Eden Creek Farm

Baby,Baby!

2011-12-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

I went out to feed this morning and found a nice surprise...one of the Black Copper Maran hens had hatched six half breed chicks! It looks like our Buff Orpington Rooster "Fancy Pants" has been very busy!

The goats my sister gave me are doing great...we named them" Polly Vu" and "Fon sa", there mother 509 is a good mama.

Fon sa wanting Doodles to play.
Yum, tree bark!

Water!

2011-12-29T14:59:00.001-08:00

Wilber and the ducks are enjoying the stock tanks full of water for the first time in 4 years!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Haw !!!!!!!

Farm Christmas Cookies!

2011-12-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a great shortbread ginger recipe. I made these with a Brown Bag Shortbread cookie pan...with these great animal figures. This is the first time I have used this pan and they worked out great.

Ginger Shortbread

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar-packed
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1 cup flour - unsifted
1 Tablespoon corn starch

Cream the butter. Cream in the brown sugar and the ginger. Now work in the flour and corn starch. Knead the dough on an board until nice and smooth. Cook at 325 about 30-35 min or until brown.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful time of year... turkey,dressing and all the trimmings! Showtime say's Yum!

Happy Sheep!

Showtime our Ram is growing and doing well.

Michael's visit to the farm!

2011-11-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

Taking a walk through the farm before the rain.

What a wonderful day!
Michael,Kris,Henry,Maya

Pig 101

2011-11-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend the engineering/robotics teams from Fort Worth came out to the farm for a tour and research project on food Safety, one team is researching bacon.

Off to the Red Wattle (Bacon)Barn!

The teams learned about what our red wattle pigs favorite and most healthy foods are. Just to name a few items our pasture raised pigs are eating for the month of November... Chicken, Duck & Goose Eggs, Alfalfa,Texas native persimmons,Wheat,Rye grass, Acorns and fall leaves. Yum!

Fun with the Ducks.

Thank you Jodi and Friends!

Horse Power

2011-10-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...due to the extreme drought Steve and I have had to take on some other part time jobs. I started driving a carriage for Star Buck Carriage Company. Betina Hawkins my good friend owns the company and gives carriage rides for all types of events... including Weddings,Birthday parties and Family reunions. For more info: www.starbuckcarriage.com

The Percheron horses are Caspar and Pepper

I Love You!

Extreme Drought!

2011-08-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. As you all know we are in an extreme drought...the ground is so hard here from no rain we are unable to till to put in our fall garden. One of our ponds is completely dry.

Some of our Chickasaw wild plum trees are beginning to die off also...they are usually very drought tolerant.

At this time we are postponing the pigapolloza until November...hopefully we will have wetter/cooler weather by then. The fire hazard here at the farm is to high to chance at this time.

Also due to drought we have cancelled our 2012 fruit and veggie CSA program.

We will keep everyone updated. Thanks so much for every ones support! :)

Pigapalooza!!!!!!!

2011-06-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hay everyone we are going to have our first annual outdoor festival here at the farm!!!!!

PIGAPALOOOZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OCTOBER 1ST,2011

Celebrating Pork,Pork and more Pork!!!!!

We will have LIVE BANDS!

TOP CHEFS with lots of GREAT FOOD!!!!!!!!! PIG ROAST!

A PETTING ZOO for the kido's.

NATURE TRAILS!

BUY YOUR TICKET TODAY! CONTACT US AT SALES@EDENCREEKFARM.COM

Bugs!

2011-06-15T09:14:00.001-07:00

We have been infested with the Harlequin Bug...They have badly damaged our collards,kohlrabi,radish and turnips.

We are sorry to announce that our CSA has been postponed until further notice.
Our drought situation is critical. Our well is drying up.

Because of the drought we have a very bad bug problem.

Billions of Squash bugs! We have planted squash and pumpkins 3 times and lost them all to this squash bug.

The dino Kale after a morning lunch meeting with a few worms.

We are way behind on rainfall. This crack is only getting bigger.

WISH US LUCK!

Peter & Piggies!

2011-06-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with the farm... I am way behind on blogging...so I am going to backtrack a little. On May 29,2011 Family came up from Houston to visit and Steve snapped this great shot of Peter in the cone flowers.

They just missed Willma one of our Red Wattle pigs giving birth the next day. This was her first litter and she did it all by herself. 9 were born 8 have made it so far!!!! 4 boys and 4 girls!

She is a very good mother.

Her brother helped carry sticks to build the nest.

She is a first time mom but handles it like an old pro! She loves her babies!

Harvest Day

2011-05-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Some of the crops are recovering from the big hail storm we had...while we lost others. We have started a lot of squash,bean and pumpkin seedlings to replace some of the plants that did not make it.

This week we had friends visiting the farm...Art and Tina from Missouri and Tina's brother Pi from Georgia. Art and Tina were married here in town and spent a few honeymoon days here at Eden Creek.

Everyone helped out with the harvesting...what a great time we had!!!!

Our Leeks that made it through the storm...not looking to bad after a wash and trim!

