Greetings in the New Year! Looking back over last year, here are a few interesting items that didn't make it into the newsletter.
In March, Frog Holler farmer Kenny King attended a live showing of the popular NPR radio show, "This American Life", thanks to friend Leah Hagamen winning tickets through the Ark. The event was in Lansing, and the winning ticket holders were treated to some food and a meet-and-greet with none other than Ira Glass, producer, host and co-creator of "This American Life".
Mr. Glass went around the room, congenially engaging in short conversations with all the attendees. When he arrived at Leah and Kenny and introductions were made, the term "CSA" came up. Response from Mr. Glass, "What's a CSA?"
Uh oh, the host of "This American Life", who has his finger on the pulse of America, has not heard of a CSA?? Looks like we have more work to do. Well he seemed happy to learn something about it and if Mr. Glass comes back to this area, we will be sure to send him a box!
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| Leah, Ira Glass and Kenny |
In the early spring we received a request from Carhartt to have a photo shoot at the farm. The ad director of the project knew one of the King family and was looking for a good setting to feature the four sisters who have started the very cool and popular raw juice business, Drought, in Detroit. Well, actually to feature the four sisters wearing Carhartt!
We said sure and on a warm and sunny day, the ad campaign came out to the farm to feature spring rain gear! With no rain in sight, the magic of advertising took care of the required rain drops and it was a successful shoot. Look for the ads this spring!
Truth in advertising dep't.: There was no rain and we don't supply Drought with any of our greens, and the sisters probably do not harvest their own greens! But they seem like good people, very dedicated to a conscious product and supporting local growers along the way. And Carhartt compensated us for the use of our setting and threw some swag our way as well. Born in Detroit in 1889, Carhartt just established their flagship store last year back in Detroit and seem to be investing in their roots.
The tag line at the end of the feature says: And don’t forget, good food comes from good places and good people. We'll drink (raw juice of course) to that!
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| The Drought sisters harvesting in our kale patch. |
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| And in the chard patch. (Actual Frog Holler Farm workers can be seen in the background!) |
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| Lots of kale on a sunny day! |
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| Oops where did that rain come from? |
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| Keeping dry on a sunny rainy day! :-) |
Shortly before Holler Fest last summer, our neighbor, Matt Merfert, from down the road, contacted us and offered to "solarize" our farm golf cart. Matt works at installing large solar arrays around the world, but he was back home for a short time and had an errant solar panel that he thought would fit perfectly atop the flat roof of our little g-cart. Matt took a few hours one evening to make the necessary adjustments, then flew off to Dubai. We tooted off in the golf cart and have never had to charge it since last August! Thank you Matt! Thank you Sun!!
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| You may have seen the cart in service at Holler Fest. The sign gives credit to the sun and Matt! |
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| A little better view of the panel |
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| Our golf cart is a hard-workin' farm vehicle! Here it is loaded with Holler Fest items to stow until next year - Emily at the wheel. |
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| And although we had a lot of our own Holler Fest stuff to put away, our festival guests were very respectful of the land. Here is all of the trash that was left from all of the campsites. But that's not surprising with the Holler Fest community! |
Chicken update! Okay, if you have been a regular reader of this newsletter, you may have learned more than you care to know about the Frog Holler chickens! Well, the baby chicks that were hatched in July have grown into nine beautiful hens - oops, six beautiful hens and three handsome roosters! They have joined the flock of their big sisters and all seem to be doing fine. And they just started laying their first eggs!
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| Birds of different feathers... |
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| This beauty was the last to hatch. |
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| Hello! |
And finally, our barn had a baby! This "tiny house" was designed by farmer Edwin's girlfriend, Emily, and built by Tom Huber, good friend of Frog Holler and head carpenter at the Washtenaw Food Hub. The tiny house was built at the Food Hub and it rolled out to the farm in November. Emily's job includes lots of travel but she'll have a cozy nest to stay in when at the farm!
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| 196 sq. feet! |
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| And it looks like the tiny house had a baby! That's the pump house just completed in the fall to insulate the new well. |
Okay, that just about wraps up 2015. There were ups and downs but overall it was a good year and we couldn't have made it through the farm and festival season without lots of help and support - thank you!
And as we look ahead to election year 2016, we can't know what the year will bring in terms of weather, crops, or candidates. But we can know that we'll do our best to meet unexpected challenges; we'll find good folks to share the ride with; and we'll take the adventure as it comes!
Happy New Year!
