Category Archives: Uncategorized

Week 12: New Semi Trailer

August 25, 2020 QueSehraFarm Leave a comment

TAKE ONE: This was the week we got another free semi trailer. Bigger, nicer, more versatile and mobile!

TAKE TWO: Every year, there are a few crops that grow like gangbusters and produce unwieldy piles of produce. And in in the same seemingly random and impossible to predict manner, there will be a few crops that don’t produce as we’d hoped.

TAKE THREE: The gophers will pay for what they have done

TAKE FOUR: It’s is officially Late Season now. Early Late Season, sure. But nonetheless, the signs are there for those with eyes to see. Second rounds of Kohlrabi are in the boxes. We’ve harvested peppers. The corn stalks are browning. There are pockets of Fall Color here and there, as we drive south toward the Cities.

TAKE FIVE: …. long pause; faint rumble of tires on highway, fingers motionlessly poised

thanks for the pic Workman! — choke cherry jellying

Inside & Outside & Falling out of Box 12

picking the Never-ending Cherry Tomatoes

a Melon (a yellow or a crimson watermelon, probably)
Brussels Sprouts Tops – we cut the tops off – being Early Late Season and all – so that the plant puts energy into bud formation. As a bonus, the new leaves at the top of the plants are good eating. Cook it like collards or chard … perhaps with the greens from your:
Kohlrabi – a second planting for the late season, ayuh

Cucumbers – slicers
Tomatoes – they’ve started a band to cover this song for you.

Cherry Tomatoes – lots. Here are some things that Kristin wanted to try with our own abundance – but never did (mainly because we avoid running the oven when it’s this sticky out). So if you do give one a try, let us know how it goes:
Quick Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta
Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Onions
Shallots
Microgreens (cilantro, basil, or pea shoots)
Zucchini – gold and green (not unlike a Karma chameleon)
Summer Squash – two-toned zyphyrs
Potatoes (a mix of red, gold, purples)
Mint – this and the holy basil might synergize fancily with your watermelon. And/or with booze. Like rum, or vodka. Pro CSA stuff there. Also, making tea is a great idea with this if you really don’t want a refreshing cocktail.
Holy Basil – the stuff with flowers at the tips. So you can tell it apart from the Mint it’s bagged with.

Say, holy basil
You’re the star of the masquerade
No need to look so afraid
Jump, jump, jump on the tiger
You can feel his heart but you know he’s mean
Some light can never be seen, yeah

an Eggplant – courtesy of Neighbor Marcia’s garden, because our eggplants aren’t cooperating this season.
Broccoli – side shoots from the first crop of it.

Uncategorized, WWOOFing

January in Texas

February 2, 2015 QueSehraFarm 1 Comment

In our first post from Habitable Spaces, I mentioned how when we first arrived and the van got stuck on a tree stump, it seemed like a sign of how would be rooted and grounded here.

It turns out this was more accurate than we knew – our planned three and a half week stay has transformed into a two months, as plans fell apart with the next two farms that we’d lined up.

This could have been a minor disaster, but for two things – we like Habitable Spaces, and they like us.

We’ve been having a great time settling into to the space, getting to know the people, the animals, and the area … here’s some of what we were up to throughout January!

(they’re not really in order, I assume no one really cares ….)

the mysterious trophy in the window at Dean's bar in Kingsbury. Karate racing? — the mysterious trophy in the window at Dean’s bar in Kingsbury. Karate racing?

Cleo don't give a duck — Cleo don’t give a duck

of course we had to build them a rocket stove (this one is for boiling pots of water to dunk chickens in for plucking)

Kristin & Ali working on the bottlehouse walls

bottles must first have their labels removed, before being cut in half, taped to a matching size bottom, and mortared into the walls - here Seth & Kristin work the de-labelling step — bottles must first have their labels removed, before being cut in half, taped to a matching size bottom, and mortared into the walls – here Seth & Kristin work the de-labelling step

Shane peers through the new hole in his home's roof, in the midst of the wood stove installation (oops this pic is actually from the last days of December) — Shane peers through the new hole in his home’s roof, in the midst of the wood stove installation (oops this pic is actually from the last days of December)

Shane putting the finishing touches on the new woodstove chimney (oops this pic is actually from the last days of December)

Lynx spider helping us roof the bottlehouse

scavenging beautiful big glass doors for a future kitchen addition

every time we go for a walk with the dogs, Mina finds a mud puddle to lie in

harvesting the fruit of prickly pear cacti for making preserves (for some reason these are called "tuna fruit" which is just weird) — harvesting the fruit of prickly pear cacti for making preserves (for some reason these are called “tuna fruit” which is just weird)

Cleo beholds Bertha in her newly-built enclosure

RIVER SWIMMING IN JANUARY FOR THE WIN! (the San Marcos river is 73 degrees all year long)

herding Bertha across the farm to greener pastures we fenced in

excavating the ruins of an old homestead from the cacti it was buried in

the newly-cleaned and organized tiny kitchen, ready for seed trays

leveling the foundation for the new structure — leveling the foundation for a new structure

beginning the fencing of the new field (to keep out deer, dogs, wild pigs, etc - and temporarily contain Bertha) — beginning the fencing of the new field (to keep out deer, dogs, wild pigs, etc – and temporarily contain Bertha)

Kristin found a wild boar skull, which would later become the center piece of an art project

