Plugging Along

So, I promised a blog on plugging strawberries. I thought it deserved its own little post, since it is a bit of a process, and no one has thirty minutes to sit there and read a blog (okay so I promise it won't take that long, but when you combined it with everything else I was talking about last post it was a little lengthy).  I did a video blog about this, but I have to learn to hold the microphone on my camera a little further away because you can hear me breathing.  It's really bad. 



We got back from the mountains Tuesday night and first thing Wednesday we had the help here ready to plug. We got 20,000 tips from Darnell Farms in three varieties. You know when you're out there picking strawberries and it's been real hot, and the plants have started running? Well that's what a tip is, those runners that have been cut off the plant. Thursday we got 29,000 tips from Fresh Pik and they come from Nova Scotia. So we had 49,000 tips to plug asap.

First things first though, we had to get the trays ready. This is an extremely dirty process (not to mention the trays are a thin plastic so it's really easy to cut your hands like a paper cut, then they get filled with dirt, it's not pretty). Last year The Husband, Luke N (I say that since I have 2 Lukes now), my father-in-law and I filled all the trays with dirt on what felt like the hottest day of the year. This time since we were in so much hurry we had part of the help filling them. Basically it's the easiest thing in the world to do. We get these trays that put 50 plants in them and fill them with the equivalent of potting soil. The problem is that you can't pack them too tightly or you won't be able to stick the tips in them.

Getting an early start

After you have trays, it's time to stick the tips, or plug them.  The tips are usually shaped like a hook and you just put them in the dirt end of the hook in first.  Once you get the hang of it, and get in a groove you can plug a tray in no time.

Tips looking for a home

Then we put them in the ark beside our house.  We mist them with water every minute and a half for 12 seconds all day long.  It will take them a little over three weeks to be ready to plant, and over that time we slowly back off on the water a little.  Ours have been stuck three weeks now and they are looking good, growing new leaves and roots and some are even running just a little.  Next week they'll be ready to set out and provide me with another blog topic.  It's great how that works out sometimes :)  

(Almost) Finished product

Catching Up

I have tried to write this blog about five times. I just cannot get my thoughts organized.

Now that that is off my chest, maybe I can get it written. Whew, it has been a crazy couple weeks here on the farm. Between Irene and strawberries and the corn maze (opening in 1 1/2 weeks OMG!!!) it has been one thing after another. So, I wanted to sit down and kinda fill you in on the happenings around here, hopefully it won't be too long of a post :)

Irene. Well, being the weather nerd I am I was tracking this one like a duck on a junebug. I figured it was just our luck, we have a promising maze that The Husband and his trusty assistant cousin Alvin (I'm not sure who was the trusty assistant, but I am really glad Alvin was there to stop The Husband from overcomplicating the process, which is he is absolutely certain to do. Thanks Alvin!) and here comes a storm to just flatten the whole thing. Of course in the grand scheme of things that is a bit of a trivial concern when there are people without homes and who lost every bit of tobacco they had and all, but still, it's our livelihood. All in all we got out really lucky so maybe our lucks improving. We had limbs down in the yard, only lost power for about five hours (we didn't have cable all day and The Husband has no concept of entertaining himself, so those five hours where we couldn't watch a movie just about drove me over the edge), and the corn wasn't completely flattened. It was blown down quite a bit, but we're slackers and didn't plant it until July (and let me tell you, I have been agonizing over it getting tall enough for two months) so it's still very green and has no ears. I know this sounds ridiculous to those who haven't seen it, but when the sun came back out it kind of 'pulled' the corn back up, so it is standing relatively straight now, just a little bend at the bottom.

