Heirloom Vegetable of the Month - China Rose Radish

China Rose Radishes
I have just received one of my favorite heirloom seed catalogs in the mail and reading through all the descriptions of all the wonderful seeds has inspired me to do a new post every month about a different heirloom vegetable.  This month I will start with the China Rose Radish.  Which is one of my favorite radishes.




History:
You probably could have guessed, by the name, but the China Rose radish originated from China, and is believed to have evolved directly out of the wild radish, making it one of the oldest radishes.  It is said to have been introduced to North America by Jesuit monks in the 1950's. 

China Rose radishes are grown better in the fall/winter which is why you will most likely only find these radishes at my table in the fall and not the spring.  They are long radishes verses the normal round radish that you would find in the store, but their long root make them wonderful for slicing.

How to Eat:
Can be used just like you would any other radish, but their long root make them very easy to slice.  Many people only think of using radishes in salads or snacking on them, but radishes (especially winter radishes) are also great roasted sauteed, fried, and steamed.  Many people do not know but you can also cook with the radish tops and use them much like you would other types of greens and turnip tops.

 Here is a good site that gives some good ideas of what you can do with radishes and explains some of the best uses for some different types of radishes.
The Warmth of a Winter Radish

Nutrition Data:
~ Radish leaves are an excellent source of calcium.
~ Can be beneficial to diabetics since they are low on the glycemic-index, and may actually help stabilize blood sugar.
~ It is high in potassium which may help lower high blood pressure, caused by high sodium intake.
~ 9 Reasons to "Eat Your Radishes"!
1. Naturally Cooling  2. Sooth Sore Throats  3. Aids Digestion  4. Prevents Viral Infections  5. Eliminates Toxins  6. Protects Against Cancer  7. Relieves Indigestion  8. Low in Calories, High in Nutrients  9. Keeps you Hydrated
The above reasons come from Full Circle, 9 Reasons to "Eat Your Radishes"!  You can read the details about all the reasons, just click on the above link to visit the website.
~ Low in Calories, Cholesterol, and Saturated Fat
~ High in Vitamin A and C, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, and Magnesium
~ Nutrition Data for Radishes, Raw

Heirloom Vegetables

Back when I started growing vegetables on my own I use to grow mainly hybrid vegetables.  Most of the vegetables in the hybrid seed catalogs all look the same, they all boast of great disease resistance, and quick maturing.  Now I look at these same seed catalogs and they kind of boar me.  When they get a new variety it is usually the same exact looking vegetable that they had last year except new and improved.  Do not get me wrong I still do grow some hybrids but over the years I have been slowly phasing them out.  I can even see myself in the near future just growing heirlooms entirely.  Now when I look through my heirloom seed catalogs most of the descriptions focus on taste and flavor, the best use of the particular variety, and one of the most interesting things is the history of the variety.  Many heirloom varieties come with a very interesting history, stories of the families that grew them and passed them down from generation to generation, and many varieties have been around for a very long time.  Many people believe that if it is a carrot and it is not orange it must be some weird mutation, or genetically engineered vegetable, but this is not true, in fact some of the more unusual vegetable varieties have actually been around longer or just as long as some of your more common varieties.

Starting this month (December) each month I will pick a different heirloom vegetable, one that I either grow or plan to grow and tell a little bit about its history, how to eat it, and nutrition data.  For the month of December I will be starting off with China Rose Radish.  A very old, beautiful and tasty radish.

To start thing off here is a little bit about some heirloom vegetable varieties.

Beets
The Crapaudine Beet is believed to be the oldest beet in existence, it is believed to possibly be around 1000 years old.  The common beets that we know today were only developed around 300 year ago.  I have never grown this variety, but after reading about it I will be adding it to my list of seeds to order for this coming year.  It is a dark beet with a red inside, a long carrot like shape, and a thick bark like skin, that is said to be very easy to peel. 

Carrots
Some of the oldest carrots are not all orange, in fact white, yellow and purple carrots have been grown since before the 1100's.  It was not until around the 1600's that the orange carrot we know of today was first grown in Holland.

Tomatoes
There are hundreds of different varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  They come in colors such as red, yellow, orange, purple, green, pink, brown, white, and striped.  There are many different sizes and shapes, such as cherry, plum, stuffing tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, paste, pear tomatoes, and many more.  Every color and variety also has its own unique taste and use.  Some are sweet, some are bitter, low acid, high acid, I can go on and on.  Just do a google image search for heirloom tomatoes and you will be amazed by the color and beauty all over your computer screen. 

