2009 Annual Report for FNC07-682
Incredible Crop Yields From Small Urban Spaces
Summary
WORK ACTIVITIES
March 2009
* Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture (KCCUA) photographer came out to photograph Noel, Natasha and I for the June 28th farm tour booklet
* transplanted about 12 flats of tomatoes
*started various flats of veggies and fruits under grow lights for later transplanting
*cleaned out seed inserts, trays and organized them in shed
*fertilized indoor flats
*planted bed number #7
*got more fliers ready for market & signs for our upcoming Sat market
*borrowed son's truck picking up part remainder bales of organic straw, also cattle manure for my special compost and teas
*been making world record compost for crops
*sold soaps, micro greens, plants and advertised our CSSA's (Community Supported Soap and Agriculture) a Food Circle Sale in Kansas
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads at markets
*visited Flower Lawn and Garden show for ideas and picked up seeds and plants for garden
*ordered rare veggie and fruit seeds on E-bay
April 2009
*begin delivering micro-greens to a CSSA customer weekly
*picked up table at Christine Kanas for June 28 sale
*bought greenhouse plans online
*fertilized indoor flats and garden plants
*called local lumber for cedar, they delivered
*ordered more rare veggie and fruit seeds on E-bay
*sold soaps, micro greens, plants and advertised our CSSA's (Community Supported Soap and Agriculture) at second Food Circle Sale in Independence, Mo
*met at Joe Jennings house to go over greenhouse plans
*went to Hummert's in St. Joseph, MO to buy organic soil and seeds
*tried to make more world record compost for crops
*planted beets, carrots, cool season crops & potatoes in bags
*planted dozens of flats of peppers and other misc. plants for farmer Joe Jenning's garden
*planted misc. cool season crops in cold frame
*put up wall-of-waters around all tomato plants
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads at markets
*broke ground for greenhouse, (mainly Joe Jennings, 3 teenage boys), a girl friend, my son and myself helped with light projects for the greenhouse: helped make wooden molds for footing, helped with mixing/pouring cement footing around the edge for greenhouse, knocked off wooden molds, cut and raised sides and roof for greenhouse, (all cedar walls were put into place, several recycled glass panels from sliding glass door were put in to place),
*started micro-greens for first K. C. Organics Market in May 2nd
*thinned out spinach, transplanted lettuces and cabbages in bed #7
*collected rainwater
May 2009
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at K. C. Organics Market
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at Mission Farms Market
*fertilized flats and garden plants
*garden apprentice Jennifer Hawkins came over to work in the beds
*transplanted over 300 lettuces
*planted warm season crops in peat pots and in garden beds after May 15th
*delivered CSSA's to customers
*some customers picked up CSSA's at my house
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads at markets
*dropped off field signs for Joe Jennings. Nate made signs in exchange for work Joe did on greenhouse
*mulched fields, bed #1-7 with organic straw
*planted transplants into garden
*put up rabbit fencing around bed #7
*put up deer fencing around bed #1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
*collected rainwater
June 2009
*Dick Sims tilled up a bed early in June
*planted more warm season crop transplants, okra, eggplants, yard long beans, luffa's, etc
*KCCUA Farm Tour Meeting, picked up yard signs info etc for June 28th tour
*fertilized flats and garden plants
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at K. C. Organics Market
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at Mission Farms Market
*garden apprentice Jennifer Hawkins came over to work in the beds
*delivered CSSA's to customers
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads at markets
*some customers picked up CSSA's at my house
*went to a few garden centers for more seeds
*collected rainwater
July 2009
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at K. C. Organics Market
*sold soaps, CSSA's, micro-greens and various transplants weekly at Mission Farms Market
*fertilized flats and garden plants
*garden apprentice Jennifer Hawkins came over to work in the beds
*delivered CSSA's to customers
*some customers picked up CSSA's at my house
*went to a few garden centers for more garden and micro-green seeds
*started over 50 flats of assorted micro-greens (over 500 little 4 by 4 inch trays) sunflower, collard, mustard, broccoli, radish, cabbage, wheat grass, etc
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads at markets
*taught body butter class and bath fizzy classes at two local libraries for KCCUA Farm & Garden Tour the week before, and talked to people about my farm grant
