LILFARM....damn right its better than yours

Preserving the harvest

2011-07-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well now what do you do with a drunken.. I mean a boatload of market leftovers?
Can it. CANIT . put it cans. Jar it.
That way you can be eating dilly beans in January long after the thought of picking them has faded from your mind, leaving you just a dull sense of dread that the next season you'll have to do it all over again and just a hint of,.. is that cayenne?

And whats more fun then cramming jar after jar of last years pickles down your friends throats in June to make room for the new ones because you were selfish last year after spending all day canning them and didn't want to share back when it made sense. You tried to get through them, really you did, but like Kayne says "No one man should have all them pickles".
We lost our minds and did 44 jars of pickles and dilly beans, 45 pounds of tomato sauce, a bunch of hot peppers and haven't had the heart to do salsa yet, but its coming.

If your like me at all, then you already know everything there is to know of value in this world and would never turn to a recipe for help of any kind. But some folks might dig this book for a great starting point or ending point on easy recipes, acid ratios and cook times to make the job easier. It was $6 damn well spent.

Ball Blue Book of Preserving

I'm sure there are quite a few ways to get this info and retain that six bucks as well, just use the googles.

Big things poppin

2011-07-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Dang- we brought the goods to market this week-
41 tomato types
potatoes fresh out the ground
squash cukes and on and on.
Table is lookin right!

With this much produce we were able to make it rain.

PS - It has rained a little everyday for the past three...your welcome.

2011-04-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

First of all one of two things is happening here at the crib, either Goose and Maverick are having sorties over my house or this is a signal form Skynet that it has just become self aware.

I 'm not gonna let a silly thing like robot masters keep me from telling you that for days and days, I've been
gettin my Tomato on, They are now all planted, 2000 of them but I still have plenty for you jokers, come buy them from me. Grow them, then when you run low, come buy more. I've got 42 varieties. all of which are gonna be amazing, I mean furry yellow hog, orange banana, Cosmonaut Volkov, what about those names doesn't make you hongree.

More Largese

2011-04-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Y'all heres a video made by my lovely friend Alix Blair about our Tool Coop.
Big pimpin.

http://vimeo.com/21811545

Where the hell have you been?

2011-04-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well well well, So here it is a year later, sorry I left you hangin.
I know some of you have had a rough go without me. Some fared worse than others. --Therapy, night sweats, panic , heavy substance abuse. These can all continue like normal, cuz I'm back, and my blogs back... at least for a week.

Where?
So we relocated. you can now find us deep in the heart of the BFE,
We got DSL out here now (ballers).
We got a fresh new crib.(ballers)
Its 2011, its summer in winter, weathers all cray cray.
The greenhouse is packed to the gills, the potatoes are in the ground, the strawberries have been weeded (sort of) and damn if it ain't tomato in the ground time.

That right there is a picture or two from January of last year, Stay tuned for a bit of magic and see how we made that very spot disappear... by putting a house on top of it.

I gotta get back to green housing, because these things don't handle themselves. So to my tens of thousands, maybe millions of eager followers, I bid thee a fond farewell.

But here is photographic proof of my determination on metaphorically " gettin busy" in the greenhouse.

Also included is photographic proof of other folks who misunderstood that, and decided to do some just regular " gettin busy " in the greenhouse.

PS- In other news , I'm about to turn thirteen apparently, because i thought toads humpin for the whole day was funny.----holler