How We Used Our Thanksgiving Turkey

Well our Thanksgiving turkey has now been baked, boiled, canned, and only what was left (bones) was thrown in the trash.  After Thanksgiving I had saved the extra liquid from when we had cooked the turkey and made up a large pot of gravy with it, and into that went a bunch of the leftover turkey.  I also cooked up some plain fushilli pasta and made up some red and pink mashed potatoes.  Mashed potatoes went onto the plate, then the pasta and the turkey and gravy got poured over the top of the potatoes and pasta, yum.

Mashed potatoes and pasta with turkey and gravy

15 jars of canned turkey broth

Today I made turkey broth out of the left over turkey carcass, and I ended up with 15 jars.  Last year I had also made turkey broth, and it was so nice this year to be able to pull out a jar of my homemade turkey broth and use it when I made my stuffing.

I am almost done using up all of my Thanksgiving leftovers, tomorrow I will be using up the last of my pumpkin puree, and baking up some more pumpkin pies to freeze for later use.  I also have some leftover winter squash puree that I will either be making some winter squash waffles (to freeze) or some winter squash pancakes, just depends on what I fell like.

Then I will get to relax for a little while and really start planning out and preparing for next years growing season.

Thanksgiving 2013

Just thought I would share some pictures from our Thanksgiving this year. 

My mom mashing purple potatoes

Beets with kale

Purple mashed potatoes

 

Gravy for the potatoes

Dragon Tongue Beans

Sweet corn

Winter Squash with nuts and scallions

Pumpkin bread stuffing

Macaroni salad (of course with our pasta and turnips)

 

Homemade onion bread

 Our turkey this year (from Brown Brothers Farm in Paris, Ohio)

And here is everything on my plate

 And of course, can not forget about the homemade pumpkin pie for dessert.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is Almost Here!

So today I spent some time getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I made pumpkin bread for my pumpkin bread stuffing, I cooked up some more pumpkin for my pumpkin pie that I will be making tomorrow, and I made some winter squash cookies out of some left over winter squash puree.

Tomorrow I need to make the pumpkin pies and prep the turkey, which I have to pick up tomorrow.  This year our turkey will be coming from Brown Brothers Chicken Farm in Paris, Ohio.  I meet Bill Brown of Brown Brothers up at Akron General Farmers Market, since he was selling right next to me this year.  He has really good chicken so I am excited to be getting a turkey from him this year.

Everything that we cook for Thanksgiving is something that I grow.  It is nice because we do not have any shopping to do before Thanksgiving other than to pick up a lemon for the turkey.  Of course I did have to get some eggs and the turkey, but they both came from someone I know.

Another cool thing is when I cook up my pumpkins I either save the seed for planting or for eating, of coarse I use the puree for whatever I am going to cook with it, and I save the skins to feed to my worms.  Absolutely no waste other than the stem, which does go into the trash.

Fall Spiced Rigatoni with Pumpkin Sauce

I have a new pasta available called Fall Spiced Rigatoni Pasta.  Today I turned some pumpkin puree into a nice sauce for my Fall Spiced Rigatoni.  Here is the recipe:

Fall Spiced Rigatoni with Pumpkin Sauce

Ingredients:
1 (8oz.) package Fall Spiced Rigatoni Pasta (cooked according to package directions)
1 lb. pork sausage
2 tbls. butter (divided)
1 small pie pumpkin
1 1/2 pint container heavy whipping cream
About 8-10 large kale leaves (torn into pieces)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cut pumpkin in half, scrape out insides and seeds.  Place in a casserole with about 1/2 inch of water on the bottom.  Place a little bit of butter in to each pumpkin half, altogether equaling about 1 tablespoon.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until inside is soft.  Once pumpkin is cooled remove puree and set aside.  In a large deep saucepan over medium heat brown sausage in 1 tablespoon butter.  Once sausage is browned add heavy whipping cream and pumpkin puree.  Over medium heat cook for about 5 minutes, then add kale and cooked rigatoni pasta, cook for approximately 5 minutes longer, remove from heat, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.


There is no sugar in this recipe (I try to stay away from sugar myself), but if you would like it to be sweet, I do not see why you couldn't add some brown sugar to this dish.  Also another thing I plan to try is to add some chopped nuts to the recipe.

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For more pasta recipes do not forget to visit our Pasta Page.

