Summer solstice memorial ski

What better thing to do on the third longest day of the year than to go skiing! Some call it harvesting corn, corn snow that is, 'cause it has the texture of unpopped popcorn. I'm calling it a memorial ski because the last two years my good friend Brad invited me to go ski this basin with him. I said i was too busy n worn out. Well, sadly he's not with us anymore but I decided this spring to go skiing with him.


It's a nice spot. You can see the peak on the right from my home.


Here's the ski. Just as he described it...

Weekly what's up!

Direct seeded early zucchini are up!




Zucchini transplants have little fruits. I'll be grilling some up next week!



Bok choy is ready for market....





Tomatoes are growing fast most are knee high.



Potatoes are all up out of their hills.




Asparagus is done being harvested for the season. Second year asparagus on right was eaten. First year asparagus on left was left to grow.




The music garlic has just started to put up scapes. (the bright stalk in center of photo) Garlic scape is one of my favorite seasonal foods, always seems to fly by each year.




Can't see em in daylight but the fireflies have been lighting up the wetland at night. Makes for great walks by moonlight.





With the recent heat Popsicle season is in full swing. Today's special is blended pear with sea salt. (really good!)

Chocolate!

We eat quite a bit of chocolate while working so I made a bit more yesterday. One of the farm favorites is salty almond. I use 1.5 lbs of the best dark chocolate I can get my hands on. When melted I add 3/4 cup of coconut oil, one cup of raw almond butter, 3tsp of almond extract, and after pouring on wax paper I sprinkle it liberally with sea salt. Once cool I freeze the pieces. With all the added oil and almond butter (and eating frozen), it doesn't matter too much if the chocolate is out of temper. Quick, easy, and delicious!

The house

Big year for me! I am having a little (600 square ft) house of my design built! Running water in the winter will be a big improvement! Matthew Hendrix poured the piers (it's in a swampy area). And Mile Hale is doing the carpentry. I'll finish the inside in the winter.



Here's the floor.




Less than a week later it's got 4 walls...

Low tunnels

Just a few pics of the portable low tunnels. I used them to start early potatoes, onions, carrots, and beets.



Now they have been moved and planted with cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and another round of early onions! Here's the sweet Taters.

Happy carrots and beets

This is my first season that I have had carrots and beets at my first farmers market. Having 3 new portable low tunnels makes all the difference!


Here are the tunnels. More on the design later!

The starts

This is the seedling greenhouse in early may. Broccoli n cabbage n peppers n tomatoes. I plant 4 successions of broccoli and cabbage at two week intervals. The very small plants in flats are the 3rd round.

Breakfast

I have been breeding a multicolor flour corn for a few years now.
It makes great pancakes. The recipe is half fresh ground corn, half local wheat flour (one cup total), one egg, teaspoon of baking powder, pinch of salt, couple ounces of oil, and enough of some type of milk to make it wet. Sometimes some almond extract and currants too!

Travelin'

This is the area north of Cortez where most of our country's dry beans come from. These fields are also likely to be wheat some years. This spot is about an hour from my home.

Quote of the day

This is a good one for springtime. From a fortune cookie.

Dolores river trip!

After finishing the hoophouse I went on a little canoe trip on the San Miguel and Dolores rivers. Yes, it was snowing the day we put on the river, but in the spring it never lasts long. Didn't really need the cooler though.

This is the new big hoophouse half built, on a cold day in may.





Here it is the day we (myself, Cody, Kayla, and Colin) finished putting the plastic on it.





It was finally planted with 150 tomatoes, 80 sweet peppers, and 50 zucchini on May 17. I will keep the floating row cover, or frostcloth on the plants through most of June. The second week of June there was frost almost every night. The rowcover keeps the plants about 5 degrees warmer and much happier.