Rounding out...

p.s.  This post is old, from Fall of 2012.  Updates to follow...

... the Family!

We have a lot of wonderful things growing here at the Farm, but the best by far is our seven month old son, Tarn Joseph!  Our future farmer is crawling, smiling lots, saying "mamamam" and eating fruit and vegetables with his four pearly white teeth!  He's getting two more and even clapping his hands now and standing with support.  Every day he warms our hearts with his smiles.  In a separate post, I may recount an abbreviated birth story for those who are interested, as it truly was a mysterious and ecstatic experience for all involved. All I will say here, is that I am now a huge advocate and believer in the homebirth midwifery model of care.  For those who have generally healthy pregnancies, the outcomes are better than hospital birth... plus the experience of having friends and family directly involved and being in the comfort of your own home makes the whole experience fairly stress free.  We were very fortunate to have a house in Missoula, Montana, where we worked with a wonderful midwife named Sandhano Danison.  Sandhano has attended close to 800 births and has been a midwife since the early 1980's.  My mother, father and two brothers were at the house, along with my doula and friend Amanda Parker, her husband and eight month old daughter and my dear friend Jocelyn and her 3.5 year old daughter with George and I.  Having a group of my favorite people around made the experience feel all the more like a celebration, with each of them playing an important role in the process.  One thing about the birthing experience that I can report is that it makes you a lot less intimidated by the challenges in daily life.  (And I will forever remember the smell of Mom's freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as the labor got intense (didn't enjoy them until later...) and Dad pouring me that small glass of Posh Chocolate Porter from the Kettlehouse and spoon-feeding me coconut lime soup after baby was resting comfortably on the boob at two in the morning...)

Parenting, as I'm sure many of you know, is a daily challenge with daily rewards.  We are having the time of our lives and are ever striving to do better at loving each other and our sweet little one.  Our hearts grow larger every day.

...the Farm!

Our head farmer, George, is also a stay at home Dad these days so he is very busy to say the least.  We had the help of a couple of  WWOOF interns (check out the organization's website at www.wwoof.org) for some of the summer season, which helped keep the weeds in check and the garlic watered.  We also managed to install a 30x92 foot greenhouse with the help of many friends in the Challis-community and beyond.  This one is anchored deeply into our desert mountain dirt and shouldn't be going anywhere in the windy way!  We recieved a cost share grant from the NRCS for purchase of the structure, so we splurged on a complete factory kit from Polytex.  Having scraped together used parts and so forth for the previous effort, we enjoyed following instructions and making fewer trips to the hardware store than last time around.  We also have the peace of mind that the structure has been tested for wind and snow loads and should withstand what the Round Valley can hurl at her.  We are working on building soil in the greenhouse right now, and some greens are planted (spinach almost ready to eat!) as well as some rare varieties of strawberry that we'd like to get ready for next season.

Earlier this fall, our first livestock joined us at Round Valley Farm:  poultry.  We are starting small, with 5-- 4 hens and a rooster (actually started with 6 hens, but had two fatalities... probably our old white mutt couldn't help himself about dark one day when we were having dinner with the neighbors... we have since worked to shore up the coop to exclude the impulsive mutts in the area; then a Cornish who dropped dead for no apparent reason).  We purchased two month old heritage chickens from an acquaintance up the Pahsimeroi:  two Black Australorp hens, two Delawares and a Golden-laced Wyandotte rooster.  They are curious creatures and fun to watch.  They love our sunflower seeds and corn on the cob and seem to relish fresh alfalfa and pumpkin rinds.  Spent grain from the homebrewing process probably gives 'em a little kick, too.  For now, they are enclosed near the garden, but we will free range them soon when we are sure the chickens know where they live and the dogs know better then to mess with them.  They should begin laying in another month or so, as they are year-round layers.  We will probably try to grow the flock in coming seasons, but for now we are content to start small.

