Month: June 2013

Farmer/Wedding Planner

As most of you who have been following my blog for awhile know, I was engaged to the man of my dreams last year.  And since then we have been planning a wedding.  And as the saying goes, smaller the town…bigger the wedding!  So our intimate gathering of over 500 people will be this Saturday…I can hardly believe it!

I have to admit it hasn’t been easy having my dad take a step back in management, challenging me to step up in my career while at the same time knowing that the wedding day was going to come much faster than I realized.  So I took it one day at a time, asked my dad to be patient when I couldn’t work on a Saturday because I had appointments to try on wedding dresses, get my hair trial done, makeup trial done, pick up the wedding dress…the list goes on and on for prep work! And now we are finally here…six days away!  But where dad took a step back from management, he very quickly took on a large role with my mom of making sure the farm was just right for the big day.  And it is looking incredible thanks to all of their very hard work!!!

It’s been interesting keeping the farm running smooth while planning for one day of our lives…one big day…but still ONE DAY!  My brain has been scattered with details of irrigation timing mixed with linen choices, and dealing with a broken down tractor while at the same time on the phone with our caterer, or wiping grease off my hands on my way to pick up my wedding dress…let’s just say that I’m glad this juxtapose of life only happens once! And I’m glad I have some great workers by my side to keep me straightened out most of the time!

So all that being said, things are going to continue to be a bit wild over at Kirsch Family Farms World Headquarters for a few more days.  And if you call to ask me about wheat, I may think it’s for our center pieces, not for loading on a barge.  Or if you ask about how the rust is looking (fungus that grows in our fields) I may just assume that you’re talking about our rustic country theme.  Bear with us…the big day is just about here and it’s going to be incredible!

Peas…From our Field to your Freezer

We grew peas for the first time this year.  They are for a company that will take them from our field, clean them, freeze them and then they will end up in grocery stores for you to buy!  Here are some pictures from harvest just yesterday.

2013-06-13_11-47-54_368I’ve always tried to be honest about good and bad times on our farm.  And this time our yields weren’t quite up to snuff you could say.  We had a lot of pea pods that look like the picture below.  It hurt our yield, but I learned a lot, and I know next year will be better!

2013-06-13_11-48-36_524You can see that some of the peas aren’t sized up.  Each one of those small peas is lost income for this crop.2013-06-13_11-49-06_510The picture above is all the trash left behind by the combines (harvester), lot of vines and pods.

2013-06-13_12-04-13_63

2013-06-13_11-51-21_6032013-06-13_12-00-50_0The vines go in the combine and go through a large roller that opens the pods and separates the peas from the trash.  Then the peas are put into this tank.

2013-06-13_12-01-48_407Next they are transferred into a wagon, then into a truck, and finally the to the plant where they will be processed for your freezer!

Why grow Crimson Clover for Seed?

The first crop that we will harvest this year is crimson clover.  I have shown you a few pictures through the year of how this crop is coming along.  2013-01-13_16-47-10_7932013-05-05_11-48-45_8332013-05-07_19-29-59_707And now finally the seeds are starting to mature and it looks like we may be swathing (cutting the crop into rows for combining) very soon!  Again, I know what you all are thinking, “Way to go farm girl….aren’t you planning to get married in a few weeks?”  Well yes, the wedding is still on, we may just have to fit harvest in there sometime too!!

2013-06-10_08-05-49_9852013-06-10_08-07-11_457The seeds when they are ripe or mature, turn that golden almost mustard color.  You can see that these seeds I checked this morning are still pretty green.

But the question comes back, “Why plant Crimson? You can’t eat it, you can’t plant it for a yard, it can’t be used for fiber or fuel…what is the big deal?”  As an end product the simplest answer is that it is used many times as a cover crop.  It helps not only keep the soil in it’s place, but it can also shade the soil, protect top soil, reduce moisture loss, and it also adds nitrogen back into the soil.  But for farmers in this area, who just grow the seed and then sell it off all around the world for a cover crop, it also gives us many advantages.

There was an article in the Capital Press all about this crop and why it’s becoming so popular. You can read about it in this article that was published a few weeks ago…there may be a farmer you recognize in there! Crimson Clover Catches On

“Brenda Kirsch and other farmers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley often plant it after grass seed and wheat crops, helping to suppress weeds like annual bluegrass due to broader herbicide options. ‘The ability to clean up a field is just invaluable,’ Kirsch said.”

You can see in the article that this is a good rotational crop for our area, and a good cover crop for areas all around the United States, and we hope that this trend continues.

“Even with the rising prominence of cover crops, probably fewer than 1 percent of Midwestern growers use them, Wirth said. If that level someday reaches 20 percent, which is realistic, the market opportunity for seeds is great.”  said Don Wirth, a farmer in Junction City Oregon.

I have said many times that we are lucky to live in an area where we have choices on what we can grow from year to year.  I think that crimson is one that will stay in our soil for many years to come!  And I’m glad that I will only have to deal with driving a swather in my wedding dress one time in my life!