A Quick Check-In from Our Tiny Farm in Etowah, NC

 

I can't believe that almost six months have flown by since I wrote a post on the Our Tiny Farm blog. You would think with all the COVID restrictions that kept me at home that I would have had plenty of time to write fun posts here. The reality is, working my NC State University job from home can be all consuming! And I am so fried by the time that I am done, that the last thing I want to do is get back on the computer. So here is just a quick update from the farm, focused mostly on donkeys. The picture above is of our dear small standard donkey, Meadow, protectively leaning over the neck of sweet mini-donkey, Chester. We continue to have several other donkeys living on the farm and dote on all of them.

I promised myself and the donkeys that we were going to make a special effort to control flies this year. It breaks my heart to see how the donkeys are tortured by biting flies and midges. So, I hang six strips of fly paper in the barn every month, put out fly predators monthly, put fly masks (with ears) on the donkeys every day, clean up manure in the paddock and barn daily and cart it to the other side of the farm, put fly spray or fly cream on their legs every other day, run the fans in the barn, and this year, I put out two of these Captivator fly traps. As you can see, they do catch a lot of flies! I will let you know how well this time consuming strategy works!

Our donkeys are always up to something new and different. Here is Chester, in his fly mask, proudly standing over the loose salt bucket that he successfully removed from where it was mounted on the wall of the barn. It doesn't matter how large the screws and washers are that we mount it with, eventually he will get it off. So, this time it stays off and can just be another toy for the donkeys.

Donkeys are very smart and easily bored. So we humans have to be very careful to make sure everything is well secured and donkey-proof. And when we get careless, this is what happens! I went out to the barn one afternoon and found the feed room door wide open and a full bale of hay scattered all over the room. Fortunately, this happened during the day when the two biggest trouble makers, Wilma and Meadow, had their grazing muzzles on. Thus, they were not able to get any of the feed cans open (even though they are held shut with bungee cords, I still think, given enough time, Wilma would get into them if she isn't muzzled) or devour enough hay to make themselves sick. 

Many people driving and riding their bikes by the farm stop and look at the donkeys, especially when they are in their summer garb of fly masks and grazing muzzles. Actually, only Wilma and Meadow wear the grazing muzzles. The muzzles slow down their eating so the two donkeys can stay on the pasture longer with their friends, Chester and Clara. Some donkeys are prone to putting on weight very quickly which can be very dangerous for them; thus the grazing muzzles.

Did you know that donkeys are part beaver? Not really, but they do love to chew on wood! In their natural environment, they have lots of shrubby stuff to chew on, but on Our Tiny Farm the donkeys get grass and hay. I do try to throw branches (from safe to eat trees) and bamboo into their paddock from time to time, but chewing on the barn is still a favorite activity. We had the barn wrapped in chicken wire for many years, but it was starting to show its age. So this spring we repaired the damaged boards and wrapped the barn in galvanized wire fencing. That should keep the barn standing for awhile longer!

And after harvesting a bumper crop of honey, Glen has decided to end his beekeeping career. So, until I come up with another idea, our farming efforts revolve around the donkeys.

And that's the quick update from Our Tiny Farm!

Our Tiny Farm During the Year of COVID

In December 2019 I wrote a post about how we were transitioning Our Tiny Farm for the next stage of our lives. I am still working full-time as a faculty member in the Department of Horticultural Science at  NC State University, but I am starting to think about what I want to do next. 

We also have an RV that we really enjoy exploring this beautiful country in. So raising cattle, garlic, and vegetables don't fit quite as easily into our lives and plans as they used to. 

We have decided that we will continue to raise our own donkeys and provide a temporary home for a few others. We enjoy them so very much. And when we travel, our very capable son, who lives on the farm, takes care of them for us. THAT is one of the keys to our being able to make this transition and keep the farm; having a young, strong son who enjoys living here with us. He gets free rent and we have built-in farm help.

These are our two donkeys. Chester is the brown miniature donkey on the left and Meadow is the small standard donkey on the right.

The farm behind us also raises donkeys and one summer day a baby was born right next to our fence line. This donkey is less than five minutes old!

We put up a nice supply of locally grown hay for our donkeys. We have a good relationship with our hay supplier and are assured that they use no persistent herbicides on their fields so we can safely use the manure on our gardens and provide it to others without risk to sensitive plants.

The plan for 2020 was to grow a small, manageable garden that would be easy to maintain and not put a guilt trip on us come harvest time. Well, old habits die hard and before I knew it, hubby had planted a sizeable garden. We enjoyed lots of fresh, homegrown tomatoes, beans, sweet corn, summer squash, zucchini, butternut squash, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes. 

