The Final Days of Spring

It's now late May! Broad-tailed hummingbirds buzz outside our window and the wind sways the small willow trees and canopy cottonwoods outside our cabin. The willow groves and cottonwoods are a paradise for birds, and we awake each morning to the beautiful western meadowlarks, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, ravens, yellow chats, and warblers (and plenty else we haven’t identified yet!) Sometimes the warm spring days make us forgetful of freezing nights. When one such night in mid-May promised to be below 35 degrees, we frantically worked to hoop and cover all of our new and old transplants. Such love and care has gone into raising each of these plants from tiny seeds, and it’s not worth risking a potential nighttime frost.

Dark clouds roll in as we rush to cover our new transplants and seed beds from the cold

Kerry and Claire make tents for a row of peas

On a farm like Rain Crow, there is no such thing as unused or wasted space. Space for transplants out in the fields is coveted and limited, and where extra plants can be squeezed in, they will be. Leeks grow straight and tall, which means that the empty spaces in between them will either be crowded with eager thistles and bindweed or given to feathery fennel transplants. After weeding and trellising some outdoor peas, we found that the outside strip of the bed wasn’t being used. Thus a little room was found for a couple trays of head lettuce. By the time the peas grow tangled and become truly bushy, the head lettuce will hopefully all have been harvested.

Transplanting Leeks

Squeezing some head lettuce outside a row of peas

Kale transplanting was our first daunting project, and for a few days we filled bed after bed with hundreds of Lacinato, red Russian, and green curly kale plants. The fields are expanding rapidly and are now watered with a gun that connects to a fire hose at different locations around the field and pumps out gallons of water as it rotates.

 

Sarah and Connor transplanting green curly kale

Connor waters in transplants while the gun takes care of the rest of the field

The Desolation of Voles and Slugs

The prop house was full to bursting with every table full and plant flats occupying second level shelves, and tables on either ends of three tunnels were packed as well. Where to put our extra plants? Beneath the tables in the tunnels seemed a good temporary place, but the next morning we walked in to find that voles had feasted that night on those unlucky kale plants. Voles continue to be our greatest nuisance in the tunnels, despite our numerous traps, snakes, dogs, and cats. Sometimes losses must be taken in stride. 

On the harvesting front, it's the slugs and roly-polies that give us the most grief. They nibble holes in turnips and radishes so that half our harvest goes to the chickens, and we're back out in the tunnels searching for shiny, untouched pearls and rubies.

A stunted kale forest, the work of voles 

Slug alert

The desolation of slugs

Perfect ground pearls

Organic fertilizers

Plants at Rain Crow are treated to a powdered organic fertilizer at every stage of their early life. Yum-Yum, a fruit and vegetable (vegan) based nutrient mix is added to seeding soil and bumping-up soil, and we also add a pinch into each transplant hole. Transplants in particular are also dunked into a microbial root dip called Rootwise before being planted. This is the first year that Rain Crow is trying the microbial mix, and already it is evident that plants are overcoming transplant shock faster, and quickly developing healthy outdoor foliage.

Another organic fertilizer used on the farm is called Bio-live, made from animal and fish nutrients. The strong fishy smell prevents us from using this mix out in the fields because raccoons and other animals will dig up the plants, but we use the mix in the greenhouses and in pots!

Bio-Live organic fertilizer. This pot will be for edible flowers.

Microbial root mix

Curly kale gets a microbial bath before being transplanted into the fields

Edible flowers like pansies and nasturtiums are planted in pots for weekly harvest for restaurants.

Evening sun on the mountains

See you in June!

Early May on Rain Crow

Early May is upon us, and for the farm it means transplants are beginning to be added to the outdoor fields, rains and winds come hurtling through the valley every couple of days, and perennial beds are freed of hopeful weeds.

The prop house continues to grow and we struggle to find space for everything, sometimes clearing the grasses and greens underneath the tables for extra space. Additional tables have been added to both ends of most of the other greenhouses, and plants resting here wait for transplanting into the fields. Connor and I have seeded around 38 trays of cucumbers and zucchinis, and bumped up just as much basil. Celery and celeriac, monarda, feverfew, and yarrow have also been bumped, while other herbs like motherwort, skullcap, and nettle have made it into one of the outdoor herb gardens.

On the outdoor front, 15 beds were prepped, dug, and seeded with different varieties of yellow and red potatoes. A couple hundred onions and leeks were transplanted into 9 beds over the course of several days. These tiny alliums have short roots that sit near the surface of the soil and need daily watering to keep them from wilting in the hot Colorado sun. A few beds of purple and green kohlrabi have been added next to the onions.

Across the field, beets have taken residence in a handful of the beds and are growing steadily under a protective cover of thin remay. 