Farm Days!

2011-05-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

We have a new baby girl lamb...we named her Kelly Orth!! She is a nice lamb with lots of color.

We have added a few more ducks to the farm...everyone loves our duck eggs.

We are trying out a new type of Broiler chicken...these grow fast but not so fast they can't walk.

Hail Storm!

2011-04-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Bad News CSA members...we got golf ball size hail and larger in yesterday's storm.

We were lucky the tornado missed us but we had very high winds. The farm has suffered some damage.

All of the critters made it through O.K. but the garden has some major damage. The photo's below do not show just how bad it really is.

Beet greens shredded.

Leeks all broken.

The chard is mangled.

We will do the best we can to salvage each and every plant but we may be canceling some delivery days in the future. We will keep you posted.

Petting Zoo Fun!!

2011-04-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Our first Petting Zoo went great! We all had a blast with the

baby goats,baby cow,baby pigs

Ducks,geese,chickens and sheep!!!! Doodles,Noodles and Butters loved all the attention.

We had soooooooooo much fun!!!!!

Petting Zoo!!

2011-03-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

First Monthly Petting Zoo/Nature trail is this coming Saturday April 1st! Open 1-4 Come out to the farm and visit all the new baby animals and take walk down our nature trail. For our CSA members its Free! For non-members it is $5 for adults and $2 for children. We will have leeks,oinions and radish for sale by the bunch!

Betina!

2011-03-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

My good friend Betina Hawkins called me Friday afternoon wanting to know if I was interested in a Charolias calf. It would have to be bottle fed because it was having trouble nursing on its mama. I zoomed over and picked her up.

I named her Betina! She is our little Angel!!!

Kids In Their PJ's

2011-03-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

It's Doodles in the yellow she was born first.

Noodles is in the stripes she was born last.

Butters is in the green he was born second.
We took the kids outside today...they had a blast!!!!!

Noodles, Doodles and Butters are doing very well. They love their new pajamas!

Muffin still has not accepted them so we are bottle feeding with raw Jersey cows milk. We bring Muffin inside sometimes... so they are getting mama's milk also. The kids are growing,playing and having a lot of fun in our living room! We love our kids!!!!

Muffin had Triplets!

2011-03-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

Buttery Biscuit, Noodle and Doodle Bug were born Wednesday afternoon! In all three births there were serious complications. The first to come out was born breach. The other two were stuck in the birthing canal with there legs back.

All three babies are now happy and healthy.

We managed to get them all out safely. Muffin was doing fine until the babies started to nurse...she began throwing them in the air and jabbing them with her horns!
We Tied her up and let the three babies nurse. Now we are waiting for her to pass the after birth. Muffin and her babies are spending the night in our living room so we can keep an eye on them. The Miracle of Birth!

Plum Blossoms!

2011-02-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

The first blooms of the Chickasaw plums fill the air with a sweet fragrance of spring!

Baby Piggies!

2011-02-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Thelma had 11 babies last night...so cute! They are not crawling into the crib even when I put them in it they crawl back to mommy. 4 have been squashed...I hope that will be it. We will see. Thelma is a first time mother and is feeling a little stress. But I think she will be alright.

Nothin better than piggy milk for breakfast!

Eggs!

2011-02-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

The Black Copper Marans have started laying eggs! The dark chocolate brown one on the left is A Black Copper Maran egg and the tan one on the right is a Buff Orpington. Black Copper Maran chicks are running as high as $13 to $25 per chick,but most web-sites are sold out. If you have any Black Copper Maran chickens or chicks for sale please contact me at: sales@edencreekfarm.com.

Steve and I have been very busy building Thelma her new piggie crib for her litter of babies due to arrive on Feb 28th or so. I think she has approved the construction.

We will post baby piggie pictures soon!

Texas Snow!

2011-02-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

Our newest editions to the sheep herd were born on Jan 30,2011! Eugene and Calvin Orth! Today we got 6 inches of snow and they are having a lot of fun playing in it.

Fancypants keeps his favorite hen Ladybug warm through the cold spell.

Beauford likes to eat the snow...he does not mind the snow at all.

The sheep have been shivering in the -9 wind chill temperatures but doing O.K. We put out lots of hay for them in the shed and have been breaking the water for them for almost a week.

Suger Plum and JoJo getting a treat of alfalfa.

Bacon is good for me!!!!

2011-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

In a story published by the Daily Mail in the UK, it has been reported that pregnant women that eat bacon produce smarter offspring. Now I know what you thinking, “I thought prego women should stay away from nitrites”. Well, every true bacon lover knows you can buy it nitrite free, and soon all pregnant women will know this too.
The brain enhancing nutrient in our favorite meat is something called choline, which is a water-soluble essential nutrient. Scientists at the University of North Carolina say it helps babies in the womb develop brains that are better with memory and recall.

A few reasons why our Red Wattle Pork is better than all the rest...They are fed Farm Fresh eggs daily, and get a four hoofed back massage by their friend Muffin!

