little wing man who has lost his wing to the cat and also had an episode with a skunk is still hanging in there. We say he has nine lives and has used 7 so far. He seems a little skittish but that is definitely understandable. The Turkeys are growing bigger every day and they are mean as heck. Well not sure if mean is the word but don't put your hand or eyeballs anywhere close to them.

Today is bread day on the farm and so far I have Oatmeal, Poppy seed Bagels, Plain Bagels, Banana Muffins, Stone Hearth Breads and I am working on my Braided Wheat. I get up pretty early to get these done and start the bagels the night before. All to be delivered to the Farm Restaurant on Mondays. I have been getting quite a few customers for breads which is good but keeps me pretty busy.

Well back to the grind daylight is burning and there is much planting to be done.

Teresa

Lil piggy lil piggy won't you come home

2009-04-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well we have now delved in to the pig business. We have decided to purchase a few pigs not only to eat and sell but too help root up some land. Instead of the tractor rental this year we opted for the pig clearing method. Talk about biodynamic! The pig roots up your field as she placed in an area you would like cleared. She roots her little nose just like pigs do cleaning and clearing everything while dropping the most wonderful of fertilizers. Then you not only get the land cleared, you get fertilizer and then you also have some wonderful bacon and sausage. We have decided to allow the pigs in a piece we would like cleared they will be preceded by the goats who will move to the next paddock while the pigs do their work. The last but not least will be the chickens and the turkey's. At least this is our plan. We picked up the little cuties on Monday. That was also double duty I got to visit my grand kids and pick up the piggy's. Poor things I thought they would freeze to death going through Flagstaff but nope they came home just fine.

We hauled them back in the sheep pen not telling them they did not have their own little pen. Right now we have them in a holding pen getting them acclimated to us so they don't run when they see us. It has been so windy lately it has been hard to do anything else but feed them and work in the greenhouse. Today the wind is not suppose to be bad this morning so I am going to try and get some drip hose laid out and some lettuce in for May's market. The greenhouse is doing great I just have two beds to pull. I will usually wait until the bad days to work in there on changing beds etc. Spring is so busy and the weather so changing I try to get in what time I have to do all the outside work.

The animals are up early today usually they are sleepy heads not arising until after 7-730 but I can see the little piggy's poking their heads out from the straw. Sage and Pearl our saanan goats are playing around in the yard. I know it' s warming up now because Sage will not usually step out from the barn until it is well warming up. She is such the I am not going out in that weather gal.

Spring is here!

2009-04-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a busy week not surprising it's spring. I am at a push to try and get carrots and peas in the ground. I have been working on the front bed all week prepping and preparing the bed. I have installed the new drip system partially and it's up and running. Although this is a pain and tedious it saves time and money in the long run.

Last year all year long I was moving hoses and it was not at all efficient, but this year without the tea room going I have more time. I have been working between storms though which makes it kind of hard. Life of a farmer I guess.

Dad and I finished the fence for the pigs this week. It is only temporary until we can get the one up in the pasture area. I have so much I would like for the to clear in the brush area of the farm so they are going to be serving two purposes this year. Land renewal and food and you can't beat that. I am planning for them to be my little work horses for this years farming plans.

The weather has been so bad lately one day snow, one day wind it makes it hard to lay down weed barrier which I so need. Last year I did not lay down any barrier and the weeds were horendous. So again this year saving time and money not having to hire someone to weed and laying down that barrier should help.

Our farm is on a piece of property we bought that really was never worked. So our first beds we have had to work the soil to be up to par and try and erradicate years worth of weeds. It's an ongoing process that is complicated by this Canadian Thistle and Bind weed that we have such a hard time with. I tell everyone I am surprised the bind weed has not tried to take over the house. I am in hope that with the pigs, chickens, goats, and turkey's I will be able to sustainably and naturally keep the weeds at bay. We are going to try and rotate the pigs in several different paddocks this year so they don't tear anything up too bad. We will be using the goats and next in the cycle will be the pigs and then finish up with the chickens and turkey's. Hopefully this should create some nice planting areas for next year.

I am getting everything for my CSA and classes I am teaching this year ready. I will be posting everything on the community boards throughout town. Hopefully I can get several for the earlier classes on herbs to start this season. I have also been working to get the stuff ready for the agrotourism board. I would love to generate some extra income from farm tours or people visiting and buying. Not having to leave home and still earning money is my ideal life. :)

Sun's coming up and I have lots to do so off to the farm!

Colorado Farming Introduction

2009-03-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

Colorado farming aah it is such the adventure! Well it's about 40 degrees outside not bad considering I thought it was looking more like 25-30. I might even get those carrots in the ground.

We had great weather the last few weeks and I spent most of the time prepping new beds for planting so now it's cold and I don't want to be planting outside. It is suppose to be cold all week long it's March after all. We only had a little light snow fall this week but it is all gone melted away by the warm afternoon sunshine.

I really do love it out here in the Southwest it has been such a blessing to be able to live in the country. City life is not for me. Oh don't get me wrong I was the ultimate city girl living in Los Angeles and enjoying everything the bright lights had to offer. My life has since turned around the past 5 years.

I came out to Colorado with my newly aquired husband and we purchased our own little piece of the southwest. Bringing along the then 10 year old and the only one we have left in the house now. Paul and I both came out to work for a global engineering group with no idea of farming much less having wonderful little farm animals. We worked for about 3 years with the engineering firm and than decided to branch out on our own.

Thus the seed was planted for the farm and what a seed that was. My husband is still complaining he is not a farmer and does not want to be a farmer. He mostly isn't and I accept this choice. It is mostly a woman ran and owned adventure and I have the bruises, bumps and callous to prove it. My daughter Brianna who is now 15 is my helper and partner in this little adventure. It's she and I who when if full season are both working to keep everything going and the livestock all in control.

This is my first post and I will post sporadically on what is going on with the farm, my daily life in the country, receipes, and on going adventures of chickens and turkeys. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to the whole adventure.

Teresa Halsey-Hollar
Dragonfly Farm