Wordless Wednesday: SBF Commercial Kitchen is 99.9% Finished!!

A Lull in the Action

It has been so cold lately that the dogs aren't even tracking up the snow much. They  go out briefly, then come inside where it is warm.  If you drive by, unless it is chore time, you probably won’t see us outside much. But just because there appears to be a lull in the farm action  doesn’t  mean nothing is happening. Au contraire. Big things are happening --really big things! Big expensive things!

A few days ago, our commercial pizza oven arrived. It is that huge metal box in the trailer in this photo. Yes, it is true that we already have two wonderful pizza ovens, much prettier than this one (so far) but we are not allowed to use them for commercial baking. This is an NSF-certified wood and gas-fired oven from a former pizza place in Mankato. It will be able to bake 30 loaves of bread at a time! When it is installed it will be covered with brickwork, so it will not look so industrial.
The night before it was to be delivered, Rog had fitful dreams all night about having to take care of a nuclear warhead, so apparently he was stressing.

Unfortunately, the equipment we had lined up with our farmer neighbor to unload the 4600 lb. oven was not able to do the task,  so the oven has been sitting on the trailer in the driveway waiting to be unloaded.

Early this morning a contractor drove over his Lull, a large machine with a forklift that comes from the back of the machine, over the top. I don't know why the  fork operates this way, perhaps for a better center of gravity with such a heavy load.

Long fork extensions needed to be added to the existing forks.

Sliding the fork extensions onto the forks.

Rog supervised the unloading, wearing his farm duds over his architect costume.  The dogs and I tried to stay out of the way. You can’t tell,  but it was very cold.

Now for a real Lull in the action! The Lull lifted the oven out of the  trailer.

The oven is very top-heavey, and I know this was a nerve-wracking part for Rog. But these guys are experts - I bet they often unload fancy, heavy medical equipment like MRI machines for Mayo- all went smoothly.

The  pizza oven has landed.  

The Lull headed off into the sunrise. It will return on a warmer spring day, once we have the concrete slab poured in the barn, to move the oven to its ultimate destination.

2014 So Far

How can it already be the end of January?I  haven’t even written my end-of-the-year retrospective post or my resolution post yet. Oh well, I will just try to catch up a bit.  It has been an old-fashioned, darn cold winter and here are some of the things we have been up to at Squash Blossom Farm the past few weeks:

In December I started working part-time at a rather fancy restaurant, baking bread, pizza crusts and desserts. It is nice to earn a bit of income during the winter, but even better, I am learning some good tricks for more efficient baking on a large scale that will come in handy when our farm kitchen opens. One perk of working there is that I get to take home a big bag of kitchen goodies for the cows and chickens every week- ends of carrots, celery and cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprouts trimmings, apple cores, crusty ends of baguettes. I  empty the sack onto the snow and all the  animals eagerly forage through the fresh delicacies -  the dogs try to  gobble up the bread crusts before the cows get them.

With all the bitter cold spells we don’t spend much time outside just for fun and the winter already seems interminable. It is also kind of nerve-wracking, worrying about the animals when it is -20 or colder windchill.

The animals are eating a lot to keep warm. I give the  chickens extra scratch grain and make them warm oatmeal with a bit of coconut oil stirred in on really cold days. The cows are getting a bit of grain and beet pulp with their hay rations. Of course the hay piles have to go down as the winter advances, but I miss the reassuring feeling of floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall hay bales in the barn. I counted about 110 bales left;  that will only get us to the beginning of May, so I was relieved to find a farmer who can spare 30  bales, which I will pick up this Friday.

Our cow fountain froze up this winter so the cows are drinking from a small stock tank with a heater to prevent it from icing over. It takes about 10 buckets of water to fill it, which I do twice a day. I got tired of unlatching and re-latching the gate to pour in each bucket of water, so now I just pour it through the gate, resulting in icicles hanging on the bars.
The cow fountain repairman never showed up, but that is the least of our repair concerns. Since Christmas we have had so many repairs! Septic system issues, furnace not working, chimney sweeping,  a stove repair and a washing machine repair.... I hope that everything else keeps functioning for rest of the winter.

