End of February on Our Tiny Farm

February has been a wintery month for us and one where I have been immensely grateful for large amount of high-quality hay that we put up for the season. I am also thankful for heated water tanks, frost-free faucets, and waterlines buried deep in the soil. Even with multiple days below 10 degrees, we had water flowing at all the outside faucets.

Our animals have all come through the high winds, single digit temperatures, and snowy days without issue. They all have thick, fluffy winter coats and good shelters to get out of the wind. With the windward side doors closed, the barn is a cozy place. When we check on the animals late at night, we often find the horse and both donkeys curled up in the barn together. Sweet. The donkeys don't care for snow very much, but after awhile they did wander out in it.

The snow is pretty This was a very early morning shot from earlier this week. We were expecting a dusting overnight and woke up to about five inches. We have been fortunate to have power and water throughout these storms and all family members manuvered their cars and trucks safely across the roads. We did have two trees fall on fences in the cattle pastures. Just discovered one today. But that is a minor inconvenience (says the person who does not have to repair the fencing!).

Inside we are all cozy and warm. The woodstove has been a blessing with the very cold temperatures. I still don't want to see the oil bill, but I know that without the woodstove it would be worse. Sitting in front of a roaring fire, we are planning for the spring planting season and trying to decide which crops to concentrate on for the 2015 growing season. The garlic looks like it came through the very cold temperatures just fine. Potatoes, a variety of winter squash, popcorn, and kohlrabi are on my list as commercial crops. Of course we will grow all the standard vegetables for the family including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, snow peas, beans, summer squash, green onions, and broccoli.

So here is to the coming of spring. The early signs are there. The daffodils are poking through the snow and the dog is shedding like crazy! I hope my next farm post will have pictures of green grass, crocus blooms, and sunshine.

The Ginseng Life Cycle: From Two Years Old to Mature Plants with Berries

                                                  Two year old ginseng plants
In our book, Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals (2014), Scott Persons describes how the ginseng plant develops from two years of age on:
     "In its second year, under optimal growing conditions, the plant can reach five or more inches in height and produce two prongs branching from the central stem, each prong being a single leaf composed of three to five leaflets. If conditions are friendly and fertile, the number of prongs will increase with age, and the plant may eventually reach a height exceeding two feet. In cultivated shade gardens, ginseng typically produces three prongs in its third growing season and often four prongs in its fourth. However, in the wild, plants are usually five to nine years old before they add a third prong and begin to produce berries (with seeds) in any quantity. In later years, particularly healthy and vigorous specimens can have as many as five prongs radiating from the top of the stem, with each prong typically having five leaflets (occasionally as many as eight).

                                Four-prong ginseng plant
     "The species name, quinquefolius, means five-leafed. The two smallest leaflets on a prong are less than two inches long and the other three larger leaflets are three or four inches in length. The shape of the leaflets is lanceolate, with saw-toothed edges ending in a sharp point.

                                                                  Ginseng berry cluster    
"From the center of the whorl of prongs, a delicate cluster of small, nondescript blossoms arises in early summer, usually on plants that are at least three years old. Each blossom has five greenish white petals only a few millimeters in width. A ginseng plant is capable of self-pollination, but reproductive success is greater when sweat bees and other insects cross-pollinate the flower clusters. By July or August, as few as two or three green berries or (on large, older plants) as many as 50 berries follow the blossoms. These kidney-shaped berries about the size of bloated black-eyed peas turn a beautiful   bright crimson color as they ripen. Each ripe berry usually contains two slightly wrinkled, hard whitish seeds about the size and shape of a children's aspirin tablet. Young plants sometimes produce berries containing only one seed, and vigorous older plants often have berries with three seeds in them. Under normal conditions, the seeds do not germinate and sprout until 18 to 20 months after they fall from the plant in August or September."

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

What happens when a ginseng seed sprouts? The first year ginseng seedling.

Many of us planted ginseng seeds last fall and are anxiously awaiting the first signs of germination this spring. How does a ginseng seed germinate and what does a ginseng seedling look like?

Ginseng expert, Scott Persons, explains in our book, Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Botanicals:
"The First-year Seedling: When it sprouts between late April and early June, a ginseng seedling has a small, short stem supporting three tiny furled leaflets. Within four or five weeks of sprouting, the herb is about three inches tall and leaflets are unfurled and fully developed. At this point, the seedling looks something like a wild strawberry plant. No further foliar growth occurs after midsummer, even if leaflets are damaged or lost. This is true in subsequent growing seasons as well. In autumn, the foliage turns a rich yellow ocher and soon dies off, often hastened by the frost.
"When the ginseng seed germinates in the spring, it is the young root, or radicle, that first emerges through the seed husk. However, the root does not develop to any appreciable extent until mid-summer, after the leaflets have unfurled and completed their season's growth. The small skinny root then grows from midsummer through the fall and develops a solitary bud at its top, below the ground. The root survives the winter, freezing as the ground freezes. It is from the bud that the single stem and leaves will grow and unfurl the following spring. Interestingly, examination of the bud under magnification reveals the configuration of the next year's foliar top (that is, the number of prongs and leaflets)."

