Seven Pines Farm Tour

On November 29, 2011, garden crew staff from the Happy Dancing Turtle visited Kent and Linda Solberg for a tour of Seven Pines Farm, north of Verndale MN. Seven Pines farm is an eighty acre grassed based livestock farm raising dairy cattle, pigs, and laying hens.

Above are the laying hens in their winter coop. The hoop house structure is layered with deep straw and the sided buried with snow when available. Waterers are pulled at dumped and removed at night to prevent freezing. The chickens are fed free choice organic layer mash. An average of one bird per four square feet is optimum stocking. Too many birds and issues arise with crowding and fighting. Not enough and the bedding pack and body heat from the birds doesn't provide enough heat during cold winter nights. No supplemental heat is added.

In the summer the layers are kept in egg mobiles built on movable trailers. Polywire net fencing is strung in a large circle around the trailers. The hens are allowed to free range on pasture during the day and locked in the egg mobiles at night to protect from predators. Badgers have been one of their biggest predators, killing as many as 90 birds in one night.

Above is the winter finishing hut for butcher hogs. The pigs in this hut are slated for their "bad" day within the next couple of weeks. After these are gone the young piglets on pasture will be move into the hut for the winter to finish. The sows will be breed back in mid December for April farrowing and are housed outdoors with a deep straw bedded hut. The sows farrow on pasture in the metal "port-a-huts". One more hut is needed than the number of sows farrowing.

Sows and piglets on pasture. Notice metal "port-a-huts".

Happy Cows! Intensive rotational grazing increases grass production and reduces disease in the herd. If you can see the cows eyes when they are grazing the grass is too long. If you can see their nose it is too short.

Loafing shed for butcher steers. Feed whole corn and hay, the bedding pack is built up throughout the winter. Corn, missed by the steers is scattered throughout the bedding. In early spring the bred sows are brought in to scavenge for the corn, mixing the bedding pack for faster decomposition. The bedding is then removed and composted further before applying to the fields.

Swedish style milking parlor. Milks 8 cows at a time. The only time the cows are inside is when they are being milked. No bending over to hook up milking machine. Total cost under $30,000.

Kent Solberg in milk house.

Kent rotates the cows through seven paddocks. Above is a winter manure pack area where cows are concentrated and fed round bales(notice the distinct line where manure stops). This area will be disked in the spring and planted to drought tolerant millet. This will be grazed twice then in August worked and seeded to triticale and field turnips undersown to a pasture mix of alfalfa, chicory and misc grasses. The cold hardy tritcale and turnips are fall grazed into Oct or Nov. After this the paddock is used as a winter feeding area to build manure pack. The following spring the established pasture mix that was undersown comes up through the manure pack. The paddock is left in pasture for 4 to 5 years before rotating back to millet.

Though hard to see this shows the 1-3" manure pack. Biologically active soils are needed for the microbes to break down this manure pack and incorporate it into the soil. This is especially important on light sandy soils like those on the Seven Pines farm.

Jumping for joy

We're pretty excited about the upcoming Back to Basics event taking place on January 28th in Pine River, so excited that we made a video about it.

All Things Prepared...(Collage of Sustainability)

With the big day approaching rapidly, we've been very busy putting the final touches on everything that needed doing. And, with over 100 people expected to attend, we didn't want to disappoint.

We've set up two rooms for breakout sessions.

The sound equipment has been set up and tested. We are proud to report that feedback will not be an issue!

Ryan and Dan fine tuned the solar shade and even cut the fabric to allow for open windows.

Jim E. cleared and smoothed the field in the center of campus to accommodate all of the cars expected. We will also be providing a van that will bring people from their cars to the front doors, if they wish.

The shop is even getting some last minute cleaning. Here you can see that Wayne follows the mantra, "Always keep your tools clean."

Ellen and Sonja have there hands full with preparing and packing over 150 sack lunches for the visitors.

Here you can see exactly how many sandwiches that is!

For more information, please drop by www.happydancingturtle.org for a brochure of the breakout sessions and a full list of speakers. We hope to see you there!

The Great Annual Honey Harvest

After producing for most of the summer, the beehives on campus were ready to be harvested. Jim E. and Sonja took to the hives with confidence and calm, but also with the proper protective gear.

Jim assured us that this hive had already swarmed earlier in the summer and was likely to be more docile. But, he also made sure to have the smoker up and ready before beginning, though.

Here you can see the sticky red glue called propolis, which is used to help the bees build their hive walls. Jim and Sonja had to scrape off the propolis before being able to free the comb frames. Clean combs were swapped for those with honey.