Red Wattle Pork

2011-01-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

The red wattle pigs are growing nicely...I took this picture about 2 weeks after we had picked them up. Today these guys weigh about 100+lbs!

Muffin our goat and the ducks love pig sitting for us!

This week we will be sending some of the 200lbs hogs to the butcher. It's time for some Red Wattle Ham and Bacon!

Tinkerbell is Well!

2010-11-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

Tinkerbell is doing much better and is growing big fast. She is up to about 40 lbs now. She still will only eat Gerbers baby rice and oatmeal warmed to the perfect temperature.

She is like having a 2 year old in the house now! Full time job!

A good friend of ours, that used to raise pigs told us that if your pigs tail is curled up tight she's healthy and happy.

Look at that cute nose!!!!

We love you Tinkerbell!

Blooming Grove Oysters!

2010-10-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

Kristine put me to work today holding our new baby pigs while our vet, Dr. Rogers castrated them. We were gonna fry up some pig testicles for dinner tonight... but the chickens ran off with them before we got a chance to cook them up!

This last Sunday we went to Edom, Texas to pick up 8 more baby Red Wattle pigs...four males and four female. Thanks Clifford for the healthy baby pigs!

Evelyn, one of our sheep gave birth to twins last Wednesday night(Shadow and Annie). The black sheep is a rare "Black Hawaiian"....

New Baby Lambs!

2010-09-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here they come September the 6th Destiny gave birth to a set of twins lambs...a boy and a girl! We named them Rubin and Camial.

On September 20 around 7pm in the evening Lucy gave birth to a little boy we named Monkey!

And today around 4:30 pm Hilda gave birth to a big healthy baby girl!

Welcome to our world!

Saving Stinkerbell

2010-09-19T15:09:00.001-07:00

A friends pig stopped making milk for her babies... She had 7 pigglets ,only 3 were left alive so we took them home in hope of saving them. 2 died the same day leaving only Tinkerbell/AKA Stinkerbell ( A Yorkshire breed ). We have been battling diarrhea for 2 weeks... She has lost weight in spite of her ferocious appetite. We have not slept for almost two weeks. Steve and I also had to turn the AC up to 85 to help keep her extra warm. It has been touch and go but we have seen some improvement with the addition of Goji berries and raw liver to her diet. Stinkerbell was white from anemia but is now pretty pink. Please keep her in your thoughts and send her healing love!

Taking a nap with stinker keeping her extra warm.

Stinkerbell sunbathing!

Stinkerbell sleeping in her box.

Barbado Blackelly Sheep

2010-08-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Our new Barbado Blackbelly Sheep are here! We have a herd of 17. 10 Pregnant Ewes and 7 rams.

Eli, is our painted desert ram.

Destiny due to lamb in 3 weeks.

Ruby due soon!

We will be having sheep milk and cheese soon....

Bio dynamic!

2010-07-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

Bumper crops for the farm this year. The Organic Bio dynamic system we use is defiantly making a difference!!!

Field Report

2010-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

The 12 Muscovy ducks we turned out into the garden are eating up all the grasshoppers! Yippy!!

The corn,tomatoes,peppers,squash, and cucumbers are looking great. Today we got some badly needed rain!

We have ordered our greenhouse...it will be here at the end of July. Just in time for fall planting.

Hello!

2010-06-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Black Copper Maran's are starting to hatch!

OINK!

2010-06-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

We are proud to introduce a new member of the Eden Creek Farm Family... Thelma Louise!

Thelma is 6 weeks old and weighs over 50 pounds. She will weigh over 1000 pounds when full grown. We will be using her for breeding purposes to help save this endangered hog.

She is a registered Red Wattle Hog from the Macaw Ranch owned by Dirk and Shirley Loren.

The Red Wattle Hog is on the critically endangered list of heritage breeds.

Oink! Oink!

Worms!

2010-05-28T04:34:00.000-07:00

Our computer got a bad worm...that is why we haven't blogged for a while! Speaking of bad worms,the cabbage worms have destroyed most of our cabbage,collards, and kohlrabi!

The hand picking of worms and worm eggs didn't seem to work this year simply because of the numbers.

Muffin & Moses!

2010-05-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Muffin in her new pink dress! She likes to climb up on the back of the couch and jump off.

Moses is growing and doing well he loves to explore.

Go Mo!!!

2010-04-18T12:20:00.001-07:00

Moses Orth...Mo for short, our new baby goat was born Saturday. Mo wasn't nursing and had to have some help, so we brought the momma goat Rosie and Mo inside the house. They slept in the living room for 2 night. This morning we were able to put them back in the pen. Mo is bucking and playing. Go Mo! Go Mo!!!!

Bumper crop

2010-04-14T03:37:00.001-07:00

It is going to be a bumper crop for dewberries, plums and peaches this year!

Willy is on bad bug patrol...working over time making sure everything stays in balance!

The bees are working over time also...

Meetup.com day at the farm

2010-04-13T05:04:00.001-07:00

This is the beginning of the tour where Steve is explaining our "Food Forest" and the different layers of native foods. The bottom layer is the dewberries...then the Chickasaw and Mexican plums...then the mustang grapes growing up the native persimmons. trees.

