NowHere Farms

It has been a rather busy winter but I have found some time over the past two weeks to do some weaving.   I decided to do a Mardi Gras themed shawl for the market and found some lovely yarn to use at Southern Twist Yarns in Fairhope (This shop and Dixie Knits in Pensacola are my go-tos for quality yarn; as a small business owner, I love being able to support other small businesses). I walked in to the shop and told Rebecca I needed Mardi Gras colors for weaving.  She had the perfect yarn.  It was a little thin for weaving so she found me a beautiful gold yarn to double-strand.  I like the gold so much I have gone back twice to buy more! I bought yarn Tuesday, got busy Wednesday, and had it off the loom, washed, blocked, dried, and priced by Friday evening.  Saturday I took it with us to the market.  My sweet friend who was going to a Mardi Gras ball the following week stopped and fell in love with it but asked me to leave it and sell it if someone els...

The average temperature in February where we live is 51 degrees.  Over the last seven days, the average has been 36.4 degrees.  Winter.  Again. We are weather watchers, especially with plants in the ground (we have become our parents).  Last week we started seeing predictions the temperatures were going to get down into the 20s again.  We waited and watched; surely this was an error?  Surely we were not going to have yet another freeze?? Surely we would and we did. We got busy.  We have our routine down at this point.  Thursday night we covered the potatoes with landscape fabric. Cletus covered most of the tomatoes with buckets and modified water jugs. We set up sprinklers to cover both the potatoes on the side and everything else (squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes) in the back.  The night of the super lows we turned on the sprinkler in hopes the moving water would protect the plants themselves from freezing.  It might produce ice, bu...

Over the past few years we have experimented with a variety of quail housing options.  We have used an aviary, tractors, cages in an aviary, cages in an enclosed shed, and outdoor hutches.  Currently we have quail in tractors, hutches, and cages in a shed.  Each has its own benefits.  Each has its own problems. Aviary.  This is a stationary building at least 6 feet high which allows the quail to roam; a more natural setting for them.  Yet without proper protection predators DO find a way in.  Rodents are especially troublesome as they only need a hole an inch in diameter and eat both quail and eggs.  Quail poop a LOT requiring frequent turning of the dirt and adding some type of bedding (like wood chips).  Egg gathering becomes an Easter Egg hunt. It's amazing what Cletus can build using salvaged material! Inside with quail "hiding" in the corner Tractors.  This is a movable building at least 6 feet high, often built from PVC and hardwar...

  We had a great time at the market this past weekend.  We took 24 dozen quail eggs and sold 23 dozen!  The English Muffins are gaining in popularity, and I found some young readers who needed new bookmarks. I thought this past weekend was the Garden Festival; however, the Garden Festival will be this coming weekend, Saturday, February 22.  There will be a LOT going on; Boy Scouts with trees to give away in celebration of Arbor Day, the announcement of the winner of the Garden Festival Art contest, visiting dignitaries, and the honor guard from the local high school.   Meanwhile, things are moving along on the homestead.   Over the weekend we had a decent hatch from our oldest incubator; so far 18 of 36 eggs.  While fifty percent is not really anything to brag about, there was a lot stacked against this hatch.  It was the first time hatching from the group hatched in December.  With eggs from eight week old quail we are happy gettin...

This week at the Coastal Alabama Farmer's and Fishermens Market everyone is celebrating the Coastal Garden Festival. There will be a lot going on this week, from free trees to all who want them, to the local high school color guard, to the announcement of the winner of the Garden Festival Poster Contest, and vendors celebrating the imminent arrival of Spring.  (Really.  I promise.  It's coming).   We had hoped to have some plant starts available; however, we discovered that in order to do that we would need a nursery growers permit and a nursery retailer permit from the state.  The cost for these is not exorbitant but we came to the conclusion we have enough going on this year without trying to jump through those hoops as well.  We will have produce available before too much longer.  Our quail have been very, very generous this week.  We are currently collecting around 40 eggs each day and we are not starting an incubator this week so we will have...

We had a terrific day at the Coastal Alabama Farmer's and Fishermens Market last week.  We were able to take 17 dozen quail eggs and sold every single one of them.  We had people interested in English Muffins, ginger root, and turmeric root, and sold the Mardi Gras shawl I made and showed you last week!   Mardi Gras Ball season is just getting started with the Conde Cavaliers kicking off this weekend.  I am working on a custom order for a dear friend who will be attending and I will be sure to post a picture or two.  She picked out some beautiful colors and textures.  I will be able to weave a few more custom orders so let me know if you are interested.   In addition to Mardi Gras shawls/wraps I have found some classy cotton for some Easter pieces   I am quite happy with how they are both on and off the loom.  The color gradient across the piece is remarkable and the cotton is so soft it almost feels like merino and makes a nice li...

 Here we are at another Friday and busily getting ready for another market day!  This week we are prepping English Muffins,  I promise I remember the salt this time we have more quail eggs after selling out last week,  20 dozen this week; we will have 16 dozen at the market and I have a new Mardi Gras themed 5-foot shawl for your consideration.                       Color close-up; thanks to Rebecca at Southern Twist Yarns in Fairhope We are enjoying our trips to the market as vendors so much.  Our local Farmer's Market is one of the best ones we have visited as shoppers and it is even more fun being sellers now.  There is a lot more going on behind-the-scenes than I had imagined (and I have a good imagination).  The work that is done to keep it flowing smoothly AND to keep a good balance between the farmers and the craftsmen is impressive. This market boasts farmers with honey, teas, mushro...