Hot Cha Cha, What Manly Taters

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

October sunset over the greenhouse

Mid October and the days are still hot on Tortuga Flats Farm. Nights are cooling off and in fact we've had two nights that hit the light freeze mark. But at least the sweet potatoes made it through. Last year, an unexpected freeze before the potatoes were ready for harvest left us with some less than pretty produce. Sweet potatoes are very sensitive

Good sized sweet potatoes

to cold weather. Happily, no freeze damage this year. They're now in their two week cure period which means spread out in the garage, kept warm and dry. Then they'll be wrapped individually in paper and packed in boxes for storage.

Garlic compost

We're waiting for the soil temperature to reach 50 degrees before we plant the garlic. This morning it was still at fifty eight. In a few days we'll begin breaking apart about 480 pounds of garlic for planting.

Over the years I've covered ways to live and have fun with slim funds. We're continuing our exploration.
Frank and I did some scouting in the Tonto Basin area for RV parks. What a beautiful part of Arizona. What we found were inexpensive parks with two lakes close by for Frank to fish. Roosevelt and Apache Lakes have bass which is Frank's favorite catch. Once there, I'll get down to serious business on finishing book three in my Love and Murder series. Right now we're helping Lance with end of season chores, but once the garlic is in the ground and some various end of year clean up is done, we'll try out the area for a few weeks. This may be a tight budget retirement solution (for those who actually retire!) I'll cover that once we get there.

Christie has been canning lots of salsa, chili sauce (really hot cha cha) and spaghetti sauce. She didn't can any straight tomatoes this year. Tomatoes were disappointingly sparse but no worry. We're still working on last years jarred tomatoes that should get us through until next season.

Sadi likes the RV too - especially the bed. For some reason it's her favorite place to play. She drags a stool over to climb up by herself. By the way, she's yet to call me Grandma. Christie is Mom or Mom Mom. Lance is Dada and Frank is Papa which for some reason she always whispers. We've heard her say grandma but not directly to me. But I get lots of hugs and kisses so I can't complain.

Good News From Tortuga

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

All kinds of good news from Tortuga Flats Farm. If you've followed our adventure for any amount of time, you might remember our neighbors Dave and Eunice. They keep us supplied with eggs, loan their tractor gannon whenever and have adopted Sadi as a niece. She gets presents almost monthly from Aunt Eunice and Uncle Dave. Dave took a look at our broken tractor and suggested he help Lance and Frank fix it. He has a rigged station at his place for working on tractors. So the guys took it over there, got it up and gave a look. We ordered a $90 part on line and after about six hours of work, it's fixed. Just slightly less expensive than the $1000 estimate we received from the tractor mechanic.

The wood is waiting for the burn and then will be tilled into the fields.

We've been able to get a decent amount of greens all winter from the greenhouse. Greens are still growing but the greenhouse has been readied for the spring planting. Along one side, the greens will continue. Down the middle dill is

already planted and tomatoes will be planted before too long. Along the other side carrots are already in the ground. Inside our house, along each living room window, three kinds of onions have been started.

The garlic is getting tall. We planted the garlic in October of last year. It takes about ten months for garlic to mature. I tend the garlic which makes me nervous - the responsibility I feel for a good crop! It doesn't need much care until about now. I've started watering it again. We need pounds of garlic for the pickles and relish.

Sadi Belle turned one year old. We all agree, she's the best thing we've grown on Tortuga Flats Farm!

Any Drugs in Your Bag, Santa

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

I do love the Christmas season, but have to be honest, this one makes the record books for all the wrong reasons. Oh wait - one very right reason - Sadi Belle and her very first Solstice/Christmas. My beautiful granddaughter is just nine months old, so much of the traditions meant nothing to her. But we sure had fun. She started to get the hang of tearing off wrapping paper by the third go round. She had a little practice. We do Solstice and Christmas, and keep in mind there are two sides to the family with separate celebrations which meant a few packages to unwrap.