Steve discussing the importance of organic foods and avoiding GMO's!!!

Taking a walk through the "food Forest" at Eden Creek Farm!

Everyone got to pick a handful of asparagus on their way out...

NBC at the farm

2010-04-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ashanti Blaize from NBC came by Eden Creek Farm today to do a story on organic farmers for Green Week...we will keep you posted on when it will be showing!

You can teach a old dog new tricks!

2010-04-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

You can teach an old dog new tricks! Maya is learning to watch over the chickens instead of eating them....so far so good!

Everything is looking great!

2010-04-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Kristine and I finished planting 2,500 two year old asparagus crowns (in between harvesting and delivering our first CSA of the year)...it takes three years before being able to eat.

The collards, cabbage, broccoli, kale, butter crunch and black seeded Simpson lettuce are looking great!

CSA week 1

2010-04-01T12:30:00.001-07:00

This weeks CSA included: beet tops,arugula,mizuna eatable flowers,green onions,green garlic and oregano.

Today was the first time since last September that we were able to take our mud boots off while working on the farm. The windy weather has been drying out the fields! All Central Texas farmers are about 30 days behind schedule due to below normal temperatures and extremely wet weather...some still are unable to get into there Fields to till. Our raised beds, double dug system has got us a head. All the veggies are looking healthy and happy!

BEET TOP SOUP

2 bunches organic beet leaves 1/2 bunch organic parsley 1/4 cup fresh gingerroot 1/2 avocado 3 mushrooms 2 medium organic tomatoes 1/4 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 2 pinches pepper 1 bunch chopped green garlic tops 1 cup water 1/2 avocado, chunked 2 mushrooms, sliced 1 stalk of celery, sliced 1/2 carrot, sliced 1 small fresh tomato, chopped. Begin roughly chopping beet tops and parsley. Place beet tops in a blender with garlic tops, parsley, water, oil, and spices. Blend until well chopped and smooth. It may need a little extra water and oil to get it to blend well. Once it has blended a little though, the rest should blend pretty well also. Cut the first group of ginger, avocado, tomatoes and mushrooms into chunks. Also add these to the blender. This will enhance the flavor and smooth it out a lot. Now let it blend for about a minute or two to let everything get smooth. This is the base for this raw soup. At this point you may want to add extra seasonings to give it just the taste you want. Finally, place in small bowls and add the extra chopped vegetables, avocado, mushrooms, celery, carrot, tomato.

Sam and Ray's first visit to farm for their bag of CSA goodies!

Luna Moth

2010-03-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

Our Luna Moth cocoons are starting to hatch...we woke up with a beautiful surprise! Kristine is now in design phase for a moth and butterfly house. We will keep you posted!

This moth, named after Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon, is one of the most spectacular-looking moths, with sweeping tails and feathery antennae. Unfortunately, it is threatened by the use of pesticides.

Planting our second run

2010-03-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Kristine and I planted over 600 Buttercrunch lettuce transplants this morning...now we are eating a huge salad topped with eatable flowers for lunch. It is nice having greens around again!!!

After lunch we plant our second run of Red Chard...

Zoey our rabbit has been having a relaxing day lounging on the sofa. He also enjoyed his salad and flower lunch

Ohhhh-possum

2010-03-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Something got one of our ducks the night before last... last night Maya caught this opossum. Hopefully he was the culprit! He will be playing dead for a long time.

Check out these duck killing hand... this guy was the largest opossum I have ever seen!

A day at the farm

2010-03-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Family came down this weekend to help on the farm...Joe, Natalie, Kristin, Evelyn, Katie and Peter. Lucky them! The work day got rained out. We had a blast anyway!

The girls went to Bob's Feed and purchased 6 baby chick to donate to our egg house. Their names are: Giddian,Peanut,Shuffles,Uua,Fergie and Kalou!

Our girls are growing up! We will be moving them out to our Chicken tractor soon....

We had a fun time with potato sack races...
The girls getting ready to go on a buggy ride!

Kristine's sister Julie stopped by with eleven little gifts...the girls named them: Petunia, Penny, Greg, Marco, Donald, Quakers, Sunflower, Daisy, Brittany , Blaze and Waddles

Our well pump went out a couple of days before our company arrived...so we have been on water rations ever since . It has felt like camping out. No showers...just sponge baths!

Curtis and Teresa from McNeese Drilling Company brought the pump the day it got in. Thanks Curtis and Teresa!!! If you need a well drilled or pump serviced...call them at 903-851-5178.

Farm Fun

2010-03-18T18:43:00.001-07:00

Our friends from Star Buck Carriage... Bennaz, Betina, Hannah and Cliff came out and visited today. We had a great time!

If you are looking for a carriage for your special event go to http://www.starbuckcarriage.com/

or call Betina 903-874-1642

Eleven Days Old

2010-03-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Harvest Moon is now 11 days old, she has been having a lot of fun romping and playing in the fields!

