Because We Love Our Customers

Because We Love Our Customers

This Memorial Day, while others were camping, having bonfires, visiting with family, and attending Veterans services, we were spending our time in service to our customers.  It was rainy, cold and windy outside.  Too yucky to work outside, so you see, this was the perfect time to make some headway on our new wash/pack facility. 

We had a beautiful facility at our old place built with love by Barry, his Uncle Jim and some great help from my nephews but the move has us building again at the new farm. (And just when we thought we were quite through building!)

Our wash/pack facility is very important to us.  It is the place where we can ensure the quality and freshness of our product for our customers.  It is where our cooler is located so the herbs are properly cooled to seal in freshness and make them last longer once they reach their destinations.  It's where we have our sinks to wash and sanitize our tubs and totes so the food inside is safe from bacteria.  It's a clean room where we package our product for sale in grocery stores and restaurants and to our share holders - this makes sure the cleanest product comes to your door.  All in all, we follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to make sure our product is the safest, freshest, and as long lasting as it can be. 

As a part of GAP, we make sure our water is tested so it is certified as safe.  We track the cooler temperature to make sure things are stored at the proper temperature.  We keep logs of how clean the facility is.  We make sure items are stored properly, like cleaners away from food and everything up off the floor.  We make sure all lights are covered with a 'cage' to prevent glass from entering anywhere near food items in case one gets accidentally broken.  We have at least four sinks - one for handwahing, a separate one for washing tubs and totes, one for rinsing and one for sanitizing.  We have a large counter for air drying tubs and totes - air drying is cleaner and safer than drying with towels once an item has been sanitized.  It's a lot of work, a lot of log keeping - but it's worth it to know that our product is safe and fresh.

We actually started the project a couple weeks ago when we tore out all of the ceiling and walls to get back to bare bones.  We then had the electrician come and update all the wiring and ensure it could handle our cooler and our other electrical needs.

By Saturday night we had removed the old leaky window that was causing the water damage on the exterior wall, framed in an opening for a new window to come, made a hole in the other wall for the cooler unit and had all of the insulation installed.

By Sunday night we had put up the vapor barrier, and framed in one wall of the cooler.  We also had the air conditioner that we use for the cooler all cleaned up and serviced.  Our cooler runs on a system called a CoolBot.  More information about this can be found on their website at www.storeitcold.com.  I know that we are not following their cooler installation instructions so if you're reading this and trying to learn to build a walk in cooler yourself - don't follow us!  We have a special circumstance in that herbs, Basil especially, do not like to be too cold.  Our cooler temps are normally a little higher than anyone storing vegetables or other foods.  Normally, you would not use bat insulation around a cooler...

By Monday night we had both walls framed in, the doorway is framed in and we made the sure door will fit and open and close properly and we had the ceiling insulated with the rigid insulation.  With the temps we keep in our cooler, we needed to have a total R value - the heat retention value of the insulation - to be at least 20.  We're over that so we'll be happy once we're done.  It sure doesn't look like we did a lot on Monday but let me tell you - cutting and fitting the rigid foam insulation in a tight space over your head - especially with 9 foot ceilings and I'm 5'3" is tough work!  We also got our shelving unit put into the cooler - you see, once the door is on, it's too big to fit in so it needed to be fit into the cooler before the door and walls.  Now we'll just have to work around it until we're all done.

We're a long way from finishing but its a really good start.  We'll need to place the rest of the rigid foam insulation on the cooler walls. We will then fill all seams and gaps with expanding foam and caulk, insulate the back sides of the cooler walls and the rest of the room's walls, put up wall board or sheating, install a window, install the cooling unit, install the plumbing, install the sinks - and a counter for them to sit on, bring over our stainless steel work tables, paint, install the lights, outlets and switches, and let us not forget - reside the outside where the old window came out and maybe a new walk in door so it's cleaner and more airtight.  It will be hard work but worth it to know our product is cool, clean and fresh for our customers!  We'll give you a tour when we're all done!



Many Hands Make Light Work

This past weekend, we - with the help of some GREAT friends - tore down the high tunnel and moved it to our new farm.  The weather could not have been better or the company/help better.

Don Albertson came with his Bobcat.  After erecting the high tunnel a couple years ago without this piece of equipment, I can tell you how much time and trouble this little machine saved us.  Don worked from his machine and raised and lowered the workers to each area as needed.   With a 12 foot peak on the tunnel, reaching the top in a stable Bobcat bucket rather than a rickety ladder standing in the back of a truck box was a joy.  I'm sure OSHA would have shut us down, but it really was the way to go.  All Don asked in return was a cup of coffee. 

Then there was Bob.  Bob Nelson of Doyan came all the way over just to help.  Bob is the guy in the Bobcat bucket.  The one way on top...

