Tarleton Tavern Farm

Can anybody do a rain dance?

2010-08-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

This week has been another busy one around the farm. We are planting the last of the lettuces in the greenhouse for this fall. We are also planting the last successions of beans and corn for this season. These should take us up through the first frost.

The Mums are looking great and will soon start flowering. They are right on track to be Super-Sized! We have all colors. We should have some ready for sale around September 10th and will continue up through the middle of October. They will range from $15.00 - $20.00 each depending on the size. Let me know if you are interested in having some delivered to your pick up spot.

Keep your fingers crossed that we get some rain this week. We are watering like crazy, but the garden is beginning to suffer a little. The green beans are not doing as well as I would like, but the dry weather sure doesn’t seem to be bothering the tomatoes. They are running out of our ears!

Farm Tour and Dinner

2010-08-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous time this weekend for our Farm Tour and Dinner! We were so happy to see several of you and to share a wonderful afternoon. The food was great, but the fellowship was even better. It was nice to get to know some of you all better and show you around the farm.

The garden is doing really well and looks very nice with all the work we put in prior to the Dinner. I couldn’t have done it without Bo, Stew and Stilmon. Thanks guys! The corn is doing great as are the tomatoes and peppers. The green beans are also really coming on. We should have lots of varieties in coming weeks.

Tiny pumpkins

2010-07-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

This week has been very busy around the farm trying to get ready for our Farm Tour and Dinner this coming Saturday. We have been busy cleaning up in the garden, barn and greenhouse and things are looking up.

Everything is growing like crazy in the garden with so many hot, sunny days lately. The tomato plants are starting to get so heavy the stakes barely hold them up now. The pumpkin vines have taken over one whole end of the garden and we even have some little pumpkins starting. All of the peppers are coming on and we should have a good variety for the boxes next week

Cleaning up and one casualty

2010-07-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

This week I am thankful for a decent amount of rain. We have not had to water as much and everything looks great in the garden. The only recent casualty has been the squash plants. The vines have completely withered, so we will not have squash or zucchini until the second batch of plants come on in about a month. The tomato plants are bursting at the seams with tons of green ones. The peppers all look good too and the first batch of corn is almost ready.

This week has also been busy with general clean up around the farm. We were very behind on removing downed brush and limbs. My flower beds were overrun with weeds. Everything is looking much better. What a busy time of year!

Corn... almost

2010-07-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

What a difference a week makes! Everything in the garden looks just about ready to pop. There are a zillion tomatoes on the vines and the peppers are coming on, too. The corn is almost ready… maybe next week. I am sure ready for some Sweet Corn.

Better weather this week

2010-07-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Positive thinking worked this week. Earlier in the week, the weather was beautiful! Since it wasn’t nearly as hot, Bo and I were able to get the weeds under control in the garden. We also continued our succession planting of beans and corn. This should give us a steady supply up into Fall.

The tomatoes are really beginning to come on. Some varieties are already ripening, but others are still very green. The cucumbers are beginning, too. We also have some squashes just starting. We should have some ready for next week. All of the peppers are looking good, but no fruit yet. Soon, I hope… I can’t wait for the banana peppers!

I was able to get most of the transplanting done in the greenhouse this week with several late nights. The greenhouse is one of my favorite places at night. It is so peaceful and a great place to get away from everything. Ears, the Cats and I accomplished a lot and everything looks great!

Positive thinking

2010-06-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

I am in the mood to think positively this week, so I am going to be thankful for the upcoming weather this week. It is supposed to be a little cooler which will be a welcome break. Perhaps we will be able to get the weeds under control a little. Thinking positively may make it so. J
We had a couple trees fall with last weeks storms. Of course all of them fell on top of fences, but the damage was not too bad.

We also got the hay cut this week. Now you can see the Mum Pad from the road. It is quite an impressive sight. The Mums are growing almost as fast as the weeds!

The garden is coming along fabulously despite the weeds. The first batch of corn is already tasseling, so we are getting close. All of the beans are getting big and we even have a few ripe cherry tomatoes. There will be a few in the boxes this week…. just a taste of things to come. The cucumber and squash plants are really getting big. The sunflowers are as tall as my head.

All of the fall seeds have sprouted in the greenhouse and will be transplanted this week into larger pots. Everything looks super.

Thank goodness for a little rain

2010-06-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Along with the multitude of weeds, the crops are growing well too. The first batch of corn is already waist high, so we are right on target for mid-July corn. The beans are all growing great and we have tomatoes on most all the plants. I am thankful for the rains we have had, but would love a break in the heat. I feel like I may shrivel up and wilt myself.

All of the fall seeds are started in the Greenhouse. We are planning for extra lettuces for Fall, along with some of the other Spring crops we had this year. Hopefully we will be growing some more of your favorites. I can’t wait to see how our Fall crops do!

Weeds... yuck!

2010-06-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

This week has been another busy one here at the Farm. With all the heat, the weeds are getting a bit out of control. I have spent lots of hours weeding and spreading hay but am barely keeping ahead. Thank goodness, the hay helps to keep the weeds down somewhat.

We still could use a bit more rain, but things are growing very well. The corn looks outstanding as well as the tomato, pepper and bean plants. We are right on schedule with all of those things. I can’t wait for some Sweet Corn!

This week I will be starting all of the fall seeds in the greenhouse, so they will be ready to be transplanted outside when the correct time comes. The greenhouse comes in very handy for that at this time of year.