Sally Sue is getting a work out keeping up with her!

Maya has a great time watching over them.

Bye!Bye for now!

EAT GREEN DFW

2010-03-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

We had special guests here at the farm today.... Allison, Mike and their daughter Sarah with eatgreendfw!

After taking a stroll through the plum blossoms we made our way to the garden. Sarah loved picking the tiny purple wildflowers!

April 11 they will be bringing their group of about 20 to visit the farm.

The Smell of Spring

2010-03-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

The Chickasaw, Mexican and Red plums are in bloom. The fragrance is truly intoxicating! Ummm... I love the Smell of Spring at Eden Creek Farm! Today the wind gusts got up to 43 miles per hour...That should help dry out the fields!

I can taste the plum wine now.....

It's a filly!

2010-03-06T05:23:00.000-08:00

At 1:12am this morning "Harvest Moon"...our new filly was born! In this photo she is only about 6 hours old.

Sally Sue is being a very good first time mom. Her foal is happy and healthy!

Harvest Moon is a Claybank Red Dun...1/2 quarter horse 1/2 Belgian.

Got Horse Milk!

2010-03-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Our mare's milk came in over 5 weeks ago...today she finally has waxed...this means Sally Sue should have her foal within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Yeeeeeeeeeee-Haw!

Sally Sue and Kristine getting the stall ready for our new arrival.

Warmer weather for planting

2010-03-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

Been busy transplanting the seedlings of Kohlrabi, Sweet Peas, Head Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Collards, Kale , Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts...

The onions are starting to grow...the ground is starting to dry out just in time to get hit by another big storm.

The first peach tree started to bloom this week and the bees have already found it!

Butter Fingers (our rooster) is anxious for his new...thirty girlfriends to grow up!

Zoey

2010-02-28T04:58:00.000-08:00

Kristine went to the feed store to get some more hay and alfalfa for Sally Sue(our horse). She returned with a little extra suprise... Zoey, a baby bunny!

Zoey will be living inside the house... between the baby grand piano and the 30 new baby chicks.

I wonder what Kristine will bring home next?

Slow Growing

2010-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

The white,red and yellow Onions,Gourmet Garlic, Cabbage,Broccoli,Brussels Sprouts,Collards,Mustard and Arugula are looking great...just a little slow growing because of the colder than normal weather and lack of sun.

All our seedlings are growing. We will be transplanting this wave of veggies in a couple of weeks... kale,lettuce,red poc choy, cabbage and chard just to mention a few.

Butter Crunch Lettuce and Red Poc Choy seedlings 2/26/10

Onion and Garlic patch 2/26/10

Chicks in the mail

2010-02-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

The phone rings...it's the post office,"Your baby chicks have arrived!"

We received 30 healthy and happy baby chicks(Buff Orpington) in the mail this mornin' from th McMurray Hatchery.

We will keep you posted on how our egg laying girls are doing...

A Study by Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlonson of Newcastle University,United Kingdom, won a veterinary of medicine prize for conducting a study that showed a milk cow with a name, and treated friendly can increase milk yield by 258 liters of milk per year.

Below are the names of each of our new chicks...they can feel the love!

Darla,Darma ,Blondi,Betty,Bounce,Cheapers,

Wilma,Thelma,Louies,Katy ,Burtha,Birdie,

Blanch,Maralyn,Tina,Snuggles,Sleppy,

Pretty,Peckers,Lady, Sandy, Candy,Goblin,Runner,

Hopper,Smiley,Pie, Sunshine,Peepers and

Chicklet.

Record Snow Fall

2010-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Central Texas got record snow fall on Thursday February11...onions, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, collards and arugula are looking good in spite of being covered with a thick layer of snow!

We will be planting as soon as the soil dries up a bit.

It is time to plant onions

2010-01-18T03:21:00.000-08:00

If you live in central Texas...it is time to plant onions sets! Onions prefer well drained fertile soil and plenty of sun.

We just got our seed potatoes in...we will be planting them February 14th.

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

We are having the coldest winter in eight years...I hope it kills all the bad bugs!

Sunday we will be picking up our seed potatoes and onions for planting soon.

We have two new farm arrivals Silly and Willy.One male and one female Pekin duck...Steve's Christmas present. The ducks stay on the pond...until we heard them to the garden for bug patrol this spring.

Happy New Year!!!!!

New T-Shirt Style

2009-11-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

This is our new T-Shirt style...they will be printed on a pebble color long sleeve shirts with dark brown art work.

The design and art work was done by Uncle Mike...Thanks Uncle Mike!!!!!

Bolsa Get's Restaurant Of The Year

2009-11-20T05:25:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Bolsa for winning 2009 Restaurant of the year in D'Magazine!!!! Check out this months issue.

Thanks Bolsa for supporting Eden Creek Farm!

If you haven't made it by Bolsa's yet...put it at the top of your list of places to go!

Today Kristine and I ate the butternut squash soup for starters...and then for the main course we had pulled pork sandwich topped with cabbage. It was all OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!

We love you Chef Graham!!!

