Sunrise Farm Project

Garden Planning

With the building of basement grow shelves this winter, I was able to start some of my newly planned vegetables in the house. I was bitten with the winter gardening bug, and may have gone overboard in my seed ordering. New additions to our garden this year include multiple varieties of both tomatoes and peppers, and new varieties of beans, pumpkins, gourds, and flowers. I attempted to only buy heirloom varieties, because I enjoy the challenge of harvesting seeds for next season, and used MIGardener, Territorial Seed Company, and Baker Creek seeds.

Starting seedlings indoors was not a new idea for me. Last March in the early weeks of our pandemic lockdown, we started our plants indoors as a science and math lesson for our oldest. However, leggy plants and limited window space led us to pursue a different method this year. We visited family last summer, and they had an extensive growth light set up that inspire ours. Multiple shelves with lighting to encourage early growth in two hard-to-start from seed vegetables: peppers and tomatoes.

If you’ve been following along on our social media at all, you’ve caught a bit of the saga of my seed ordering and subsequent planting. Based on my research, and the seed instructions themselves, the peppers were the first plants I started. We are trying two different varieties this year: Hungarian Sweet Wax Peppers and Mini Bell Peppers. I anxiously awaited the first sprouts, which took much longer than I had anticipated. (Had I done all of my reading properly, I would’ve realized that the germination just does take that long.)

In addition to the peppers, I am trying a new variety of flower for the farm stand after research into cut flowers: Amaranth. Eagerly, I ordered three different varieties from Michigan Gardener, and so far they have not disappointed. Their germination rates are excellent, and it’s fun to see the different colors of the seedlings. I ordered two red varieties, so seeing those seedlings next to the green pepper plants is fun.

The second and third rounds of seeds were planted in mid-March. Tomatoes are a totally new plant to me, and we’re still figuring them out. Seeds have sprouted, but the seedlings quickly wilted. I’m still troubleshooting those issues. The flowers that I planted in the third round of seeds seem to be doing well however, and right before Easter we finished up the new flower bed.

The remaining plants are all direct sow, though in my eagerness to get plants started, I may still try to sprout a few inside before May. We prepped the garden plot last fall, and are excited to see the literal fruit of our labor as we move from spring into summer.

If you have any suggestions for my wilting tomatoes, I’d love to get some feedback! Also, I’m super interested in learning more about heirloom seeds and seed harvesting, so any research/books/sites you can pass along would be appreciated.

A Quick Update

This past year has been quite an adventure, to put it mildly. One of the side effects of this crazy busy-ness was that I have fallen FAR behind in writing updates on all the projects going on around SFP. I will try to correct this now.

The first is the garden. The rototiller arrived in late November 2020 just in time to be used briefly in the garden. Unfortunately for us, the temperatures dropped and the ground was frozen the very next day. We’ll definitely update more on that later once we have had a better chance to put it to work. Suffice to say, the rototiller is going to be helpful in adding compost to the gardens and adding a flower garden in the spring.

Next project is that the Mrs SFP has decided to start plants inside so we can get the garden going a bit earlier. So I was “asked” to build so shelves for grow trays that can have lights suspended above them. The build took about a week to plan, gather materials, and then build it. Again, there will be a detailed post to follow.

The woodshop is filled up with projects in various states of not-yet-finished. There has been some small project success with cutting boards and trivets. I really do like the small stuff that I can finish in a late evening or just few hours. The larger projects are taking up a lot of the space in the shop are the 8 x 5 ft table and the half log bench. The cold has made it terribly hard to avoid wood warping as the humidity changes and all the projects have really slowed down.

And finally I have two deer skins salted and hanging to tan as soon as the temp rises. Most of the tanning work has to be done above 40F and the actually tanning paste can only work above 50F.

As we adjust to a new rhythm going into the spring months, I’ll be sharing more about all that we’ve been working on.

Summer Wrap-up!

It’s hard to believe we are deep into autumn already! The back-to-school time found us busy juggling new schedules and trying to find a new routine.

I was pleasantly surprised at the responses we got over our roadside flower stand, and disappointed that our fall vegetables were mostly a bust. The flowers were almost a fluke; we grew them because I wanted something pretty. Once the zinnias started blooming, they hardly stopped. However, given the revelation of our dirt issues, I was not surprised that our vegetables didn’t do so well. The only real vegetable success we had was the bottle necked gourds. Those were fun to watch grow, and a fun harvest as well.