I got new glasses, which really enhance my chore attire! You can't  quite see, but the  earpieces are actually red, very trendy. Underneath my down jacket I have a fleecey sweatsuit and Carhartt overalls. My sweet sister sent us two pair of  Carhartt lined bib overalls that her family did not use-- we so greatly appreciate them this winter.

We have begun preparations for the commercial kitchen project. Rog ordered a dumpster for kitchen demolition debris

and spent a couple weekends cleaning out the scary middle part of the barn ( full of old hay and construction materials and junk when we bought the farm, we have been working on it a bit every year but hadn’t gotten down to the floor yet.) It is no longer scary! It is now a place of lovely potential. But first it will be the swing space for  storing appliances while the kitchen is being constructed.

Every week for the past  month I have been making many, many batches of chocolate truffles and sumac-elderberry jelly for Kickstarter rewards.

The truffles were packaged in origami boxes. [What was I thinking when I  promised the truffles would  be in pretty, handmade origami boxes? I didn't  know how to do origami but I figured “how hard can it be?” Ha! I learned that I do not have an innate talent for origami. (Thank you for spending much of your holiday folding boxes, darling daughters!)]

Then the Kickstarter rewards were packed for hand delivery to local addresses, postal delivery to distant supporters. We are not done getting them all out yet yet, but the end is finally in sight!

While I bottled honey and made jelly, Rog made  elderberry-raspberry melomel (fruit-flavored mead, or honey wine.)  It smelled so delicious - I cannot wait to taste this next summer!

The weather finally warmed up enough last weekend that we got outside for some fun. We did a bit of snowshoeing through our little prairie, trying out some snowshoes gifted to us by friends who moved to Florida. I bet they feel pretty smug about leaving Minnesota this winter!

Keep warm, everybody!

It’s 2014 - May I Have This Dance?

Somebody posted this definition on Facebook the other day.  It seemed to aptly describe last year, 2013, at Squash Blossom Farm, which was filled with giant steps forward, inevitably followed by a couple steps back.
For instance:

The Commercial Kitchen
We finally decided to pursue building a commercial kitchen wholeheartedly, in order to sell value-added farm products, expand our Famers Market baking to the co-op and restaurants, and be able to serve food on the farm. It will also allow us to rent out space to other small food entrepreneurs and to hold culinary classes as part of our dream folk school. But it is a very costly enterprise, partly because building a certified kitchen is so expensive, and also because we are also required to build a new well and septic system for it.  So,  in the spring our daughter Cadence  created a video for a Kickstarter campaign, which we launched in August and successfully met our fundraising goal!  We were blown away and humbled by the generous out-pouring of support. One humongous step forward!

The Kickstarter was intended to be one quarter of a four-pronged approach to funding the kitchen. We also hoped to get an FSA loan for the well and septic and use a portion of our retirement funds, all for a 3:1 grant match to  a MN Department of agriculture Value-Added grant.  But then we had to take a few steps back: Everything with the grant and loan got very delayed because of the government shutdown, we did not get the grant, and we didn't get approved for the FSA loan because our appraised property value has declined since we purchased our farm. And then, winter arrived full force, delaying our start anyway.  Deep breath. Soul-searching.

We seriously wondered whether this was a sign we should abandon this project and return all the Kickstarter contributions.  But No, our passion for it is still strong. We believe it is the right path for our farm. We will scale back the project a bit, stage things in increments, scour the countryside for used equipment and building materials, dig much deeper into our retirement account, and make it happen!  In some ways it might even be easier without the  constraints of a grant. And oh, if you intended to make a Kickstarter contribution but did not get around to it, we will still gratefully bestow the posted Kickstarter rewards for contributions made for the kitchen--contact us! (We are  steadily making our way through fulfilling the Kickstarter rewards, so if you haven’t received yours yet, expect it soon!)

