Woody Agriculture Weblog
The Future of The World Is Nuts!(TM)

Posted by Phil Rutter, 4/3/09 at 4:11:09 PM.

As you would probably guess from our long silence here, we've got all the problems we can handle here, and then some. Meg came down with another dose of "walking pneumonia" last fall, and it didn't start to really clear until March. At one point, the Mayo Clinic immune system specialist told her she was going to wind up in the textbooks- not what you want to hear.

She carries a lot of the load around here; so when she's down, it really slows things.

Right now- she's down again. We have a new puppy in the house- part of our effort to get several working dogs on the farm to help with livestock. The plantings here are now so large that coping with the grass between rows of nuts is no longer a theoretical problem- it's a huge cash expense. Time to really work on livestock integration.

This is relevant because- yesterday, coming down the house stair, Meg accidentally stepped on the new puppy at the bottom- with the result that her chin came down hard on a step; leaving her with a broken molar, and a fractured jaw.

Only a partial fracture- but painful, and the tooth will likely have to be pulled. As soon as the jaw heals enough. Meanwhile- it hurts. Chewing is forbidden; talking restricted.

One of the consequences- in case you have not heard elsewhere- we've decided we really cannot teach the Short Course this year- we're just too low on time and energy.

We'll promise that we WILL teach it next year.

Meanwhile- we'll work on answering urgent questions as we can.

Hope things are not too bad in your corner of the world.

Phil

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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Hello Volunteers and Potential Volunteers,

The hazels are ripe! Following 1/2" of rain from several days ago, the crop has been ripening rapidly. At this point there is PLENTY ready to pick, and will be throughout the rest of the season.

What this means is, whenever you can make it, come help for a day or so of picking! We'll be working on it every day, though we do have some other chores on Sept. 2-3 which will be taking extra effort on our part. If you're already a skilled picker, really do come at any time.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH YOUR OWN CROPS: There is always a great deal to learn about the process here. How to pick little bushes in the open field is different from how to pick twelve-foot-tall bushes in shade. There are also major differences in how to find and prevent nut theft in these situations. You have a lot to learn, and we have a lot of ways to help!

In addition to just having a lot of nuts, we have a lot of exciting new material coming into production, some of which is uniform enough that we're keeping track of the nuts by row rather than by plant. We just need to get them before the crows do!

So, if you can make it, please try to let us know the day before so that we're ready for you. But if you can only make it without notification, that should work too! Ideal picking help times for us are Sept. 4-10.

Hope to see you soon!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Hello folks,

The hazel harvest continues to run on the late side here at Badgersett Farm, so there really isn't a very large amount of picking to do even yet. If you're already all set to show up tomorrow, there are certainly things to do! But our focus tomorrow is more likely to be on picking preparations.

The crop is ripening, and we expect a great many of our bushes to ripen within the next week. Look back here for updates to our status, and notify info@badgersett.com if you want to be on our volunteer mailing list! Brandon.

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WARNING to folks with hazelnuts this year- the thieves are already at work. We've lost several whole bushes to a variety of pests, chiefly chipmunks and red squirrels.

There are a bunch of things to remember here. Hawk/Raptor roosts are a huge help with rodents- but they are useless if your grass is taller than about 3"; and useless if the raptors can't see, and fly, because of interfering tree limbs.

One thing you can always do- is be on guard. Rat traps will catch most chipmunks- red squirrels are much more difficult. Just being out there and being aware, will help. If you find a pile of nutshells at the bottom of a bush- you've got trouble.

We cover all this in the Short Course- controlling nut theft is a huge factor in whether you'll ever make a dime on our hazels- Philip

Monday, August 11, 2008

Hello folks,

We've been a little quiet here of late; some piling up of emergencies both business and personal.

Here is a quick post about this year's Annual Field Day and the beginning of this year's harvest activities. We'll have these details up on the Official Field Day Page soon, but for now this is what we've got. Hope you can make it, it should be a just plain good time, in addition to a superb learning opportunity.

COME JOIN US for the 17th Annual Badgersett Field Day!

This Saturday, we'll be having a more informal and field-work oriented field day. If you come, and we certainly hope you will- we'll put you to work.

This is due to both demand and our own necessity; we're expecting our biggest crop ever of hazels this year, with a lot of new plantings coming into serious production for the first time. A number of emergencies over the past year mean we're not physically ready for it right now- so we need to be focussing on harvest preparations.

This year the field day, always on the third Saturday in August, is also a little earlier in the season than usual; before most of the crop will be ready to pick. This presents us with a great opportunity for a hands-on training event in Woody Ag field maintenance and pre-harvest field work.

If you've got hazels or chestnuts in the ground, or are thinking seriously about putting some in, this is an important event for in-depth learning of actual in-field techniques. You'll probably break a sweat, too! We have a lot of work that needs doing; every crew will have a Badgersett expert teaching and answering questions.

As some of you know, we will be holding harvest and post-harvest events as well, which we have now started scheduling. Our first Harvest Saturday will be the following weekend, August 23.

