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This week at the farm, we have begun what is sure to be a lot of pickling and canning.  So far, we have canned peaches and apple butter.  The peaches were from a neighbor's house, the apples were grown in our own orchard!  In the weeks to come, we will probably be canning tomato sauce as well as different jams.  We will also be making a lot of pesto, as we are on the verge of a basil apocalypse.
Canning is fairly straightforward.  First, you sterilize your canning supplies (we use ball jars) for about ten minutes.  You can do this by putting them in a pot of boiling water.  Next, you fill them with whatever you will be canning.  Next, you put on the lids and you put them back in the boiling water for a specific period of time, depending on what you are canning (we put our apple butter in for 15 minutes).  When the lids pop, you know that the jars have been sealed, and you have successfully canned some food!  It is advisable to look up the specifics for what you're canning.  The Ball Jar company has a handy manual for this purpose.  It is important to note that you shouldn't can stuff with garlic in it-this can lead to botulism, which is some major bad news bears.  
Pickling was brought about due to an abundance of cucumbers and the arrival of Sandor Ellix Katz's book Wild Fermentation: the Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, which Natalie highly recommends.  On Friday night, the pickling adventure began.  We were not only able to use our own cucumbers, but also our own dill (for seasoning) and our own grape leaves (for that extra crunch).  Hopefully in the future, we will also be able to pickle beets and carrots and we will be able to try out other recipes from Wild Fermentation.  Keep an eye out for the farmer's adventures with pickling and canning!
Happy food preservation-
MF

 
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Hey friends of the farm!  Do you ever find yourself wanting to plant things that also happen to have a lot of pesticides in your area?  Are you reluctant to use pesticides?  

Something I’ve been experimenting with this summer has been companion planting.  Companion planting is planting specific plants together that can help enhance growth and repel pests.  Some examples of companion planting for plants at Miller Farm, are: cabbage/kale/bok choy (brassicas) and borage, clover, celery, dill, anise, oregano, rhubarb, or onions; squash and cucumbers, pumpkin, mints, nasturtiums; tomatoes/peppers and basil, horehound; and lettuce with root vegetables or dill, You shouldn’t plant tomatoes/peppers with brassicas, eggplants, lettuce, beans, dill; lettuce and cabbage.  You can plant tomatoes and carrots together, but the tomatoes will stunt the carrot’s growth.

            This summer, I’ve planted summer squash with nasturtiums in a bed next to the house.  Both plants seem to be growing well together.  The squash haven’t been eaten by squash bugs, which are usually pretty bad in this area.  However I don’t know if this is because there weren’t as many squash bugs this year or if there was success with the nasturtiums.  I want to continue to experiment with companion plants in the future.  I really want to see if companion planting has any effect keeping the cabbage bugs off of the brassicas.  

Here are some resources about companion planting:

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

http://wellnessmama.com/2524/organic-gardening-natural-pest-prevention-and-control/

http://www.gardentoad.com/companionplants.html

Happy planting!
Love, MF


 
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Well, we can't say it's not hot here in Richmond, Indiana.  It seems like every day we are retreating to the dark, cool rooms of the farm house by 11:00 am and not making our way back out until late afternoon/early evening. Although we don't like the heat, the gardens and flowers are loving it!

We were all delighted to discover our green bean plants were producing some lovely looking fruit that we were able to take to the Thursday and Saturday farmers markets.  The pepper, cucumber, and squash plants fruit is maturing and nearly all of the lettuce we've planted has begun to sprout. We also have many green tomatoes. We hope to sell all of these things soon at the farmers market's!

The big project for this week was a super deep clean of the goat pen.  This consisted of more than three days of digging out a thick layer of VERY old gravel (put there to even out the floor), spraying the original concrete clean, and laying out new straw for the goats. In the future, we hope to lay a new concrete floor for the barn. We also fixed the fly problem by adding fly tape in their pen!  The mama goats and their kids are very happy with their clean new home and had a nice vacation to the chicken pen while they were temporarily exiled from their home. 

Come out and visit us any time between 8:00am at 5:00pm Monday through Saturday.  We have fresh chicken eggs for sale and we'll show you around the gardens and let you say hello to the baby goats! :)

Have a great week everyone!
M.F. 
  







 
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Hello friends,
Miller Farm has had a busy week. 
Last Saturday we hosted some Explore-A-College students from Earlham College. They came out and helped us plant some onion we were given by a fellow farmer and created a bed for us to plant.  In exchange for their work, we showed them how to make goat cheese!
Because the Thursday market we cancelled this week due to the 4th of July, we decided to try our luck at the Tuesday farmers market.  We had a lot of fun talking to other vendors and the weather was great, but the market was slow.  We do not think we will be returning, but if you're ever free from 4-6 on Thursday, make your way to the market near  Morrison-Reeves Library.
The next day was our final day of hosting the JUKO kids.  We were short two interns, but we still had a blast with the 70 kids that were able to come out and check out the farm! Thank you to the Richmond Parks Department and JUKO programs!  We really loved having you. 
It's been a long and busy week, but we have nothing to complain about.  We have been loving the on and off rain and even installed a rain barrel of sorts near the front beds! 
We've updated the gardens page, so go check out photos!  
Thanks for reading everyone and have a wonderful week.
Miller Farm

 
Hello all you dedicated readers!
Well, we've sure been busy over here at Miller Farm.

In the past couple weeks our two adult female goats have given birth to a total of 3 beautiful, playful, healthy kids that we've named Indigo (female), Khal (male), and Rhuby (female).

We spent 2 1/2 days with the active JUKO kids and their councilors!  What a blast we have had with them picking mulberries, making cookies, gardening, and learning about the farm.  Our last group got rained out so we will hopefully be able to reschedule with them so that they can come back!

We've been selling at the Thursday and Saturday farmers markets.  More and more veggies, herbs, and flowers are planted each week and fresh eggs are available every day. We recently had to slaughter a hen that was ill and a violent rooster, but all of the other feathery friends we have here are doing well!

We're working hard over here at Miller Farm. Stop by and see us sometime!

Hope you all are doing well!
MF
 
Hi friends!  We are off to an exciting start for the summer.  After moving in and getting adjusted, we have started many projects.  So far, we have been to the Richmond Farmer's Market, began planting vegetables, painted signs, organized the farm, and we are currently preparing for Richmond's Parks and Recreation's program JUKO (Just Us Kids Outdoors).   This is just  Be sure to check in for updates!