T-Shirts

2009-11-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

Eden Creek Farm T-Shirts have just arrived!!!

$15.99 plus shipping and handling.

Help support Eden Creek Farm... Order Today!

Just in time for Christmas!

Email: Sales@edencreekfarm.com to order.

Organic Compost

2009-11-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

There is over six billion living organisms in a hand full of good organic compost...that is more than the population of humans on Earth!

We have been preparing our beds for planting and used up all of our compost...so we ordered some organic compost from a company called Living Earth.

The truck hauling compost got stuck in a sink hole. It sunk all the way up to the frame. Call the wrecker!

This is Kristine standing in the rut the tire left in the sink hole.

The Army Worm Hunter

2009-11-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

We have now hired uncle Mike "The Army worm Hunter" to take care of our worm problem! If there are holes in the cabbage it's just bullet holes. I have been spraying a garlic/hot pepper mix weekly on the surviving cabbage to keep the army worms at bay...it seems to be working...but just in case we have Uncle Mike. The directions on the garlic/pepper spray is pretty easy. Mix 2 garlic bulbs and a hand full of hot peppers in a blender with 3 cups of water...blend until liquid...strain...add 1/3 cup per gallon of water with a squirt of dish washing liquid to a sprayer and apply once a week.

This is Sally Sue our newest addition to the farm... She is an Amish trained, Belgium buggy horse. When we purchased her she seemed to be very husky...now we know why...she is pregnant!

I'm In The Mood For Love

2009-11-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Went out to check on our cherry tomatoes and there were these two little love bugs!

From Drought to Floods

2009-11-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

This year has been a roller coaster for farming! first there was the drought...by the beginning of September the water table dropped so low that the well almost dried up. Many rain dances later... my prayers were answered with almost 40 inches of rain in less than two months! Most of the fall crops washed away and what was left the army worms ate up in a couple of days. Anyway, the fields are finally dry enough to work in and the sun is shining. Yeeeeeee-Haw!

These video clips are not a creek or a river it is the run off through our woods... twenty-four hours after one of the heavy rains at Eden Creek Farm in late October.

Changing Colors

2009-11-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

Crisp cool nights...and beautiful sun shining days for the next week. No rain in the forecast. Yeeeee-Haw!!!! Fall is here, the leaves are starting to change color.

The wild persimmons are doing great this year...the coyotes seem to think so too! Every morning when we go to gather fallen persimmons, the coyotes beat us to them. at least they aren't going to waste.

The leaves aren't the only changing color around Eden Creek farm... Kristine has been working hard plastering, and painting the vegetable preparation building. I have been staying busy preparing planting beds now that the fields are drying up enough to walk on.

Moving Ground?

2009-10-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

We have now had over 35 inches of rain here at Eden Creek Farm...this video shows how saturated our ground is. Watch how the ground rolls and moves like a water bed beneath our feet!

Jay & Kristine

2009-10-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

My son Jay and his girlfriend Kristine came over to visit this weekend. October 3rd, Jay turned 22!

They brought with them there new dog (Handsome?) Not sure of his name yet...he is half Wolf half German Sheppard. He and Henry got along great.

The horses are loving the cooler weather...and the green grass.

We have gotten so much rain I have lost count of exactly how much. Over 25 inches or more in the last 4 weeks. The fields are water logged. One of our ponds that has been empty for two years is now overflowing!

Building Day 16 and 17

2009-10-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Steve and Daniel finished up more trim and the hand rail on the front porch today...just in time for more rain. Our rain gage has measured over 20 inches this last month!!!

Our plum trees are a little confused...Blooms in October????

Day 14 & 15

2009-10-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

We planted our third round of Broccoli,Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts and Rainbow Chard before the rains returns again!

Day 14 & 15 was spent trimming out the inside and putting on the front and back gutters...we finished the last down spout right as it started to pour. Rain again!!!! The weatherman says it's going to rain all next week...

Construction Day 12 & 13

2009-09-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Steve and Daniel spent the past two days finishing the roof and building the back veggie cleaning /seed sprouting covered area...mixing clear plastic and metal roofing for extra light.

Today was also spent planting more seed, fertilizing and mowing all our grass to keep the army worms at bay. Tomorrow is our C.S.A. delivery day...an extra long day of harvesting and driving to Dallas.

Army Worms Attack!!!

2009-09-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

The army worms attack Blooming Grove,Texas!!! They eat all the grass,grain,veggies and legumes in there way...taking out 100's of acers overnight.

While picking up a bail of hay for our horses today we noticed the Bermuda fields were eaten to the ground with millions of army worms everywhere. If you haven't heard of army worms yet "Google" them...you will be amazed.

The worms have not made it to our farm yet... but we will be on the watch for these hungry little critters!!!!

On a better note, this past weekend ...in between pulling weeds, planting seed and mending fence we went to Frost,Texas(five miles away) for a small town party at the square. You wouldn't believe who we saw there... Elvis is Alive! Not really it was Carl, the local Police officer dressed up and singing "Jail House Rock". I'm really glad we took a break from the farm for a little. We had a blast!!!