We also froze and gave away much of what we grew. Now this big garden area, which we have managed following practices and using products approved by the National Organic Program, is sown in cover crops. Next spring our plan is to keep this area planted in soil building and pollinator friendly plants and build raised beds close to the kitchen!

We had a very special treat this summer. We had several elk from the Smoky Mountain National Park find their way into our community. People were posting pictures of them on social media from all over our area, and then late one afternoon, a big bull came to our area. Here he is just strolling across our farm. All the horses and donkeys just stood and stared. 

On a very sad note, we had to say good-bye to the most loving, wonderful dog in the world, Traveler. Traveler came to us from the Foothills Humane Society 12 years ago. He was our constant companion. He got along well (most of the time) with all the farm animals and the house cats. He is missed very, very much.

In addition to boarding donkeys, we will continue to be beekeepers and bottle honey.

It was an excellent honey year. Our friends and family will be enjoying this for a long time.

Easter night we had a terrible storm come through with high winds and a deluge of rain. Our Tiny Farm was hit particularly hard. We don't know if it was a micro-burst, straight line winds, or a tornado, but twenty VERY large trees were blown down in the middle of the night. We were so blessed. The only damage to the house was to the gutter on the corner of the porch.

Like many others, I became quite proficient at making many kinds of face masks for family and friends.

We till up the garden each spring using the Troy-Bilt rototiller that my mother, siblings, and I bought for my father when I was a teenager. They don't make them like that anymore!

Carpenter bees were making swiss cheese out of our barn, so we hung four of these traps on the barn this year. They really work!

These daffodils were here when we bought Our Tiny Farm in 1999. Who knows how long they were there before that!

We see beautiful sunrises and sunsets from our farm.

Our big excitement in January was going out to see the donkeys in the morning and finding that a bear had tried to push his, or her, way into the donkeys' paddock. Several years ago I had my husband reinforce the fencing on the paddock area where we confine our little donkeys each night. He moved the six-strand electric fencing to the outside and put woven wire fencing on the inside. The bear reached through the upper electric wires and pushed the woven wire fencing out of the big heavy staples on the corner post. We assume that as he/she pushed forward, he/she made contact with several of the electric wires and was shocked enough to give up (we keep that fence very hot). There was a footprint left in the mud that I asked some of my bear hunting friends to verify that it was indeed a bear (although, what else could have done that?). Since then, we have a trail cam mounted.

And that was our COVID year on Our Tiny Farm. Today I was planning for our very small Thanksgiving celebration later in the week. It will just be three of us this year but we are looking forward to Zoom video calls with parents, siblings, and my daughter and family. Aren't we fortunate to have such technology to get us through this pandemic. Stay safe.

 

We extracted the first honey of the year!

The first honey extraction of the 2019 season took place yesterday, and Glen worked late into the night to bottle up enough to take to Obermiller's Strawberry Farm in Horse Shoe, NC (close to Hendersonville) for sale. Look at the cute  little honey bears he made up! We will deliver it there later this morning. So come out and pick some strawberries and buy some Our Tiny Farm honey!

Heading into Fall on Our Tiny Farm

Currently we have five donkeys on Our Tiny Farm. Two of them, Chester and Meadow, are ours. The other three are visitors.  We have Faith, the mother,  Hope,  her yearling daughter,  and Corey Love, her son who was born just a few months ago. They make for a very happy,  and entertaining little herd.

We have Black Angus steer on the farm again. These two aren't ours. They belong to a friend,  but I missed having the big boys on the pasture so we are happy to give them a home.

We grew a small garden this year, mostly for the family. We have enjoyed delicious summer squash, lots of tomatoes, a wide variety of peppers, eggplant, sweet corn, and peas.

In late June,  for the first time, we had hay from our pasture cut and baled. We are very pleased with the quality and it will make for a good savings for us this winter. We plan to do a second cutting in October.

In May we received about 21 inches of rain in a two to three week period. This was bad timing for our garlic crops. We lost all of the elephant garlic. The hard necked garlics survived but the bulbs are small. We cured them and they taste good,  but because their quality is not what we like to provide to others.

We did have a great honey crop this year. Most of it was sold at the Obermiller Strawberry Farm nearby during their strawberry and blueberry seasons.

Thanks for checking in with Our Tiny Farm. And as always, you can buy a copy of my book at local and online book sellers.  Thanks! Jeanine

Our Tiny Farm is Going Through a Transition

I apologize for not posting anything since last January. It has been a busy year for us on Our Tiny Farm. We did a major remodeling of our house, which you all know causes all kinds of disruptions in a family.

We are also in the process of changing what we produce on Our Tiny Farm. In the past we have raised beef cattle, chickens, horses, donkeys, bees, garlic, popcorn, vegetables, and herbs. With the kids grown and gone (or mostly so), wanting time for other activities, and just wanting to try different things on the farm, we have downsized what we do.

