Frog Holler Farm - September 5, 2020

  

Heirlooms gossiping. "Did you see those round red tomatoes? Bo-o-ring!"

RECIPE TIPS

The farm kitchen continued canning this week, interrupted only by the lack of canning lids! Apparently everyone who planted gardens in the spring is now preserving their harvest. Amazon promised shipment by October 26 - not helpful. So our smart next door neighbor Sandy went right to the source and was able to order directly from the Ball Corporation, the last word in canning supplies for decades. They might cost a little more, but they are available now.

Ready to pack the jars

Amazon did have available some rather lurid green lids. Maybe on a jar of canned tomatoes for a holiday present?

Also available in blue!

NOTES FROM THE FARM:

Or rather the anagram of "notes" which is "stone". And that's what this section is about! 

Deep deposits of rocks and stones are part of the geologic legacy of the Irish Hills, Michigan, where Frog Holler Farm is situated. This area is known for being a "glacial moraine", or, quoting from "The Glacial History and Development of Michigan",  by S. G. Bergquist: MORAINES are long lines of ridges and festoons of hills composed essentially of boulder-clay or till which was dumped from the ice front during relatively long intervals when the backward melting was equal to the forward advance. The rock debris which the ice had scooped off the land in its steady push out from the various centers was piled up along the more or less stationary glacier fronts. Moraines mark the borders of the ice lobes and are characterized by rugged topography and often high relief. 

In laymen's terms, the glaciers were spreading southward, then started retreating (backward melting) as the climate warmed. As the glaciers ground across the land, they scooped up rock debris and then deposited a large portion of it at the glacial fronts. (But doesn't a "festoon of hills" sound rather, well, poetic?)

The glaciers did spread a bit south of Michigan, but the glacial "edge" could have been several hundred miles.

We are grateful to live in the Irish Hills with its "festoons of hills", and dotted with numerous "kettle lakes". (Frequently, in the construction of the morainic areas, blocks of ice broken off from the ice front were temporarily buried under glacial debris. When these blocks finally melted they left depressions in the moraines which became filled with water to form so called “kettles”. Where basins of this type are abundantly scattered through the morainal areas as is the case in the famous Irish Hills south and east of Jackson, the topography is usually described as kettle morainic. - S. G. Bergquist)

It's fascinating to think about the depth of geologic history that lies beneath our feet, but oh those stones beneath our knees! Early American farmers found numerous ways to wrestle with the rocks and stones that were interrupting their tillage and blunting the edges of their tools. A "stone boat" was an early approach to hauling rocks out of the fields. Rocks are dense and heavy; hauling them takes muscle - either from man or beast.

Eric Sloane, famed Americana author and artist, offered this rendering of a stone boat.

Several years ago we enacted a modern version of stone-clearing with a stone boat. It was current, but not much different from Eric Sloane's depiction. We invited friends to join us for a "rock-picking party" and some actually showed up! It was a blustery day in March, but you can easily get warm hauling rocks. A friend had a team of draft horses AND his version of a stone boat. We put them to work!

And here's a better view of the horses demonstrating "horse power!"

There have been many rock-picking sessions over the years - and not always parties. Have we made a difference? Here is a recent photo of that hillside where we concentrate most of the stone clearing attempts.

Still see a few more rocks? Yes it can be disheartening to really try and clear the land of rocks. And across Frog Holler we continually discover piles or even long rows of stones that are obviously the results of clearing attempts. But the stones were here first and they'll be here last. As we kneel in the rows, sometimes we can take a kneeling pad, but most times we have to keep moving and the pad is a bother. So we just move the knee that met with stony resistance and keep weeding. 

The "glacial rubble" of our fields serves as a humbling reminder of the vast geologic drama that has played out before we showed up to plant beans. But plant we do, working with and around what the fields offer, and then sometimes moving them into a big pile!

No glass houses on Frog Holler!

Have a great week everyone - may you meet more stepping stones than stumbling blocks!

 

   One of our top CSA helpers picking up her share!