Christie's homemade cream of broccoli soup on Solstice

Solstice was a lovely celebration, but I'm sure we would've all enjoyed it more if my husband hadn't been ill. All of our veggies were from our fields, as is our tradition. Christie made broccoli soup using what we froze during the summer. Our leg of lamb roasted in the oven surrounded by sweet potatoes, golden potatoes and carrots - all from our fields. We had a thankful, quiet Solstice.

Frank continued to worsen, so he missed going down to Phoenix for the family Christmas. I woke up Christmas morning sick, but I made the trek down by myself to deliver and pick up packages.The brunch was great but my energy waned and I left early.

We also have the battle to get enough out of our totaled car simmering on our minds. The first offer was ridiculously low. Only days before Christmas a woman in a mini-van ran a light and totaled our car. My hand is still recovering and luckily the only damage. I've never had airbags deploy. Quite a scare. The week before that accident, my husband was caught in a squall on Lake Mohave. He ended up in the rocks but not hurt. His boat on the other hand is undergoing $10,000 in repairs. Oh my...glad for insurance. He won't touch the water again for another six weeks.

The symbolic Solstice fire.

So...this has been an eventful Christmas season.We figure fate got it out of her system all at once at the end of our 2013. Jeez. Thirteen used to be our lucky number.

I hope your December was eventful in many good ways!

It's a Wrap and a Baby Recipe

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

One more bowl of bell peppers to strip the seeds from for next year's crop. A few more plants in the greenhouse to chop down  to make room for the winter crops. One more row of carrots to harvest. Then Lance will scrap the land, turn it and till. He'll do that a couple of times over the winter.

Tomatoes that didn't ripen before the frost.

Tomato row before the tear down.

Greenhouse nearly clean and planting again.

Onions, cayenne, sage, thyme and parsley drying.

Get these great Popsicle makers at the store. Mix 50/50 with water and any fruit or cooked veggie.

 

In the coming months, I'll share some recipes we use here on Tortuga Flats Farm. Simple baby Popsicles are the first!

Rub-dub-dub Potatoes in the Tub

Me - washing potatoes before storing

Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

This will be the last blog with updates on harvesting. There are still some carrots to pull but that will be the end of it. I did a taste test on the carrots because we have some of the fattest carrots I've ever seen. The results are the fatter the carrot, the less sweet. If they're too big, they're bitter when eaten raw. They lose the bitterness when cooked but aren't very tasty. So we're freezing them for the doggies.

Potatoes are all out of the ground and it wasn't a bad  haul considering very little effort was put into them. Lance used ground that hadn't been

Baby pool makes a great wash tub

planted in before. He put some compost on it, tilled once and planted. Fire ants got some of the plants and frost others but as you can see in the picture, we have enough. We planted small goldens and reds.

Potato must dry before storing

My sister moved into a house that had a pots and pans rack in the ceiling. She didn't want it so I snagged it with an entirely different idea in mind. This will come in so handy next summer when we have garlic to dry. I hung a few peppers and the last harvested onions. I like it!

So...we'll be clearing the fields in the weeks to come and starting all over

New Drying Rack

again. Stay tuned for some recipes in the coming months. Christie is a great cook and I'd like to share some of her recipes for the food we harvest.

What farmers do for exercise!

Our cute little farmer girl.

Give Me Greenhouse Skin - New Ageless Breakthrough?

Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

Peppers drying

Drying and canning consume much of the day. This neat hanging rack holds three kinds of peppers and is half full. Last year we threaded thread through them and hung in bunches which was much more

Freezing peppers

difficult than tossing them in our hanging dryer. Yea, progress.

Some peppers will be made into hot sauce, salsa and sauce that could be used for any number of dishes such as enchiladas. In fact, Christie has a few jars of

Sauces and tomatoes

sauce already put up.

