After looking for land for what now seems like an eternity (during the busiest time of year, to boot) we are finally the proud owners of 40 Ac of sweet loam! We've kept the whole deal fairly hush-hush because we didn't want to disappoint ourselves or our customers if it didn't work out. It did work out though, and thank goodness, because we were getting down to the wire. Our new place is in the Council Valley just North of Cushing, Oklahoma in Payne County. It is a traditional farming community. Click
here for an aerial photo taken last winter!
You should totally check out this panorama shot that Chelsea took to get a feel for what kind of land this is. It is ancient alluvial terrace, which means it was formed as flood plains around the
Cimarron River millions of years ago. Now it out of the flood plain by about 40 feet so we don't have to worry about flooding. The river is just a 1/4 mile behind the trees in the background.
One of the reasons the topography is important is because the farm has to be able to access irrigation water for our veggies. We drilled our well before we even closed on the property to make sure that we could get sufficient water. This is the drilling rig that punched the hole. The well is only 70 feet deep, and bores into the gravel around the current river bed. That means we are essentially pumping river water that has been filtered through a 1/4 mile of gravel!
Here is what the well looks like now - just a straw sticking out of the ground! That is me telling my Dad "there's the well." It's really the only improvement on the property except the pond on the very back of the property. I dropped a little homemade bucket down the hole for a water sample, and the water starts at 15ft below the surface! That means our water column is currently 55 ft tall! Wow! The water is hard, but is suitable for irrigation.
We are so excited about this property, and we are planning to have a grand opening party out there this fall after we move our reefer and equipment. It seems kind of silly to have a grand opening a year after starting our business, but we never got to have ours!
Most importantly, now that we own the farm, we will be able to give farm tours, farm parties, farm table dinners, and generally engage with our community the way a farm should. We are also free to start our
CSA next year! Join up!
- Don and Chelsea
Chelsea and I were looking forward to doing a strong fall and winter market, but the combination of all the rain in September and the move to our new location has encouraged us to call it a season soon. The pie pumpkins are still going strong and we are still digging sweet potatoes for market and for those of you who've ordered cured potatoes. The peppers are rocking on, but most of our other veggies have quit for the season. Here is a photo of our pie pumpkins with their faces washed all smiling in the sun.
The potatoes come out of the ground pretty muddy. We are so ready to move to our sandy loam and be done with this sticky black muck. It doesn't even wash off very well because it is so sticky.
In case you are wondering what "curing" means, check out this fact sheet. It is all we know about curing sweet potatoes and is handy reference. Basically, you put them up in a well ventilated room at about 90 degrees for about 4 days so that the can grow a protective tissue over any wounds caused by harvesting and handling.
One of the reasons the topography is important is because the farm has to be able to access irrigation water for our veggies. We drilled our well before we even closed on the property to make sure that we could get sufficient water. This is the drilling rig that punched the hole. The well is only 70 feet deep, and bores into the gravel around the current river bed. That means we are essentially pumping river water that has been filtered through a 1/4 mile of gravel!