Learn about the entire ginseng life cycle in chapter one of the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals. 

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

Helping Another Local Farm Sell Their Beef!

Several of our customers have asked if we have beef for sale yet. We won't have any of our pasture raised Black Angus beef for sale until late spring or early summer. BUT, another local farm does!

Janet helped me sell our beef last time so I would like to promote what she has available starting next week. From Janet Peterson at Cloud 9 Farm in Fletcher, NC:

Know where your beef comes from!

Bulk Sales for the best price. Order now. Beef will be here week of February 9^th, 2015

Cloud 9 Black Angus Beef are raised here from birth with TLC and rotated on green pastures of fescue, orchard grass and clover. They drink fresh well water in fountains and freely choose to lick a winter mineral protein supplement. They are offered a scoop of mixed grains routinely. This keeps them tame so we can handle them in the barn. There is no need for antibiotics or hormones because they are unstressed and we let them grow naturally. The beef is processed at a NC USDA facility, aged for 2 weeks without preservatives or additives and vacuumed sealed in see-through wrap that lasts up to 2 years. It’s the way we like it.  

Cloud 9 has meat of one and a half steers for sale. It will be on a first come, first served basis. They will inform you about pick up at 137 Bob Barnwell Rd. closer to pick up day. Make checks to “Cloud 9 Farm.”

Some of the details:

20 lbs Beef by the Box ECONOMY Cuts $140 = $7/lb

6 lbs Steaks:Sirloin, Round, Flat Iron, Hanger, Sirloin tips, Cubed Round

6 lbs Roasts and 1 stew package: assorted: London Broil, Chuck, Rump, Shoulder, Arm, Eye of Round, Bottom Round; Shank or Stew (meaty marrow bones or beef stew)

8 lbs Ground Beef

20 lbs Beef by the Box –PRIME Cuts $170 = $8.50/lb

6 lbs of Steak: Filet Mignon, NY Strip, Ribeye (1” thick), Sirloin

6 lbs Roasts and 1 stew package assorted: London Broil, Chuck, Rump, Shoulder, Arm, Eye of Round, Bottom Round; Shank or Stew (meaty marrow bones or beef stew)

8 lbs Ground Beef

8 lbs of GROUND BEEF $52 = $6.50/lb comes in 1 lb vacuum sealed cylinders

60 lbs Beef by the Box Sampling of Each Quarter (Prime Cuts and Variety) $480 = $8.00/lb

18 lbs of Steak: (Will put in a variety) Filet Mignon, NY Strip, Ribeye, Sirloin, Eye of Round, Flat Iron, Flank, Hanger

18 lbs of Roasts: London Broil, Chuck, Shoulder, Rump, Sirloin Tip, Kabob plus (meaty marrow bones or beef stew)

24 lbs of Ground Beef

____________________________

60 lbs is about 1/8 Beef needing 3 ½ cubic feet freezer space

20 lbs is a taste of various cuts 

Other parts upon request: (at half or less than $3/lb) Liver, Tongue, Heart, Kidney

Or Buy by the piece AFTER our Bulk Sale

Per pound prices

$7.00                    Ground Beef                              

$19.00                   Filet Mignon

$15.00                   New York Strip or Ribeye Steak

$12.00                   Sirloin Steak

$11.00                   Flat Iron Steak 

$9.00                     Hanger Steak

$8.00                     London Broil or Kabobs

$7.50                     Roasts; Bottom Round Roast, Rump, Arm, Sirloin Tip Roast

$7.00                     Brisket, Cubed steak, Chuck Roast (bone in), Stew Beef

$6.50                     Round Steak

$4.00                     Marrow Bones/Shank, Neck Bones with meat, Ox tail

$3.50                     Heart whole

$3.00                     Liver, Kidney

$1.75                     Fat for Tallow

Other Sale items  (Call for a complete list!)

Freezer Beef from 2014 (vacuum sealed and in fine condition) 15% off 

Whole and Half Cornish Cross Chickens $3.75/lb

Whole and Half Stew Chicken $2-3/lb)

Chestnuts (frozen fresh from fall harvest) 

Mixed Peppers (frozen sweet) red, green, yellow