hello melons- good bye hamstrings

2009-07-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well- Fancy seeing you all here- ...me oh I was just writing to tell y'all that I think we will bring you a few melons this week- The first wave is here- Sugar Babys- tiny little sweet watermelons that are perfect for two and you don't have to try and store a giant melon half in the fridge.
Get excited- sugarbabys first, and then orangelo - the best watermelon there is and a few others that hopefully will make it to fruition -
And- I think this will be the eggplant debut- we planted like 10 kinds of heirloom eggplants(of course)- including some crazy ones like Louisiana Long Green, and Listada Di Gandia- hopefully these will be around for a while.
Tomatoes- hell yeah- 2nd planting is starting to come on.
Cukes- almost the end of the road for these sweet treats
Thai basil- sharpen up your Asian Dishes- Curry? ya feel me
and maybe a few peppers
Taters this week will be:
Huckleberry- tasty, red all the way through- good for baking, frying, mashing, roasting-
And some small tomatoes- for sauce, salad , drying or roasting-
whew- get your nightshades on-
See you soon party people-
and did you know that Lilfarm was in a national magazine this month- read by literally tens of people- how does it feel to associate with greatness?were not sure yet either here's the link to it:
Check it out at http://www.mulemagazine.com/ - click on link in upper right corner: “Young Farmers in NC”- and look for the real sexy guy, then look on the next page and you'll find me, and my lovely dog Trudie, and a long rambling interview that reads like a long run on sentence that needs editing and just sort of seems to keep going and going, and doesn't seem to find any real point, just kind of meandering around not really... oh sorry bout that- see you this week.
sincerely, on this historic day,
Ghassan Armstrong and Buzz O'Neal- the first farmers to moon you on your walk-

2009-07-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hope its all happening the right way out there. Were looking forward to this week cause its going to be a little over cast, maybe a little rain- meaning a little awesome for the middle of July.
We are still in the midst of potato digging, and are excited to sample them your way- Last week we had All Blue, hope you liked em. This week how about Silverton- Its a Russet style, so its good for baking, frying, and scalloping- or heck even mashing. In the seed catalog its described as the best tasting Russet . So test that.

We are luckily still knee deep in Tomatoes. Look for those- it seems that we have the largest selection of heirlooms around.
Those Roma's that we have been giving you are called Principe Bouhrgese- which is the "sun drying" tomato. So get to work.

Beans- Beans, good for your heart- the more you eat- the more your full.
those beans are a mixture of Dragons Lingerie, Carson yellow wax, and EZ pick- we really dig these, and this might be the last week for them, maybe one more- steam em- or marinade them raw in a vinaigrette- or eat em anyway you care to.

This week- we'll have fresh basil- genovesse- the classic Italian basil- you know what to do with this- and the tomatoes- and some fresh Mozzerella, and a little oil and vinegar- and hell salt and pepper too, why not.

Heirloom Eggplant- yeah we had to be weird with these too- not sure what kinds will be ready this week but rest assured- they will be packed with eggplanty goodness.

lemon and Armenian cukes- awesome

and the eggs,

there you go, thats the box

Whats new out here? We had our best market to date on Saturday- Whoo! Time to blow it all on meth and mopeds... Well we have been diligently weeding the melons and it looks as though the Sugar Babys will be ripening soon followed by the best of all melons- Orangelo- perfect in every way- as well as a smattering of musk melons and other various tasty treats.Like Ali Baba- a long tasty water melon- with a tropical , spicy twang.
Just like everything , we grow lots of heirloom melons, because we enjoy the taste and style of these old varieties- and we like to know that by growing them we are perpetuating these genetics, and bringing you something that you won't be able to find in the grocery store, we hope you dig em.
See you this week, its my birthday- bring me a pony!

G & G Veggie Factory

Tatoes

2009-07-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Everybody get excited,
We started digging potatoes this week, and they look great. We planted 8 or 9 varieties so you'll get to enjoy them for a few weeks to come. We planted about 500lbs of seed potatoes, around St. Patricks day, and we think they did well, not 10 times what we planted well- but good enough, I'm just sayin, these boxes are heavy- and its time to eat some taters.
I'll have a description for all the spuds so you can see what varieties we have, and what those varieties do best, as in mashing, frying etc. whether its a dry or buttery one etc. Its time to refine your po-pallettes, so don't po-hate- eat yer po-tate-
hope no ones on the Atkins diet , or if you are, here's a tip: eat potatoes anyway, and then switch diets.
This week we shall have (hopefully):