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Unknown Winter Squash

So due to the fact that I had thrown some winter squash and pumpkins in my lettuce garden at home, in the spring I had lots of winter squash that came up on its own.  Most of them I pulled out since I did not want pumpkins growing all over in my valuable lettuce planting area.  But I did leave a couple of vines that were out of the way and ended up growing out of the garden area anyhow.  One of them was a regular normal pumpkin, but the other one is the plant in question.  When I first seen it I thought it looked like a delicata winter squash crossed with maybe a pumpkin?

 

I grew a lot of winter squashes and pumpkins last year so I am not exactly sure what it would be a mix of, I do know I did not have anything exactly like it last year.  Can not wait to cut into it and see how it tastes.  If it is good I will have to see if I can work on getting a new variety going and save all the seeds.

Vegetables coming very soon!

I took some pictures the other day, and just thought I would post some pictures of some of the veggies that I am starting to pick or will be picking soon.

These are two new past tomatoes that I was trying out this year.  The one to the left is a very pretty yellow paste tomato called Cream Sausage, and the one on the right is a striped paste tomato, called Striped Roman.  I will be growing both of them again next year.

My personal favorite variety of basil, Blue Spice Basil.

Some of my zucchini and summer squash plants, I have over a dozen different varieties planted right now.

This is something new that I have tried this year and will definitely be growing again next year, yard long beans!  I love these beans, they are great for sauteing and the red beans keep their color.  I have just started picking beans from my first planting of these guys, but due to the weather I only had about a dozen plants that come up, which is why I have not started selling them yet.  But do not worry I have a full second planting right next to these that is coming along very well and should start producing beans very soon.

I also have somewhere around 8 different varieties of beets in the ground and growing well.

Pasta at the Market

So it has been quite a while since I have done a blog post, and since this year has been a very strange year (bad year as far as vegetables go), I thought I had better get everyone up to date.  Anyhow we had gotten quite a lot of rain in a short period of time out at the farm, which is why our table at the market does not look anything like it normally would this time of year.  Our vegetables are way behind, which is why the past few weeks I have not been able to bring much of anything as far as vegetables go (if anything at all) to my markets.

But, I have been bringing a wide selection of homemade pasta to the market.  I have been making pasta for myself at home for quite some time now, and have always wanted to start selling it at the market, but just have not done so.  With all the problems I have been having out at the farm this year it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start selling pasta.

 

I have been adding new varieties of pasta every week, and now have quite a variety available. 

Rigatoni Pasta

Garlic Rigatoni Pasta

Basil Rigatoni Pasta

Paprika Rigatoni Pasta

Lemon Pepper Poppy Seed Rigatoni Pasta

Poppy Seed Rigatoni Pasta

Cajun Rigatoni Pasta

Whole Wheat Rigatoni Pasta

Garbanzo Fava, Flax Seed Rigatoni Pasta

Cinnamon Rigatoni Pasta

Chocolate Rigatoni Pasta

Garbanzo Fava, Flax Seed Macaroni Pasta

Macaroni Pasta

As far as my vegetables go here is some of what I hope to have soon:

~ Potatoes I have just started digging and will have a variety of fingerlings (blue, red, pink, and yellow)

~ Sweet Potatoes (Common variety and yellow)

~ I should have my lettuce mixes available again around the middle of next month

~ Radishes, beets, and turnips should also be available around the same time as the lettuce

~ Zucchini and Summer Squash - I have over a dozen different varieties coming soon

~ Dragon Tongue Beans - A favorite at Valley City Farmers market (yellow beans with purple stripes)

~ Yard Long Beans (green and red)

~ Slicing Tomatoes (many different varieties and colors)

~ I am hoping to have okra, sweet and hot peppers soon 

Sadly due to the rain there are a lot of things that I just did not get planted, and a lot of things just died on me completely, such as my winter squash and pumpkins which I never did get planted due to lack of time in between frost and lots of rain.  

I just wanted to thank all of my customers for their patience this year, I have some really great customers that have been very understanding and I know have been eagerly waiting for my vegetables to start coming in again.  I just wanted to let everyone just how much I do appreciate all the wonderful customers that I do have.  

Thank you to all of my customers

April

2013 Farmers Markets

Just thought I would do a post about our three farmers markets that we are attending this year.  This year we are selling at Valley City Farmers Market on Saturday, Brunswick Farmers Market on Sunday, and Akron General Farmers Market on Tuesday.