The garlic did well again this year and we are selling out rather quickly, as we're keeping the majority of our harvest for seed to plant.  We sold a heap of garlic to a grocery store in Ketchum in August for a great price and our gourmet garlic continues to grow in popularity with the locals at the Farmer's Market and beyond.  George also branched out and made some value-added products in a local commercial kitchen to sell at the busiest market of the year:  Pesto D'Angelo is his signature product made with organic olive oil, local basil and our garlic, along with the popular Cannellini Bean Dip and Garbanzo Bean Dip using garlic and scapes from our farm and whatever other local products are available.  We had lots of special orders for garlic braids and by now, most of the harvest is processed and we are building the next round of beds in our garlic crop rotation for the 2012-2013 season and still planting!  We grew over 40 varieties last year, but we will slowly narrow it down to our favorites.

Another great thing to note about the growing season of 2012 was that, despite the thick smoke, lack of precipitation,  and frosts on June 27th and August 24th we managed to harvest a wheelbarrow full of medium and large watermelons that were super sweet and juicy!  We sold a few at market, and the last one is now waiting for the perfect time to be enjoyed with friends, probably tomorrow.  Some cantaloupes and another variety of warty, yellow heirloom musk melon (sounds like halloween food, but tastes like creamy cantaloupe) were stunningly sweet and quite a few pumpkins and winter squash are slowly being cooked and stored as they ripen in the greenhouse.  They have a little protection from these early fall frosts, and the sunny days are still allowing them to put on some color.

The root crops are all harvested for the year.  We figure we pulled in about 200 pounds of potatoes to eat, about 50 pounds of onions, and lots of beets, carrots and volunteer sunchokes!  The next big project for 2013:  root cellar!!

..the Homestead

Stairs and solar hot water coming in November!!  We'll keep you posted...  stop by and see for yourself!

...the Blog...

Photos from our year to follow!

"And the seasons they go round and round..."

Greetings! Here it is winter, and I haven't written a thing since spring! There's no good excuses, except to say that there is a constant supply of chores involved with this type of living. While the ground is workable, there is constant tending-- seeds or starts to plant, then weeds to pick, then harvesting and giving our neighbors tree suckers and perennial offcasts a place to live. Weekly farmer's markets and keeping up with online sales and deliveries to local restaurants (while one of us holds down a job in town) keeps us running. When not fixing irrigation or tinkering with tools, there always manure to move, compost to turn, mulch to add, wood to cut, rocks to pick, fence to fix... you get the picture. Of course, we wouldn't sacrifice the whole season to work, as what would be the point? We traveled to visit with friends and family a bit and found time for a six day whitewater canoe trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in early September.

Farmer George enjoying the water.

Updates from April include the status of the hoophouse, shown in the last post as a frame.  Well, as stated, it was a rough draft.  And we will be preparing for a final draft after an afternoon of spring winds in the 60 knot range tore the used plastic and ultimately knocked over a nearly bare frame.  All the parts except the plastic are still useable, but we are back to the drawing board on that one.  The good news is that the vegetables that were already growing in the hoophouse survived to make a productive crop of spring-planted vegetables available only a few weeks later than if the structure had remained upright.   

In other news, the moon isn't the only thing round in the valley anymore! Around Father's Day this past June, we discovered that we are expecting a new addition to the Round Valley Farms family!  My belly is getting round as the full moon as we are in about the 32nd week of this first phase of parenthood.

The new farm help (ha ha) is scheduled to arrive whenever he or she decides to, around the first part of February, 2012.  The baby will be born in Montana, as we have access to a place to live and a very experienced midwife as well as a great circle of friends to help us through the transition.  We anticipate being back in the Round Valley by the end of February with our first child in tow!  This is a very exciting time for us, and we are honored and blessed to have a large community of honorary aunties, uncles and grandparents here in the Round Valley who have showered us with homemade gifts and useful items, as well as love and support. It gives us great hope to bring a child into this world with a community as wonderful as this to help raise it up right!  As with all of our growing adventures, we expect to learn a lot and be humbled often over the coming months...