Could have been a lot worse

Strawberries. So, it's time to plug our strawberry plants for next spring. the day after Irene, we left to go to the mountains and get half of our strawberry tips. It was a really nice trip. We hadn't been to the mountains in about 4 years so it was time. It was also The Boy's first time so that was exciting (he looks at them and says, wow mama, those are really big hills!) The weather was absolutely gorgeous, it made me wish for fall that much harder. We got to see some family and friends and have a mini-holiday. Then we went to Bryson City to Darnell Farms to get the tips. The farm is beautiful. If I had to work there i would never get anything done. You cross a bridge across one of those pretty rivers with the boulders in it and you are there. The river runs along the whole edge of the farm and there are mountains anywhere from 4,000-6,000 feet high on either side and 60 acres of strawberries down in this little valley. Amazing. If you have the opportunity to be up that way stop in, they sell vegetables and have a corn maze and Jeff, the owner, is a real character. He is so funny and even though I'd only met him a couple times we were welcomed in like family. (Stay tuned for a post about plugging these tips.  It's definitely worth it's own post.)

I think I'd just stare at this all day

Corn Maze. This past weekend we had a work day on the farm (okay, The Husband had a work day on the farm, Berry Girl had to clean her house since she'd running around like a banshee for the past week and a half and hadn't had time). We decided to change the flow a little, try and make it clearer where we want people to go, safer for kids, easier for us, etc. He put up a fence (or at least the posts) and constructed the two swing sets we bought for the kids to play on. He planted grass so hopefully it won't look like a moonscape. We're having another big work day this weekend this time assisted by Red Robin and our new hayride operator Luke. He doesn't have a handle yet. I'm sure by the end of the weekend we'll have a good one for him.

So, mark your calendars and get out your walking shoes. We're opening NEXT SATURDAY! Please come out and see what we've done. It's a bigger better maze than last year, with 10 acres of slightly bent corn for you to wander around in, punkin' chunkin' (my pet project), and other activities for the family to do. Sick of sitting around looking at one another? Had too much family togetherness due to the hurricane and the rain? Come run it off on my farm!

Waste Not, Want Not

So, back in May my friend Shanna told me about a Christmas in July show she was doing at the Micro VFD to help raise money for the ladies auxiliary. At first I thought it really wasn't something I could participate in. We wouldn't have anything in season then and what was I going to do, stand around and hand out corn maze stuff? Who was going to be thinking about October in July (other than myself)? But then I got to thinking...why not sell some jam?

Many of you ask what we do with the strawberries/blueberries we don't sell. Well, I'll tell you. About 99% of them go to our favorite dairy in the whole world Maple View Farm so they can make ice cream. If you've never had any of their ice cream you are missing a treat. Any time you are on 40 going west and come across exit 263 (New Hope Road exit) take it (turn left, go straight through the 4 way stop, then straight until you come to Rocky Ridge Rd and turn left, the shops at the end of the road). It's totally worth it, trust me, anyone who knows me knows I know good food. I can't even eat normal ice cream anymore I'm so spoiled. They have umpteen flavors but I always get the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (creature of habit) much to Chris's chagrin 'cause he's always got these great new flavors but I never try them. But this blog isn't about ice cream perfection, it's about jam.

Moving on. The other 1% or so I freeze and make jam out of to sell at The Stand. So I thought, hey, I have plenty of frozen berries, why not make some jam and sell it. I can give out flyers and coupons and promote the farm and maybe, just maybe someone will remember us and come out this fall to the maze. Can't hurt right?

Saturday I decided was Jam Day. Now, I've never made jam before. Last spring my mama made it, but this year I decided to tackle it myself. I got a late start (not a morning person remember) due to lack of motivation and the Wal-mart trip. I bought jars upon jars, like 10 boxes of Sure Jell and a 25 lb bag of sugar. I decided since the strawberries were still rock hard to start with the blueberries. I opened the package of pectin and skimmed the directions. Then I mashed up my berries and put them in a pot. Well, the pot wasn't big enough for berries and sugar so I poured the sugar in a larger pot and poured the mashed berries on top. Then I read the directions more thoroughly. Yeah, I was supposed to cook the fruit and pectin, and then add sugar. Luckily the fruit was so thick, it never mixed with the sugar so I was able to scrape it off and put it back in the smaller pot to cook. As mentioned before the fruit was thick and the pot was small. When it started cooking it didn't boil like liquid, it was like when you make cooked grits. the bubbles came up through the thick mixture and popped, sending blueberry places I never had blueberry before. I have a burn on my hand from molten blueberry lava and there is a spot on my ceiling. Yes. My ceiling. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I don't even like blueberries or strawberries or jam/jelly of any kind.

