We grow a diverse mix of vegetables using methods that help us live as good neighbors to people, plants, and critters.
Our sustainable methods go beyond organic, and we only sell within ten miles of the farm. Each year the soil gets healthier and more pr
Operating as usual
While it's 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside with a windchill of -3, inside the tunnel it's 65! The tunnel is completely passively heated (only by the sun), and when it's not sunny the differences in temps inside and out are less dramatic, but still cool! Continuously blown away by such simple and effective technology to grow year round...
Tucking the sensitive veggies in for the cold weather that's coming!
Believe it or not, but we should have some loose leaf spring mix ready to purchase from our online store by the end of December! I will keep you guys posted on the lettuce, as well as spinach and arugula š Thanks to for helping us quickly get this tunnel up in the fall!
Another off season task is taking care of much of the dead wood around the property, and turning it into firewood! It's a nice change of pace from rolling out tarps to cover fields, and other monotonous farm tasks, ha, ha ha
Reminder: sign up for farmbox membership before the end of the year to get 10% off!
The "off-season" means a lot of different things for the farm and family. One of these is finally getting to some preserving! Here we're making salsa and spicy carrots!
Most people do their canning late summer and early fall, but that is still peak season here on the farm, and we just don't have time, ha ha ha.
Working on a few end of season projects on the farm! Including covering all the beds for clean w**d free beds in the spring, and flail mowing our sledding hill š·š·āļøšØļø
Remember to sign up for next year's farmbox membership before the end of the year to get a 10% discount! Signing up now helps our farm do more before the end of the season to set ourselves up for success next year, and you won't miss out when the membership is full in the spring!
Discount code: EARLYBIRD
The wonders of a passively heated high tunnel: it's barely 40Ā°F out, and the gable vents have already automatically opened up to keep the tunnel under 75Ā°F! We have no heaters in the tunnel, and depend purely on good insulation and sunshine! Also, you can see the humidity on my glasses as they fogged up upon entering the tunnel. And check out those spinach babies coming up :-)
Cheers to the end of the main season and the coming of winter! On the farm winter signals a change from busy fieldwork, continuous harvesting and planting, to spending more time with family, house projects, and checking in on the crops slowly growing in the greenhouse. Weāve got a few inches of snow on the ground, and are looking forward to resting and planning for next season! Thank you to everyone who bought our veggies, volunteered on the farm, and generally supported us āŗļø
Cheers to the end of another season! We made it 26 weeks for the Farmbox subscription, which is a full 6 months, woohoo! Already beginning to sign up members for next yearās subscription if you can believe it, haha
Iāve said it before, but my favorite tool is the flail mower! I can mow down woody mature broccoli stalks and leave behind a vegetable smoothie right on top of the bed š
Seeds planted! 5 of 8 beds made (before I ran out of compost), and got them fully planted with various greens. Hereās hoping thereās enough time to get something mature before we hit winter. Otherwise, weāll have greens nice and early next March š
Prepping the ground in the tunnel to plant! Till->Cardboard->6 inches of compostā¦plant!
Harvesting possibly the last of the peppers, and working through the carrot bed. Feels great still harvesting in November!
Final step complete on the tunnel: pulled the plastic on the top with the help of and , and wired the vents and side wall to automatically open and close depending on the temp. Now itās time to build beds and plant!!
Child of field and foragingā¦when you put freshly foraged clover on your sandwich. š„Ŗ āļø
We are back with carrots this week! These taste so sweet now that weāve had a few light frosts šš„
I once again took advantage of the flexibility of being a Farmer, and added on to the treehouse with a new rock climbing wall and ladder instead of harvesting again in the bitter cold, haha
What a cold and wet day it has been! Even so, everything has been harvested and is ready for Farmbox pick up in the barn :-) I did take a break to make some eggplant Parmesan for dinner to warm up inside, ha ha ha
I canāt thank the volunteers enough for the hard work they put in today! Seriously! Many arrived bright and early at 8 am and stuck it out through gusty wind and some spitting rain, but we managed get 95% of the way done. We will have another volunteer opportunity two weeks from now to put the top plastic on to complete the tunnel. I canāt wait to see how much I can grow in this high tunnel next season š
Also, thanks goes to our fearless leaders Tyler and Stephanie from . They really did a great job directing a rowdy untrained crew of volunteers, ha ha ha
Ground posts are in and weāre ready for our volunteers to erect a greenhouse tomorrow! Another huge advantage of the community build option with is that they come a day early and put the ground posts in and use fancy tools to make it perfectly level. Woo hoo!