Potato- All Blue- these are blue all the way through- and are a Moist, Firm spud- And they make great fries...just sayin

many more Heirloom tomatoes- all from the field, all awesome- hopefully your enjoying these
some romas- sweet little red ones
or tomatillios- salsa!- roast these and add an obscene amount of garlic and cilantro -eat it

summer squash- it might not seem like it, but your gonna miss these when they're gone

Beans- a mix of greens, yellow wax, and dragons lingerie(purple striped)- I love these beans just steamed with a little salt- but get crazy if you like-

cukes- white, lemon, and Asian oh my!

a little more garlic- its almost gone- alas

and probably some flowers- a little mix

eggs-

very soon, we'll bring y'all some eggplants and peppers, probably next week-
hollah,
Sarah Palin, And Mark Sanford

yep- a little drier this time

2009-06-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

So this week we really will be bringing an assortment of field grown heirloom tomatoes- all of our varieties, with the exception of the sungolds this year are non-hybridized which is exciting for us- so because of that could someone please chill this weather out a little- I need consistency with temps- and rain that softly comes from the ground up every other day for about 45 minutes and if possible from about 5:30 am till about 6:15- than chase that with a nice breeze because I really don't like wet plants with no breeze or sun- ya feel me. We were starting to get a little worried with all the rain there- now that we have experienced three sunny days I feel like its ok to tell y'all that Ghassan and I had gotten in the habit of lookin around to see if anyone was building a rather large boat.Not that we got too worried cause if they were building a boat and recruiting critters in 2 by 2's and forgot these 2 funny mf-ers than that boat ride would have sucked.
Heres what were up to this week- lots
today were gonna tie tomatoes, and finally get our sweet potatoes in the ground- 2 weeks late of course, pick up some straw to mulch them and then kick back and watch em grow- no wait- i mean then were gonna take the strawberry plants out of the ground and plant a cover crop were they were- to get that spot ready for the fall brassicas. and believe it or not its time to start all the fall plants again- doesn't the universe know we're very busy and need an extra few months here.
we'll try to get all the rest of our sorry garlic out of the ground- we left in the ground through that rather rainy period and will now pay the price- the outside husk is gone so we have tons of naked bulbs- indecent.
we'll start digging potatoes as soon as they decide its time- and hopefully we'll bring you some beans here soon

maters
garlic
eggs
squash
cukes
pac choi? maybe its almost time
and maybe some flowers or- well something fun-

so yeah- see you this week-
sincerely,
kid & play

Farm to Fork

2009-06-15T06:52:00.001-07:00

If my typing looks a little rough this morning, I assure you this computer has a hangover , not me. It has nothing to do with the awesome Farm to Fork picnic yesterday, where with Monica from the Lantern, we made hand shaved strawberry sno-cones with homemade marshmallow honey cream, and a candied strawberry. And after a few malt beverages I definitely didn't go from there to a Harvest dinner at Il Palio and drink a glass of wine with course after course of awesome locally driven fare like four onion soup, and lamb ravioli .
Usually my life is a little less like a rap video- and a bit more like 80's metal one--- I try to just to have a nominal amount of over the top delicious food and decadence mixed with ample work- but you know that's how we roll here at lilfarm. Some days it rains- Some days we make it rain.........think about that.

This week: you might see

The last of the spring greens-
we will say good bye to kale and collards pretty soon here,
along with this years really small cabbages-

more summer squash- or squarsh depending on how you pronounce it- hopefully the little lemon squash will make an appearance this week

and if all goes well the first of the field grown heirloom tomatoes- we pulled the first three ripe ones on Friday-but..... tragedy found them, we brought them home and gently placed them on the counter but alas, they weren't safe in the kitchen- the last thing I remember seeing was some monster preparing what appeared to be a sandwich without meat- the mayo, the salt, the pepper, fresh bread-and he kept saying things like- ive been waiting months for this, and you lookin ripe... oh its too painful- I can't even talk about it..