Our big summer building project was the chicken coop, and Evan is already planning a “next time”– what to do to make it better and maybe bigger.

As we head into fall and winter, our focus moves inside. In addition to a few home improvement projects, we also have to start planning for next spring. Hopefully, we’ll make some soil adjustments and have a more productive vegetable garden. We also have to look at getting our apple trees trimmed sometime in January, and order new bushes and trees to continue our orchard expansion.

Building a Chicken Coop

Chickens are simple, straightforward, and (dare I say it) cheap. My own research found the uses for chickens is meat or eggs. Mary and I decided we wanted to have eggs since as long as you can shop and wait for sales meat can be had at the store very effectively and we already had a good “store and use slowly” system.

Looking into needed supplies and infrastructure, the main part was always the chicken coop itself. Premade coops and kits are available online, but for the size coop we wanted, seemed to cost $4000 or more. However I am very inexperienced in building structures of any quality so I had managed to find a online design that included a supplies list.

The actual build became quite an event. I have a rule that I don’t want to work with powered saws/drills etc., without other people around. This allows me to at least believe if I get into trouble, there would be someone to extract me from underneath or call for emergency services. I only had the help for a day and a half, so the construction was limited to a day and a half.

Stage one was collecting the materials. I do not have a trailer or truck so gathering anything over 8ft long had to be done with a borrowed trailer. You can see the collection here.

The only mistake I really made at this point was I did not pick up roofing cement and I should have been more careful about warping 2x4s (more on that later). Not shown here are the nails (exterior and interior), rolled asphalt roofing, metal drip edge, and tools.

I was able to assemble and frame the floor and the walls on the ground so I could stand them up and attach them to the floor deck without having to balance and maintain 90 degree angles and straight lines.

The floor was weather resistant cedar (shown above) and the walls were made out of interior 2x4s (shown below)

OSB decking was simple enough to add to the floor but Some of the seams did not line up with supports without some modifications. I have not decided if that issue is normal or a result of my inexperience.

The walls were filled in with plywood paneling and then the roof rafters could run from front to back. This was when the warped lumber became an issue but the structure stiffened up when the roof OSB was added. Below is show more issues with framing not lining up to the paneling.

And finally it was paint, cut windows, install door and latches, frame in the wire to keep enough ventilation and keep predators out, place the rolled roofing (once I went and got roofing cement), and the whole thing was finally done.

Evan sitting on the rood, Installing the rolled roofing.

Dirt Disappointment

Or how we learned about amending the soil

I’ve always loved the idea of having a blueberry bush. I have fond memories of going picking with my family when we were younger, and I love to eat blueberries. Unfortunately, that is not something they cover in marriage prep, and I learned the hard way that Evan did not like blueberries at all. Something quite the opposite of me—he had bad memories of picking blueberries.

When we bought the farm with the apple trees almost ready to pick, i hadn’t yet thought about other plantings we would make. I knew we would need to replace our trees eventually, but I didn’t really think about other fruit plans. Evan was talking about our hopes and dreams for the property to a friend, and they actually convinced him to add blueberries to our list. And so our blueberry planning began.

My research started with soil, space, and a place to purchase young bushes. MSU Extension is a wealth of resources for most of our agricultural needs, and I started there. Blueberries require lots of sun, and we thought we had a perfect spot. They also require what is considered a relatively high acidity for garden plants.

Evan and I measured out the distance between each bush, and we cut sod out for mini-raised beds. I researched and bought this soil test kit from the local hardware store. It is very easy to use with clear directions, and includes additives to test for not only pH but nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. I collected dirt samples from three different holes. All three tests came back as VERY alkaline. I was disappointed to be sure. We were hopeful that our soil would be at least slightly neutral so we wouldn’t need a lot of amending.

Now, you may ask, why amend the soil if you are making raised beds? We weren’t planning on very tall beds, and full expect that once the bushes reach maturity, their root systems would be creeping into our dirt. So now we are on the hunt for fool-proof methods to create a more acidic environment for our bushes so that when they arrive in the spring, they will be able to adjust well and flourish.