*KCCUA Farm & Garden Tour June 28, 2009 (over 100 people showed up to see our farm), I talked about our grant and project for several hours, sold soaps and micro-greens; Mansion House (who teaches food preparation classes) came out and made raw food samples for the public using many of our assorted micro-greens, edible daylily's and other veggies; world renown Betty Jo Simon came out and played accordion for four hours
*collected rainwater
August 2009
*bartered micro-greens and soaps for other organic veggies, honey and breads very early August
*left home in emergency, August 4
*Bread of Life sold soaps, various transplants weekly at K. C. Organics Market
*Dave Lawrence, sold soaps weekly at Mission Farms Market
*garden apprentice Jennifer Hawkins came over to work in the beds
*put a hold on CSSA's at markets
*some customers picked up CSSA's at my house
Sept 2009
*picked produce off and on
Oct 2009
*picked produce off and on
*had over 100 bags of leaves hauled into beds #1,2,3,5,6,7
*picked up money from Bread of Life at Brookside Market, several trays of micro-greens for me in August when I left home, she also sold soaps/bath care products until late Oct for me
*Dick Sims tilled under bed #1,2,3,5,6,7
*planted rye cover crops on bed #1,2,3,5,6,7
*collected rainwater
Nov 2009
*purchased seeds and planned out next years garden
*cleaned up and stored away flats and inserts
*collected rainwater
Dec 2009
*purchased seeds and planned out next years garden
*cleaned up fields
Jan 2010
*planted greens in cold frame with (Tabetha Gilson) and Kathy Alongi
*temporary garden apprentice (Tabetha Gilson) and my two kids Noel and Natasha went to a few stores with me to purchase garden soil and seeds
*garden apprentice Terri Honn (who will be applying in March to be my 2010 apprentice in the growing growers program) helped me prepare flats, peat pots and inserts
*Terry Honn and I went to a few garden centers to buy seeds and soil
*continued planning out this years garden
Feb 2010
*purchased seeds and planned out this years garden
*temporary garden apprentice Tabetha Gilson and apprentice Terry Honn, also my two children and I, helped plant over 30 flats of misc. peppers, tomatoes in peat pots under grow lights, also chinese veggies, lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chards, herbs and more
*picked up six large tables for greenhouse, will remove circular tops and fasten square table tops to sturdy bases
*prepare (scrap off black tar like substance, around all the corners) remainder sliding glass door windows to inlay in greenhouse
*interview garden apprentice Ben Storey who I will teach under the Growing Growers program -- he signed up in late Feb.
*called Stuppie's to get pricing on polycarbinate for roof of greenhouse and delivery
*work with Joe Jennings to complete greenhouse in March (finish 2 doors, inlay windows and roof)
March 2010 and on-
I will continue to keep planting under my grow light system I assembled, then transfer plants to the greenhouse as soon as it gets finished. Joe Jennings will be working on the greenhouse over the next warm days and continuing until it's finished. My goal is to have it completely closed in by late March. I now have a cat with a few kittens to mouse my greenhouse. I plan on taking the garden to the next level this season, along with the soap business full time.
RESULTS
All of the wooden sides and roof are on the greenhouse now along with several window panes. Over 70 tomato cages have been made, the irrigation system is on its way, and I've continued to keep building up the beds.
I have secured organic straw for this year, (200+ bales) for mulching and making my special compost.. also cattle manure, The deer still kept trying to eat my crops (the one with the rabbit fencing only) so I am putting deer fence up around that bed too this year. We did not get a dog last year and the groundhog did more damage. I plan on getting a family dog or possibly tearing down the old chicken coop where the groundhog lives in late spring with Joe Jennings.
Groundhogs live in adandoned buildings (the building is on its way down anyway). My son wants to go do blacksmithing so we're looking at putting up a decent shed in that spot this year for that and to house garden tools.
We still had unbelievable amounts of rain in 2009; I battled flooded fields it seemed all year. I did not have to water the fields at all last year although I did leave my place in early Aug which is usually the driest month. I keep trying to build up the beds more and more each year. (I have noticed that two of the beds are considerably dryer than they once were in 2007 and 2008 ). I will probably break open a plot of ground close to the house this year to secure a higher bed, in case the rain is like last year.
