This week we put together a few sale items for those looking to eat well for the Thursday evening or Saturday evening excitement this week.

1 bag Shagbark Corn Tortilla Chips

1# chorizo sausage

1 pepper jack cheese

1 pint mild salsa

1 head lettuce

Spicy kit includes all the above plus, 1 pint of our candy jalapenos at a deep discount.

Approx 12 wings per package, approx 2.5# per bag.

There is no hiding that we are working with concord grapes today in the kitchen. The cutting block is stained purple and the smell is in the air.

As always, we start with our signature, flaky pie crust with a blend of whole wheat flour, butter, and lard. Inside the crust is a gooey, sweet and tangy concord grape filling. A decorative lattice top allows the pie to exhaust the excess moisture and form a firmer setting filling.

To the left is one of the produce fields. This field was planted in potatoes this year. It was a giant failure. The potatoes started out great, and we were largely weed free. I cultivated in between the rows then hilled the potatoes. Then it quit raining for most of July and August.

The potatoes stalled, but the weeds didn't. Ideally the potato plant grows and shades out the weeds in between the plants. This year, the plants stalled from the dry conditions and the weeds took off. By late August, it was clear the entire crop was a flop. I plowed it under and started working the field a few times to beat down the weeds germinating.

This produce patch needs a break. The weed competition is getting too strong, so it will go into pasture or hay for a few years. I worked with my seed salesman to come up with a plan.

I purchased two different crops. One with a mix of grasses and legumes for a long-term permanent pasture for the beef. The second was a quick growing annual similar to wheat - called Triticale. It is often planted in the fall for early spring growth, similar to winter wheat.

The seeds were planted with what's called a "grain drill." The drill essentially cuts a small furrow in the ground and drops the seed in. There are two different boxes for different sized seeds. I put the triticale in one box and the grass mix in the other. The drill planted both at the same time. This was Sunday. That photo is today! It's already coming up after a nice 3/4 inch shower yesterday.

The intent is that the triticale will take off quickly this fall. In the winter, it will fall over and cover the tender young grasses of the pasture mix and protect them from freezing out. Think of it as a blanket for sprouts.

In the spring, the triticale will come to life and grow rapidly. I planted the population fairly heavily to try to keep the plants from tillering too much and getting too tall. The goal is that the shorter plant will allow light to the grasses below. Before the plant goes to seed (see the next article), I'll mow it off, rake it, and bale it for hay. By mid-June, I should be able to get a second cutting and that should be it for the triticale. By that point, hopefully the pasture will be established strong and by fall the plants will be hardy enough to graze the beef across them or even next year's turkeys.

If successful, I'll be able to put away high quality forage for the beef for next winter and feed the beef during the summer. Ideally a win-win.

Similar to the experiment above, this experiment relies on a quick growing annual grain crop - oats - that will be harvested before it goes to grain. We'll mow it off at "boot stage" - essentially the last stage as a grass before it goes to reproductive stage and sets a grain head.

This is a 6 acre field I'm sub-leasing from a neighbor. I used to graze this field for years, but the owner kept raising the price for a relatively wet, unproductive field.

The farmer renting it for cash crops - corn and beans - has failed to get a single crop off of it in 3 years. I've been mowing it to keep the weeds down before they blow to my place.

So this summer, I asked the farmer if he minded if I tried something on it. This was the first summer in a while where it was dry enough to plow the field easily. I proposed that I would plow it in late July and plant oats. The goal was that in 55 days I could mow the oats as hay, and following that, I could plant permanent pasture for the future. He agreed, so for $300 in rent, probably as much in diesel fuel, about $250 in seeds, and $500 in fertilizer, it looks like I have a crop to harvest! The value of it is yet to be determined, but it looks like I'll at least breakeven, learn something, and probably secure additional quality pasture for the future!

To the right is the plant as of today. It is about 24 to 30 inches tall. The stand is very strong, and I'm hoping that we can harvest 1.5 tons per acre (dry matter equivalent).

We'll harvest it as what is called "haylage," or wet hay. It will be mowed, allowed to dry some, raked, and baled at about 60% moisture. The bales are wrapped in plastic in which they begin to ferment, which preserves the forage and makes it taste better to the beef.

A typical wet bale, 4 ft by 5 ft, at about 60% moisture will weight about 1,500 or more lbs. If it's 60% moisture, that means it's 40% dry. 40% of 1,500# is about 600# dry matter. If I can get 4 to 5 bales per acre, I'll be happy. If it is good quality, that could be a value of $80 per bale. In the winter, we feed about 14 bales per week, so this won't get me too far, but it's a dent.

Oats is typically grown in the spring as a grain crop. Around here, it is fed to horses.

The plant will set out 5 leaves, the 5th being the "flag leaf." The flag leaf tells you that it's about to go seed. In this final stage, the sheath (stem) will be swollen with the seed heads forming inside. To the left is a photo of a plant I peeled back today. The flag leaf was showing, and a few inches down in the sheath are the seeds starting to form.

About 1/3 of this field is at boot stage, about 1/3 is before it, and 1/3 is starting to emerge. The drill we planted it with was malfunctioning, so we had to plant it 3 times. The first seed was buried deeper and emerged last; the last seed was near the top and is therefore the most mature.

To the right is an oat plant in late boot stage. The seeds are just starting to emerge. Next, they will start to swell with "milk" before forming a firm seed head (dough). The final stage of the plant will be to dry down and have a mature grain crop of oats.

At this point, the vegetative plant itself will have the highest protein and feed value. For our grassfed beef, that's what I want.

Ideally, I want to try a technique I've been reading about for wide-swath mowing and same day hay. The idea is that hay is mowed into wide swaths - where the hay lays spread out on the ground to absorb the sun's rays while drying down. The goal is to preserve the starches and sugars as the plant is still undergoing photosynthesis at that time. In theory, the hay is mowed as a wide swath, fluffed around a few times to encourage more drying (tedding), and then raked and baled all in one day.

I don't think it is practical for us. At Noon today, the field was still heavy in the morning dew. I walked through and was wet up to my waist. This would not dry nearly enough on the ground and would likely clog the mower.

Instead, our plan is that this Thursday we'll mow it in the evening when it is dry, rake it Friday lunch, and bale after lunch.

Tune in next week for the final update.

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