If you have any recommendations for us, we welcome tips and tricks! I’d love to hear about others’ experience growing blueberries or amending soil for more acid-loving plants.

My Favorite Flowers

Growing up, my mom always had the most beautiful flower garden. She grew chrysanthemums, day lilies, zinnias, dahlias, snapdragons, irises, daffodils, tulips. Her garden was a riot of color. Spring and summer and even fall brought gorgeous cut flowers into our house, and I have fond memories of bringing flowers from my mom’s garden to my teachers.

Several times over the years, I grew my own flowers. One year, a marigold I had planted grew to be several feet tall. I was thrilled when we bought our first house, and I found daffodils and hydrangeas in the garden.

This spring on the farm, flowers were first on my list for our garden. I bought zinnias and marigolds and added those to my collection of seeds from the previous year. My son added sunflowers to the mix. I waited anxiously for the first flowers to bloom.

Having cut flowers on my dining room table brings me a lot of joy, and I love being able to share that with others. We’ve been able to sell some bouquets at the roadside stand so far this year, and I am already planning next year’s plantings.

Cut flowers are not always the first thing to occur to people when they plan a garden. However, I think the beauty that they can bring is an important factor in planting. Flowers bring bees and butterflies. They can come in so many different colors- from sunshine-y yellow to rich reds and purples. For me, flowers are worth it.

First tool restoration

A rusted-over piece of metal in an old wooden apple box. That was what my dad showed me and asked if I was interested in taking. I am guessing the contents had been untouched since before he was born. But since I had announced my interest in refurbishing metal hand tools, all of my dad’s collection was mine for the taking.

Following some digging on the internet and scrolling through images what started as “an old ax head” was now named, a “Delaware” profile axe head. It weighed roughly 1lb, 4oz and I paired it with a 16inch hickory wooden handle. Given the weight, I chose the handle to make it a “Camp axe” (not small enough to be a proper hatchet but also certainly not a felling ax). This was an all-purpose tool.

Removing the rust was part experiment, part art form, and part wild-brained-guesswork. I started with a an overnight in white vinegar, then steel wool, and sandpaper. I started at 60 grit then 220, 600, 1000, 1500, and then 2000 grit. As I removed the rust, I began to notice the damage the old axe had taken. Dents in the back where it was hammered on the soft steel, groves and divots on the sides where it had hit rocks and such when dropped in the dirt. I had to decide what damage to repair and what parts told the story I wanted to preserve. It is of course more simple and easier to buy a new ax than to find and old one. But you find the old metal tools still around are the ones of highest quality in materials and craftsmanship. In an ax for example The edge must be sharp but that makes the metal more brittle. Softer metal is used toward the back to add flexibility.

The process of restoration from rusty to finished and handled.

Specifically I saw how PLUMB brand (which this is not) had between ½ and ¼ inch more hardened metal at the blade of than axe head compared to widely used modern design.

While working on this axe I found that following the white vinegar soak the change in metal types could be clearly seen as a color change. The difference in metal properties was quickly noticed because the damage to the cutting edge was chips taken out and the damage to the back was in deep dents where some previous user had used a hammer to drive it thorough.

All told I hope this axe lives up to its original quality. It certainly could outlast me as long as it is cared for and not abused.

Welcome to our Farm

I never set out to be a farmer.

I grew up with a field behind my house, and the open space was nice. My parents had a decent sized garden. It just wasn’t on my radar to have a bunch of space of my own.

Through a series of circumstances, Evan and I were drawn to property near his parents’. We didn’t think it was possible; we thought it had sold shortly after we bought our first house. But we met the owner, the woman who built the house with her husband back in the 1960s. She agreed to sell her house to us, with the farm property to go with it. The house came with a few apple and pear trees, lots of yard, and a farmed-out field behind it.

So here we are, at the Sunrise Farm Project. Evan’s morning person tendencies rubbed off on me, and together we enjoy the sunrises out our dining room window. We are learning about the land, and learning about our abilities to cultivate the land. The apples were our first project, and are our biggest continuing project. We started our garden this spring, and are in the process of adding chickens.

The Sunrise Farm Project is a learning experience, and we are sharing that experience. We are not perfect; we don’t have it all figured out. This is our ongoing story, how we figure out what the heck we are doing.