End of an Era

For everything there is a time.

It’s time to end our stay on Old Loon Farm and head for new adventures. Having made the decision to relocate closer to our children, we have sold the farm and moved to the Connecticut valley among the hills of New Hampshire.

We want to thank everyone, family, neighbors, friends and colleagues, for the love and support you have shown us over the last 20 years on the farm. ❤️

Our plan is to garden here, on a much smaller scale of course, and continue to produce fresh, local food for our family. Spending working vacations and the last three winters here in NH, we would sometimes call our new home “Old Loon Farm North,” not anticipating a permanent move. But here we are.

And the saga continues….

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September

Here we are again in the midst of harvest season! It’s been a very busy summer, as usual, but different this year. Two trips to the east coast interrupted some planting and harvesting, but we decided to make friends with the truth and admit that traveling to see family was more important than an extra bushel of tomatoes. Those grandkids grow up way too fast!

Potatoes from the box

The potatoes we planted in the repurposed dock board boxes did well; we harvested a basket full from each of the three boxes and they were way easier to harvest than digging in the ground. Next year a different crop will grow in those boxes. Maybe beans, as the boxes could be covered with frost blanket to give them an early start.

Garlic harvest ended in another great year! We purchased the original seed garlic way back in 2015, and have always saved the biggest and best heads for seed. The result is an ongoing strong harvest of both scapes and storable heads of large, sweet, delicious garlic.

Cured and trimmed garlic

Our hayfield has been cut and harvested, asparagus fields mowed and cultivated, and a small patch of bell peppers is doing very well in the field.

Peppers just waiting to be stuffed!

All those onions I planted — this year in the main kitchen garden — didn’t do as well as last year’s field crop, suggesting that the field soils are better suited for big onions. We harvested lots, but smaller sized than last year. Farming is always a learning process!

Mama and baby feast on downed pears every evening, just beyond the garden.

I’m reminded daily of the lovely piece of heaven on which we live. Often as we finish the day’s chores, we sit down to enjoy a late evening supper on the deck overlooking the garden, watching and listening. So many birds, such wildlife, trees surrounding us with silence far away from traffic and other noises. An yet, just down the lane, a wonderful group of neighbors comprise the Loon Lake community. Yes, it’s a little piece of heaven for sure.

Warming to the Season, 2022

Another chilly Spring has kept us out of the garden for March and most of April this year, but now that May has arrived, things seem to be warming up just a bit. But the soil is still cold and the asparagus has stubbornly refused to join us above ground. Soon, we keep telling everyone, soon!

Meanwhile, we’re planting several varieties of red, white and yellow sweet onions this year, and the hard-necked garlic we planted last fall is up and looking great. Another delicious spring treat, rhubarb, is up and almost to picking stage. I’m dreaming of rhubarb custard pie!

We have repurposed old dock boards into raised beds and are testing them out with potatoes this year. It will save a lot of bending and stooping during planting and harvest, and hopefully the compost-rich soil will produce a bumper crop.

Our small hoop houses are producing as usual, with a nice crop of volunteer cilantro, spinach and lettuce providing us with some nice green meals. Carrots are growing well, strawberries are in blossom and a few beets that survived winter will be ready soon. And as always in the hoop, succession planting keeps us busy till hot July.

Just like everyone, we are anxious to start enjoying the fresh, local foods in our region. It’s never too lake to plant a garden, even a very small one. Visit your local farmers market. And plant something good to eat this year and taste a bit of heaven!

Have a great summer, and enjoy your time outdoors!

A New Season Awaits

Blessings to all in this season of celebration, remembrance, renewal and relaxation! As we look forward to a new year, the long evening quiet gives us time to think, plan and dream.

Enjoy the season, the present, the possibilities. Stay well and be kind! May all your dreams come to fruition!

Heading to May

You always know summer is getting close when the lilacs bloom. They’re just starting to open up and to share that amazing lilac perfume across the farm. Lilacs herald the morel mushroom season as well, but one needs to find or make time to get out into the woods and hunt them! No luck so far.

Meanwhile, it’s planting time! Hoop #3 is almost complete. Low tunnels are protecting our broccoli and kale plants from insects and rabbit damage. Rhubarb is growing well. Our allium field is full, with leeks and shallots having been planted in the last two rows alongside eight varieties of onions.

Onions, and more onions!

Potatoes are in. We’re prepping the tomato- pepper patch for planting as soon as the danger of frost is in the rear view mirror. Garden peas and the first round of carrots are in, snap peas and beans are next. And we are already feasting on spring salad greens. It’s the best time of the year for freshness!

Hoop #3 soon to be completed and ready for cucumbers and other goodies.

