Posts Tagged ‘Sustainable Agriculture.’

Craft Beer, More of the “More” to what we are

Saturday, August 30th, 2014

Well maybe we need to change this Blogs name? It is hard for us to get across the marketing message that is Maize Valley. We span a lot of different things.

Here we grow again

Here we grow again

Briefly “Maize Valley Farm” was began by Kay and Donna (Rohor) Vaughan my wife Michelle’s parents in the 1960’s. Kay’s ancestors were the third settler’s in the township dating back to the 1800’s. Donna’s parents moved into Marlboro township in the early 1900’s. After graduating from Kent State Kay and Donna were married and started the farm and family. They taught school and farmed as many as 6,000 acres. The farm included grain crops and dairy with their son Steve as well as other livestock over the years.

Michelle lower left, Breanne upper left, Donna upper right and Brett

Michelle lower left, Breanne upper left, Donna upper right and Brett

In the late 90’s the farm changed again selling the cows and some equipment and adding a produce market and agri-tourism venture including pumpkin picking and a corn maze. As houses closed in more in 2005 a winery was added and now in 2014 a craft brewery is set to open on Labor Day, September 1st 2014. Today we still farm about 600 acres, with a wide variety of crops ranging from garlic to green beans to grapes to pumpkins and hops.

Harvest 2014

Harvest 2014

Todd Vaughan is the wine maker and overseeing the beer production with the help of brewmaster Jake Turner. Michelle (Vaughan) Bakan manages the market and food service with the help of main staffer Scott Mann and a whole host of great employees. Bill Bakan is the Fun TSAR in charge of most all outside operations from grounds maintenance to all things “Corn Maze” and such.

Marlboro Madness our Pumpkin Cannon

Marlboro Madness our Pumpkin Cannon

Stay tuned as we work at using this blog to give “The Rest of the Story” of what goes on and how we try and manage folks expectations. We hope we do well for you. Thanks for stopping by.

Hot Chicks, Breanne and Cara Bakan at Maize Valley

Hot Chicks, Breanne and Cara Bakan at Maize Valley

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Ohio Corn Maze Cutting the design part 7

Friday, August 29th, 2014

In past blog posts have talked about what we do to get the corn growing in the field that we use to create a corn maze. Now it is time to bring the field to life you might say!

Our 2013 Corn Maze Aireal Photograph

Our 2013 Corn Maze Aireal Photograph

The above photograph is of our 2013 “LoCo-Motion” corn maze adventure. Each year we theme our mazes to reflect an idea we think our guests will find enjoyable. Inside the maze are games and activities to do that reflect the designs theme. We have done NASCAR, the BIG FOOT monster truck, the Pony Express and more over the past 13 years. At first we cut the designs by “hand” with flags and grid paper. Later we hired it done by a professional maze carver. Two years ago we purchased our own Global Positioning Satellite guided system to guide us as we cut the corn. Yes we plant the corn first as discussed in a previous blog post, then we carve the design into a solid field of corn.

Maze design in file form on computor

Maze design in file form on computor

The above pic shows what we start with. We hire a graphic artist to design a cool design and put it into a share able file that we can load onto software on a laptop that we connect to a specially designed GPS system. The the design for 2014 features a Sea Turtle and the trivia games in the maze will be Sea Turtle related as well.

The 2014 Design displayed on my laptop

The 2014 Design displayed on my laptop

The GPS system is very accurate so you need a machine that is very maneuverable to take advantage of the detail in the designs. We do what we call “Art Mazes” for a reason.

Commercial Toro Zero Turn Mower with GPS system mounted

Commercial Toro Zero Turn Mower with GPS system mounted

You could say you cannot tell what the maze looks like when you are in it and you are mostly correct. But we do more we wrap a whole game and experience around the maze and the photo needs to reflect that. We take pictures and hang them on the walls of our winery/brewery for people to look at all year long, people love to stop and stare and take in that we can actually take the design and actually transfer it to the field so well.

Path right after cutting

Path right after cutting

The above photo shows what the paths look like right after we cut them. We do not stop there. About two to three weeks later we go over the entire design with a roto-tiller to kill any remaining corn, grind up the cut off stalks and level the paths better for strollers and power or wheel chairs.

Paths after roto-tilling

Paths after roto-tilling

The above photo shows the paths after roto-tilling. In order to get the proper look to the design we sometimes take our wider sections of corn. The below pic is what it looks like before we hit it with the tiller.

Pre-rototilling, a lot of corn survives the mower!

Pre-rototilling, a lot of corn survives the mower!

Following the mowed paths

Following the mowed paths

Click Here to watch a video I made using my Go Pro as I cut the maze.

Now we wait till a few weeks before opening day to come back in and set the games and activities portion of the corn maze. It usually takes about an hour to complete the game sheet and find the various trivia questions and other things to follow along with if the guest choose to do so. The corn maze at one time was all we were about along with picking pumpkins. Over the years we have evolved into a unique fall harvest destination with a winery and new for 2014 we will be one of Ohio’s newest craft breweries also.