The many perennial beds around the farm are all in need of weeding before we can plant new flowers and herbs, so one stormy afternoon was spent weeding rudbeckia, yarrow, feverfew, mint, (and other!) flower and herb beds. 

Connor digs holes for seed potatoes

Planting onions!

Connor weeds a perennial flower bed between two greenhouses

The Dirt on PESTS!

Rain Crow is an organic farm, which means that insects and weeds must be controlled by means other than insecticides and herbicides. This means manual labor, companion planting, and promoting beneficial insects to feed on the harmful ones. One day in the prop house (and several of the greenhouses!) Kerry began noticing tiny, soft-bodied aphids feeding on the kale and collard seedlings. Aphids distort plants and stunt growth as they suck leaves, stems, and roots. To counter the aphids, she bought and released hundreds of ladybugs on the kale and collards in each greenhouse. They devoured the unwelcome feeders.

One highly effective method of controlling root-feeding pests is rotating crops. For instance, where we seeded potatoes this year there was kale growing last year.

In the greenhouses, voles and mice wreak havoc by digging up seeds and seedlings. Setting traps helps somewhat, but the real heroes are the many snakes that have been encouraged into the greenhouses, and the sharp senses of several cats and dogs on the farm.

The top-ranking pest in the West is the slimy slug, and here is no exception. We find them while planting, forking, harvesting, and watering, and we find them almost everywhere. Their biggest presence in the spring is around the radishes and turnips, where they bore holes in leaves and fleshy root. Most of the time we just collect them as we move along a bed and feed the handful we find to the chickens, who go crazy for them. But birds are helpful allies, and we watch them hunting for slugs in the greenhouses alongside the snakes.

Kerry releases ladybugs onto kale plants

A garter snake curled among the oregano

BEES!

Beekeepers are abundant in the valley, and one such beekeeper keeps a hive of honeybees on Rain Crow farm. The bees pollinate the crops and flowers on the farm and in return produce honey for the beekeeper. In the past the hive as been weakened by mites and subsequently overrun by wasps so this year Kerry and I attended a class on the basics of beekeeping so that we could keep a closer watch on the bees health and progress. The beekeeper, Mark, came to the farm one day to deliver a nuke, which is a box of frames with bees and brood and a queen already in residence. With care, he lifted each bee -filled frame out of the travel box and placed them into the hive. The bees will take a week or two orienting themselves to their new home, finding their water and pollen source, and fortifying the hive. The hive has been quiet as of late due to the cold weather and rain, but soon we should be seeing bees flying to and from the hive with pollen attached to their back legs. We are incredibly excited to involved with this project and hope the bees will survive this year! More info on beekeeping to come!!

Welcome to Rain Crow!

Our last blog post on Connor and Claire Live on the Prairie was in September of 2015 before our wedding in Illinois.  We had finished our home’s exterior and a fair majority of the interior, our garden was starting to wane after a summer of bountiful harvest, and our jobs had come to an end.  We had made money by planting trees and monitoring wetland easements for the Conservation District in Clark County. The tiny home had cost us a little under $5000 to build and we did not have enough money for a trailer, so the home sits waiting patiently for us on the South Dakota prairie.  After a month long honeymoon across the country, we moved to Avon, Colorado and became ski lift operators at Beaver Creek.  The winter was spent learning how to ski, snowshoe, and navigate the mountains.  As lift operators we were on the mountain seven days a week.  Our days off were spent skiing with friends, exploring the snowshoe trails in McCoy Park, and obviously cooking and baking.  A good dent was put in the enormous mountain of dried beans our Aunt Amy gave us, crockpot meals became common once again, and many loaves of John Fischer's foolproof bread were baked.

Our wedding at the Morton Arboretum

Operating Lift 8 at Beaver Creek Ski Resort

  We had fallen in love with growing plants the previous summer and wanted to try our hand at organic farming. After searching and applying to a number of farms we accepted internships at Rain Crow Farm in Paonia, Colorado. Beneath the watchful gaze of the West Elk Mountains and nestled in the North Fork of the Gunnison River valley, Paonia flourishes in its agriculture. The land is scattered with apple, peach, and pear orchards, organic farms, and ranches. Rain Crow Farm is located about a mile outside of downtown Paonia and is run by Kerry and her husband Jason. Kerry, having farmed for most of her life in different places around the country, has a rich background in growing food, while Jason is an ornithologist for the Bird Conservation of the Rockies. Both have been farming at Rain Crow since 2005. They farm about four acres of land but grow an incredibly diverse amount of plants and use their space wisely. Within the farm are five greenhouses, three outdoor fields, goats, chickens and a bee hive. The farm specializes in salad greens, cooking greens, and cut flowers, but also grows a wide variety of vegetables and herbs. The namesake of the the farm is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (the Rain Crow), which inhabits the area. The acres that aren't being farmed contain willow and cottonwood groves for bird and insect habitat, and a lush riparian zone along the Gunnison River. 