This year is such a change from the last few seasons. Last year at the end of May we were debating whether we could get into the field with equipment to plant sorghum, and decided no. It was so wet and cold! This year is a dry and relatively warm season, at least now at the start! Last week’s cold spell, snow and rain, put a quick stop to asparagus production and harvest, but didn’t seem to bother the fruit blossoms. A few more days and we should be able to resume harvesting. It’s definitely dry for Spring and we can use the rain that is in the forecast this week. We will have to see how this growing season unfolds and keep our fingers crossed.

Thought for the day: don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

Spring 2021: Turning the Page

So here we are in mid-April already and we’ve experienced everything from snow and ice to temperatures nearing 80 degrees. It’s a wild ride this spring. And as the country attempts to open up after Covid shut-down, we are probably safe to expect a few more bumps in the road. Keep vigilant, mask up and use common sense. We can do this!

Although we don’t have regular store hours this spring, our products are available by special order. Email us at oldloonfarm@gmail.com to check on what’s currently available or for special bakery orders. Our products are also available through Decamp Gardens in Albion and Wise Farms LLC farm stand on the west side of Old Lake.

On Old Loon Farm, asparagus harvest began last week, but low temperatures and snow are predicted for this week and that will likely affect production. Rhubarb is growing nicely; we’ve covered our patch to protect it from the cold and frost.

Third hoop house going up. Our original hoop needs some TLC after many years of hard work!

This season we’ve added two new field plots in order to increase production and effectively rotate our main crops. So far month we’ve planted 15 lbs of seed potatoes and nearly 1,000 onion sets, eight different varieties. Over the next couple of weeks we will plant shallots and leeks. Garlic that we planted last fall is growing well. Spring carrots have been mostly harvested – they’re generally on the smallish side but nice and sweet. New carrots will be planted every couple weeks over the next couple of months to keep the summer harvest going. And of course, salad greens of all kinds are being planted in the hoops and outdoors often to provide consistent harvest.

And in the kitchen, the last of the spring horseradish production is complete – what we have now will have to last till September. It’s quite delicious!

Starting from seed

After taking a break last year, we’ve once again started some of our own plants. Due to limited space, we don’t have a lot of varieties, but enough to round out a nice selection of heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, and cucumbers. We’re also attempting to grow Georgia candy roaster squash this year – a very large, delicious and sweet yellow squash we enjoyed so much last fall and winter.

So keep your eye on all those good things available at your local food production centers and outlets – farms and farm stores – and don’t hesitate to support those who support good nutrition for you and your family. Your health is worth the investment!

Welcome to 2021!

Just like everyone, we are raring to get “back to normal,” but we’re not quite there yet! Uncertainty still rules, but either we’ve adjusted to the insecurity or we are just looking on the bright side now that Covid 19 vaccinations are available. In any event, there seems to be a change in the wind. And it couldn’t be more welcome!

After spending the winter with family further north, we arrived back on the farm just in time to tap the maple trees and start cooking. This year’s syrup should be good after such a cold and snowy winter. And spending so much time indoors and isolated this year, we are so ready for gardening, even though snow remains on the ground. Spring chores – pruning, shoveling, trimming, scouting fields, cleaning- anything and everything we can do outdoors is welcome!

Our mini hoop houses stood strong through the winter, and this past week we harvested some beautiful and very sweet winter spinach. Also flourishing in the hoop: tat soi, garlic, and mesclun. The temperature inside on a sunny day this week was 95 degrees! Soon we will seed carrots and beets in our second hoop, and we are planning to build two additional hoops this spring. They are so great for extending your harvest!

Looking forward, our fresh asparagus will be available in late April and May. May also brings rhubarb and salad greens. For summer crops, our plans include planting lots of tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, peas and beans, along with herbs and greens. It’ll be an exciting and delicious summer we hope to share with you!

Until next we meet, stay well, eat well, and extend a helping hand to your neighbor.

Changes on the Farm for Summer 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed life around the world for many people, and we don’t expect “back to normal” for most people will come anytime soon. What is “normal” on a small farm? Normal is fairly quiet here.

Isolation seems simpler here on Old Loon Farm than in a big city. We always have more work than we can handle to keep us occupied, and “going to work” generally consists of walking outside to the gardens or fields or barn, sitting in front of a computer checking mail, paying bills, ordering supplies, bookkeeping, or spending the day in the farm kitchen baking. It’s all right here. Since we don’t have hired workers, social isolation is easy. No gym needed. Much of our food grows here. Trips to town for supplies and necessary groceries are not daily or even weekly occurrences.