Presently, we do not have any beef cattle or chickens on the farm and aren't sure if we will raise anymore. We are also not raising horses right now either.

We are still raising garlic and bees. The garlic is curing and we have hives full of honey.

We are only raising vegetables and herbs for our own family needs.

We are providing a temporary home for some donkeys. These were rescues and we are teaching the owners how to be good donkey parents. Meet Faith (the jenny) and Hope (her baby). This is a good fit for our farm.

Glen will continue to consult with folks interested in leading a lifestyle like we do.

And I will continue to teach at workshops and conferences, and consult out of state. I will also try to keep our website more up to date!! And of course, the book is available:

 

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.

Holiday Honey Sale!!!

Give the sweet gift of our locally grown, wildflower honey from the mountains of western North Carolina. The flavor is excellent and you can be assured that it is all pure, raw honey that we extract and bottle on our farm. We are offering two sizes this holiday season. A one pound plastic squeeze bottle ($8) and a half pound glass screw top jar ($5). We can ship up to four one pound bottles in a box (so one shipping charge) or up to six half pound jars. The $7.50 shipping price will be added per box. So, for example, if you buy one one pound bottle it will cost $15.50 ($8 + $7.50). If you buy two one pound bottles shipped in one box it will cost $23.50 ($8 + $8 + $7.50).

We ship using priority mail so your order will arrive in just a few days. If you would like these sent as a gift, just put the gift recipient's address on the order form and in the "instructions to merchant" section include what you want written on the gift card and if we should write "do not open until Christmas", "do not open until Hanukkah", etc. on the outside of the box. To order, just click on the appropriate "add to cart" button on the right (if you don't see any "add to cart" buttons on the right, you are probably on a smart phone. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "view web version" and the side bar and top tabs will all appear. Prices include priority mail shipping.

Since the cause of many hive losses is still questionable, we try to reduce the risks to our hives by keeping some at our own farm and some at a friend's farm nearby. Glen monitors all our hives closely and follows best practices to control mites and other bee predators. No toxic products are used in the hives. Please let us know if you have any questions about our beekeeping practices.

We Have Garlic, Shallots and Honey for Sale!

 SOLD OUT OF GARLIC AND SHALLOTS  FOR THE SEASON

HONEY IS STILL AVAILABLE

Our 2016 garlic, shallot, and honey crops are packaged and ready for sale! We have German White and Spanish Roja garlic, Elephant garlic, Grey Griselle shallots, and Wildflower honey. But let me tell you a little about it all first.

This has been a very interesting growing season all across the country. Here in western North Carolina we had a mild winter and a long, dry spring. Since we have irrigation, that actually made for very good garlic and shallot growing. It remained dry right through harvest and the first few weeks of the drying season, as evidenced in the photo above. We were a bit surprised that the garlic was not as large as we expected it to be, but it was healthy and abundant. Then we entered a very long, hot, humid, wet period. The garlic was mostly dry, so we did not lose any to rot, but the damp weather caused some spotting and discoloration on the outer protective skin layers of the garlic. This has no effect on the cloves for eating or planting, but it doesn't look as pretty as we want it to. 

Since we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality products we can, we are disappointed with this crop. But, we have learned that many other growers experienced a complete loss of their garlic crop or are now losing it in storage. We have had two seed companies ask to purchase our garlic because they are short. We also have a number of customers waiting for our garlic to go on sale. So we have decided to offer this garlic for sale but at lower prices than normal and with full disclosure of the defects. We are not a certified organic farm but for the past 14+ years we have only used products approved by the National Organic Program in our market garden. We practice strict crop rotations, build the soil with aged manure from our animals, and fertilize with fish emulsion, home made compost tea, and NOP approved packaged products when needed.

The Grey Griselle shallots look great and they are being offered at our regular price in eight ounce packages.

Although we continue to lose hives to a combination of issues, Glen is determined to continue raising bees and producing high quality honey. He now keeps hives at several locations and puts more effort into them than he ever has before. As a result, we do have a good honey crop and are offering it for sale on-line for the first time.

Here is What We Have for Sale:

Important: Use the "Add to Cart" buttons in the right sidebar to order. If you do not see a right sidebar with those buttons (sometimes happens in the mobile version), just scroll to the button of this page and click on "View Web Version" and the sidebar, cart buttons, and page tabs will all be visible.

Note: There are very limited quantities of many of the selections offered below and they might sell out quickly. Unfortunately Paypal will not alert you to that until you try to check out the item. I will try to keep the selections updated but apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Shipping: I shopped around to get the best shipping rates which for the garlic and honey is using a regional USPS regional priority mail box. The shipping cost posted for each selection is a weighted average based on previous sales which are mostly to the East Coast.

