Yesterday on the tree lot was rough; the Drive-in is right on the Dakota trail; bikers, walkers, bladers, all whizzing by, and me, I'm breaking down stands, pulling nails, watching for the trickle of customers coming through. The late season bargain hunters are tough. Some of them so crabby, some of them just so darn poor. One has to find a price that they'll accept and still leave oneself with some small measure of self respect. It's brutal. And you cant give them away or sell them too cheap because next year they'll come in 2 weeks earlier and want them for that same price.
There was a point where the darkness was overcoming the light, thankfully, a good bowl of hot chili and a rush of rather cheerful customers saved me and i went away from the day feeling good about the season.

today, i went north to pick up trees we cut last week.
the thought process can be funny when working alone; at first i thought, jeeze, we should have cut more. then as i started loading, i thought, oh man, i hope i can get it all on... i want to get all this in one trip.
once loaded, it takes another hour just to suck the pile down tight for transport.
awful nice to get it home.
delivery and installation is the easy part.
next week; one more load

Last load of pumpkins for the season
10/29/11; last market day of the season
see you there!!

next up? dogwood, spruce tops, birch

10/22,23
This time of year, when people ask, I often say, "sweet corn doesn't end, eventually we just give up". Well, we haven't given up. There will be sweet corn this weekend, including some white corn.
And, I suppose it goes without saying, excellent pumpkins for sale too.

10/15,16
yes, there is still fresh sweetcorn.
yes, its good
yes, its really sweet
Minneapolis Farmers market, Saturday and Sunday, stall 229 (or right around there, sometimes we get moved a little in the fall)
also
pie pumpkins, pumpkins, warty pumpkins, broom corn, corn bundles

Gourds are here!!; the warty pumpkins are actually gourds too. they are quite hard and dry down to a pale thin shell so one can enjoy them all winter long. the pumpkin crop, like the corn is a little lean, however excellent quality. buy early, supplies are limited.
still harvesting some awful nice corn.
this weekend; sweet corn, corn bundles, broom corn, gourds, pumpkins, honey

10/1,2
limited supply of corn; Mnpls market only
nice corn
I think the fall corn is some of the best eating of the season
maybe its because November is looming and every last taste of summer is that much sweeter

There were a lot of questions this past weekend about the frost. I think the first thoughts that come to mind are our worst fears; it takes time to actaully evaluate, and figure out what if anything was lost.
Is the sweet corn season over? NO
Will it ripen more slowly? Yes
Will the corn be tender and delicious? Yes
Will there be a worm in every ear? oddly enough, No; however, we are starting to see more of them.
How long will we have corn? Supplies will vary from week to week, however there will be some corn until mid October, or until a hard frost.

Squash and fall products are coming soon; like all the crops this year, they are a couple weeks behind so we're leaving them ripen in the field as long as possible. I suspect we'll start harvesting squash the week of Sept 26th

Fall Market schedule
Weds; UofMN farmers market, Church street 11am - 2pm
Saturday; Mnpls Farmers Market 6am - 1pm
Mill City Farmers Market 8am - 1pm
Sunday; Mnpls Farmers Market 6am - 1pm
-Sorry, no thursday market. there's just not enough corn to go around. its been a lean year.
-There will be corn for a few more weeks; probably until there's a hard freeze.
-Like the crops, honey yield is pretty lean; buy early

September came fast this year; I guess it always does. I love September because the colors of fall begin to appear, yet there is still green and some of the best vegetables of the season.
There is still a lot of good corn in the fields. I have some that has just tasseled, meaning there is still 3 or 4 weeks of corn.
This coming weekend, Sept 9/10,11 there will be some really nice bicolor; great for freezing.

Today, not having corn to sell is kind of a bummer, however it did give me a chance to work on some equipment, like the disc I just purchased. And, to keep myself from the dark side, I worked on a few more details of the tricycle; fender, chain gaurd, refelctors. In keeping with the South American style, I suppose I'll have to come up with at least three more reflectors and some fancy mud flaps.

tomorrow, August 21st, we'll have a nice load of corn at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.
hope to see you there.

The effects of the cool wet May have been gradually creeping up on us, meaning, no corn for Saturday Aug 20th.
I'm hopeful we can pick enough for the Sunday Market.

the next plantings look much better and we'll have plenty of corn.

2011 Market Schedule

Weds: University of Minnesota Farmers Market, Church Street; 11:00 am - 2:00pm

Thurs: Nicollet Mall Farmers Market, 8th and Nicollet; 9:30 am - 3:00 pm

Sat: Minneapolis Farmers Market, 6:00am - 1:00pm

Sat: Mill City Farmers Market, 8:00 am - 1:00pm

Sunday: Minneapolis Farmers Market, 6:00am - 1:00pm

Kind of hard to tell just how many coats of paint on this sign, however, a fresh coat can only mean one thing; sweet corn season has arrived. We have some really nice corn coming ripe for the weekend. You can find us Saturday and Sunday at the Minneapolis Farmers Market 6am-1pm, and Saturday at the Mill City Farmers market 8am to 1pm.

i have some pretty big mits, so, objects next to them may appear smaller than they really are.
2 inches of rain today and impending hot weather leads me to believe 10 days to the first drizzling of corn; 3 weeks to watermelon.

i was checking on corn today, taking a few photos. the patch is pollinating and full of bees.
corn does not require a pollinator, however, the bees want the pollen. my neighbor, a knowledgeable fellow, says they will use this to cap the honey.
as i was observing the bees and trying to get a few photos, i thought to myself, i sure am glad this is not a gmo corn meant to kill insects because if it was, it sure wouldnt be great to have all that pollen hauled back to the hive. and i cant help but wonder, with all the bt/gmo corn grown across the country, couldnt that be a contributing factor to colony collapse?

