Chronicles of the Long Shot Farm

Deer Repellent for Fruit Trees and Grapes

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Bought 3 yards of netting today (the kind you would make little girl’s ballerina skirts out of) – in a drab brown color.  It was 50% off, so I think the cost was 75 cents a yard.  I doubled up the fabric and started sewing strips together, just wide enough for the bars of soap we have been collecting. Most of the soap came from Zach, who travels the most 🙂   I cut each 3 yard strip into 6 pieces and then inserted the soap. This made a total of 48 “bags” for the soap.   Tomorrow, I will tie one bag on each fruit tree, and space them out along the grape trellises.  Not sure how many more I need, but I think this might work.

Early Spring Weather

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Not only did we have a relatively mild winter, but also an unseasonably warm February and early March.  Last Thursday, the temperature crept up to 68 degree F and for next week, the forecast predicts temperature in the upper 70’s….this is definitely causing concern for fruit crops, fruit trees as well as blackberries.  Warm weather will cause some trees and brambles to bloom early, making them susceptible to frost damage – and we still have 2 weeks of winter left!  According to the National weather service, temperatures have been running nearly 6 degrees above average in February, and more than 4 degrees above average already in March.  But – the warm weather is great for getting a head start in cleaning up flower beds, and even painting fences.  Today we planted two more fruit trees –  Stanley Plums, there were a Christmas present which arrived via courier on Friday.

Ute’s German Apple Cake

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Ingredients for the Crust:
· 1/2 cup of sugar
· 1 stick + 6 tablespoons of butter
· 2 cups flour
· 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 1 egg

Ingredients for the Filling:
· Approximately 6 large apples
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 2 tablespoons sugar (depends how tart the apples are)
Assembly:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix sugar and butter, until smooth
3. Add vanilla and egg and blend well
4. Mix flour and baking powder and add to mixture, blending well.
5. Take 2/3 of the dough and press it into a greased 9 inch springform pan, forming a 1 inch rim
6. Peel and finely slice apples and pour into prepared crust (just like a pie)
7. Dot apples with small pieces of butter and spring a little sugar on top
8. Roll out remaining dough on a well floured surface and cover the apples – this does not have to look pretty,
9. Dot with some more small pieces of butter and a little sugar
10. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour
 Ideally, this is served with fresh whipping cream!

Babyshower Weekend…and more pruning

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We celebrated Anja’s babyshower over the weekend with lots of family and friends. It was a perfect day, sunny and breezy and everyone enjoyed walking around outside.  We also managed to plant 2 flats of pansies before the “party”, and trimmed more brambles as well as our roses and fruit trees.

Building a Future Crush Pad!

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Nothing like needing more space for a barn wedding to move projects along:  we had always planned on building a “crush pad” (for crushing berries and pressing cider) right in front of the barn…at some future date, but with a May wedding in the barn, and the need for more space, the crush pad suddently became an urgency. 

So earlier this week, on Tuesday, we got an entire dump truck load of gravel (around 20 tons).  Jeff and Lars worked every afternoon on moving the gravel to the area in front of the barn where another large concrete slab needs to be poured.  (Luckily we still have Zach’s tractor with the hydraulic front bucket to make this a manageable job).

Jens came over on Saturday and with his help we sank 6 pressure treated 6X6X8 posts around the perimeter of the future crush pad and cemented them in. 

On Sunday we build a form between the posts.  We then started building a “stone wall” about 6 inches inside the form to hold back the gravel….that way, there will be a smooth 6″ section of cement the entire way around the slab, with the gravel base under the rest of it.  The posts will be reset just a little into the concrete slab and will serve to hold on the railing.  The ground slopes quite a bit at that section, and while the front of the conrete slab is only a step up off the ground, we we will be about 3 ft above the ground in the back – which is perfect for pulling up with a load of fruit later.