Van's Journal

GROWING AND LIVING THROUGH THE FOUR SEASONS HERE AT WOOD DUCK FARM

Friday, January 21, 2011

Lots of Texas 1015 Onions, shallots and garlic














Tomato Seedlings, about two weeks from germination. Looking good so far!














A photo of our chicken coup with a hoop. Notice the brooder box inside. This box is kept warm with a heat lamp.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Full share contents for the week of Dec. 21st, 2010: Sweet Potatoes, micro radish, micro arugula, grapefruit, head broccoli, two heads cauliflower, two bags baby leaf salad mix

Monday, December 13, 2010


Shown here are the Full Share contents for the weeks of Dec. 13th, 2010: 2 bags baby leaf salad, greens, radishes, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, cabbage, turnips, mushrooms

Monday, December 6, 2010


Shown here is what Full Shares received the first week of December, 2010:
Cabbage, 2 heads cauliflower, green beans, new potatoes, micro green blend, white mushrooms, and 2 bags of baby leaf salad mix,

Monday, November 29, 2010


Full shares for this week, Nov. 29th received
new potatoes, grapefruit, micro green blend, eggplant, baby arugula, salad mix, radishes and green beans

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Smoking Turkeys for Thanksgiving. Trussing them is time consuming, but carrying them 120' to the smoke house is a challenge.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

What a lot of fun; our 5th and final Farm Dinner of 2010. Chef Jon Buchanan in charge of the kitchen

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Shown here are students from the Kingwood Montessori School touring our farm on a day trip excursion. A visit through the corn patch, a visit with the pigs, a short hay ride.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Via our good friend, Chef Paul Lewis, we were invited to attend the "Outstanding in the Field" event held over at Jolie Vue Farms in Chapel Hill. What a great venue and evening. Wood Duck Farm contributed the arugula salad and micro basil.

Saturday, October 2, 2010



Photos of our Oct. 2nd 2010 Farm Dinner.











Wednesday, July 28, 2010


Last week completed our 2010 Spring CSA program, so we now have a little extra time to savor some of the summertime treats such as
this homemade peach ice cream w/mint, courtesy of our friend Lesia.







I was able to attend my 35 yr. High School reunion over in Savannah Ga last week. While there I was able to get a taste of some good BBQ, "Georgia Style" as well. Maybe one day we'll have a similar sign here at our farm. What do ya' think?
















Back to the farm, we usually peak in tomato production around the July 4th weekend. The cloudy days have prolonged this season, but our plants are growing tired.









We're still picking every other day, but our yields are coming way down.













The irrigation tape where the cantaloupe, cucumbers, squash and zucchini were planted are now being removed, with the plastic mulch being pulled up beginning next week.










Ever wonder what makes those holes in your tomatoes? Well here is the main culprit! A little green worm. No tequila for this guy.
















Big wind gusts this past weekend, tore the plastic off one of our small hoop houses that we use for storage. Just another thing to repair.











Kids from the City of Conroe Day Camp came for a visit earlier this month.













Here we are discussing how we irrigate plants using our pond for water storage.











Taking a break from the summer time heat in one of our walk-in coolers.

(Life is such a blur sometimes, as evident with this photo. LOL)









Ah' the rigors of entertaining and feeding hungry kids. "Everyone ready for lunch from the grill?"

No the lens is not dirty; this shot was taken through the front screen door. Who would have thought? ;-)










"Burgers and dogs" after a grueling morning touring the farm. Now we are talking about some major appetites!










A Summertime Sunset here at the farm.

Moments such as these reminds us "why we do what we do!"

Monday, June 28, 2010

Two of these piggies are sooo excited to see me as they are about to be fed. Not sure you can make it out, but the "piggie" on my left is "mooning me." A friend of mine said the mooning one is "just a precocious wild thing!!!"






Lots of tomatoes still on the vines.









We are still picking the tomatoes a little pink to try and stay in front of all the stink bugs, possums, crows, and squirrels.















Speaking of varmints, you know the cantaloupe are ripe when they start getting eaten by the raccoons.








Such as the number some "coon" did on this cantaloupe. Must have been "finger licken' good" as not much is left.







Monday, one of our harvest days.














Not sure what type of bird (white) this is, but it is neat to watch how patient they can be. Real hunters as they stand in our marsh until something tasty swims within reach of their beaks.


Princess, our guard cat, was born in 1993. She is the last of five siblings and still going strong.









Our "guard rabbit?" Nope, just a friendly "cotton tail" out munching for some tasty grass, or maybe some of our salad greens.
















We've had this sign denoting our farm at our gate for a few months now, but have never really publicized it online. Many thanks to Chris Hill at Hill Design for the graphic design and Mike Harris at VCI Group Visual Communications for the actual sign. It really makes a difference as both Chris and Mike did a fantastic job.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

June 2010 Farm Pics













Two busy bumble bees inside a zucchini blossom.So what do you think they're "buzzing" about?














Fresh harvested bulb fennel and broccoli. The fennel is excellent when roasted or added to a soup.














Rinsing fresh picked cucumbers. CSA share holders will attest that we had a bumper crop this year.













A good dose of compost was added prior to transplanting these tomatoes. We are "pushing the envelope" with our third tomato planting this season. Maybe we'll get lucky. Notice we have drip tape irrigation, but absent the black plastic mulch as it would make the soil too hot. Weeds are apt to be a problem though.














We're a little behind, but the watermelon plants seem to have benefited from the 10" of rain we had a few weeks ago. Now if we can just keep the weeds down.













Sun breaking the tree line on a summer morning. Good-bye shade as it is going to be hot picking squash today, like every day.













Cantaloupe about ready for harvest?















Pink and green tomatoes on their trellis. If could we only get the stink bugs to go away. Why don't the birds eat these guys? I guess they're not too tasty; thus their name!














Ground level view inside one of our trellised tomato rows. We use a walk-behind tiller to keep the weeds at bay.














Bed of spring onions about ready for harvest. I can attest that these are so tasty on a baked potato. Cheese burgers too!