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Rain Finally!

After a summer marked with rain, where it seemed to occur every other day, once we planted aronia berries the moisture stopped.    Yes this year that through September had been one of the top five wettest on record, turned dry after October 9th, planting day.   Today we’re finally getting a much needed soaking from Mother Nature.

The plants are doing well for the most part.  Although I’m sure the water I’ve been applying via the tank and pump system behind the lawn tractor isn’t nearly as good as the real thing.  We have managed to keep them healthy by our at least weekly waterings.  It may not seem like a big deal, but when we first started watering it was an eight-hour chore to get around.  Now we’ve fine tuned the operation and it doesn’t take quite that long.  It’s just a tedius, time-consuming task that is best left to Mother Nature.

So we’re celebrating the rain today in central Iowa and enjoying the long-range forecast which includes rain next week too!

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#$#% Deer

Yes we’re cussing the deer.  Since we planted the berries, we’ve replanted and replanted countless times.  The first weekend alone we probably replanted 100.  It’s been a month and over the last couple days we’ve replanted about a dozen.  The stupid deer pull the plants out of the ground and leave them lay, usually right where they were planted.  But sometimes you have to go on a search mission.

They’ve even figured out how to get inside the fishing line fencing gate to pull them out.  The fence is in tact but the plants are pulled out.  Who said these were stupid animals?  Sasha has been doing her best to keep them at bay at night and Abe is learning to chase them off.  We have seen a remarkable difference on the nights Sasha is most active and barking through the night.  Fewer plants are uprooted.  So the big dogs are excellent prevention.  Sasha is about 12 years old and just not as fast as she used to be and Abe is only 6 months old and not as brave and bold as he needs to be just yet.  It’s looking like we should have gotten him sooner!

We’re so fed up with the deer though we’re talking electric fence and we hate to think about it, but it may be the best option to protect our investment.  We have yet to weigh all the pros and cons.

In the meantime, I’m off to water once again.  Since we planted we’ve only had one significant rainfall.  So I’m still hauling water.  Come on rain!  It rains all summer long until planting time and then the spicket shuts off – just our luck. 🙂

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Whew! 1,588 More Plants In the Ground

Saturday, October 9th we planted 1,488 more aronia melanocarpa berry plants. Bringing our total plantings to 2,388. It sure was a better day to plant than last year! Temperatures were over 75 degrees compared to last year when we planted in coveralls. We had wonderful help and could not have done it without all of them.

This year we drilled holes instead of trenching them in. Partly because the north field was planted in an area which last fall was primarly scrub trees and golf course. So many of the roots were not broken down enough to trench through. In early spring we used a Cat Mulcher to tear through the small timber and clear the field in preparation for this fall’s planting. What used to be two golf fareways and golf holes is no more either. The golf holes were a lot of work and not used enough to justify their labors so in went the berries. He’s just going to the golf course more now instead of mowing his own!

The summer of 2010 may be remembered as one of the wettest, yet the fall has been warm and dry. So since planting, we have been watering and watering! When the berry plants come they are much like an annual plant you would plant in your flower garden. They must be watered and cared for or they will not settle into their new ground. Especially in our heavy clay soils. So we’ve been spending a lot of time on the tractor pulling the trailer with the watering pump and hose connected. It’s a good system until the fuse blows, the battery dies, or someone falls out of the wagon when watering by hand and breaks a couple ribs.

We are looking forward to a wonderful healthy crop of aronia berries in the future. We continue to read and study about the health benefits of these high anti-oxidant fruits and look forward to their benefits on our farm for our family.

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Getting the Fields Prepared for Fall Planting

Existing south field with plans for a two more rows this fall. Flags mark 2009 plantings.

Today we laid out the new rows in preparation for our fall plantings.  We’re preparing to plant 1,500 new aronia plants!  Rows will be about 385′ long at the longest point!  It will certainly change the landscape out the window eventually.  It’s amazing when you stop and think about all the work preparing and planting those tiny little plants and what they will look like at maturity.  Oh the miracles of nature!