Valley City Farmers Market
This is the 6th year that we have sold at Valley City Farmers Market.
It is on Saturday from 9am till noon and is located at Liverpool Township Depot
6615 Center Road, Valley City, Ohio

 

Our table at Valley City Farmers Market

 A view of Valley City Farmers Market

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Brunswick Farmers Market
This is the first year for Brunswick Farmers Market, so it is still growing and every week there has been new vendors attend the market.
It is on Sunday from noon till 4pm and is located at the Brunswick Heritage Farm
4613 Laurel Road, Brunswick, Ohio

 

 Vendors at this market set up both outside of the barn and inside the barn.  Our first week at Brunswick Farmers Market we set up inside the barn but now we have been setting up outside.

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Akron General Farmers Market
This is our first year at this market and I believe the 3rd year for the actual market.
It is on Tuesday from 3pm till 6 pm and is located at Akron General Medical Center
4125 Medina Road, Akron, Ohio

 

Our table at Akron General Farmers Market

 A view of some of the vendors at Akron General Farmers Market

Another Brunswick Farmers Market Article

Here is another article from the front page of the Brunswick Sun about the farmers market, and yes my picture was on the front page!

Here is a link to the article on the Brunswick Sun's webpage:  http://www.cleveland.com/brunswick/index.ssf/2013/06/suspect_skies_aside_first_brun.html#incart_river  

One thing is for sure lately my lettuce has been moving like crazy so I you are interested in some, you better come to the market early.

 

Suspect skies aside, first Brunswick farmers market gets green thumbs-up

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By 'Sam' Boyer, Sun News
on June 19, 2013 at 7:36 AM, updated June 19, 2013 at 1:25 PM

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View full sizeApril Barszcz, a proud farmer who calls her business Real Veggies Farm, was on hand for the first Brunswick Area Historical Society farmers market Sunday. Sam Boyer/Special to Sun News

The first farmer’s market at Brunswick’s Heritage Farm went well despite Mother Nature’s decision to act up on Sunday. Seven vendors were on hand June 16 and more are scheduled as the growing season gets into full gear. Most of the vendors chose to set up inside the big barn rather than face the brisk winds and threat of rain. 

Organizers from the Brunswick Area Historical Society are also hoping that next week and beyond, almost everyone can set up outside along the paved drive at the farm.

April Barszcz of Real Veggie Farms sold out of lettuce — and she came with a whole host of varieties, most of which were totally new to shoppers. She also had vegetable jellies made with peppers and herbs, so a visit to her stand was quite interesting.

“I wasn’t sure how much to bring to the first one,” the Brunswick resident said, “so next week, I will harvest more. She may also have more herbs, onions and peas at this early stage. People were so interested in her food varieties that they even enjoyed looking at pictures of what is to come — “Depending on rain and bugs,” she reminded them.

Anne Cooper of Sunset Meadow Farm, who is a veteran of farmers markets, said the first day went very well. Her packages of brownies, herbs, honey and other items went quickly. She had fun explaining quail, duck and turkey eggs and their differences from chicken eggs. She hopes to bring more next week along with other products they come into season. She is also planning to bring some animals from her farm throughout the season.

Kamil Khoury of Valley Farm Market toughed it out in the outside with a variety of vegetables and is hoping to expand to all Ohio grown items as the season progresses.

Nancy Page was on hand spinning yarn and providing a wide variety of handmade items and drew an audience of youngsters throughout the day as she explained what she was doing at the spinning wheel.
Kristina Ousley, who also braved the outside weather, had beautiful tie-dyed shirts and other products, plus handmade jewelry.

Sharon Jackson brought her own decorative wood items and will be happy to be out of doors next week where the lighting will be beneficial.

View full sizeNancy Page sets up her display of hand-spun yarn and other items.

Dean Tada not only has a computer repair and consulting business, but also does karaoke productions. He set up his table to allow other Brunswick residents to get to know him. On July 14, he will hold a karaoke songfest and invites singers of all ages to come and join in.

Several community gardeners, whose gardens are located at Heritage Farm, have expressed interest in selling what they hope will be an overabundance of produce.

Heritage Farm, 4613 Laurel Road, will hold its farmers market from noon to 4 p.m. each Sunday through Oct. 6. Other special events during that time will be Darrell and Friends county/bluegrass concert on July 21 and a yard sale on Aug. 17 and 18.

Anyone who would like to set up can come to the farm between 11 a.m. and noon any Sunday. Cost is $5. For information, email brunswickareahistory@gmail.com or call 330-558-6894.