we pulled some garlic on Friday- we'll hook you up-

and we were gonna start pulling potatoes this week but all this rain is keeping them going-which means more potatoes- be patient

what else..oh maybe parsley and more fennel- dont worry when the bulb fennel is done- we will have bronze fennel(herb)- your mouth will forever feel clean
and damn those flowers were fly- maybe more of those bouquets-- did people like the edible flowers or was that a little too kitchy?
alright- - see you this week--

Captain and Tennelle

This Week

2009-06-10T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hope you are all enjoying the sweltering heat out there- coupled with the torrential downpour-(thailand anyone) Believe it or not this is my kind of weather- I like that beer at the end of the day to feel like an oasis rather than an aspirin - like I earned it you know. SO this week has been a battle the weeds kind of time- we fought back against the invasion of spiny amaranth- which gets its name from the really large spikes, that are definitely armor piercing, that go up its stalk , through your gloves and into your fingers. Its our dominant weed in many of the fields- which is great because not only does it set seeds in 4 weeks are less- but it sets thousands per plant, and they can lay dormant for about a hundred years or so- every time you scratch the soil a new bumper crop is waiting right there for you. Our seed bank is mighty- luckily so is our desire to make rent- So the war rages on...

We have green tomatoes all over our plants- I tied up the first planting yesterday and was admiring the different shapes that they are all taking on. The first cherry tomatoes turning red- We planted 1500 in the first planting and they were all heirloom open pollinated varieties this year- except for the Sungolds- which are a necessity- Heirloom means that it is the same variety that it has been for ever- the seed isn't hybridized, and if you were to save seed you would get the same thing year after year- we grow them rather than the typical flavorless hybrid varieties so that we can not only enjoy the real flavor of food and and years of genetic information- but because all the commercial varieties are being snatched up by huge seed companies who can't wait to get a hold of all the types so they can put patents on them to control seed banks, and genetically alter them to not only taste like shit, but they can ship from here to the moon, and they show up cosmetically identical. We prefer to be difficult- never mind the politics of it- you can't go to Harris Teeter and get white or black tomatoes- or a variety of red that was smuggled out of Iraq (al- kuffa) and sent to Missouri so that while this occupation continues the history of this variety won't be decimated like the area it came from, and maybe one day it will find its way back there- and hopefully the plants will continue to set fruit so that it will also find its way into your kitchen.and eventually your mouth.

What are we gonna have this week? Please no more escarole.

This week we are gonna start pulling all our garlic and onions and sending them your way- red and white onions- this year should be like all the others, I 'm realizing that I might not be an onion grower- maybe one day, I guess i can't be perfect in all ways- just most
Garlic- might start coming to you all soon- I pull it and then cure/dry it so it will have a bit of a shelf life- but get ready- and eat it often to scare off the mosquitoes
Squash- fry it up and eat it- or stew it with onions and eat it- or puree it with milk and butter and eat it- or...
We still have greens- don't be tired of them yet because you might miss them soon
The cukes should be here soon- salt pepper and and vinegar- refreshing
haruki turnips- sweet salad turnips- I like em raw but you can eat them anyway you like- braised mashed- stir fried- any thing you want
edible flower mix- add this in your salads or sprinkle on a dish to dress it up a little- a mix of nasturtiums , borage, marigolds, bachelor buttons and calendula-
eggs-
fennel bulbs- fennel's awesome but it takes some getting used to - I like it roasted with maybe some turnips and carrots - coat it in oil and roast it till its soft- than add in whatever you like and watch how fast it goes
Munich bier radish- yeah they go with beer- salt and butter - and lets assume based on the name that the Germans enjoy not only Hasselhoff- but also deez radishes
escarole- so the trick to cooking this bitter is acidity- cook it or grill it and it becomes sweet- or if you go raw- use lots of lemon juice or vinegar- and of course you can cover it in bacon grease to not only be my hero , but also a traditionalist- look for lardon salad on the webs and get creative from there-

beets are suckin wind- we might not have any till the fall- whoops

but beans are lookin good- so is the celery, and the peppers-
and real soon we are gonna drown you in potatoes- we planted 10 varieties so get your Peruvian taste buds ready and see what your favorite is-
well I gotta go to work- these plants aren't gonna complain themselves into order.
See you this week- bring me some brown bags if you have them piling up
Later-