FIELD DAY SCHEDULE (Still subject to a little wrangling, but pretty close)

10 AM - 4 PM Registration, Amish Baked Goods (and maybe Produce)

10:30 AM - 1 PM Morning Crew Sessions

1PM - 2:30 Lunch Break (Bring Your Own), Possible short formal tour

2:30 - 5 PM Afternoon Crew Sessions

2p - 5:30p Retail Plant Sales (No Pickup Fee)

FIELD CREW SESSIONS

As we mentioned, this Saturday we are planning to cover some rarely-covered but nevertheless critical aspects of running Woody Agriculture fields. We may change the precise jobs based on conditions that day, but at this point we are planning to run at least two crews. Each crew will have morning and afternoon sessions, which will be most useful to you if you are able to be there for the whole session. Depending on your interests and needs, you may wish to stay on the same crew all day, and gain the added experience of helping to train the afternoon newcomers.

FIELD MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT: The maintenance and management of a Woody Agriculture field is necessarily a far more long-term and complex endeavor than you may be used to for annual crops. Additionally, there are many aspects of ecological pest management which are not at all a part of standard orchard practice, but absolutely critical for effective and economical management of Woody Ag field systems. It is likely that this Saturday will include some chestnut culling, wood removal for pest management, and the raising of a couple of hawk roosts. An exciting event! Bring gloves and earplugs, if you've got 'em.

PRE-HARVEST and EARLY PICKING: This will involve cruising the fields for early ripeners (including how to judge bush ripeness), how to spot and identify nut predation, and possibly some early picking. This will be a good introduction to the first things you'll need to know about harvest, and a good way to get ready for later picking. Don't be fooled if this sounds simple; our new growers universally have their first nuts stolen, and time on this crew will give you some of the know-how you'll need to keep your nuts.

If you have a GMRS walkie-talkie radio, bring it along. We talk on channel 18; and more radios would be useful to coordinate the work. We now have serious hazel production in several widely separated fields. (General hint- if you come to the farm any time, and are trying to find us {often difficult} - calling us on channel 18 is a good bet. Not 100%; but the best bet we've got.)

OTHER ACTIVITIES THIS SATURDAY

Participation in one of the work crews will be a lot like a "super-tour", and we will be teaching and answering questions the whole time. Depending on interest shown, we may also run a more formal tour after lunch, the content of which would depend on the interest of those present.

We will have retail tubeling sale as in all previous field days, but only in the afternoon.

And as usual, we expect to have an Amish friend here selling baked and other goodies; you'll probably want to save some room for dessert in the lunch you pack!

LATER PICKING EVENTS- IF YOU CAN'T COME THIS WEEKEND (or even if you can...)

Next Weekend, August 23, we will be holding a picking-focused event. There should be plenty of hazels ready to pick at that point. We also need to do an extensive cull of hazel bushes in Row Q, and may do that at the same time that we pick; sometimes picking and field maintenance are best done together!

This could be a big part of what should be THE first ton of hybrid hazels harvested anywhere this year. If we get enough help- it could be 2 tons; maybe even 3. Come be a part of this historic event, and learn hazel harvest techniques from the folks who invented the bush hazel crop and know it best!

It is possible we will have further harvest and post-harvest events, as well as less "event" and more "picking" times available to trained volunteers throughout the season. Please let us know if you would like to be on our harvest volunteers list!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

As you may recall, we got very very wet on last year's Field Day; in fact the counties around here all wound up as official Federal Disaster areas.

Which did us no good; we lost both our commercial mowers- they were in Rushford for pre-harvest maintenance- and under 10 feet of water, for 3 days. No, you can't fix that.

Did FEMA help? Please. Not a dime. Insurance? Not covered. State of Minnesota? They had good intentions- but it was so late, we were just too exhausted to go begging one more time.

There was one organization that DID help - Sow The Seeds.

http://www.sowtheseedsfund.org/

Basically, these are folks who know us, and cared. Had to fill out about 2 pages of straightforward, non-humiliating questions- and we received $5,500 to help out.

It was/is a huge help. And here is the major outcome; a replacement for the lost Mainline walking-tractor, which we could not otherwise have afforded to buy.

These things are real tractors; designed for small rough farms in Europe, and work in vineyards. The agility of this kind of mower is critical when working around the hazels. And- it's a diesel.

So; the first thing we did, before mowing anything; was add some sacramental hazel oil to the diesel tank.

Works fine, of course; though this particular brand of hazel oil would be just a bit too pricey to use as diesel fuel on a regular basis.

The new walking tractor went on to mow beautifully, for about 9 actual hours of run time that day- and used up about 2/3 gallon of diesel.

That's about the annual yield you might expect from 2 good hazel bushes.

We're expecting a REAL hazel harvest this year; we may have 2-3 TONS of nuts coming on the bushes, and we're going to try to mount a real effort to get them harvested. We're going to need a lot of volunteers- check back here for more info as we get closer.

I can't emphasize enough how important the help from our friends and neighbors, through Sow The Seeds, was.

Thanks, folks. It made all the difference.