Bob and his wife Marte Stensli-Holen raise vegetables, chickens, goats, cows, horses, and kids on their farm and participate in a CSA and farmers markets.  Marte stayed home with the children, Liam and Matthea and Bob came to lend a hand.  Thank goodness he did.  Bob is the kind of guy that is fun to work with.  He's a hard worker and quick.  He has a sunny disposition, interesting stories, good ideas and in general just the kind of guy you want to be around - makes you a better person just to be with him.

And of course we can't forget the Haus family. 

It's almost hard to imagine but we've been solid friends with the Haus family since before there was a 'family'.  My Rent-A-Kid Katie just turned 16.  All but grown and very beautiful, Kate is the creative imaginative daughter I 'borrow' every once in a while.  Her siblings, Emily, Anna, and Jarrod have grown up before my eyes and have turned into some very fun young people to be around.  If it weren't for them taking out all the screws and bolts on the baseboards, I'm sure the project would have taken much longer.  Their parents, Tom and Karen are our best friends. They dug perennials flowers to take home as their prize and pay. 

 With the high tunnel down by 3 PM and loaded on the trailer and brought home by 6:30, we even had some time to explore the new place with the Haus family.  Our little wood nymph Anna particularly enjoyed the trees.  Tom, who has a forge scrounged a few pieces of metal and Karen and I enjoyed a Caesar, uninterrupted as everyone explored.  The evening ended with a little wood tick picking, 8 showers, a discussion about Beaver Butt used in 'natural' raspberry flavoring and a off to a sound sleep for all.

Thanks so much to all of your friends who helped with this project.  Without you, this would have been a long, drawn-out, and painful process.  We can't thank you enough!  Now with any luck, we'll get it erected in its new and final home by end of July so we can get the fall basil planted on time!

 

For Today, I Wish You



Which Came First, The Chicken or the Egg?

Tuesday, my employer, Dakota College at Bottineau, celebrated Earth Day.  The theme for this year was Farming, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.  The featured speaker was Will Weaver and the book read for this year was his book 'Sweet Land'.  I attended some of the sessions and it got me thinking - especially as I drove home that day and in the few days since. 

You see, the fields surrounding our new farm have been abuzz with activity.  The activity that comes with farming in today's world, which means big green and red machines pulling all types of equipment across the land in an attempt to feed the world, if not their own families.

It has me thinking...has the growth in the size of farms pushed the size of machinery or has the size of machinery pushed the size of the farms?  Way back when the average size farm in North Dakota was just over 200 acres - which was a long time ago because as you know, early settlers were given 160 acres free if they homesteaded, things were done by hand or with horses.  Then, the industrial age came and machines began to show up on our small farms.

Machines like this

 And this..not the ATV but what it is pulling...

So I wonder. There are only so many hours in a day.  So many hours, even in our long spring days as we had towards June, in which to accomplish all the planting and field work.  In older days, you didn't have tractors with auto steer, GPS, not even lights.  You were limited to what you could do in a day by the number of daylight hours in that day.  So why and when did it change?  As the farms got bigger did the equipment dealers decide to add technology to allow farmers to farm longer because they had to in order to get things done...OR...did the equipment dealers new technology get the farmers to thinking that they could get bigger because now they had the technology to do so?  You're no longer limited by the number of daylight hours in a day.  Is that a good thing?

Either way, I'm afraid it will all end up like Mr. Weaver's story 'The Last Farmer' about a farmer who works a whole LOT of land and ends up missing meals and going for days without sleep to get the crop in the ground in the spring because his wife has left him - there's no social life on a rural farm when the farms are so big and far apart - and no one to help him, because the lights and GPS and auto steer will allow him to go 24/7. 

I'm glad to know, as I watch the big green and red machines in the fields that surround our farm that there are still small farmers out there.  Small farmers like us who do things by hand or with small machines.  I'm glad to know that the farmers in my area still have wives and families to go home to and even though they sometimes work late at night, they do go home to them.  I don't think it's easy to feed the world and I'm glad they're doing it - thanks you guys!  But I still wonder, does all the new farming technology really make it easier?



Photo taken by unidentified photographer in Pekin, ND

You Know It's Windy When...

You know it's windy when...
The dog won't leave the steps and she looks like she's ready for take-off,

The wind sock has been parallel to the ground for days...

And I have a hard time getting outside to do things.  You see, even though I grew up in North Dakota, and I'm used to it, I really really hate the wind.  It most likely stems from a bad experience as a child - same goes for my dislike for swimming, but that's another story. 

