The Summer Wind-Down

We have celebrated the last day of the poultry summer. Friday evening was spent with friends and accordion music provided by Dan Newman at the Two Harbors Arts in the Park series. I captured one of the special moments of the day below.

HAPPY SUMMER 2013!

***

 Let's have a look at the summer in review with pictures that were taken throughout the season during other projects and fun excursions...

Knife River Beach with a pocket full o' rocks!

Great Lakes Aquarium.

Two Harbors "Chalk.a.lot"

Kristin and her friend Meghan waiting for the tall ships.

May's favorite - Root Beer!

A Big Project...

The berm space in front of the greenhouse has been transformed! We started this project several weeks ago and after many stages it's finally finished... Three rows of raised beds consisting of Aronia, Juneberry, and High-bush Cranberry seedlings that will eventually turn into nice shrub bushes. Check out pictures taken throughout the process.  

Finished product.

Farm Hands

Kristin, May, and Honey make a good farm team!

I guess we also have to have a little (or a lot) of fun... especially on those 90 degree days!

Pictures from around the farm

Panoramic view.

Sunset.

Three-day old Cornish chicks.

Pasture sparrow eggs, species unknown.

Young pigs playing with each other.

Golden Eagle perched on branch overlooking hens. They were not pleased.

Check Out this Beautiful Crock!

Karin Kraemer of Duluth Pottery custom-made this sauerkraut crock.

Ultimate!

On Monday nights Cindy likes to go play with her ultimate Frisbee team down on Park Point. Recently, we've all (including Honey) been trekking down to the point to participate in pick-up games. Here are some pictures to document this fun sport.

Cindy's YMCA team

Eatin' Good from the Garden

The first image below is a complete meal from Clover Valley Farm. Polenta with kale and currants and apple cider! The other shots were captured in the garden where we are watching the fruit ripen and vegetables come in.

Cindy & the Duluth Community Garden Program

The Duluth Community Garden Program had an inaugural event yesterday at their new "Emerald" community garden site. Cindy gave a Polenta and sautéed kale cooking and tasting demonstration. Here are some pictures!

This amazing garden site was an overgrown, abandoned lot a year ago...500+ hours of volunteer labor and now it is a neighborhood jewel!

Cindy gives a cooking and tasting demonstration.

"Year of the Squash" T-shirts...see the Duluth Community Garden Program website for more!

Kids got to try their hand at grinding their own corn flour from the beautiful flint corn Cindy provided!

Everyone tried the polenta and kale, and there were lots of "Hey, that's really good!" comments.

Hiking the Superior National Trail

We recently took a 6.4 mile hike on a nearby Superior National Trail. The mosquitoes were brutal (especially for Kristin), but it was great to get in a long walk through tons of diversity. Honey accompanied us and could have kept going!

Bog

Beaver dam

Garter snake

Berries, Galore!

This past week, Cindy and Kristin picked more than 5 pounds of berries, including Juneberries and Red Currants. These berries may soon be used to make a mead, a beverage made from the berries through the process of fermentation.

Red currants

May and Cindy picking red and white currants

The cherries are ripe!

Juneberries

The "Newest" Orchard

A few weeks ago Cindy picked up 40 bare-root apple trees to be planted in a new orchard space on the farm. There are 4 varieties - Frostbite, Snow Sweet, Jonathan, and State Fair. Jeff, Cindy, May, and Kristin worked hard (and sometimes in the blazing heat) to get these trees into the ground. What a nice-looking new orchard!

Before

One down... 39 to go!

After - with chickens grazing in the pens between the rows!