Our Lettuce Mixes

Here is a list of most of our bagged salad mixes that we have available at our markets right now:

Romaine and Lettuce Salad Mix Contains leaf lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson and Red Sails. Romaine:  Red Romaine and Baby Romaine. The romaine adds a little different taste and texture to the salad.

 

Looseleaf Lettuce Salad Mix Contains leaf lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson, Red Sails, Royal Red, Prizehead and some others. This mix is a combination of the large looseleaf lettuce types.  Perfect for those who just like regular lettuce.

Ark of Taste Lettuce Mix Contains lettuces such as:  Grandpa’s Admire’s, Speckled, Tennis Ball, and Amish Deer Tongue. All these lettuces are on the Ark of Taste List, a organization that established to preserve rare vegetables, fruits, etc. that are of exceptional taste.  And this mix is definitely exceptional!

Spicy Salad Mix Contains lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson, and Red Sails. Contains spicy greens such as:  Ruby Red Mustard, Golden Frill Mustard and Suehlihnug Mustard. If you like mustard greens and spicy food this is the mix for you. We also sell mustard greens, in bunches so you can also buy them that way, and add them to whichever other mix you wish.

Lettuce and Greens Salad Mix Contains lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson and Red Sails. Greens such as:  Swiss Chard, Red Russian Kale, Dinosaur Kale, Green Leaf Gailan, and Bulls Blood Beet Greens. Greens add a little extra taste to the salad, to make it a little different than the average salad with just lettuce.

Just Lettuce Salad Mix Contains lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson, Red Sails, Royal Red, Bronze Arrowhead, Mascara, Dark Lolla Rossa, Tango, and Prizehead. The above are just some of the lettuces that are in our just lettuce mix.  This year we have well over a dozen different varieties of lettuces that we grew, a lot of new varieties and some of our regulars. Together these lettuces are such a beautiful combination of colors and shapes.

Lettuce and Herb Salad Mix Contains lettuces such as:  Black Seeded Simpson and Red Sails. Herbs such as: Lemon Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Sweet Basil, Licorice Basil, Lemon Balm, and Chervil

Brunswick Farmers Market

Here is a article form the Brunswick Sun Times about the Brunswick Farmers Market that will be beginning this Sunday June 16th.

Here is a link to the actual article: http://www.cleveland.com/brunswick/index.ssf/2013/06/brunswick_area_growers_will_br.html

 

Brunswick area growers will bring harvest to Heritage Farms

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By 'Sam' Boyer, Sun News
on June 07, 2013 at 7:27 AM

The first Farmer’s Market sponsored by the Brunswick Area Historical Society is beginning to take shape, according to Joyce Petchler, treasurer of the Historical Society.

The Farmer’s Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays starting June 16 at Heritage Farm, 4613 Laurel Road, which is about a half-mile west of Pearl Road. “This is our first year, so everything is new to us and I hope people will take that into consideration,” Petchler said.

Added City Manager James Lukas: “This is a long-awaited and requested event for the community. Over the past two years, I have been frequently asked about how we can get a farmers market established for the convenience and health of our residents. Bob McCafferty approached me about this a year or so ago and took the lead on an initial farmers market. And now, what a great opportunity to expand it even further! In working together with our Historical Society, this is another win-win — it will provide our residents with healthy choices in their purchases and the Historical Society with another means to raise funds for their project.”

McCafferty helped the Society with its initial setup and lots of great advice.

Several vendors have already committed to coming to the market including April Barszcz, of Real Veggies Farm. A Brunswick native, Barszcz not only has almost always had a garden at her family’s home but has a two-acre garden in Lafayette Township where she grows a huge variety of vegetables.

“I’ve always loved farming,” she said, “and a few years ago I began to think about selling because I had so much extra.” She now is a regular at the Valley City Farmers Market on Saturdays and said she is excited that she’ll be doing the same in her home town.

In the first few weeks, there will be limited produce from local growers but Barszcz will have a variety. “Of course due to unpredictable weather and bugs nothing is 100 percent guaranteed, but as of now I should have lots of lettuce and bagged salad mixes for the first week. Those include: just lettuce mix, lettuce and greens salad mix, looseleaf lettuce mix, lettuce and herbs salad mix, arc of taste lettuce mix, spicy salad mix, a little bit of everything mix, bagged salad and stir fry greens, spinach, kale bunches, Swiss chard bunches, mustard green bunches, collard bunches, white, yellow and red scallions, garlic scapes, yellow snow peas, basil (10 different varieties) such as sweet basil, lemon basil, opal (purple) basil and cinnamon basil, parsley, sage and other herbs, celery, herb jellies and red onion jelly.