The girls were calm enough to be gently brushed off the frame.

Jim was even able to find the hives queen bee.

In the end, over 14 quarts of fresh honey were produced. Jim assured me that, while honey can keep for thousands of years, the honey collected here wouldn't last the winter at this house. Someone loves his honey, it seems.

Catnip Insect Repellent

On Fridays, it gets pretty quiet around here. Everybody gets their work done and is gone for the weekend. So, as I was sitting at my computer Friday afternoon, I hear what sounds like construction work going on in the kitchen.

The catnip leaves need to be chopped up.

I come down the stairs and see Sonja working the food processor and sitting next to her is a bowl of what looks like "grass soup."

Here you can see the "grass soup" being mixed.

She informed me that she was making homemade insect repellent. The main ingredient is catnip leaves! Apparently, after running it through the chopper, pouring boiling water over it and then draining the remainder into a jar like a tea, you can then use it to keep flies, mosquitoes and many other pesky insects from bothering you.

This mixture is ten times more effective than any commercial product with DEET in it. DEET has been proven to have negative effects, so if you can make the time, making your own herbal repellent can be healthier and if you put it in an essential oil (grape seed or jojoba oil), it can also be good for your skin.

Sonja claims its more effective in repelling insects, yet she warns that you'd better be careful wearing it around your house cats. You might be in for a good pouncing.

HDT Hosts Brainerd Lakes Chamber

Wednesday at noon, Happy Dancing Turtle hosted over 35 Brainerd Lakes chamber members for a CHOW luncheon.

They were treated to a spread of hand crafted ham & veggie wraps, pasta salad, fresh strawberries from the garden, and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Here, you can see Lynn demonstrating how more efficient the ARC houses are compared to regular construction.

After lunch and small presentations by the chamber, members were invited to tours of the HUG campus.

Here, Bob is networking with members of the chamber.

Here, Quinn is showing the jigsaw like nature of the SIP panels. SIP panels are used in the construction of ARC houses.

It certainly is sunny on top of the Mani Shop. Quinn is showing off the green roof.

HDT Gardens Already a Sweet Success

With the use of black plastic mulch, and the very hard work of the HDT garden crew, the HDT gardens already have large and sweet strawberries ready to pick. With the aid of the mulch, warm weather crops are able to maintain the heat around the garden bed, even with the inclement weather we've enjoyed for the last month.

Dug and Ray of HUG help in the picking process.

We have plans to eat and cook with the berries as much as we can, but will freeze the remainder for use in the fall and winter.

For your information, they're delicious.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Commemorates Playground

On Friday, June 24th the Pine River Dam Park newly installed playground was christened with fanfare and dozens of children swarming the equipment. The playground was recently installed after Central Lakes Rotary (CLR) club reached its goal of raising $10,000 in matching funds. Balloons were given to the children at the ceremony.

The keys were transferred to the city from CLR.

The ribbon was cut by members of the city council.

Frost Free Friday a Chilly Success

Friday was the annual kick-off for the Pine River Market Square. On a day that barely held onto its name, the annual Frost Free Friday kickoff event brought determined vendors and chilly visitors. All throughout downtown Pine River, local businesses welcomed the unofficial first day of summer.

Happy Dancing Turtle and dozens of local businesses gave away seedling plants for free as a way to kick off the summer season. With over a dozen farms and agricultural organizations participating in the PRMS, visitors were able to get a variety of offerings.

You could buy fresh made focaccia bread from Cherie Wehausen at Rising Star.

Lorna's Kitchen offered fresh sourdough and perennial seedlings.

You could buy your dill pickles and home-made mustard from Armstrong Acres.

Friendly faces were free from all vendors. The Market Square has been doing well for three years, now.

After braving the chilly weather, what could be better than warming yourself up with some hot BBQ at the grand opening of JR's Number 19. The pulled pork was delicious and very reasonably priced.

What a way to start the summer!

Mushroom Innoculation Season

Inoculating shitake mushroom logs.

Logs should be cut from live, actively growing trees.  Preferred species include red and burr oak or ironwood.  Notice the thick cambium layer of the log below.  That is an indicator of fast growth and is the food for the mushrooms.  

 

Clean and drill the logs - an angle grinder adapted to a drill is much faster

Inoculate the logs by inserting sawdust spawn into drilled holes.

 

Wax the holes after filling with spawn.  The logs then have to "lay" for one growing season while the mushroom fungi colonizes the log.  Moisture within the log must not drop below 30% during this incubation phase.  Logs should start to produce mushrooms the second season and continue to produce for several years thereafter.