This year, we're using a short cut for canning the tomatoes. Instead of making sauce, soup or whatever and canning a finished product, we're canning tomatoes to be turned into other foods later. We aren't seeding or peeling them which is so time consuming you can't even imagine. I made some spaghetti sauce with a jar of our tomatoes and it turned out fine. You do run into a bit of noticeable skin but it really isn't a problem. And I think the nutrition is probably higher.

Black tomatoes, field and greenhouse

We have both greenhouse tomatoes and field tomatoes. They taste equally good but because of the outrageous amount of rain we've had, the field tomatoes are not as pretty. Too much rain or erratic amounts of water damage the skin of tomatoes. Looking at the difference in the

Processed tomatoes

skin makes me wonder if I shouldn't be sleeping in the greenhouse.

Xena (our dog that ate Frank's $5000 earring aids) is still being Xena. She ate the insides of a squeak toy and was a sick doggie. The squeaker didn't agree with her. She no sooner got over that when she zeroed in on a bag of trash we hadn't got put into the can. I think she tore into it and ate as much as she could as fast as she could before we caught her. She upchucked a whole, in tact paper towel. As much trouble as she is, the sweet quotient is huge. When Sadi sits in the floor, Xena moves to lay beside her and is fine with Sadi pounding on her back.

Paulden shopping mall

Paulden is really coming up in the world. As you can see, we now have a shopping mall.

One last note - I signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for the first book in my Love and Murder series. This one is The Art of Love and Murder and is set in Flagstaff, Arizona. Yea!

Losing the Battle But Only a Few Casualties

Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

Squash plants living with weeds

We learned a lesson this time last year. Weeds can win. Flooding rows and not weeding everyday makes for horrendous weeds. Last year, we were involved in the wedding and a couple of other things that took us out of the fields often. Weeds took over and got so out of hand we gave up the battle.

We learned the lesson all over again this year. Only with a slightly different slant. We changed to a drip system, as I told you about in an earlier post. It worked beautifully and the weeds were under control for a while anyway. Then the rains came. Our prairie community normally does not get much rain. This year has been over the top. Results - same as last year. The

weeds have gotten so out of hand, we gave up the battle.

Some plants are greatly affected by weeds like the root veggies (onions, carrots, potatoes). They become stunted and won't grow to full maturity. We planted so many carrots that we don't really care if they're smaller or funky shaped. It did cut down on the size of the onions. I have managed to keep the potato rows fairly weed free. In fact, they are about the only ones I weed now. Other plants were affected by bugs which find housing in the weeds and grass. One row of green beans died before its time because of giant grasshoppers.

Fruit trees, green but barren

Yes, it's been an unusual year for rain but we're still going to do some more planning for next year. We're contemplating row covers and ground cover before planting.

Some of us relax better than others!

One good result from all this rain is the replenishment of the Big Chino Aquifer. We sit atop the Big Chino. It feeds our well and a good portion of Arizona. It was long over due for a splash.

New this year: Lance has taken up hunting. We have dove in the freezer along side the veggies!

Where Are the Mice When I Sleep?

Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

 

The sun is rising on Wednesday as I write. We're back to clear, windless mornings after several wet ones. With all the rain and warm temps, we've had foggy mornings the first half of this week. It's delayed my walk time. There are some reckless pickup truck drivers in this area, and I don't trust they'd see me. Idiots. These dirt roads are not meant for four-wheeling. How stupid to tear up the roads we have to drive on every day. When they're so muddy from all the rain we've had, it really makes a mess.

It's a soapbox kind of day. The end of August and into September are tough months for a woman who isn't

Double rainbow over Tortuga Flats

fond of dirt in any form, loose ends, messy patios, mice, allergies and money woes. Two years in a row - I think this is how it will be on our farm this time every year as far as mud, mess and loose ends. The rest we can change.