See, I'm not kidding

Anyway, so I cooked it and put it in the jars and got them canned, four jars at a time (it took forever). Luckily, they all set and sealed. So all in all, other than the burn it wasn't so bad. The next batches were a lot easier too, since I knew better what I was doing. I'm one of those people who try to find the most efficient way to do something. I try to eliminate as many steps as possible. So once I had my process down pat it was really a piece of cake.

So come by Micro VFD this Saturday for the Christmas in July show. There are a lot of vendors going to be there as well as food. I'll be there with my jams and the honey left from this spring and coupons and flyers. Come support a good cause and have a good time with us!

Jam Deliciousness

IT Department

Normally when you see super heroes or spies or these hip organized theft rings there's always someone on the crew who is a computer genius. I mean the things they can do are so awesome! Even when people go on epic quests there's usually someone who makes them super cool weapons or high tech gadgets that allow them to defeat the enemy.

Well, I don't have anyone like that on my team. The only person I have is me, I am my own IT department, and let's face it I'm no computer expert. I can't hack into anything. I can't make nifty gadgets. So, when it was time to create a website to help market the farm...I was feeling pretty inadequate to the task. Now I'm not computer illiterate. I'm on it a good part of the day either working or goofing off. I've taken several computer courses through high school and college and I really enjoy designing spreadsheets and flyers (yes remember, I am a dork) so I kind of know my way around. (The Husband can't do anything but get on the computer, search for tractors for fun or videos of tractors on you tube [then he says hey come look at this and it's some dude in the Midwest getting a tractor unstuck from the mud, as if I have any interest in that at all] and get off). However, when it comes to creating a website, I was clueless.

We needed a website though. When we started this agritourism gig I knew we needed a way to get our name out there, to show people what we were offering. When I go places like that, I like to look at the site, find ou the hours, check out the prices, look at pictures, get directions. People of my generation are way more likely to check it out online vs. calling me (at least I am, because I hate calling places. I always feel like I sound so stupid). However, I had no idea about getting a domain name, setting up the site, it always sounded so confusing and technical to me. With the help of my friend Lindsey, my expert on call, I figured out that once I had the domain name I could use some software to help me build the site. I don't like paying someone to do something I could do myself (if that's an option) and since this business is my job I felt like I needed to at least try. Well, the first day I did it it literally took me all afternoon, probably five hours, just getting it set up (I know someone's laughing at me real hard right now).

Now it's easier to update, when the software is working properly. I go on, change the landing page, move on. I really try to keep it current because I hate it when you go on these sites and it hasn't been updated since '06 or something. You have no idea if the information is current or if they're even open. The other day I completely updated ours with Corn Maze information and it took a while and every time I published it to the internet something wouldn't publish and I'd have to do it again. That was annoying.

So, if you get a chance, check out our website, www.odomfarmingcoinc.com. It's a simple site, I don't have neat animations or anything. Just pictures of the place and information about the corn maze. If you have a small business and like what you see let me know and I'll help you as much as I can. It might be the blind leading the blind but hey...if I can do it anyone can.

