Chick Knives

We’re looking forward to another good week at the farm. Saturday we hosted a tour group and KMOS TV. The guys gave a tour of the produce fields and greenhouse then ended in the winery. It’s always good to have visitors at the farm! Here’s a pic of the group in the greenhouse, with Joan in the foreground.

You may be wondering why on earth there is a picture of a dirty pinkish red box knife posted. Weird I know. This little gem actually belongs to me. Or I should say, DID belong to me. We’ve seen many good times together. Ripping up carpet, breaking down boxes and believe it or not, it works great as a can opener as needed in the past couple of weeks, thanks to the breakdown of a certain Kitchen aid can opener….anyway, that’s another story.

I believe Fahrmeier Farms might want to buy stock in the Husky Brand as Bret has lost several within the last few months which leads me to this particular picture. My girly knife is now turned into a “manly” all purpose tool. Its new purpose is cutting black plastic and drip tape in the field along with other farm tasks and I christened it Saturday morning. I’m taking bets that it will never be in my full possession again. The funny thing is that I made fun of the fact that I had a chick knife and now I’m coping with the fact that I will never have sole custody of it again.

Gotta Love Missouri Weather!

Well, this week has started off with a real bang. Our place was covered in a blanket of fresh white stuff over the weekend along with the rest of the surrounding area. The joys of living on top of a hill are 1.) North winds...awesomely bad on a snowy day and 2.) having a driveway that looks like a freshly iced cake from those north winds.

This artwork is of Bret's truck as he attempted to make it out of the drive. I'll title this- "I should've listened to my wife and driven in the field" 

His words were, "I didn't think it would be that bad!" I did the proper thing and watched and laughed from the comfort of our living room.

Brandon came to the rescue with the tractor and dug him out and they were off and on with the rest of their day.

Here is a pic of the first of 12 high tunnels going up this week. It's spring prep time for the vegetables and every break in the weather has to be taken advantage of. The process of covering the high tunnels is long and exhausting. Especially when you have to wade through mud to get the task complete. It's a good thing the end product is well worth the work it takes. And is a welcomed sign of warmer weather on it's way.

And We're Back...

Ok, the blog hiatus is now over along with the cameraman’s. Bret and I have finally gotten moved into our home. Moved is the key word- settled is another part of the story. Boxes are stacked, cabinets are not even close to being full and the walls are still naked. But that’s ok. We have to start somewhere. And I’ll take the disorganization for now. Especially since our landlords were nice enough to put some new flooring in AND replace that awful pink toilet…may it rest in peace!

Now, onto the real business at hand here- We’ve had many inquiries about our CSA program which we are growing more excited about. The vegetable plants are looking healthy and the flowers are starting to bud. What a relief to see some green with a few patches of color mixed in.

Remember that rogue tomato I told you about a few weeks ago? Well here it is! She’s almost ready to pick and looking mighty delicious in all of its tomato glory. There’s probably going to be a fight over who gets a bigger bite of the little guy!

Also, here is a pick of the tomato’s we grafted a couple weeks ago. They are looking strong and their graft clips are falling right off. This means two things. 1.) We are going to have strong heirloom tomato plants that will hopefully produce lots of yummy varieties and 2.) We didn’t kill them!!!! That was the part I was most afraid of as this whole grafting thing is very new to me. So far we're running in the high 80% success rate of survival. But I don't want to jinx it...

Flower Power!

So begins another week. We were lucky to have some sun shining down on us at the farm over the weekend. The light and warmth makes growing conditions better and makes everyone on the farm much more pleasant to be around. The flowers and vegetables are going strong and looking healthy in their early growing stages. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow veggies and flowers and that hard work and planning really pays off and is more rewarding when we produce a high quality product for our friends and customers to enjoy!

You won’t believe what we found in our greenhouse last night…Our very own garden fairy! Photo above. I love garden fairies, there’s something magical about them. They are right up there with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Sandman. Some people don’t think they exist but I do. Fairy’s travel around and sprinkle their pixie dust on the growing plants and it makes them stronger, prettier and makes them last longer. For the non-believers out there I have proof that they are real.  This one’s name is Carly, she loves flowers and was having some fun as you can see here.

Some Call Him the Gambler

We all have friends that enjoy going to the riverboat casinos to see if lady luck is on our side. I have to admit; I've even done it a few times and actually got lucky. Gambling is fun and exciting right? Well, it's not as much fun when you're livelihood or annual salary is a gamble everyday that you go to work. Farmer’s are big risk takers everyday and this year, Florida’s produce farmers unfortunately lost their gamble because of a long cold snap. Not only does it stink for them but also for consumers since the crop failure will force our prices up. Attached is a link to the story about Florida’s cold snap.
On a positive note, tomato seeds have been planted and we’re looking forward to growing them into hearty, tasty Missouri tomatoes for everyone to enjoy this summer!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Ok, so... oops! It’s been longer than I’d like to update. The week has been crammed with farm, greenhouse, winery and vineyard madness. Plus the head photo taker seems to have been on hiatus. It’s hard to find good help sometimes… The break in the weather has been great for starting to get things done outside as it’s nice not to have to wear 20 layers of clothing to perform a simple task.
The greenhouse continues to look great and is filling up rapidly. Brandon is the point man with Joan by his side making sure every plant is up to par for springtime selling. Bret is the conference guru this week as the time is upon him, he’s focused to get vegetable fields prepped and ready to rock while learning about local foods, policy and networking all at the same time . The tomatoes we grafted last week are still alive and doing well…or as well as a chopped in two plant can do. More tomorrow…hopefully with photos.