Mud: so I've complained about the dirt since day one. Blah, blah, blah you say. But wouldn't you think I'd adapt by now? I'm beginning to think it isn't going to happen. Loose ends: even if there were enough hours in the day, it wouldn't help. There's never enough time on a farm to get everything done during harvest season. The bright side is - it's a season. Relax and enjoy. Where? On my messy patio? LOL Muddy shoes, muddy tracks, pails of harvested food,

coolers filled with ice and cucumbers, tools, etc. Mice: we can't seem to get rid of them. Funny thing is we can't find anything they've actually gotten into and eaten. I think they just want out of the heat and rain. We've killed a few. I know there's more. Mice and farms go hand and hand but the thought of them skittering around the house while I sleep gives me the willys. Allergies: that time of year. Christie, Sadi and I are having a time with them. Money woes: well, I told you from day one there might be those. This has been an experiment of building something from next to nothing. Jars of pickles and relish all over the house and the hope we can market them. We're investing what we have and betting on a good outcome. I have to say, we have the best tasting pickles and relish I've ever, ever tasted. We've started the independent taste tests and it's been exciting so far. Stay tuned. Once the logo is done and the labels are on, I'll tell you more.

Sadi's first taste of ice cream

So now the sun is up and I need to get out and get my walk in before the day is in full swing. I'll negotiate the mud puddles still hanging around, ignore the barking dogs and breath the fresh prairie air. When I get back, I'll play with my granddaughter for a few minutes, feed Rusty and head out to the fields for a couple of hours before I settle down to write my current book. Life is full. Life is good.

Off my soapbox. (P.S. I'll be on the road and unable to see your comments until Friday afternoon)

Meatball Trees and Pasta Bushes

Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

First, I have to give a shout out to all the readers of my blog from around the world. I'm not much of a statistics person, but today, I decided to look at the stats for this blog. I had no idea there were so many of you from Latvia looking in on my blog. I'd like to say hi to all of you who stop in from the U.S., Latvia, Poland, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Columbia, Indonesia, Germany, India and Austria. I'm not sure blogger lists all of the countries so, if I didn't list yours, give me a shout back. I'd love to hear from you.

Picking beans, wading through grass

I'm writing this on Wednesday to post on Thursday. Here's what happened today on Tortuga Flats. Lance and I rose at 5:30 - not purposefully together. We just have similar body clocks. We drink different coffees so I made mine and he made his. While we drank our coffee, news and email got checked, mine on my laptop and his on his iPad. By 7:30, Christie and Sadi were up. Lance and I headed outside. Not too long after, Frank got up and after some breakfast he canned and canned and canned cucumbers. Meanwhile, I harvested today's garden peas and green beans. Then I edged the lawn, front and back. After that,

Cabbage

I pulled weeds from around the the outside of the yard fence. The last thing I did was pull weeds in the squash row. While I was doing those chores, Lance worked on the fifth wheel hitch and went for manure to compost. He had the lovely job of turning compost and mixing with the manure. Christie helped Frank by chopping garlic and adding the other ingredients to the pickle jars. As I write, Frank is still canning, Christie is cleaning and Lance is harvesting. A day in the life of Tortuga Flats Farm.

Squash rows

The hook worms are still munching on tomato plants, and we've found a few in the pepper rows. We've heard that in Chino Valley farmers are fighting blister bugs. Sure hope they eradicate them, and they don't move over here. Our biggest debate is the grass invasion. We've just not been able to keep it out of  some of the areas. Last year at this time, we'd all but given up on weeding. We were doing flood irrigation and with what was going on other than farming (like a wedding) we lost the battle. This year, with drip irrigation, we've been much better at keeping the weeds under control.

No meatball or pasta trees but the rest grows here.

But there are a couple of areas we were not on top of and now grass, looks like Bermuda, is a real problem. The debate is how to take care of it this year without chemicals so we don't have the problem next year. The debate rages on.

Sadi Belle is growing like a weed, too. And that's okay!

A Drip, a Trip and a Silent Owl.

2012 On the plains in Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

Tortuga Thursday

Can't help thinking he'd do his job better if he could hoot.