The Daily Commute

Yesterday we had a rather interesting afternoon on the farm. I took The Husband and my father-in-law to move some equipment home from the field and when we were in the home stretch, on the road our farm is on, maybe two miles from home, it happened. The road curves by the Little River and there is a guard rail there (another completely unnecessary and worthless use of taxpayer funds but...hey who needs more teachers when we can put up a guard rail?  Oh right, we'll just raise taxes!) The curve is also at an angle, it's not flat road, therefore sometimes it can be hard to judge the distance in a regular vehicle. Well, (you can already see where I'm going with this can't you?) The Husband is rounding the curve on the tractor hauling the transplanter. He couldn't remain in his lane due to said useless guard rail, therefore he had to straddle the lanes. A man in a silver Lincoln approached and decided to play chicken. It was a case of steel beam vs. plastic mirror on Lincoln. You can guess which one won.

Yes, yes, everyone is okay. The Husband slowed to a stop once we saw the man in the Lincoln was not. I'm not even being bias I swear the dude never slowed up. He had at least a foot if not more of shoulder on his side he could have swerved into, however he chose not too. I really think he just wasn't paying attention. All that changed though when his car was hit. I just keep thinking, wow, if he'd have been just an inch closer he would have been injured and had it been six inches, that steel beam would have smashed his face in.

Moral of the story, please pay attention. I know you get all annoyed when you get stuck behind a tractor and I know they shouldn't make the equipment that big and I know some farmers are probably very inconsiderate. But please take into account that they didn't design the equipment, they have to travel the roads too, and if not for them you wouldn't have anything to eat. We hate it just as much as you do, but we all have to share the roads. Had that guy just scooted over a little or waited the thirty seconds it would have taken for The Husband to get around the guard rail and get on his side of the road, none of this would have happened. When people whip around and blow horns and make rude gestures it doesn't help, and I know it's easy to forget, but people die in cars every day. Is going around that tractor in a hurry worth your life?

Luckily it just got the mirror and the plastic between the windows.  Could have been a lot worse!

Operation Corn Maze 2011

Before last year, I had never been to a corn maze. I grew up in the country. I could run around in the corn all day long for free. Why was my mom going to pay for that? My Uncle Pat and Aunt Patricia probably wished I hadn't. One year a friend and I got the great idea to go in and flatten part of it, you know, like a crop circle. We were making a 'house'. I think I was like eight. Yeah, that went over well. (Now that I'm on the other side of the dilemma I'm surprised I wasn't strangled, 'cause some of these kids who like to ride four wheelers through our crops, yes I mean right down the middle of the feild ruining it like they have no sense of common decency or manners, yeah I'd like to pinch their heads off sometimes.) Ever since then I stopped making corn houses.

The corn maze however gives me that opportunity again. Last year was our first one and I think we did alright for a couple of folks that had absolutely no clue of what they were doing. If not for the help of our awesome family and friends and the best first employee ever, the Hayride Driver aka Red Robin, we would have never made it. This year we're really excited to get the ball rolling on our next maze (and we'll be excited until after the first weekend when we're so tired we can't move and then we'll think, is Nov. here yet? Everyone thinks it's easy to cut a path in some corn and take money, and it is a sweet gig because we have so much fun doing it, but it is a lot of work and effort and long hours.) We're in the planning stages of operation Corn Maze 2011. It's going to be different this year. I'm on a personal mission to be more organized and less messy. I've even drawn up a map.

One of the new things I want to do this year is punkin' chunkin'. I'm super excited about this. Not exactly sure how we're gonna pull it off, but essentially it will be a slingshot of some kind and you will just put the pumpkin in, pull back hard as you can, and let 'er fly. I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think the Husband's too excited about it, but I'm determined to do it. It'll give the adults something to do and the kids something to watch and I think it's awesome.

We're going to do the maze a little differently this year. We want to have the Haunted Maze separate, so we can kind of ramp that up, add some more things, make it scarier. It's going to be about 4 acres, the size of our maze last year. The regular maze will be about 10 acres and we're going to have a design cut in it and hopefuly a scavenger hunt of some kind (haven't quite decided how I'm gonna do that yet, if you have suggestions, fell free to let me know).