Learn more about her farm at realveggiesfarm.blogspot.com/.
 
Another vendor coming from Broadview Heights is Frank and Lily Handmade Soap, a small, family-owned business whose mission is to make really great soap. “Officially begun in 2012, we have grown due to the loyalty of our fabulous customer base,” explains Bob Reszler, who, as a middle school teacher, occasionally received gifts from appreciative students and their families. One particular gift that generated plenty of curiosity on Bob’s part was handmade soap. He found it so much better than the ordinary store-bought brands. A constant tinkerer at heart, Bob decided to investigate what made these handmade soaps different. Two years of research, investigation and test batches finally produced the wherewithal to become a professional saponifier ( someone who turns the raw materials of soapmaking, into to soap, and sells it in the marketplace).

“As for the name, how does someone named Bob come up with Frank and Lily? During one of those family brainstorm sessions,” he said, “we were discussing the options, none of which were conjuring up consensus. As puppies do, Frank and Lily, both less than six months old, were demanding attention. Someone suggested Frank and Lily and the rest is history. It just clicked! Since then we have conjured up 72 varieties bar soap, arranged into four categories based on the soap base formula.”

More is available at the website frankandlily.com.
 
Vendors are welcome to just come, sign in and set up. Members of the Historical Society will be in the barn starting at 11 a.m. to sign people in. Cost is $5 per week for vendors (there is no admission charge for shoppers). For both vendors and buyers, there is plenty of free parking on either side of the farmhouse.

For more information about the market or to request information on becoming a vendor, call 330-558-6894 or e-mail brunswickareahistory@gmail.com.

Valley City Farmers Market Begins!

Just wanted do a quick post to let everyone know that this Saturday June 8th will be the start of the Valley City Farmers Market!  It will be from 9am till noon.

We should have lots of bagged lettuce and salad varieties available such as:
Just Lettuce Mix
Spicy Salad Mix
Lettuce and Greens Salad Mix
Ark of Taste Mix
Lettuce and Herbs Salad Mix
Loose Leaf Lettuce Mix
A Little Bit of Everything Mix


We should also have kale and collard bunches, spinach, scallions, garlic scapes, onion bread, and white sandwich bread.

Hope to see you there!

Farm Spiders

So lately whenever I have been tilling I have been noticing a lot of these cool spiders.  Which I am excited about because of coarse spiders eat bugs, and anything that eats the bad bugs that sometimes haunt me during the growing season, is very much welcome at my farm. 

 

I did some searching online and had a hard time finding the exact spider but I believe it is some kind of wolf spider.  I could not find any for sure information about what the exact species is, but from what I could find, I believe it is a hogna helluo wolf spider.

Here are some interesting things I learned about wolf spiders in my search for this cool guy:

Wolf spiders do not build webs instead they stalk their prey.

Here is a crazy one.  They actually have 8 eyes!  Four very small ones across the front, two large ones behind that and and then two medium ones behind the large ones.  Since they do not build webs they use their excellent sight to hunt for prey. 

Males do not live for more than a year but females may live for about 3 years.

I read that if they get enough of food they can produce several clutches of eggs each year.  So I say get eating spiders!

Another interesting thing is males perform courtship displays by waving around their legs to attract the females.

I almost picked one of these guys up the other day and good thing I didn't because I found out that they do bite and have venom also.  Although it is not enough to kill a person, but from what I read it can hurt pretty good.

One site that I came across said that you can shine a flashlight around at night and the wolf spiders eyes will shine in the light (kind of like frogs I am assuming).  I will have to try this some time soon.  If it does work it would be cool just so see how many spiders I have handing around out at the farm.

Here is a cool site that I came across, it shows picture of all the beneficial bugs and tells about them, good page.   http://upnorthfarm.wordpress.com/beneficial-insects/

Praying Mantis

Today my mom came upon a awesome discovery, a ton of tiny little baby praying mantis.  They are the cutest little things I have ever seen.  They looked just like adult praying mantis but they were about the size of an ant, and they were all over the place.  Of course I right away ran to get my camera.

A whole bunch of praying mantis nymphs

Some of the pictures that I zoomed in more with the camera make it hard to tell just how small these little guys are, but this picture may give you some idea of just how tiny they are.

The praying mantis ootheca (egg case), with little praying mantis nymphs emerging from it. 

Close up of one of the little praying mantis