Hi, friends! *Hidden in this blog is a chance to win tickets to the Adult Easter Scavenger Hunt at Mortimer Farms on March 25th!!! Your chances of winning are extremely high!* In this blog you will enjoy a look into what we have been up to the last few weeks at Mortimer Farms.
It's officially kidding season! Gosh, I love baby goats! They are such a fantastic part of the farm experience. Today, we fed the goats the last of the pumpkins from fall. They LOVE them!
Greenhouses Time to plant seeds in the greenhouses. Greenhouses are a tool to create ideal growing conditions to extend our growing season. Some crops come back year after year. Others, called annuals, need to be planted yearly or multiple times a year. Currently, we grow annuals in our greenhouses. The last annual crops in the greenhouses reached the end of their life cycle. In preparation for planting the next crops, we cleared the previous crops, prepared the soil, installed irrigation, marked the beds, and planted.After months of watering, tending, and caring for these crops we will be reaping the benefits of the greenhouses.
Blackberry Trellis Blackberries are one of our most popular crops. So, we planted more last spring. We are installing the trellis system now. The trellis system will help the vines grow upward. I am so excited about blackberries this summer!
Helping a baby goat Animal husbandry - the day-to-day care and the raising of livestock. What an essential job! There are times when certain animals need more care. Today this female kid required our help. She woke up with short-term paralysis in her back legs, and tongue. All symptoms pointed to FKS caused by a copper and B12 deficiency and too much acidity in the stomach. We treated her immediately with a B12 supplement, copper supplement, oral bicarbonate (baking soda), electrolytes, and antibiotics. With the help of her regiment, she is getting stronger and healthier.
Greenhouse is sprouting! The next round of greenhouse crops have sprouted! I am so excited about the Easter Festival menu at the Windmill Kitchen and Crepes & Cream Co.! We will be highlighting carrots, beets, radishes, asparagus, lettuce, and more right from our fields and greenhouses.
Meet Juan. Meet Juan! He is one of the faces behind the food we grow at Mortimer Farms.
Minimal Till We practice minimal tillage. When considering tilling the land, we analyze the end goal and determine if tilling is the most efficient, effective, and environmentally friendly way to achieve our goal. Today our goal is to remove drip irrigation lines beneath the Earth's surface. We converted this field from flood irrigation to drip irrigation and finally to pivot irrigation. The use of pivot irrigation allows us to save 90% of the water that was historically used to irrigate the farm. Turning the soil will add organic matter to the ground and expose the drip lines for removal. Today, tilling this field is the best way to achieve our goals. Soon after the drip irrigation lines are collected out of the field, we will plant a cover crop. This crop will establish root systems to hold the soil and add nutrients the soil needs as we continue to care for this land and grow food. Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring about the story of your food. Thank you for supporting our family, our team, our farm, and Arizona agriculture! As a part of the “connecting your family to your food” blog and email series we will be GIVING AWAY 20 TICKETS TO THE Adult Easter Scavenger Hunt and a FREE domestic beer to go with it!! Entering into the drawing is as easy as reserving your ticket for the Scavenger Hunt here. We will draw 20 winners and refund the winning tickets! YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING IS EXTREMELY HIGH! We will pick a winner on Monday.