Another new thing this year is the corn crib. I'm sure anyone whose been to Hill Ridge Farms has seen this, it's basically a sandbox filled with corn. A lot less messy for parents and something even the little ones can enjoy. Also for little ones, I want to do a straw maze this year, something smaller, more on their size that they can play around in without getting completely lost.

I spent last week updating our website (that's a whole other blog for a whole other time, maybe next week :)) for those groups who are already trying to plan fall activities. I know it's only July and you think it's not that far but we will be opening Sept. 17, which is only two and a half months away. If you have a group you think would like to come please check out the site, give me a call, shoot me an e-mail or message on Facebook. I'd love to talk to you about pricing and options. We had a lot of groups come out last year, some on the weekends, some during the week, and I think they had a lot of fun based on the responses I got.

So check us out, keep us in mind. I'll be at Micro VFD July 31 10-3 for their Christmas in July Show, signing autographs, er, I mean selling jams, blueberry and strawberry and apple, and giving away coupons to the maze with purchase so come out and support a good cause and get some great jam. We love to have groups of all shapes and sizes, don't think because you're groups not 30 strong we don't want you. We love to see kids out there having fun on our creations. And if you have any suggestions, something we didn't do right last year, something you'd like to see or do on the farm let me know.  We'd love to hear from you!

Bowing Out

Ah, when to the heart of man

Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

Of a love or a season?

Okay, so maybe it's not dramatic as all that.  I doubt Frost was talking about strawberries in this poem but I love Frost and it is the end of strawberry season so it kinda goes right? 

The end is finally here.  All the battles meant nothing, this is the end, the epic showdown, the part where the valiant but flawed superhero meets the enemy twice his size and more powerful, and defeats him because he has the one thing the enemy will never have, usually love or something.  Well, this superhero story doesn't quite follow that mold because it is just me, little 'ole berry girl vs. mother nature.  Somehow I don't think all the tricks in my book are going to be able to win against 90 degree heat and humidity.

We've known this day was coming for a couple of weeks now.  When a strawberry plant endures stress, whether it's disease or hot temps or not enough water, they begin to send out runners.  We've been seeing those for quite a while now.  Some of them are even bigger and better looking than the plants.  Too bad they won't produce fruit.  Some of our plants stopped producing last week.  The berry size is getting smaller, some of the smaller ones are drying up, the blooms are burned on the edges.  It's too hot for people to come pick (and I don't blame you.  I picked some last week and let me tell you, NEVER again.  It was hot, and like the strawberry I don't do well in the blazing heat.  The Boy kept complaining about flies and mud and being hot and you name it.  Then there was all that up and down, up and down.  I believe I'd rather take out a barn of tobacco than pick and you can ask my Aunt Patricia, I wasn't so keen on that either.)

Everyone's pet peeve, dry berries

Those pesky bugs.

Nice healthy runners.

We've been irrigating them and fertilizing them under the plastic, but that won't even knock a dent in a 90 degree day.  If the air temps 90, its about 100 on that black plastic.  We can irrigate them overhead to cool them off (the idea being that the process of the water evaporating off the berries cools them down) but that's an involved process of watering them every twenty minutes or so for twenty minutes and at this point in the season we don't see the economics of it. 

And too, we've started to see more insect damage.  They like to burrow in the berries and lay their eggs (it's a rude awakening to cut into a berry and find it full of worms), eat the berries, and eat the leaves.  We can spray them, but that poses potential harm to pickers so we'd rather not worry about it. 

So we just decided to throw in the towel and let mother nature do it's thing and we'll quit while we're ahead so we can be back next year.  We've really enjoyed having the strawberries and we've enjoyed having y'all come out to the farm and pick.  We'll be starting our next crop in August, so don't worry, I will still have adventures to post even though we aren't open.  Next up for us is our corn maze (which I am super, super excited about).  I have some awesome new activities planned (did anyone say punkin' chunkin'? :)) So stay tuned to watch berry girl conquer fall!