Today, driving a tractor down hwy 12 was an eye opening experience. In a way, when riding a bike, I had been operating under the notion that people just didn’t like bikers. I thought if I was driving a tractor with a machine on the back, I would be wider and slower, but people would be more understanding and give more room. Well, the reality is, they are not. They are not understanding and they give less room. And, on a bike at least I can get out of the way, or try, but on a tractor I’m kind of stuck out in traffic and who am I to take away someone’s god given right to keep their foot on the gas no matter what. Maybe its painful to let up on the gas, I don’t know, I drive a car a lot like a tractor so even slow seems fast to me.

I talked to another farmer; he said, when he’s on the road he takes the whole lane; because if he hugs the shoulder they try and squeeze by at high speed, traffic or no, they’re coming through.

I’d like to blame the Republicans, and maybe some limousine liberal Democrats, but I have a feeling this is a bipartisan effort to get where one is going as fast as you can while keeping in constant contact with all friends using any and all hand held devises sipping a coke eating a burger petting one’s dog and catering to the kids every whim. It’s the American dream.

That state budget thing. What a bummer. No one is going to give in. We cant even slow down

a guy from the coop was out today; said this year most folks would be happy if this was how good thier field corn looked. this is the earliest sh2 (supersweet); just beginning to tassel; it'll be ripe the first week of august. all the corn is not nearly this nice, however, overall, the crop is improving with every warm day. some rain this weekend would be fantastic.
what you see in this photo represents about 10 days of corn.

a couple weeks of warm weather have helped the crops a lot. the watermelon are beginning to vine and the sweetcorn is showing some tassel. that's about a week to 10 days behind normal; I suspect it'll be the end of the month before we start harvesting.

Its been a crazy spring; too cool and wet, then too hot and dry, finally, right now, we're hitting it about right.
the transplanted watermelon are at least 10 days behind. The sweet corn has improved a lot in the last week and I think its nearly on schedule. Squash and pumpkins are about on schedule as well.

Jake is on the far right; he was about 19 in this photo.

Working at Nistler Farms is the first job for quite a number of local young folks; pretty common for them to work here through high school or a little after. I feel fortunate to work with them. Mostly, they are, by far, smarter, have better social skills and are worldlier than I was at that age. It’s great fun to ponder their futures; I look forward to them running ahead of me and leaving me in the dust. I envy the pride their parents must feel. I like to think I have some small role in their success, but really, I know, it’s them; what’s in them; what drives them.

I secretly hope that some of them will be my memory; that they’ll tell me stories when I’m old and can’t remember…or maybe listen to one of my blended garbled ramblings. That’s how it’s supposed to be; I think; I thought…

there seems to be a few too many exceptions to this orderly idea of life I cling to…yesterday, Jake Hughes died.

Jake was bright eyed and aware at a very young age. He started working here way too young; washing gourds, weed wacking. By the time he was 13 he practically ran the place. Jeeze he made my life easy. He could drive anything, fix anything, and often helped me figure out how to adapt machines to varying specialty crops. He started college at age 16 and entered the Carlson School of Management earlier than most. He didn’t struggle with school.

He started building computers about the time he started college. He built the one I’m using right now. He built one for himself and overclocked the processor, then water cooled it to make it even faster. I guess he was always pushing limits.

I don’t like to compare people who work or have worked here, because each has their own strengths. However, it’s interesting to me, that the best ones come back; when they are between jobs, or short of money, or just for the heck of it; they come back.

Jake owned a home, was engaged, had a good job down town as a tech guy for a law firm. Still, if I needed someone to run a crew on a Saturday morning, he’d come over and do it. He offered it up; made it easy for me to ask.

But now he’s gone. His folk’s hearts are broken. And we are left to ponder what might have been. And what we could have or should have said, or done, to avoid this. All of it, all of him, spinning around in our heads, heavy hearts, and tears; spinning, never arriving anywhere, because the unfortunate/awful/horrible/tragic truth is; he’s not comin back.

I guess I post a photo pretty much like this every year, still, always a thrill to see the corn begin to emerge. Yesterday, in the morning, there was nothing, at all; by evening one could make out rows of corn; its amazing.
With the sunny weather we have been really busy with field work. I'm fortunate to have some excellent help, also, family members who bring me some food and coffee, knowing I'm pretty much living on the tractor.
Today, even though there is still plenty to do, I'm practically glad for the drizzle; I can get some work done that I've been putting off, and maybe mow the lawn for the first time...well, no, but I did manage to weed wack around the mail box so they keep delivering the mail.

finally, dry enough to plant today. the ground worked up really nice.

higher bars, lower gears, fatter tires...I'm NOT getting older, I just want more comfort

Dear Carl, I wish I could think of something profound to say to you; something about hoping for half your dignity when my time comes, or maybe casting a shadow half as long,
but really,
today,
I just wish I could talk to you

I am aware that this looks an awful lot like a 9th grade shop project; however it is the heart and soul of the soon, almost, very near, amazing technicolor textile traveling trunkshow tour, in a van (coming to a town near you). It will allow us to pack the van with rugs, to the roof, and still be able to extract the bikes without having to unpack.