The Cows
In the September 2012 we bred our cow LaFonda for a spring calf.  We were disappointed to learn she had not settled (that means "become pregnant," in farmer lingo). But then we had the most unbelievably muddy spring (after a frigid, frozen winter where our farmyard was like a skating rink.) As we worried about the cows struggling through armpit-deep mud, we were relieved that we didn't have a young calf getting sucked into the muck.  Later in the summer we were stunned to find out that LaFonda WAS pregnant, possibly bred by our bull calf before he was sold---but then it turned out to be a false pregnancy.  Once again we were disappointed, but also very relieved that we would not have to go into the winter milking. Up until then we had been considering selling the cows because it was so hard to find any hay for winter, and so expensive when we did locate it. The possibility of a calf made me realize I could not part with the cows, and then, as luck would have it, I sold two huge cow paintings, making enough to purchase the supply of hay. So, it turns out the cows earned their keep! Cha-cha-cha.

So there, two of last year’s dances on the farm.  There were many more--with the Farmers Market, the Aquaponics project, the CSA...and through them all we remained upright, did not step on any toes, and we had so much fun.  Life certainly is a dance --can’t wait to get twirling and swirling in 2014!  

Happy, Happy New Year to you!   
With  love and gratitude, 
Roger & Susan

Bears in Waiting

These honey bears are lined up waiting to be mailed out to generous Kickstarter supporters all across the continent!  I am  also preparing to mail some of the other Kickstarter rewards-- notecards,  music CDs and T-shirts next.

So much has been going on this month:  sad farewells,  happy celebrations, travels, big projects, Kitchen Kickstarter  progress, winter preparations... I will try to write a catch up post in a day or two. But right now I must pick up more package sealing tape and head to the post office!

These Little Farmers Went to Market

On Friday night, Rog fired up the new, bigger better clay oven to bake its first batch of breads.  We got a pretty late start because we were hosting a book club that evening, so Rog was baking by flashlight. However,  because this oven can  bake 19 loaves at once, we weren't up all night. like we would have been with the old oven that can only accommodate 6 loaves at a time.

The breads were delicious--white, whole wheat and rye sourdough. We haven't done the Farmers Market much this year because we simply have had too many farm projects going on, but we wanted to be there to  promote the launching of our KickStarter!

Our booth was next to Chris and Lisa's Fresh with Edge produce booth. Chris and Lisa are  operating their innovative Aquaponics system at Squash Blossom Farm this summer, using our silo pond to raise the fish that nourish the veggies grown in towers in our greenhouse.

They drew quite a crowd -  people  were curious and excited about their beautiful columns of live, growing greens!

I took a few minutes to  visit the other vendors - I am usually home Saturday mornings doing the chores and preparing to open the farm and store to the public, so I haven't been to the market in a long time. I purchased some beautiful carrots, of which we are between crops in our own garden.

One of my favorite vendors, Margot of Many Hands Farm, with her  beautiful bouquets.

Kari and  Jodeen of Wink's Herb 'n Garden selling their herbs and artisan pasta.  I bought some cilantro fettucine which we made with shrimp Saturday night for dinner - delicious!  If you watch our Kickstarter video, you will see Kari starring in a supporting role as she packs pasta.

Meanwhile, at our own booth, Rog was busy selling out of all the breads, tarts, scones, and all but two black-bottom cupcakes (which we were forced to eat ourselves, darn!)

We made a lot of happy connections with our bread-loving customers but our Kickstarter postcards promoting the Squash Blossom Farm Kitchen project  did not arrive in time to distribute at the market,  so we plan to be there again next week. (If you want raspberry tarts or  sourdough bread,  better arrive early!) 

The Promise of a Pot of Gold?

Last evening as we went out to the garden to pick the raspberries, a rainbow arched across the sky.

 Gordita smiled happily at the scene.

As usual, Zinnie hung out with Gordita while we plucked the berries.

Pretty sweet to pick berries under a rainbow!  Could it be a happy omen?!? We have just launched our ambitious Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for a certified kitchen, which will allow us to expand our baking operations, host events with farm-fresh food, and offer culinary classes. We have been working toward this ever since we moved to the farm almost 6 years ago. Now, in 30 days we need to raise  $25,000 to make this dream a reality! We are stunned by the generous support we have received in the first two days - approaching 10% of our goal! ---but we still have a long way to go. Will there be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?

To see our Kickstarter video and campaign details, or maybe even make a pledge and receive a fun farm-related reward,  visit the Squash Blossom Farm Kitchen Kickstarter page.

Thank you! I promise to post relentlessly about our progress!