Jacob's Well almost claimed our souls — Jacob’s Well almost claimed our souls

on our walks, Mina usually manages to find a deer leg to parade home for gnawing

metal detecting for cool old garbage out among the prickly plants

decorating a cacti with found rusty debris

Kristin and I enjoy fetching firewood for the house's woodstove - we like knocking over standing dead snags best ... — Kristin and I enjoy fetching firewood for the house’s woodstove – we like knocking over standing dead snags best …

basking in both sunshine and satisfaction, after completing the bottlehouse roof

Widget greets the day from the cabin's loft — Widget greets the day from the cabin’s loft

feeding the neighbors in Jess's friend Ray's backyard — feeding the neighbors in Jess’s friend Ray’s backyard

injured or ill vulture out in the wasteland

Lily enjoys the new platform after we took down the old cable spool tower — Lily enjoys the newly-accessible platform after we took down the old cable spool tower

the petrified wood collection so far, gathered on our walk abouts on the property

returning from an attempt at making the entrance culvert a bit more accessible

the rocks n stuff collection is outgrowing the spool tabletop

rocks and artifacts and bones outside the cabin

pool at Dean's in Kingsbury — pool at Dean’s in Kingsbury

remains of Shane's grandmother's old house — remains of Shane’s grandmother’s old house

unearthed an intact Presto glass container with lid from the 40s

Mr. Pettibone squeezes into the dog food container he knocked over, as Scout observes

archeologistizin' the old homestead — archeologistizin’ the old homestead

the Kingsbury Aerodrome museum is next door ... they have many many cool toys — the Kingsbury Aerodrome museum is next door … they have many many cool toys

whitewashing Craigslist Free section fence wood for interior paneling — whitewashing Craigslist Free section fence wood for purty interior paneling

western San Antonio is colorful — colorful western San Antonio

Jess at the altar of an abandoned church

So that was January! We’re going to be here through February 19th before we start making our way west toward Arizona – and from there, home again in mid March to get the farm kicking! Its coming fast now … woo hoo!

Uncategorized

Illinois Interlude

December 7, 2014 QueSehraFarm 1 Comment

After we left the Farm, we spent a couple of weeks at Gabe’s sister’s home in Illinois, celebrating the Holidays early, relaxing, and doing some final preservation projects …

we brought the giant banana squash along for the autumn feasting - it would become smoothies, pumpkin pie, and pancakes ... — we brought the giant banana squash along for the autumn feasting – it would become smoothies, pumpkin pie, and pancakes …

hop candy making (we’d grown a couple hop plants up the side of the semi trailer)

anise hyssop / lemon balm / horehound cough drops

hop candies & cough drops — hop candies or herbal cough drops

radish slices on their way to becoming radish chips

peppermint/cayenne salve

Then, fortified by two weeks of family fun & feasting, we ventured south …

CSA, farming, Uncategorized

CSA Week 17 – Wasps & Wet

October 1, 2014 QueSehraFarm Leave a comment

the Weekly News

Well, the beautiful Indian Summer faded away this week, but we didn’t get frosted again – the days have been pretty nice still, with nighttime temps falling into the woodstove range. The crops that survived the early frost are happy. revitalized by the previous week of sunshine, and quenched by the occasional rainfalls we’ve had this week.

This was the week of lady beetles and wasps all over the trailers, inside and out. The wasps look scary but are not aggressive at all. The lady beetles look cute but bite and stink, especially if you mess with them.

The two old shiitake logs sprouted from the bath we gave them, after all – we’re excited for next year, when the 20 or so logs we inoculated this spring will be ready to start producing.

The buried hole Gabe found a week or two ago was transformed into a potato root cellar, with stacked baskets on cords, capped with an insulated and vented lid.

The outhouse was moved off of its partially-buried waste barrel, and moved onto a new platform, for a new incarnation as a composting toilet … and we only ALMOST lost control of it and crushed someone.

In the woodlot, we marked big maples and standing dead oaks so we could tell which ones were eligible for Maple syrup tapping or firewood, once winter robbed the living of their leaves.

We explored the strange logging roads that meander and dead end all throughout the Barrens, and Kristin canned tomato juice.

We found a good home for our three hens, since we’ll be gone over the winter months.

Today we took a break from the endlessly rainy and hypothermic harvest to regain sensation in our fingertips with the help of the woodstove.

It was certainly a memorable and interesting harvest day, if difficult and not all that pleasurable. We were happy to see how capable we were of adapting and dealing with it, with the semi truck trailer turned into the packing house.

the Weekly Box

Weatherman sez: Winter is coming to kill the plants. Lows for the coming week may hit the 20s – so enjoy your peppers, your eggplants, and your tomatoes, because they’re done for after this!

Fall Salad mix (with Arugula, two types of lettuce, pea tips, a bit of spinach, red and green Mizuna, baby kale, sheep sorrel, and sunflower greens)
a new Gourd for your collection
Carrots
Eggplant (White or Purple)
Tomato Mix
Pepper Mix
Radishes (Black Spanish & China Rose varieties)
Rutabaga
Beets & Beet Greens

Speaking of boxes – if you want to drop yours off during the week (if it’s hard to arrange to have them with when you pick up next week), feel free to do so at the drop location whenever it’s convenient.

We’re nearing the end now … looks like next week will be the final box of 2014!

the Weekly Pics

(we visited a 40-acre hoarder’s private junkyard)