Howell Farm visitors and volunteers in potato field.

At Howell Farm, potatoes are unearthed with a potato plow pulled by horses then gathered up by hand (see photo below).

Other Crop Notes:

Farmers Rob Flory and Pete Watson drive the potato plow with horses Jack & Chester.The recent rain has improved conditions for what little crops are left on the farm. The sweet corn matured too early to be served at Howell Farm's "Fiddle Contest" event on Saturday, August 28, so farmer Rob Flory and his son Martin Flory have been chopping the corn stalks and feeding it to Howell Farm's cow Daisy since green grass has been lacking.

Howell Farm entered medium brown eggs, grade B maple syrup, and honey at the Middletown Grange Fair. Brown eggs received a 2nd place ribbon and Howell Farm's prize winning maple syrup attained another blue ribbon. Honey was not awarded a ribbon.

Pumpkins have also done very well compared to previous years at Howell Farm. Farm manager Gary Houghton says that the dryness has kept mildew away that ruined last year's pumpkin crop.

However, the drought has taken its toll in the South Crop Fields (see crop map) where the soil contains more shale. Crops like Timothy hay that is expected to regrow after the first hay cutting withered out, "but some of the deeply-rooted weeds like Canada thistle have [not]" says farmer Rob Flory. A turn-of-the-century solution:  on Saturday, August 7 farmer Ian Ferry drove horses Jack & Chester as they pulled a 1918 McCormick #6 sickle bar mower and cut the thistles. Thistles and weeds are not easily stopped and will require much of the farmers' time to keep them from taking over the crop fields.

The newly restored threshing floor housed a large antique thresher, proudly proclaiming its manufacturing origin of Trenton, NJ. Spelt and other summer grains were bountiful due to the dry conditions; there is no great loss without some small 'grain'.

Intern Christie Naylor and Farmer Rob Flory (on wagon) pitch spelt sheavesThreshing removes the seeds from the stalk and usually separates the husk and chaff as well, however in the case of spelt the husk is left on since it is difficult to remove and as it offers valuable fiber for the animals consuming it. Farmer Rob Flory, interns Christie Naylor and Daniel Bailey operated the thresher run by a Galloway gas engine (c. 1910) to thresh out the bumper spelt crop.

Spelt is used primarily for Howell Farm's horses as it is a gluten free substitute for wheat. Though massive and strong, horses have delicate stomachs that cannot handle much glutenous substance. Spelt also produces particularly fine straw that is long and golden, which makes it easy to bind into sheaves while in the field. The straw is being stored loosely in Howell Farm's hay mow in the Horse Barn.
The remainder of Howell Farm's spelt will be threshed during Howell Farm's Fall Festival event October 2 & 3.

The cucumber patch covers a small section of the Kitchen Garden but has capably supplied Howell Farm's two interns plus two resident farmers, who tend the garden and receive the fruits of their labor.

Corn leaves curl over parched soil. 

The maze corn is even more desperate for water.  Planted later in the season to accommodate a September-November schedule, the Howell Farm Corn Maze is still growing and in need of rain.  Farmer Jim McDonough explained that the corn is "in distress," but predicts rain in the near future.  In the meantime, mounted sprinklers are distributing well water over very dry areas of the field, in advance of the rain.

 Sprinklers irrigate dry sections of Howell Farm Corn Maze.

Intern Dan harvests garlic from the kitchen garden with the help of former intern Becky Beyer and her fiancé Brandon Goodrich.

Though everything could use some rain, the pumpkins have sprouted in the upper fields and the potatoes are waiting to be hilled on Wednesday by farmer Rob Flory, with his surefooted horse, Barney.  In the barnyard, the kitchen garden has produced a healthy crop of garlic, which Flory, along with interns Dan and Christie, and former intern Becky Beyer, harvested on Tuesday.

The pumpkins have started sprouting in the Upper Fields.

In the South crop fields, the wheat is almost ready for the upcoming harvest on Saturday July 10, the spelt is ready to harvest, and the oats have just headed. 

A section of the oat field has already been cut for straw; the remaining crop is beginning to head.

A section of the oat field has already been cut for straw, farmer Jeremy Mills explains, because the horses aren't fed many oats.  Instead, they mostly eat sweet feed, a mixture of several different grains and molasses.  Oats, by contrast, are fed less frequently, but unlike sweet feed can be fed to a horse soon after working (horses need one hour to cool down before eating sweet feed or drinking water).

Farmer Ian Ferry rakes hay with horses Jack & Chester. Photo by Jeff Kelly

Howell Farm oxen stand by wagon load of hay being loaded into ox barn hay loft. Photo by Jeff KellyTwo wagon loads of loose hay was gathered by oxen and hauled into ox barn hay loft and several hundred bales were gathered into the horse barn hay loft. All but one hay field in the North Crop Fields (see crop map link at top of page), has been harvested of its first cutting.Loose hay. Photo by Jeff Kelly

Kitchen garden. Photo by Jeff Kelly

Oats in South Crop Field. Photo by Jeff KellyThe picture at right shows oats in head. Howell Farm's horses gladly aid in the oat harvest that occurs in mid to late summer, as the entire crop is for horse and chicken  consumption.

Potatoes in Intern Acre. Photo by Jeff Kelly

 

Potatoes (left) are growing full and well. Howell Farm donates the majority of its potatoes to Trenton hunger projects, giving several hundred pounds each year, depending on the harvest.

Wheat in South Crop Fields. Photo by Jeff Kelly

Wheat planted in the South Crop Fields (right) turning golden in time for the early summer harvest. The wheat harvest is scheduled as one of Howell Farm's Saturday events on July 10, however this is highly dependent on weather conditions. The wheat crop at Howell Farm is mostly for human consumption in the form of whole wheat flour. Howell Farm's farm women are masterful in the art of baking and cooking with whole wheat flour and offer wonderful foods each Saturday at Howell Farm that often include this home grown crop.

Howell Farm director Pete Watson drives corn planter.

Howell Farm grows several different varieties of corn. The primary and most valuable is dent corn, which is a hard, dry field corn that is harvested in the late fall. Of secondary interest is the farm's sweet corn that is harvested and eaten in the summer. Indian corn, popcorn & carousel corn are the remaining varieties grown at Howell Farm. The three acre Hunter's field has been planted with dent corn and three rows of Indian corn. The sweet corn and popcorn was planted in the one acre  Market Garden.

Click on Crop Map to access larger image.

Rows of corn in Hunter's Field, Wednesday, June 1, 2010.

Mulch hay in South Crop Fields.

Many of Howell Farm's hay fields have reached maturity and as weather conditions are good for haying these fields are being harvested of its first cutting. The Stony Field was baled Wednesday, May 26 and the Upper Field was baled Thursday, June 3. One field of hay in South Crop Fields was lost to Memorial Day's rain burst, although it will still be serviceable as mulch hay. See other hay fields on crop map link at top of page.