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Oh Deer

Aronia Berry Plant

The berries are up, well most of them anyway.  We did lose some over the winter, and all the wishing and watching still a few didn’t pull through.  But the percentage is fairly low.  It is really amazing when you consider the clay soil and the snow pack this winter that those little plants, much like any bedding plants you’d get in any flat would survive the winter.

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Surprise Fencing

It’s been an up and down summer emotionally with the berries.  They’re looking wonderful, then all the rain and some of them are standing in water in the low areas.  We haven’t fertilized like we’d planned because they simply don’t need any more water.  Here it is August 1st and we’ve only fertilized once.  Not what we’d planned.   But they just haven’t needed more moisture!

Today we finished putting up our “surprise fencing”.  The neighbors have had really good luck keeping deer out of their garden with fishing line strung around it.  So we strung A LOT of fishing line.  We fenced in both patches.  Hoping that when our little Bambi friends try to go grazing they hit the lines and are so surprised they are scared off.  Giving the plants a little break from the deer anyway.  Now the rabbits, I guess that’s up to Sasha and Abe.

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Hardy Little Babies

Aronia Berry Plant

You wouldn’t believe the transformation taking place on the acreage. After the record-breaking winter’s snowfall, we wondered how the berries would survive. They have! Those small, small little plants are popping out of the ground and getting leaves. They really are hardy! Thank goodness. Our faith is restored each time we walk the rows. Even in areas where the snow was so heavy and the plants sunk in the trench, those little buggers are popping up. They are so forgiving–we know we’re in the right business!

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What’s It Called Again?

Aronia!  We’ve researched and decided in 2009 to begin an organic aronia plantation on our acreage.

“Why?”  and “What’s it called again?” are the most frequent questions we get.  The aronia berries are a very high anti-oxidant fruit crop which is native to this area.  They are very hardy, tolerant, and pest-resistant.  For us they are a good choice because they can be raised organically with little maintenance.  They do not have to be grown on trellises like many of the grape vineyards in the area, and they do not need to be sprayed.   Which is perfect for me and all my sensitivities.  They are more valuable if grown organically, again a perfect fit for us.  They take a while to establish, so not everyone has the patience to grow them.  Yet when they come to fruition, they can be very profitable.  And they taste good!

They are also beautiful in the spring with their white flowers, have gorgeous fall color as the leaves turn a beautiful burgundy, and the berries are a deep purple and come on in the early fall.   They are not tempermental when it comes time for harvesting and you have approximately a six-week window for harvest.   We are looking forward to our acreage changing from season to season and being productive.  We also see the real value in healthy, organic food.

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Getting to Know You

Woody and I live on an acreage in central Iowa surrounded by woods, deer, turkey and the peace that comes with watching fish and listening to frogs in the warm weather.  Right now, the snow is falling and we’re anxious for nature’s white beauty to thaw.  Don’t get me wrong, we both fully appreciate each season, but enough snow is enough.  We are very, very fortunate to live in a somewhat secluded location, yet minutes to the city.

We live a lifestyle these days which is far different than we ever anticipated.  About 12 years ago our life changed dramatically when we sold our business in hopes of improving my health by reducing stress.   We learned the migraine headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, confusion, and stomach issues were a reaction to the chemicals in our environment.    Simple things other people may never notice or take for granted were making me seriously ill.  We learned to be green way before it was convenient, accessible, or cool.  For us it was necessary.    Gone from our home was perfume, scented lotions and soaps, candles, scented detergents, dryer sheets, potpourri, all chlorine, pesticides, fertilizers, formaldehyde, etc.   It was tough, hard too for a teenage son and college-age daughter.  Hard to explain to family and friends why things had changed and hard for them to remember the little things that could challenge me.    I spent a couple years very close to home during the learning curve.   Thank goodness now I have learned so much and have improved with the help of caring medical professionals, family and friends.  I manage far better now and am not stranded in my home any longer as some with this terrible environmental illness are.

I explain all this not because it defines me, but because it explains a little about why we are so excited about our new endeavor.