Day 9,10 & 11 Construction

2009-09-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

This is not cotton candy from the "State Fair of Texas"...DARN IT! It is R-19 insulation we have been installing in the new building. It looks like we will not have time to go to the fair this year, too much work to be done around the farm!!!!

Day 9 & 10... Steve and Daniel worked inside running electric wire, plumbing and finishing out the interior...while it sprinkled outside again.

Day 11... The green metal roof appeared magically out of no where... NOT!!!!!!! Daniel carried all 1600lbs of roofing on the ladder rack of his work truck. The cool front that blew threw was soon gone. The guys cooked up on the tin roof.

Day 8 Constuction

2009-09-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

My cousin Sky and Chef Graham from Bolsa came over Friday night. They brought us a wonderful dinner from the new restaurant "Smoke" located at the Belmont Hotel. "Smoke" is a high end Bar-B-Q restaurant now serving our Organic vegetables and mustard greens.

While Graham was here he checked on his bee hives...no bees were at home in one of them, and the gypsy moths had moved in! We had to burn the bee boxes to kill the infestation.

Gypsy moth larva in a bee hive.

Mom came over today to help plant hundreds of Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, and Collard greens!

Most of our fall seeds we had planted had washed away due to last weeks landfoon.

Day 8 on the construction... Today Steve and Daniel put in another very long day decking and tar papering the roof of the building. The weather man says we could have heavy rain and up to 70 mile per hour winds tonight.

Eden Creek T-Shirts

2009-09-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Patrick Dunne...he has finished creating the art work for one of our t-shirt styles.

Day 7

2009-09-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today started out early this morning. Steven and Christine from "The Movement Dallas" visited the farm to discuss integrating Eden Creek Farm's organic produce into their co-op. We look forward to doing business with them...and seeing them again soon!

Day 7...can you believe it is still raining! Wow, the rain dance really worked this time!!! Steve and Daniel put in a long day despite the rain.

The produce cleaning building is starting to take shape! The back greenhouse area and the roof will be coming next.

Everything is being built with 2x6's...... Heavy Duty!!!

Maya guards the cart .....waiting to take another ride!

Day 6 Contruction

2009-09-16T15:26:00.001-07:00

Today it has sprinkled a little...I bet when the building is finished the rain will stop. We finished putting up the siding and started on the rafters.

This is a moth I found today... he was drying his wings in the tomato plants.

Day 5 building

2009-09-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

It's Day 5... it sprinkled off and on all day.

The windows are in and the siding is going up!

Construction Day 4 Rain

2009-09-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Construction on the preparation/packing building continues in spite of getting 12 inches of rain over a four day period.

Our new Chicken Coop!!! Is here!! We will be busy all this week putting up the new fencing around it.

The chickens are movin' on up.....
they are going to love their new coop!!!!!

The vegetables are enjoying all the rain...it's rained for four days now and I hate to wish that it would go away.... but.....rain, rain go away come again some other day!

Day 3 Construction

2009-09-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

This morning we harvested over 100lbs of Armenian cucumbers. Steve kept these two big ones to juice with the cantaloupe and pears...ummmmm-ummmmm goooood!!!!

The CSA today included, Lemon cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, green eggplant, squash, braising green mix, bell peppers, pears and wild native persimmons.

After our deliveries were made today...we met with Steven and Chase from "The Movement" to discuss using our local veggies in their co-op. Great people! We look forward to doing business with them.

Construction Day 3! Daniel Lima owner of D & S Construction and Steve raised walls today!

Had to quit early this evening... a storm rolled in with much needed rain! Yeeeeeeee-Haaaaaw!!!

Building Day 2

2009-09-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's day 2 of the construction of our preparation building...things are going fast.

Steve is helping whenever possible to help keep cost down.

Busy Days

2009-09-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun last weekend at the Bolsa's farmers market.

The tomatoes went first...then the Moon & Stars watermelons...everyone loved the lemon cucumbers...and the huge Armenian cucumbers were a hit, they are great for juicing.

We were sold out by 3 o'clock!

We have started on our new greenhouse/packaging and preparation building!!

Thank you to D & S construction!

Weekend

2009-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

We took a much needed weekend off...Family came in from Houston! We went to the lake and took a swim...what a great time. Monday morning...Steve was mowing again.

Tuesday morning...Planting again.

Wednesday morning ...Harvesting!

Thursday morning...Delivering!

Friday morning he will be...watering and planting again!

Ahhhhhh... the weekend is coming...all we have to do is mulch,water,till,plant,hoe,rake,fertilize, and... make some music!

Hot July

2009-07-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We have been so busy...planting,watering, harvesting,packing and delivering, Oh yes and don't forget picking off the tomato worms. We have not had time to blog.

Last week we had 22 round bales delivered (or about 10 tons of mulch) for the garden. Steve has been working very hard getting it put out onto the garden areas and around the fruit trees. We also re-designed the garden area behind the house with some new walk paths and rocks.

