Williams Island Farm

2012-01-19T03:33:00.001-05:00

We figured it out!!

2011-08-18T17:05:00.002-04:00

What? Lando just figured out how to update blogs! Time to start keeping you all entertained.

sweet winter greens and their fledgling counterparts

2011-03-04T14:19:00.031-05:00

Braved a wily winter! Now, graced with a suspiciously pleasant February, we are wholeheartedly gearing up for spring with all manner of greenhouse seeding and field prep.

We are transitioning from...

blanketed hullos,

a snug cob kitchen,

and ever-classy machinery

to...

younguns revving up,

tending the crowds,

farm errands about town,

cutting slips for the field,

and spending quality time with the ladies and gents.

Hope y'all are well. Our growing season is beginning to take shape and we've got solid plans, including a 2011 CSA and a new farmer's market!

For now you can find us at Wednesday's Main St. Farmer's Market from 4pm to 5pm. See you there!

The dog days

2010-07-15T17:04:00.005-04:00

It's extremely hot out here and we've all been trying to keep up the moral. The summer food is pouring out of the garden. We harvested 30 pounds of basil this week, over a hundred fifty pounds of sungolds, and the tomatoes are starting to come on strong!!! The lambs are growing rapidly and we have a crew of pups protecting them. We have indian runner ducks now who lay delicious tasting eggs. There is a video of them on you tube that is pretty wonderful. The island has undergone many changes and continues to grow into a lovely place. More and more folks are coming out to volunteer, we have four interns this year, and Noah, Kelsey, and Ashley are still holding up the farm.

Well it's been a while since any of us have written on here. We have a new website www.williamsislandfarm.com that has some wonderful pictures and lots of information on the farm. Check it out. More to come.

WE LOVE BLOCK 3

2009-08-13T15:27:00.002-04:00

Our summer garden has proven to be so bountiful and a source of so much happiness.
Below Katie(our beloved intern) and Beth)one of
the wonderful newcomers to the farm crew) are carrying honeydews and cantaloupes which we've been harvesting each day by the dozens. Oh and lots of delicious watermelons.

Summer's Bounty

2009-08-04T10:50:00.007-04:00

As the summer's bounty flows in I've been busy in the kitchen preserving anything and everything I can. I feel like a squirrel busily storing up for the winter months so my family can have yummy food all winter. It's also been wonderful having such great helpers(when they're around). There's nothing like sitting around a table with a bunch of women chopping veggies to put a big smile on my face. I recommend partaking in some preserving with people close to you. If anyone has any mason jars laying aroundI will happily take them from you and trade a jar of something tasty from my kitchen. Thanks all for your support in our endeavor. Hope everyone's eating lots of delicious food this summer. Thanks Ashley

Summer's Here

2009-07-05T14:31:00.005-04:00

Well summer certainly is here and we are busier then ever and enjoying every bit of it. It's been so exciting eating the first tomatoes, cucumbers, pattypans, potatoes, garlic, mmmmm the list goes on. We've been attending the Wed. Farmers Market on Main Street and been real happy with the growing number of folks attending and supporting the farmers each week. We've got three interns helping us out during the week, a couple work shares once a week, some wonderful newcomers, and a good bit of volunteers. The sheep are happy and the chickens too although they both would prefer some cooler weather. Thanks everyone for your support. The farm wouldn't exist without this wonderful community.

Breaking Ground

2009-03-11T15:25:00.005-04:00

The season has begun!

We are busy opening up ground for 2009. So far we've plowed about 2 acres, and by the end of Spring we'll have 5 or more open for the summer plantings. We're excited about all the vegetables we're growing this year. We're planting enough for our CSA program, restaurants, and farmer's market. If you'd like to register for the 2009 CSA, click here to access the registration form.

Mushrooms

2009-03-11T15:12:00.004-04:00

As the Winter comes to a close we are busily preparing for the Spring. We use fresh cut hard woods for shiitake and oyster mushroom cultivation. This year we're inoculating somewhere around 200 logs! We'll have mushrooms ready by the Fall. Here are some pictures of the process

Happy Lambs

2009-02-14T13:44:00.010-05:00

Lambs have been popping out the last few weeks, and we now have ten healthy new sheep. Life has been good for the sheep. The weather has warmed up quite a bit, we've started grazing, and after a couple of months with no green grass the sheep are very happy to be back on pasture. I think this lamb with the black spot is the cutest, but it is debatable considering her competition. The lambs all run around chasing each other, hopping up and down, enjoying their brief opportunity to be agile. Our newest farm animal is our sheep puppy. She will grow to be the toughest dog on the farm, will live with and protect our flock, and hopefully keep the deer away from the garden. She is cute too, see.

1929 Williams Island

2008-10-16T08:47:00.003-04:00

Recently we came across an old postcard taken from Signal Mountain of the island. We are lucky to have forests dividing the fields now, because they provide habitat for a range of beneficial animals and bugs, as well as shade in the midsummer heat.

Positive press

2008-09-27T19:55:00.002-04:00

Last week two inspirational reporters, Elizabeth and Shane, came and spent a day and night with us. On Friday the 25th, we were featured on the front page of the Chattanooga Free Times Press! They also made a great slideshow and video. Check them out:

Article and video - http://www.times freepress.com/news/2008/sep/26/chattanooga-groups-organic-effort-flourishes-midri/

Slideshow - http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/25/farming-williams-island/

Shiitakes

2008-09-15T13:32:00.000-04:00

Last January we inoculated about 20 logs with shiitake mushrooms. After incubating for 8 months, we soaked them for around 10 hours. Now they are blooming with beautiful and tasty shiitakes. They taste so good with our eggs!

The logs are stacked in the shade just behind our kitchen. As soon as the weather cools down a bit more, we'll soak the logs we inoculated with oyster mushrooms (they fruit in the fall/winter months).

Cob Oven

2008-09-15T13:25:00.001-04:00

Last week we built a cob oven just outside of our kitchen. We used materials gleaned from the island - including old tires used for the base, and sand that was brought to the surface when the well was drilled. Now we have a big hole where we got the clay from, which we will turn into a pit oven.