I distinctly remember it.  I was in second grade and our teacher had us do the COOLEST art project.  We made construction paper frames then put clear plastic wrap down over the frame.  Then we got to go outside and find leaves and green things to put on the plastic wrap.  Lastly we colored and cut out great looking tropical fish and covered it with another sheet of plastic wrap.  I remember carefully choosing clover leaves for my greens and taking a long time to do it as I was looking for 4 leaf clovers.  I used my best coloring skills to make the fish - not easy for someone who didn't get to go to kindergarten.  I used just the right amount of glue so it wouldn't squeeze out when we put the top layer on and when it was done, in my eyes it was a masterpiece of a fish tank.  I was SO proud!  I couldn't wait to take it home and show my Mom and then hang it in my room.

The day we got to take our artwork home, the North Dakota wind was blowing away as usual.  My neighbor and I always walked the couple blocks home.  I carried my paper aquarium close to my chest and hoped it wouldn't rip.  Just then, a sudden gust tore it from my hands and down the block it flew.  It was mortified!  I ran and ran as fast as I could but could not keep up to the flying fish.  Just then, an angel appeared - well, not really...but she seemed like one to me.  A much older girl waiting with her mother in a car on the street, no doubt waiting to pick up a sibling from the elementary school, jumped out of the car and with lightning speed ran after my project and saved it!  She brought it back to me and as I wiped the tears from my eyes I can remember only being able to say 'Thank you, thank you" to her.  I never got her name, but even now, I vaguely remember what she looked liked.  If I could find her now, I'd tell her how much that meant to me and how thankful I was that someone helped me.  She helped me to carefully tuck the paper fish tank inside my jacket and I walked stiff all the way home to keep it safe.

So you see, wind is not my friend.  I can't wait for the North Dakota winds to subside just a little so going outside isn't such a chore. So outside work doesn't make you feel like you've been battling tigers all day, and so that we can get back to dogs that aren't ready for take off and wind socks that flutter instead of straightline.

Here's hoping this week is the week we get a break.

Picture borrowed from http://www.ryugetsu.net/shop/?c=koi





The Mystery of the Appearing Mound

Along with the other wonderful signs of spring, the gardner snakes coming out of hibernation in wads (and meeting their demise under our hoes at the rate of 9 or 10 a day), the group of herons peacefully munching in the field to the east (too elusive to get a photo of without spooking) and almost best of all, TD&H (Tall, Dark and Handsome) tilling our new soil in preparation for our first ever seeding in our new location - chives and parsley - yum -

We seem to have this mystery of the weirdly appearing pile of dirt.  That's it in the photo above, just to the right and a little below TD&H on the tiller. This nice black pile of dirt showed up there one morning.  Figuring we had little burrowing critters, or maybe big burrowing critters, I went to inspect.  No visible sign of a hole - seems like the dirt is just getting pushed up from some unseen force below.  TD&H investigated too.  After coming to no conclusion, we raked away the dirt into the surrounding grass and made it look as if nothing was there.  Our perfect lawn was again perfect!

Lo and Behold! Or as my Auntie used to say "oh My Stars" next morning, the dirt pile was back again and once again was inspected.  Nope, no signs of a hole, no signs of scat, no little beady eyes poking up.   Too big to be snakes, too little to be a badger - no worries - just rake away the dirt and pretend we've just been working too hard and now are imagining things.

Next day, same thing...there it is...  yup - same hill, no hole...

This morning, TD&H decided to attack the problem with tools - a pick axe to be exact.  Not sure what the plan was, but I'm thinking he was going to get to the bottom of it in his own style.  No results.  He did manage to use the pick axe to kill a few more snakes that looked like they might find their way toward the house and being TD&H he felt compelled to protect his princess - but no critter.

Not having grown up on a farm, just a city kid who got to spend long days and weekends at her cousin's country estate - a lovely small grains farm near Des Lacs - I don't know what to make of it.  Sure could use some suggestions.  Whatever it is - it's nocturnal.  The pile reappears each morning.  Whatever it is - it burrows from underneath.  It's too big for a snake, at least I'm hoping.  It's too small for a badger, at least I'm hoping.  If it is a skunk in search of food - wouldn't you think there would be more than one pile and why would it come back to the same pike each night? And why no hole?

So, if there's any experienced farm hands, naturalists, biologists, game wardens, Indian guides or boy scouts out there who could help us identify the cause of the mysterious mound - let us know.  I think it's leading me to drink.  I'll check back in later. For now, I'm off to purchase night vision goggles, camoflauge outerwear, a critter blind and a crossbow...

Birth of a Tomato

So here's the fun I've gotten to have lately - thought I'd share.  Watching the birth of anything is great fun and now with calving and lambing season and all sorts of new babies - well, I just thought you might want to see my new babies.  That's right, it's tomatoes.  And if you scroll real fast, it's like a movie!

Awww, Now aint they cute!

The Value of a Man that Knows Dirt

Over the years I've always known that 'Tall, Dark, and Handsome' was a good catch.  There has never been a doubt, but this weekend TD&H (Tall, Dark, and Handsome) really proved his worth.

