From Pest to Protein

In preparing the beds for planting, we unearthed many big brown beetles. We collected them as a treat for the chickens, and enjoyed watching the hens scramble and cluck in delight as we tossed them in the pen.

A new coat for spring

Slowly but surely we are scraping and painting the weathered exterior of the house and barn. Though the work is long and repetitive, we are gradually rewarded with the visual revival of the front courtyard. It's also reassuring to be able to open a door or window without a shower of paint chips raining down on you.

Tucking in the beds

Since our fields have not been worked in years, we are expecting to receive regular payments from the weed bank. To aid in our weed battles, and to help maintain soil moisture in our sandy soils, we are applying plastic mulch to a number of our beds. We use white plastic for cool crops such as brassicas and lettuce, and we'll use black for the heat loving solanums and cucurbits. Though much work to lay (and remove at the end of the season), the mulch should save many an hour of weeding. By next season we hope to have the sod and weeds under control so we do not need to use this non-renewable resource!

Berta

This first season we are faced with the challenge of breaking sod that has been established for the last decade. Ideally we would have tilled in the fall, but our arrival was such that we missed the opportunity before the ground froze. So this spring we have employed the help of Berta, our newly named BCS walking tractor. Actually the rotary plow PTO attachment is called a Berta Plow, but the name has stuck for the tractor as well. In any case, with Berta's help we have started plowing under the sod in our garden plots, along with the generous layer of compost and rock powders that we spread earlier. The result is a transformation from thick sod to nicely fluffed soil in raised beds. Thanks Berta!

Enter interns

We are happy to welcome Hilary and Jack as our first interns. They work hard while maintaining high spirits in all types of work and weather.  We feel very fortunate to have them! Look under the "Team" tab to find out more about them.

Day of pigs!

The baby pigs are here! The six of them arrived Wednesday morning from a farm just up the road in Saco. They spend most of their days lazing in the sun and all night curled up on top of each other in the leafy bedding of their 'pig palace.' They are still wary of humans, but are slowly getting more courageous with their frequent ogling visitors.

Life in the Greenhouse

With clear, sunny days this last week, and lots of soil block making on our part, the greenhouse is quickly coming to life. We now have all our onions, leeks, and transplant brassicas started, along with solanums for the greenhouse, some lettuce, and various herbs and flowers. As the water table drops and the weather warms, we are looking forward to beginning outdoor planting.

Signs of Change

Preparing the future Frith Farm sign has occupied plenty of time this winter. After starting with a large round of hardwood, we now have a somewhat thinner piece of smoothed wood with the appropriate inscription carved and stained. We just recently harvested and debarked a small pine tree to serve as a post. Look for the newly erected sign as soon as the water table has gone down enough to install the post.

Greenhouse Mists

We have started trays of seeds that will be transplanted when the outdoor soil is warm enough. The front side of the greenhouse is now laid out with tables that are slowly and surely being filled with seed trays. The first seeds--onions and leeks--have germinated, and we now have the pleasant task of misting the seedlings once or twice daily. It is good to see splashes of green taking over the greenhouse!

All Aboard

One day the chickens found a strange structure in their back yard: the finished eggmobile. Some were quicker than others to take advantage of its fowl features, but it didn't take long for most of them to figure out the roosts and protection from the elements that the mobile structure provides. After a couple months moving about the field in their new abode they should start earning their keep with some fresh eggs.

Greener on the Other Side

In preparation for their permanent placement outdoors, and to motivate their more hesitant members to venture outside the greenhouse, we invited the chickens to snack on the tender grass shoots that were growing under the ground cover in the other section of the greenhouse. The success of this idea backfired, however, since from that time on any time we opened the door of the partition the hens tried to burst through to search for more tasty grass.

Fresh Air and Tender Shoots

The chickens continue to pack on weight, and in some ways seem to have outgrown their greenhouse space.  We shoveled snow in a section behind the greenhouse, and then made doors at the end of the greenhouse so that the chickens can venture forth into the great outdoors.

Meanwhile, Daniel is putting the finishing touches on the Eggmobile, and we hope to sneak it into the chicken yard one night so that the next morning the chickens will have a grand surprise.

Chick update

I'm not sure where the line is between chick and chicken, but the chick(ens) here are somewhere near it, in the somewhat disheveled adolescent phase when voices crack and gender suddenly means something. They are still easily flustered by human activity, but are becoming more courageous in their curiosity, venturing beyond their fence (that's right, they still fit right through it) for the enticing blade of greener grass on the other side. Here they are in action:

Head in a barrel

Part way through the making of this pig waterer, I realized that I was squeezing myself head first into a giant barrel recently full of pickled peppers. This made me chuckle, mixing in some eerily amplified acoustics with the pungent smell of jalapenos and vinegar. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and consider yourself from a outsider's perspective. Because you might see yourself in such a picture: upside down tall guy submerged in giant blue barrel laughing at the sound of his own laugh.

At least the scenario ended with a completed hog waterer.

Greenhouse Effect

Amazing what two sheets of plastic can do on a clear day. These photos were taken minutes apart:

100 Chicks a Chirping

The future egg layers of Frith Farm survived their journey through the recent nor'easter, courtesy of the United States Postal Service, and settled into their new home with good cheer. After consistent observation (work is difficult in so much snow), I have concluded my analysis of life as a chick. It goes something like this:

1. Wake up (from another chick rudely running into you)
2. Chirp loudly, presumably to let the world know you are now awake
3. Commence pecking at anything that is round and dark
4. Swallow the occasional peckage that happens to be edible
5. Run full speed into nearby sleeping chicks
6. Find yourself at the waterer, take a few swallows
7. Pause under the warmth of the brooder lamp, stretch, topple over for lack of balance
8. Chirp loudly
9. Fall prostrate in a sudden display of narcolepsy
10. Repeat 1-9.

The breeds are Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and Black Australorps (the last two are currently indistinguishable to me).

Greenhouse Completed as Blizzard Strikes!

The snow continues to fall and the wind to rattle the bones of this old farmhouse, but so far the greenhouse is holding up to the storm. Newly clothed in its two layers of poly, it maintains an almost comfortable 40 degrees on days like today, and a delightfully uncomfortable 80 degrees on clear sunny days, even as the outdoor temperature remains in the 20s. Hopefully we'll still be able to find it tomorrow amid the snowdrifts.

 

Many thanks to the neighbors for helping us heave into place the 200-lb heater that will keep the seedlings warm this spring!

Up on the Roof

Work commences installing metal roofing over the ell of the farmhouse, replacing the remnants of the old asphalt shingles.

Snow, sheet metal, and a fear of heights - perhaps not the best time of year to be installing a new roof...

Veggies and Animals Need Water

Hearing that the hand-dug well sometimes dries up in summer, we decided it was imperative to have a deeper well drilled. Here is the new well and the trench going out to the greenhouse where a second hydrant will be situated. Note the high water table, barely 2 feet down!

The Greenhouse Arrives!

The greenhouse arrived in pieces.

Daniel exhibits a rare moment of reading directions before (or maybe slightly after) beginning to assemble.

The greenhouse is situated between the two garden plots and next to the windrow, and faces south so that it gets full benefit of the winter sun. It will in turn warm and protect seeds and seedlings, chicks and chickens, and extend the growing season. We must complete it in time for the expected arrival of 100 laying chicks on January 12!