A lot of our red flint corn did not come up this year...we think the crows ate it. Steve has collected what little corn cobs did make it and dried them for seed this fall.

Eden Creek Coffee

2009-06-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

You now can purchase Eden Creek Coffee...we are family owned and operated from Vietnam. 100% guaranteed! Go to edencreekfarm.com and push the coffee button and order.

Week 3 CSA

2009-05-27T08:32:00.001-07:00

Our new red potato yield this year will be about 1/4 the usual harvest because of the late freeze this spring.

This weeks CSA included rosemary, new red potatoes, arugula, white and purple turnips, assorted radish, purple haze carrots, Chickasaw plums and baby red onions.

It is good to be different!

2009-05-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

The wildflowers are blooming...look at this Black-Eyed-Susan. Is it triplets that didn't separate? Genetic mutation? We will be sure to save the seeds. Anyway, it is good to be different!

I'll drink to that!

2009-05-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Our fingers are stained purple from hours of picking ripened dewberries...what a wonderful contrast to the yellow catus flowers painted sporadically through out the landscape.

The asparagus ferns in front of the house sway back and forth in the wind, saying good bye to spring and hello summer!

Here is to the changing seasons which will bring the dewberry wine....

Week 2 CSA

2009-05-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

This weeks CSA will include one bunch of purple haze carrots, one bunch of D'avignon long slender red radish, one head of black seeded simpson lettuce,one bunch of purple globe turnips, one bunch of white turnips, one bunch of white onions, one sprig of chocolate mint, one bunch of Mexican tarragon, dew berries and brazing greens.

Plum Crazy

2009-05-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

The native Chickasaw plums thickets are in full ripe! We use them to make wine, jelly and sauces.

The local Indians would dry the plum fruit and add to meat jerky. They are also great to eat right off the tree!! Wild life gets PLUM CRAZY after eating fermented fruit that has fallen to the ground. Yeeee-Hawww!

Lazy rainy day

2009-05-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

The clouds rolled in this morning...it has been raining ever since! Our plants needed a fresh drink of rain water, and we needed a lazy rainy day to recharge.

...this old man is snoring!

CSA May 14th

2009-05-16T05:20:00.000-07:00

This weeks CSA included... native dewberries, sweet white turnips, red rover radishes, braising greens (red mustard and boc choy), Eden Creek salad mix, cooking carrots, beets and a sprig of oregano.

All produce was harvested in a thunder storm that morning.
We look forward to sharing the growing season with our CSA members!

Thanks for your support...
Eat Healthy!

What is a dewberry worth?

2009-05-12T01:01:00.000-07:00

You tell me...what is a dewberry worth? While picking these precious wild black berries we have encountered snakes, ticks, chiggers, skunks, thorns, fire ants, bees, wasps, mosquitoes, stinging nettle and poison ivy. It is all worth it when I eat some of Kristine's dewberry cobbler!

Here is the recipe:

1.5 cup milk
2 cups flour
2.5 cups sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 stick of butter
2 tbs. baking powder
4 cups of organic dewberries
1 tsp. of vanilla

Preparation:
mix together flour, sugar, salt, milk, baking powder and vanilla in a large bowl. Melt the stick of butter in a 9x13 pan, pour in 1/2 of the mixture into the butter, pour in the 4 cups of organic dewberries. Pour the rest of the mixture on top and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake 1 hour at 325. Garnish with fresh mint and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. ENJOY!!!

Kari Lee

2009-05-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

We have decided to name one of our new baby rabbit Kari Lee after a friend of ours...she is waving hello. What a cutie-pie!

Plums and Water Lillies

2009-05-08T08:47:00.000-07:00

We walked through the salad meadow towards the Chickasaw thicket and ate early ripened wild plums until our stomachs were full.

On the way back we stopped and listened to a Water Lilly sing!

Snake Season!

2009-05-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

SNAKE SEASON IS HERE!

Henry our little black dog...got bit in the neck by a poisonous copper head snake. He is not feeling very good right now to say the least. Today I stepped over a five foot rat snake on my way to pick weeds in the garden(pictured above). Rat snakes are good to have around to help control the rodent population. No rat poison needed here! Also, I spotted two water moccasins mating by our pond behind the house.

Our Nero Tondo radish loves our soil here! This special Spanish variety is blacked skinned,round root with a crisp, HOT inside.

Organic Pesticide

2009-05-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

There are native Lady Bugs everywhere here on Eden Creek Farm... enjoying a snack of aphids on a mature Butter Crunch lettuce leaf! No harmful chemicals here!

Henrietta is upset!

2009-05-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Henrietta this morning....she is upset because we didn't take her to Bolsa's Farmer's Market (it was wet and rainy). After a few earth worms, she forgave us! She is also very interested in her new neighbors, five baby bunnies.

Anyway, thanks for every ones support! It turned out to be a beautiful day.

As far as our crops are concerned, everything is looking great! The rain sure has helped things around here. The yellow Snap Dragon's are blooming by the pond behind the house. The purple Kohlrabi is getting bigger!

The Purple Haze carrots are happy too!