Additional accomplishments:
• I had several informal garden apprentices last year.
• I purchased a very large compost tumbler last year and blocked off the airflow intake. I am making my compost in it to ward off the rats.
• I had a used motor for our 30 yr. old Troy built tiller put in in March, after the motor blew two years ago. This allows me to till more small spots like I once did, when I need to.
• I planted several more fruit trees last year.
• I cut back shrubs on the north side of the property to begin starting a sugar maple field, by widening the lot 10 extra feet.
• I cut back overgrowth around our fences, opening up more of the south beds to more light.
• I started digging a pond.
I extended the blueberry beds by propagating more plants from our older blueberry bushes.
• I extended the grape rows by propagating more plants from our older grape bushes.
• I told over 500 people about the SARE grant I received.
WORK PLAN FOR 2010
*I plan on getting the Mantis tiller fixed for even smaller spots.
*I will be making out a planting schedule for starting all my micro-greens every eight days before all of the markets we sell at so the greens will be the proper length.
*I will be making out a schedule for all the pickup times for my CSSA customers.
*I will be finishing Charles Wilber’s irrigation system for my crops that I didn't finish last year.
*I still have a dream of purchasing a strip of my neighbor's land on the south side. (This will allow me more growing space for a few more beds that are higher up and more orchard trees.) I need to save up.
*I will be purchasing the greenhouse heater, and completing a two-level system for my greenhouse, I also will finishing up a 12-level growing system for all of my micro greens; they only need 6-8 inches of head space between them. I plan to continue selling micro-greens year round.
*We will be buying polycarbonate for the roof of the greenhouse in March, plus two glass windows.
*I plan on having several volunteers this year 2010, to work with me on all of my projects.
*I will have two formal apprentices with the Growing Growers program this year to teach organic gardening to.
*I’ll continue increasing my growing space indoors in our basement over the next three weeks, to accommodate the heavy load of flats that I'm planting (peat potted plants take more space). I will then transfer the warm season crops to the greenhouse once it’s built, and the cool season crops to my temporary cold frame.
*I still have plans for building a permanent cold frame this year.
*My garden apprentices and I will be building a permanent raised strawberry bed this year.
*I have plans to plant several more fruit trees this year.
*I plan on cutting back more shrubs on the north side of the property to start a sugar maple field.
*I acquired over 100 feet of wooden picket fencing to put up across the front yard (to prepare for getting a dog so he/she can run the property and chase away wildlife).
*I plan on landscaping around the fence once it is put up with edible berry shrubs.
*I will be hauling in 250 new bales of straw .
* I plan on finishing the pond.
*I plan to purchase a cheap pickup truck; I’ve been relying on our 22 yr. old son’s. I’ll need a reliable truck for hauling manure, straw etc.
*I plan the purchase of a new sturdy wheelbarrow to continue transporting soil from higher ground to the low lying problem areas.
*I plan to keep cutting back more overgrowth around our fences, opening up the south beds to more light.
*I plan to plant more grapes on our grape row, (several old bushes have died) and plan on putting up a new grape fence.
*I plan on purchasing more red tomato collars.
*I plan to continue building more arbors for our climbing crops.
*I have been working on making a kitchen colonial type garden on the side of our house in bed #7, this will contain a small amount of most of the crops for quick picking (it's coming along).
* I will continue to tell people about the SARE grant at markets etc.
OUTREACH
I’ve been talking about my project at every market I’ve attended over the last two years (2008-2009). I’ve personally talked one-on-one to over 500 people about my project. I plan to continue telling all of my customers about it at every market I participate in this year (2010) as well.
During the KCCUA Farm Tour I talked with over 100 people about the grant and my project. I plan to continue handing out fliers on what I’m doing.
I will continue to advertise by word of mouth that I received the SARE grant in 2008 and on the Growing Growers website, and I plant to continue my project “Incredible Crop Yields from Small Urban Spaces.”
This year, 2010, I plan to continue telling people at my markets I sell at, about my project that I'm doing for SARE. At present I am working at helping a very worthy not-for-profit group in Kansas City, to submit a project to SARE this year.