Mum Day and Garden Progress

2010-06-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

This week, I am thankful for the sunshine and a few showers. We could use a few more showers, but in the meantime we are able to water as needed. We have to work with the weather we get and improvise as we go along.

We have had several projects going on this week at the Farm. We had a big day last Friday, as our shipment of Fall Mums came in. Our volunteer crew potted 617 mums in about 6 hours through wind, rain and storms. We had a good time despite the hard work. The mums are all in pots near the main garden spot and are quite a sight to see. They will be ready for purchase in mid-September.

This week, we also planted pumpkins, gourds and more corn. Isn’t it crazy to be thinking of fall when it is 90 degrees outside? The tomato and pepper plants already have a few tomatoes and peppers growing on them. The potato plants are flowering and we will have potatoes very soon. The carrots are almost ready, too. I can’t wait!

Planting Progress

2010-05-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

This week, I am extra thankful for our farm help. We have two young me from the Georgetown College Football team helping us out this summer, Bo and Alex. These guys help in so many ways around here, such as weeding, hauling hay, tilling, planting and picking. Bo even helps pack your boxes every week. They are both from Indiana and are a joy to have around. We couldn’t do it without either of them!

We have really made the most of the nicer weather this week. Everything is now planted in the main garden plot for our first round of growing. We stagger our plantings of some crops by two weeks, so that we have a steady supply all summer. The first and second batches of these crops are in. I am hoping for corn and beans by mid-July. This week, we have planted 214 tomato plants and 127 pepper plants. Hopefully all the varieties will flourish and we will have something to suit everyone’s taste. We will even have some purple ad yellow tomatoes this year. Cucumbers, Eggplants, Sweet Potatoes and Squashes are in the ground now too. I can’t wait for some fresh Yellow Squash! Bring on the heat and some slow, easy rain showers on a regular basis and we will have a bumper crop. Cross your fingers!

First week of pickups

2010-05-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

After our first week of pickups, I think we have worked out most of the bugs. We have much to be thankful for this season: especially to our members, for choosing us to grow their meats and vegetables!

Our crops are growing pretty well despite the crazy amount of rain we have received. In between those rains, we have been very busy transplanting and/or seeding tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, more lettuce, beans, zucchini, squash, kale, sweet corn, and others. This week should be a better weather week for us. Bring on the sun and heat! The main garden plot will be mostly full this week and the Herb Garden is already full. I always love this time of year….so much potential. I can’t wait to see what next week will bring

Introducing the Farmers

2010-05-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to the farmers: My husband, Philip Enlow and I are the owners of the farm. I handle most of the planning, planting, harvesting and member relations. I love to cook and love recipes that are quick, easy and healthy. I look forward to sharing some of my favorites with you. Philip works full time off the farm, but still puts in a lot of hours helping out where needed and doing lots of repairs and improvements. Stilmon is a Junior at Lexington Catholic and is my son. He is our tractor operator and jack-of-all-trades. Here at the farm, we have an assortment of dogs and cats, but the Queen Dog is Ears… a 10 lb Rat Terrier who considers herself the farm manager. She makes the rounds feeding all the animals every day and knows exactly what is going on at all times. When you visit, Ears is certain to meet you when you arrive.

I used to read Cosmopolitan. Now I read Backyard Poultry and love it. My, how life changes!

2010-02-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and was very much a city person. My only contact with farm animals was either in books or on an occasional school field trip. I do remember a few times growing up driving on the interstate from Louisville to some other city and seeing cows out in fields. That was really my only exposure to livestock. We always had a dog and cat and I loved them, perhaps more than the average child, but I never really enjoyed the outdoors or getting very dirty.

At this point, some of you may be wondering how in the world a city girl like me ended up moving to the country and running a sustainable, family farm. The answer is a multifaceted one that has led me along quite a winding road.

I ended up going to college at Eastern Kentucky University which is located in Richmond, Kentucky, right on the edge of the Bluegrass Region and the Mountain Regions of eastern Kentucky. The location drew students from all areas of the state and from all walks of life. Eventually I became friends with people who had not grown up in cities, but were from very rural locations. It was interesting to me to hear their stories about where they lived and I loved the occasional weekend trips home with them. Mostly out of the need to create conversation, I asked questions about their livestock and crops. I soon found that my conversation starters had turned into a genuine curiosity about the workings of a family farm.

Eventually, I began to think that maybe someday I would like to live on a farm. Now mind you, this was a thought kind of like “Maybe one day, I’ll swim the English Channel...” It is something that sounds fun, but not something that I am really likely to ever do.

My way of thinking changed about four years ago: The bottom dropped out of the real estate market, making my business less secure. About the same time, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Those things caused a great deal of soul searching on my part. All of sudden, I felt an overwhelming need to simplify my life. I really started thinking about what was truly important to me and how I could make do with less. Producing our own food

We started looking at farms and found this one which was going to be auctioned. It included a large farmhouse that dated back to 1894. It was in terrible shape and needed the replacement of most all major systems. Whether we were the biggest suckers around or very shrewd investors has yet to be determined, but we like to think we bought the farm and got the house for free.

After our purchase, we first concentrated on making the house livable and later began improvements on the land itself. Along the way, we became firm believers in the benefits of healthy, natural eating and began to produce most of our food here on the farm. We now offer our products for sale to others in hopes that they will enjoy our harvest as much as we do.

I used to have perfectly manicured nails. Now I am lucky to have nails that are not covered in mud. I used to wear heels to work and now wear work boots or go barefoot. I used to read Cosmopolitan. Now I read Backyard Poultry. My, how life changes and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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2010-01-04T15:11:00.001-08:00

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