Were gonna be chicken talkin if you want in

2009-04-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

So in a couple of weeks we are gonna be facilitating a workshop at stone circles on how to build and use a chicken tractor- the flyer really says it all- but you know i've got to type something here:

Chicken Tractor Workshop

April 19th (Sunday) 10am-4pm

Facilitated by: George O'Neal of Lil' Farm in Hillsborough, NC

Details:

The Chicken Tractor/ Mobile Coop workshop will first consist of some basic discussion and information about benefits of mobile chicken coops, breeds/varieties, as well as management practices. In the second portion of the workshop we will work on constructing two types of mobile chicken coops. One will be a coop built on the top of a "pull behind" trailer with a vehicle hitch, used for egg layers. The second will be a smaller coop that services the backyard chicken owner, and the smaller homestead. Participants should bring work clothes to wear, and the Stone House will be providing a lunch for the workday.

The cost of the workshop will be on a sliding scale basis ranging from ($5-$15)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Proceeds from this Workshop will benefit a local organic farmer with health care needs and medical costs.**

Please RSVP if you interested so we can plan accordingly

For more information contact Tahz at tahz@stonecircles.org or call 919/304-5000.

Local Directions
From 15-501 South in Chapel Hill, or Main Street in Carrboro, get onto Highway 54 West. Go approximately 10 miles once you leave Carrboro. After you pass Stanford Road on the right, take the next right onto Mebane Oaks Road. (There will be a sign pointing to the left for "Saxapahaw" and a small sign for the Inn at the Bingham School.) Go 2.3 miles and make a right onto Nicks Road. We are the 4th driveway on the right, #6602. Look for the signs for The Stone House.

I-40/I-85
Take I-40 West and/or I-85 South towards Greensboro. Take exit 154/Mebane Oaks Road. Turn left and go exactly 6 miles and turn left onto Nicks Road. Fourth driveway on the right, #6602. Look for the signs for The Stone House!

Some pics of chickens and lazy dogs,getting in the way of walk-in cooler building

2009-01-06T12:29:00.001-08:00

2009 are you really wasting time reading blogs?

2009-01-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

Ok this right here is the first blog/post thing for lilfarm- the goal is to update often so that folks can check in on what were up to- unfortunately you can't post pictures of doing meth on blog spot, so we will have to leave all those out for now- but ideally we will add pictures and recipes and insults, and maybe even music critiques.
this will become yet another thing in your day to waste a bit of it on- hopefully it all feels worth it.

This week has been fill the greenhouse week- we planted kale,collards,broccoli,cabbage, leeks,onions, and some head lettuce, we started most everything in 72 cell trays, and all of that was using our home blended soil mix which I'll add a recipe for:

Poor Folks Good Ass Potting Mix Recipe

In a large large container-mix these things in this order, I use a 5 gallon bucket as a measure.
and i mix outside because these things will irritate your little lungs.

2 parts peat moss (this is not a sustainable product, i'm researching a good substitute)
1/2 cup of lime to counter the acidity of the peat
1 part vermiculite(coarse)
1 part pearlite(don't breath the dust because its bad for you!)
1 part good compost- i use various ones- but make sure its from a good quality reputable source
1/3 bucket of worm castings- no more than 10% by volume
and one cup of each of the following:
bone meal
blood meal
greensand
on these things you can substitute a non animal source or whatever you have a preference to , but match the numbers so that you have an appropriate N,P,K ratio.
What we do is mix the lime and peat first, then add the next ingredient while spraying with a little water to keep down dust(wear a mask appropriate for the task)mix thoroughly
then go like that one at a time until everything is mixed completely and there is no way to have clumps or pockets of unmixed things. I add enough water so it feels good, but you don't want it saturated, so take it easy tiger.