Sadly we had to mow the pollinator flower beds between the new tunnel and the rest of the garden, to make room for building the tunnel and a place for snow to collect next to the tunnel over the winter. Donāt worry, we will plant plenty of pollinator habitat each season!
This week I took a break from farm work to build Felix a treehouse for his 4th birthday! Heās been asking for one for at least a year since reading the poem āA Place of my Ownā by Fred Rogers. From planning to finish it was done in less than a week, and Felix loved it. Iāve got many additions planned including railings and a rock wall, but it was good to just get it done!
I love this kid, and canāt believe the changes Iāve seen in him over even just the last few months. Heās so sensitive and creative, as well as strong willed and opinionated, haha. Happy Birthday Fe Fe!
Have Hand-E, will travelā¦ Another huge advantage of this tractor is how compact and light it is. I can load it up on a small trailer and take it to another farmers plot so they can do some bed building! Also, we are headed towards peak colors here in the Midwest :-)
Weāre still at the Purple Porch, even while the Octoberfest is going on at the porch! For our Farmbox subscribers, just let the peeps at the gate know that youāre here to pickup your box and theyāll let you through without needing to pay the $2 entrance fee. Obviously, pay the fee if youāre planning on staying for the festival š»
Say goodbye to most of the tomatoes! The Hand-E from makes it really easy to remove the heavy tomato vines and dump them away from the garden. Now we tarp for a few weeks and try to got a cover crop planting in before the winter š
Farmbox pickup in the barn to and any random rain showers! New this week: Napa Cabbage, Sprouting Broccoli, and Sugar Snap Peasā¦
Napa Cabbage coming in hot! Pulled enough for the Farmbox subscribers and got plenty more in the field. First time growing these commercially, and Iām very happy with the Minuet miniature variety (again I love miniature veggies, haha)
These āfairy taleā eggplant are so productive! These miniature eggplant grow in clusters similar to cherry tomatoes, so even if small you can get quite a few lbs each week of these plants. Also, who doesnāt love a tiny version of a normal sized veggie, haha
Just picked this pitcher up during the at ! It will go well with the coffee mugs we already have from them. The flowers from were a nice bonus š
Not sure how long we have to harvest the summer veggies, but weāll enjoy them as long as we can get them! Also, the Napa cabbage is on point and might be available next weekā¦
This is what Iām talking about! What you are looking at are the eggs of larva of a parasitic wasp on a hornworm caterpillar. This is why we do what we do, inviting predators and other beneficial animals and insects into our garden to take care of paths for us :-)
Our car is in the shop, so I rented a moving van to get to marketā¦ and it really makes me want a bigger car/van for the farm, haha. I usually have to Tetris all the bins of veggies into our Subaru Forester, and this week I could have taken 5x the amount! Somedayā¦
Weāre setup at from 5-7pm now, and weekly on Wednesdays! You can also find and Knot Road Hillside Gardensā¦
Last harvest of the first succession of Bush beans! A second succession of bush beans should be producing in a week or two :-)
I cut the beans off at the ground to leave the roots and all of their fixed nitrogen in the ground. Some people make the mistake of ripping the beans or peas out including their roots, not realizing all that hard work the beans did to fix nitrogen is connected to the rootsā¦
Collard harvest on a cool foggy morning. Hello fall!
Very happy with getting the clutch spot next to the ice cream vendor, haha. Come see us on the west side of South Bend on the lawn of the Martin Luther King Community Center from 1-5pm today (Saturday)! Prices are subsidized by the City of South Bend to bring affordable fresh produce and prepared food to the food desert on the west sideā¦
Always building more beds š
Always be flailingā¦thatās a saying right?
Knocking down the w**ds in the next area to expand the farm. The flail mower is probably my most used implement on the farm. Itās key in a no-till/low-till system to transition a bed from one crop to the next, or the beginning of clearing a new piece of land. Turns all the vegetation into a smoothie š
Having a background in electrical work comes in handy on the farm, especially when your tractor is electric, ha ha! The battery connectors needed to be replaced because they shorted and melted the connector. Thanks for the remote support!
My pest barrier worked for the chard! Most of the leaves all season so far have looked like picture two with all the holes, but I had a feeling they were getting eaten by the swarm of grasshoppers that have descended on the Midwest. Iāve covered with row cover and now the plants look nearly perfect. š
62485 Miami Road
South Bend, IN
46614
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Barn Swallow Farm posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Barn Swallow Farm:
Hazel is obsessed with the turkey chicks!
Trying put the compost spreader for the Hand-E from @curlysag . This should allow me to flip beds and build new beds quickly and without breaking my body, haha!
Lemler's Sweet Corn, Pumpkins & More
State Road 331, Bourbon