Second Note: A customer shared that he had trouble checking out until he switched to Foxfire as his browser. 

German White Garlic-SOLD OUT

The two photos below show our best German White Garlic. They do vary in size but the average diameter is about 2 inches. There are about 7 to 8 bulbs in a pound.  Box A SOLD OUT has 30 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. Box B SOLD OUT has 29 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. Both boxes sell for $49.50 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $57.00 each.

The two photos below show the German White garlic with stained outer skins. Box C SOLD OUT contains 30 bulbs of varying sizes from 2 inches in diameter and less. There are about 9 to 10 bulbs per pound. The box weighs about 4 pounds. It sells for $36.50 + $7.50 for priority mail shipping for a total of $44.00.

The two photos below show our small German White garlic. Box D SOLD OUT contains 51 bulbs that are about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. There are about 12 to 19 bulbs in a pound and the box contains about 3 pounds. It sells for $25.50 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $33.00.

Spanish Roja Garlic-SOLD OUT

The two photos below show our best Spanish Roja garlic. There are about 9 to 10 bulbs per pound and the bulbs are of varying sizes but average about 1.75 to 2 inches in diameter. Box E SOLD OUT has 42 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. Box F SOLD OUT has 40 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. Both sell for $49.50 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $57.00 each.

The two photos below show our small Spanish Roja garlic. There are about 14 to 15 bulbs per pound and the bulbs are 1.75 inches in diameter and smaller. Box G SOLD OUT has 64 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. It sells for $36.50 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $44.00.

Reasonably Sized Elephant Garlic-SOLD OUT

Years ago, in response to our direct market customer requests, we began growing Elephant Garlic that was very similar in size to our German White Garlic. This remains popular with our direct market and online customers. The two photos below show our best Elephant Garlic, It is about 2 to 3 inches in diameter and there are about 8 to 9 bulbs in a pound. Box H SOLD OUT contains 30 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. Box I SOLD OUT contains 29 bulbs and weighs about 3 pounds. Box J contains 23 bulbs and weighs about 3 pounds. They sell for $37.00 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $44.50 each.

The three photos below show our off-color Elephant Garlic. It has a uniform yellow color on the outer wrapper leaves. The first photo shows a comparison of our best Elephant Garlic bulb next to an off-color Elephant Garlic bulb. The bulbs average about 2 inches in diameter and there are about 8 to 9 bulbs per pound. Box L SOLD OUT contains 35 bulbs and weighs about 4 pounds. It sells for $38.00 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $45.50.

The two photos below show our stained Elephant Garlic. The bulbs are firm and the cloves are fine but the outer protective layers are lightly stained. There are about 8 to 9 bulbs in a pound and they vary in size but are about 2 inches in diameter. Box M SOLD OUT contains 25 bulbs and weighs about 3 pounds. It sells for $25.50 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $33.00.

The two photos below show our small Elephant Garlic. The bulbs are less than 2 inches in diameter and there are about 11 to 12 per pound. Box K SOLD OUT has 47 bulbs and contains about 3.5 pounds. It sells for $32.00 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $39.50.

Grey Griselle Shallots

These are not your everyday shallots! These shallots have so much flavor! No wonder chefs love them so much. They are a bit pricey, which is why you should grow some of your own!The shallots have been cleaned off but not washed. We have learned that they store much longer that way. We are offering two sizes of Grey Griselle Shallots. The two photos below show the Medium to Large Shallots.  These are good for eating or planting. We prefer to use them for eating because it is easier to peel a few large shallots than a bunch of little ones. Box O SOLD OUT has the medium to large shallots. Each box has 28 to 30 shallots and weighs about 8 oz. It sells for $13.50 + $6.80 priority mail shipping for a total of $20.30.

The two photos below show our Small Shallots. These are the ones we use for planting each year. They are still fine for eating, too, it just takes more time to peel the little ones. Box P SOLD OUT  contains about 112 small shallots and weighs about one pound. It sells for  $23.00 + $6.80 priority mail shipping for a total of $29.80.

Wildflower Honey

Our family, friends, and customers love our wildflower honey. The flavor is excellent and you can be assured that it is all pure honey. We can't control where our bees forage for food, but our farm is surrounded by woods and pastures full of clover and wildflowers. We are offering two sizes this year. A one pound plastic squeeze bottle and a half pound glass screw top jar. We can ship four one pound bottles in a box (so one shipping charge) or up to six half pound jars. The one pound bottle sells for $11.00 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $18.50. Two bottles would cost $29.50, three bottles $40.50, and four bottles $51.50. The half pound jar sells for $7.00 + $7.50 priority mail shipping for a total of $14.50. Two bottles would cost $21.50, three bottles $28.50, four bottles $35.50, five bottles $42.50, and six bottles $49.50.