At the risk of getting long-winded, suffice it to say that we had a very successful first market season, selling a lot of salad greens and carrots in the early and mid-season. The garlic was ready for harvest in late July and we began selling it in mid-August, having more demand than we could meet.  We set our standards high for putting out a quality product with a good response from customers near and far.  We planted a lot of seed from our own crop and ordered a bit more from other organic producers in the region, getting it in a little later than we planned.  Luckily, Mother Nature cooperated and gave us some sun well into November, allowing some hired help and a fairly pregnant me to finish getting the crop in before the ground froze, as our main farmer was off planting trees for a restoration project.

2011 garlic harvest.

2011 early summer garlic.

 Things are quiet around here now, with everything sitting in frosty silence.  The solar panels are due to be installed before the new year, and we did manage to make a little progress on the house this year as well.  All in all, it was a good spring, summer and fall.  We put up a good crop of carrots, potatoes and other vegetables to eat through the winter and we look forward to going round the sun again!  Keep in touch and merry solstice!

Early winter powder farming.

 Welcome!  Following are notes, pictures and musings that tell the story of Round Valley Farms, located near Challis, Idaho.  Our intent is to keep our friends and other interested folks informed on the happenings "down on the farm." Let me introduce you to our operation.

 This is our home.  Surrounded by the towering Challis volcanics and diverse high desert flora, the yurt is currently our primary dwelling.  We are working on a house, though as the weather warms and we find ourselves focused on farm chores, the renovation and rehabilitation of the strawbale house on our property takes a backseat.  Often referred to as "living in the round"  (also the title of a great book), the relatively thin walls of the yurt keep the wind off and heat in, also allowing us winter serenades from our coyote and owl neighbors. In spring, the meadowlarks of the neighborhood let us know when it's time to get up, while the sandhill cranes sing us to sleep. While the open floor plan sometimes feels cluttered, there are no corners for hiding dirty laundry, or, as one fellow put it, how do you corner your wife? (Being the wife, I didn't think he was very funny!)  Luckily, our spread here in the Round Valley, bordered by  public land and open space, provides plenty of room to roam. 

We are currently operating off the grid.  Though an errant easement allows a powerline to transect our land, we are in the process of designing our own electrical system.  As of now, that amounts to a propane-powered Subaru motor that charges our batteries.  One of our primary tasks this season will be purchasing and installing solar panels and possibly a small wind generator.  Luckily, we have family in the business.  Otherwise, I've heard the task can be quite daunting. 

Our primary goal while we hold the title to this land is to increase the availability of locally grown vegetables here in central Idaho.  Though the climate is quite dry, we have access to plenty of water courtesy of the upper Salmon River and it's many tributaries during the growing season.  The sun shines quite a lot, and soil fertility is attainable through diligent work.  Having these qualities, there is absolutely no reason why our neighbors should have to rely on vegetables shipped in from Mexico or garlic from California, for example.  While our farm is quite young, our methods are old.  We do most everything by hand, using only organic inputs.  We hope to increase health and food security in our community by sharing what the sun, soil, water and a tiny little seed can provide.

Currently, we are working on building up our seed stock of garlic.  This miracle vegetable is one of our priorities for production, perhaps having been responsible for the whole idea in the first place.  Last fall's planting has finally yielded above-ground results!  Peeling back the mulch a week or two ago, we found our first babies.  We recently installed drip tape for them which saves us lots of time with watering.  (Pictures of the new arrivals were not available at press time.)  We also plan to offer a plethora of other vegetables by summertime.  This will be the first year we have enough to share, (we hope)! 

 This is our first draft of a moveable greenhouse.  The design is quite simple, with all the hoops being attached to wheels that run along a track like a big train.  We are wrapping up some loose ends with the skeleton and we are planning to have some friends come by to help with the plastic this coming weekend if the winds will be calm...  This plastic bubble should help us extend our season, which can be shortened considerably by outlier frosts (such as last season's late June and early September surprises).  The feature of mobility will allow us to give some things an early season boost; then moving over another plot, the shelter will provide warmer nights and additional humidity to mid-season sensitive plants.  Late season, we hope to have the first plot sown again, moving the bubble back to it's early season spot to extend the life of cold hardy crops well into the fall.  Sounds good on paper, right?  We'll get back to you. 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!