We now live in an octagon cabin on the back corner of the farm.  The cabin is nestled in a grove of cottonwoods along the Gunnison River. A goat pasture and five greenhouses separate us from Kerry and Jason’s home and farm, giving us complete privacy (except occasionally from the goats!) The cabin is small but cozy and uses space efficiently. It hosts a loveseat, a dresser, a table, a propane stove, a decent sized kitchen, a wood burning stove, and a loft. A wooden porch wraps around half the cabin housing our composting toilet, solar shower, hammocks and armchairs. After dreaming of off grid living we finally have it! A small solar panel charges a car battery which powers two lights in the cabin, and on cloudy days we have lanterns and candles; other than that there is no electricity. Electrical outlets, refrigeration, and water all come from the barn, and internet comes from Kerry and Jason's porch or in town. It’s a short walk over a bridge and around the goat pasture, and we use a wagon for hauling heavy loads. After a long day of working on the farm we retire to our cabin, and the work continues. Water must be fetched, an outdoor (sometimes chillingly cold) shower is taken, a fire is stoked and food is prepared. It adds work and occasionally stress to our evening but it is gratifying and comforting to know that our first world comforts do not come easily. We fall asleep to the sound of rushing water and wake to a chorus of song birds and frogs. The natural world surrounds use constantly and brings peace to our minds.   

Our cabin!

The cabin's interior, Connor at the propane stove.  

Three of Rain Crow's five greenhouses, alongside  an irrigation ditch

Goat pasture

Rain Crow Farm in the Early Spring
Every day on the farm is unique in its rhythm and tasks, but at this time of year we can be sure to find ourselves in the prop house bumping up baby tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, chards, and tiny clusters of herbs into larger cells. These plants were all seeded back in February and March. In the propagation house baby plants are aided by a propane heater and constant moisture until they are large enough to be transplanted into a greenhouse or outdoor field. In the evenings Claire and Kerry frequently end up back here to plant tiny flower and grass seeds (often accompanied by a beer!) The tasks to complete on the farm never end, and the days pass in "Paonia Time" - so fast that we're left wondering where the day went! 
In the other greenhouses we weed, transplant cabbages, choi, chards, herbs, and flowers, and fork through tangled jungles of undesirable bindwind and thistle. Outside, we've been prepping beds for planting by scattering mulch and tilling, and direct seeding spinach, radishes, peas, turnips, and herbs.

Kerry and Claire bumping seedlings in the prop house

Red Chard in the prop house

Forking beds for transplanting cabbage amongst some overwintered kale

Early plantings of salad greens, some transplants, and overwintered flowers

Maximizing on space - peas and radishes planted between greenhouses

In one of the fields: garlic, spinach, peas, radishes and more

Trellising peas, with turnips and radishes bordering them. More early plantings of salad greens.

Claire transplants herbs: thyme, oregano, mint, lemon balm, and chives

Spreading mulch onto a field

Tilling a mulched field

In the beginning of April a fifth greenhouse joined the others, a new rolling greenhouse called the gypsy tunnel that we assisted in securing the plastic sheeting around. Inside, new beds were tilled (by tractor and by hand), raked, seeded with salad greens and radishes, and dug to hold red and green chard transplants. 

Jason and Connor secure plastic onto the greenhouse frame with wire

Transplanting chard into the new tunnel

During most of April and in previous months all five greenhouses and two outdoor fields were watered daily using one hose. Moving one hose to all these locations usually took 8-10 hours every day! Everyone was thrilled when it was time for Jason and Connor to burn out the irrigation ditch and watch as precious water flowed freely through the channels that supply Rain Crow.

One rainy morning we watched one of the goats give birth to twins, a surreal experience in that neither of us had ever witnessed anything being born before! In 30 minutes the two babies were licked dry by their mom and were hobbling around on shaky legs in the barn. Within a week the rest of the goats had given birth as well, with one goat carrying triplets! Birthing goats are much like people in that some bellow their pain while others carry on quietly, completely focused on the task.

Twyla with a day-old goat

On some days we harvest, filling out small orders for the community. Spinach, nettle, salad greens, cooking greens, choi, radishes, turnips, potatoes, onions, carrots, chives and flowers make up the bulk of an early spring harvest, as well as eggs and Jason's chevre cheese made from goats milk. These foods also make up the bulk of our current diet! 

Spinach harvest

Washing salad greens and spinach

We are so happy to be in this beautiful place with Kerry, Jason, and their family, learning about food and farming and exploring the rich (and active!) community.  

Connor in the tulips

Horses and a Rainbow