Of course, we have neighbors and family. We live near a lake community. We have friends and neighbors, many of whom are not so young and are also serious about their health. So we have tried to keep our social distance and add even more healthy practices to our routine. Life changes.

This spring we were blessed to have one of our daughters and her family “visit” for seven weeks, during which time we welcomed a new baby granddaughter, our 12th grandchild. Coming from the populous East Coast urban area, the farm was a welcome respite for them. For our daughter and her husband, working from home on our rural internet was a challenge. For us, their company, as always, was fun and welcomed. Caring for an exuberant 3-year old was both a challenge and a great source of joy for us. Blessings come in so many packages!

Our farm has seen many changes over the years as we adjust to life’s realities, and 2020 is no different. So here are some adjustments we’re making for this season:

We are no longer raising a large flock of laying hens, so do not have farm-fresh eggs for you this year.

We will not have regular store hours. Our store is effectively closed except by appointment or special order for bakery items, sorghum syrup, jams and seasonal veggies. Contact us oldloonfarm@gmail.com. Our Jane’s Grains artisan breads, granola, cakes and other bakery items are also available through the DeCamp Gardens Farm Store in Albion, IN.

We are growing vegetables, including asparagus, garlic, horseradish, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes and beans for the wholesale market – some are already contracted. Some will be available by the bushel later in the season. Some will be donated to local food banks.

We are still keeping bees and may have local honey for sale later in the summer.

And, we are hoping for more R&R time this year on Old and Loon lakes, as well as spending lots of time with our families. We hope you get quality time with your loved ones as well. Thanks. And be safe and well.

Welcome, Spring!

After possibly the shortest, warmest winter on record, we are back on the farm, and along with everyone else in the country, practicing social distancing due to the novel coronavirus.  Living on a small farm in a rural community that is fairly self-sufficient, it’s easy to forget the world outside. But we are welcoming Spring, planting our victory garden, helping neighbors, doing what we can to stay healthy and to help keep others around us healthy.

We traveled to the East Coast for most of this past winter, specifically New England and DC, spending a lot of time with kids and grandkids, and experiencing some early American history firsthand. For the time being, we are without any animals here on the farm (excepting the abundant wildlife, and our dog, Diamond) but plan to add chickens and lambs again later in the spring.

Our 2020 maple season was successful, and that beautiful amber syrup is now processed and ready to see us though until next winter.  We had a fine sorghum harvest last fall, and all our bee colonies made it though the winter, so the local sugar outlook is good.  

Our Jane’s Grains breads are in demand and available once again, both here on the farm and from the DeCamp Gardens farm store in Albion.  Check out what a difference fresh, healthful, whole grain breads make in your diet. We also make a variety of cookies, cakes and scones, as well as home-made jellies and jams.  There’s good eating on this farm, year round!

Since we planted seeds in our hoop house last October and November, we have been able to harvest fresh salad greens in March. Carrots came up and are ready to thin. Parsley, cilantro and chives are thriving.  Our fall garlic crop is popping through the straw in the kitchen garden, and we’ve added spring garlic plantings in the hoop house.  Not quite time to plant  yet outside, but pea, radish, and beet seeds are waiting and ready to go in as soon as the rain stops and the soil warms a bit.  Today we started our tomatoes, onions and peppers indoors. We plan to grow lots of carrots, potatoes, beets and squash this year in the fields we fallowed last season.  And in a month, we’ll be harvesting asparagus again. Spring is such a hopeful time of year!

Our hope is that you are staying healthy, eating healthy and keeping a hopeful outlook this spring.  Be well, help your neighbor, know your farmer, and enjoy your family time!

Slowly, Fall Arrived

October arrived with temperatures still close to 80. Some rain and cooler temperatures later in the week brought on the autumn, slowly, but without a hard frost until Halloween night arrived with snow and nighttime temps in the 20s. That gave us plenty of time to harvest what was left of the garden and put it to bed for the oncoming winter.

We love our small unheated hoop houses. Here we are in early November, harvesting carrots and parsley, planting salad greens and watching snow peas grow tall. Will they produce? Don’t know, but at least they’ll fix nitrogen for next year’s crops. The cold took out the last of the green peppers and the San Marzano tomatoes, but we had a good crop of each, along with a bumper crop of cucumbers from one little hoop house.

The main garden is still producing arugula, leeks, celery, lettuce, Swiss chard and horseradish, and there are still a few potatoes left to be dug. Our 2020 garlic crop was planted in early October and covered with straw. We sowed cover crops on last year’s garlic plot. All things considered, it’s been a good year. We canned and preserved a lot of goodies for the winter and shared with friends and family – the best part of gardening! Share the love!

Enjoy this lovely fall season and watch for our sorghum updates, coming soon.