This week flew by. My to-do list barely took a hit. I've been doing a lot of weeding. I know. I know. You heard me complain about this task last year. It's a bit different this year. Since we no longer flood between rows, we aren't over come with weeds in between. Good thing. The ground is harder between the rows and tougher to weed. The new drip system on the rows targets the plants. The weeds love it too. Unfortunately, one of the lessons we learned last year, we forgot. Some of the rows should be covered after the seeds are sowed and until the vegetables are established. That cuts down on the those air born weed seeds. Next year - well, third time's the charm. We'll remember. So, we had to wait until the plants were big enough to distinguish from the weeds. Which means lots of weeds. Lance has been spending more hours than I have. Once we get the whole field done, upkeep will be easier on the bigger plants.

The radishes are big enough to pick. Those guys are fast producers. The new sweet potato slips arrived and

Peas and the drip tape

they were beautiful. Lance got them in the ground the day they arrived. In the green house, we have leafy greens that can start showing up on our table this week. Yea!

First trip - to the dealer for service.

Two pieces of bad news this week and one is already fixed. The RV had a propane leak. Frank hooked it up and took it for the first time on the road to the dealer. They supposedly fixed it and sent him home. Within a couple of hours I smelled it worse than before. This time Frank took the hoses apart and found the real problem. Fixed. My faith in that dealership continues to dive. Second piece of bad news is the vet says Rusty needs $300 worth of dental work. I'm balking on this one. Yes, I can see his gums are red in the back but he eats anything and everything. Wouldn't he be having trouble if they're that bad? Can't we brush and water pick his teeth to health? We'll have this debate for a couple of days. I need to find the time to do some doggy teeth research.

Sadi Belle has learned what her hands are for and grabs at things with some accuracy. She pulled her bear over on top of herself and that registered surprise. So much fun to watch her grow.


It's been mighty hot on Tortuga Flats. I'm usually out of the sun by 10:00. I don't know how Lance does it for so many hours a day. But then I remember when he was not yet two years old, and we left our cement surrounded apartment for a trip to Yosemite. The first thing he did was plop down in the dirt with a big grin on his face and said "I love

Hollyhocks are blooming

dirt!"

Cyclone Season on Tortuga Flats Farm

2012 On the plains in Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

The veggies that got their start in trays in the greenhouse are all in the ground. Now the greenhouse is being utilized to grow herbs.
Lance has a few veggies in there also to see how they do in a more controlled environment.

A layer of shade added

The sun is pretty brutal here so he added a shade cloth over the greenhouse to help keep the temperature down. Fans blow at both ends in addition to the attached exhaust fans.

The greenhouse just missed disaster two days ago.

The dust devil escapes

A gigantic dust devil
was headed right at us. Lance called me outside in time to see it pick up various debris from two houses over including a couple of large pieces of sheet metal. I ran for my camera, but by the time I had it open and ready to shoot the cyclone hit our neighbor's property and dropped the huge pieces of metal in their backyard. All I was able to snap was the underside of it as it disappeared into the sky.

Blackberry bushes

A few blossoms and tons of buds are appearing on the blackberry bushes. With a lot of help, I got them all weeded and mulched. I used grass clippings this year as mulch. I didn't mulch at all last year so the hope is that the mulch keeps the weeds from coming back too strong. Weeding thorny blackberry bushes is painful.

The potatoes have sprouted. Getting antsy about the sweet potatoes. We had

Golden potatoes to be

to order them on line and thought they'd be here by now. A phone call to a very dull sounding fellow told me they'd be shipped this week.

The youngest member of the household, my gorgeous granddaughter, continues to grow and amaze. She's so alert and insists on being held in a sitting position most of the time.

Rusty

The oldest four-legged creature in the house is now on pain meds. Rusty has joint problems and has been so miserable. He has trouble keeping up with his two younger companions with all his aches and pains. We made the decision to put him on meds and he's a happier old man.

Wild grass that looks like bermuda is our biggest problem so far in the veggie fields. The roots go so deep that pulling it all up isn't possible. Not sure what the solution will be. Organic farming presents its problems.