I've put the poor man through a lot over our 29 years.  I've asked him to do a lot of things in the name of 'making me happy'.  I've pushed his envelope and he has always done so without complaint.

He's built sheds and buildings and meeting rooms - when he had never built anything before in his life.

He's cut sod for labyrinths when he didn't even know what a labyrinth was or why in the heck we would want one.

He's built restrooms for guests when I told him that nice little old ladies do not prefer to use porta potties.

He has dug out, refurbished, reclaimed, recreated and re-installed century old fences just because I said "Honey wouldn't it be nice if...".

He's been a good sport and helped to make lefse at the local bar - even though his Welsh/Scottish heritage vocabulary does not include the words lefse or lutefisk.

He's serenaded me for my birthday - with a little help from Bob Brossart and the Karaoke machine.

He's even participated in a little kick back time with Boy to enjoy his niece's wedding after helping me arrange all the flowers for the wedding.

But this weekend, yes THIS past weekend, the one with the gorgeous weather minus the wind...

He truly proved his worth.  You see, TD&H let me move dirt.

First, let me explain that in 29 years, we have brought home 'dirt' from every trip or vacation we've ever been on.  Sometimes, the 'dirt' was in the pots of plants that we purchased at the greenhouses along the way.  Sometimes the 'dirt' was attached to the bottom of wildflowers dug from a relatives pasture or flower garden.  There have even been times that the dirt was actually in a bag!  I can't pass up a sale on potting soil.  We've even brought home dirt that was attached to the bottom of little trees and raspberry plants dug from the woods around his cousins house in Wisconsin.  So you see, TD&H is quite used to moving dirt around.

But this time is a little different.  We're trying really hard to move our business from Churchs Ferry to our  new Esmond location.  We're moving only what we really need as there will be soooo many things that I would LIKE to bring with.  Since it is too early to get some of the plants out of the ground and having no help lined up to move the greenhouse, we focused our attention on the therapy gardens which at our new place I had my heart set on becoming my kitchen garden.  Sounds good doesn't it, almost romantic - a kitchen garden.  Sounds like something a fine chef on the Food Network - or an herb gardener - would have....

hhhmmm, anyway - enough dreaming...

We set out to move the heavy 4 foot by 8 foot raised

planted made of very solid 4X4 posts and 2X12 walls.  Yes, it's heavy.  Built to last. 

This wasn't just DIRT we were talking about.  It wasn't the dirt we had become accustomed to in Churchs Ferry - which was mostly back fill from when houses were removed during the buy out.  The dirt that needed to be 'amended with truck load after truck load of bison manure....

Oh No!  This planter box was filled with the good stuff!

I didn't really have the heart and wasn't sure how to approach it, but somewhere in the planning stages the night before I happened to drop in that I sure would like to bring the compost that filled this behemoth along with.  "It's not just dirt you know.  It's black gold.  It's the best and richest compost that we ever made.  It took us three years to make that compost from rhubarb leaves, grass clippings and the end of season basil."  He shrugged, rolled his eyes and gave me no comment.

Lo and Behold!  The next day on the trailer, ready to go and retrieve my new 'kitchen garden' was the large tarp tote and the scoop shovel! 

Because the compost is mostly organic matter, it was very light and easier to move than even I had imagined.  We got it and the planters home and I now have my new kitchen garden in place, just waiting to be filled with beans on the obelisks, tomatoes in the big trough, peppers in the round pots and cucumbers in the big red planter (that is actually a threshing motor/belt stand tipped upside down).

So TD&H, go relax.  You've made me a very happy person, in so many ways, over so many years.  You've earned it.

"Why gardendwellers FARM?"

We had a great meeting in Minot last night!  Over 40 people interested in more information about purchasing a CSA share from our friends North Star Farm.  North Star Farm is an organic vegetable production place in Carpio - we're hoping to add our herbs to their CSA shares this summer.  What a great turn out - what good food, what wonderful people - and what good questions!

One of the questions was, "why is your company name gardendwellers FARM?"
So I thought I'd answer that for all of you folks that may be new to gardendwellers.

First off, a few definitions:
garden - a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated
dwell - 1. To live as a resident; reside. 2. To exist in a given place or state: dwell in joy.
farm - an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food

Now, gardendwellers FARM:
Over the years, you can say that we

And our friends

Have Worked



Ate









Drank

Played





And Prayed

With A Whole Host of Friends



And the whole time, we've been producing fine quality food

I'd say that qualifies us as a plot of ground where herbs are cultivated, that exists in a given place and state of joy, where people, plants and animals reside and the land is managed to produce food. 

Besides, the URL for just gardendwellers was taken, we had to add farm to it!

Thanks for being our customers and friends for the last 10 years.  We can't wait to get our new location visitor ready so we can invite you all to the new farm to "Come Out and Play".