Corn Maze, What’s next when building one…. part 3

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Oh poo, well more like manure that is. In order for any crop to grow well a lot of things need to happen. In the first blog post we talked about harvesting the crop at the end of the growing season. In the last one we discussed taking a soil sample. Over the winter months not much happens in the field but “weathering” does occur. Weathering is a natural process where the weather works on the soil. Do you remember science class and what happens to water when it freezes?

Rock cracked by water freezing inside of it.

Rock cracked by water freezing inside of it.

While things appear “solid” to us not many things really are. Practically everything has small spaces or pores within it. Rocks are no different, they have little spaces inside of them and depending upon the type of rock some are larger than others. Water finds its way into these little spaces and when it gets cold and freezes (below 32 degrees Fahrenheit) it expands. It is an enormously powerful force, strong enough to lift buildings, crack metal or rocks.

Copper pipes that cracked because of water that froze and expanded

Copper pipes that cracked because of water that froze and expanded

The same weathering forces act upon the soil in the fields. In fact we like it to happen especially in corn maze fields. All those foot falls of people walking across the field pack the soil down and freezing and thawing really help break it up. Over winter the snow and rain falls on the field and finds its way into the soil.

Rain water seeps into cracks in the soil

Rain water seeps into cracks in the soil

Soil is about 50% air and water and about 50% mineral and organic compounds portions are called soil colloids . It is the water in these spaces that freezes and thaws over the winter months that push the soil particles apart allowing for air and water to move between them more easily that we get the benefits of this process. When the soil “heaves” (not good for alfalfa fields, but that is another story) the soil loosens, actual cracks get formed which allow for later rainfall and other nutrients to find their way into the soil where plants can use them.

japanese bettle life cycle

japanese bettle life cycle

Another upside to a good long hard freeze is it kills a lot of critters living underground. Some actually have a form of anti-freeze in their blood but a good freeze still gets a lot of them.

liquid manure after application before plowdown

liquid manure after application before plowdown

We also can use this time of year to apply fertilizer both animal manure based as well as other forms. We like to put a small amount of pellitized lime and ammounium sulfate.

Lime Truck spreading lime

Lime Truck spreading lime

You try and catch the ground when it just a has bit of frost on top that holds you up but not frozen so much you have a hard time plowing it. And frozen is no substitute for proper moisture. We don’t plow when it is too wet! This is sort of a delicate balance and not always easy to hit.

Plowing maze immediately after manure is applied.

Plowing maze immediately after manure is applied.

Well this post about our Corn Maze has gotten a bit long! Time to go, we started to talk about plowing and preparing the soil for planting. Next time we will talk a bit more about how we approach overall fertility.

Corn Maze…part 2, Harvest is done, time to get a soil sample

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

Farming is science, pure and simple. Agronomy is the term used; Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fiber, and land reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science.

The science of food

The science of food

My background includes a degree from “Thee (LoL) Ohio State University” in Agricultural education. I was set to teach vocational agriculture to high school students when my wife’s father in law offered us a job on the family farm. My wife and I decided being farmers was our best option. Over the years I’ve added various continuing education credits along those lines.

New and Old School

New and Old School

When in comes to raising crops you have got to know science, and you have got to know and understand the chemistry of what your soils have going on. After you know that you can apply the “art” part. We use a blend of Old School things for nutrients like cow manure, crop rotations, and lime. We also use some of the latest technology available to us. You need both.

Robotic soil sampler

Robotic soil sampler

The Rubber-tracked Autoprobe, Left, Pulls Soil Samples On-the-go At The Rate Of 20 Cores Per Minute And Is Aimed At Large Input Dealers.

Soil sample tools

Soil sample tools

For sake of this blog post on how we take soil samples in our corn maze we will keep it simple. The tools in the picture above are similar to what I use when pulling core samples. When you pull a sample you go out to a field and remove actual samples of soil from around the field.

Soil sample farm layout

Field Sampling. Sketch your fields before sampling to reflect known differences in soils. In our case the corn maze is in one specific field but the field does have two very distinct soil types and I sample those separately just like they are two different fields.

Soil sample grid pattern

Soil sample grid pattern

Usually, it is recommended that a single soil sample should be collected for any given field or management unit. However, a single soil sample should consist of at least 25 individual cores collected from representative areas of the field or management unit, which are then mixed together into a common “composite” soil sample.

It is best to pull soil samples in the fall when soil is dry

It is best to pull soil samples in the fall when soil is dry

How much of this sample to send into the soil testing lab will depend on the analyses to be performed and the specific lab, but usually about 20-30 ounces (volume) are required.

Soil sample report

Soil sample report

Therefore, of the 25 or more soil cores which are collected from a field, management unit or problem area, only the amount needed to fill an appropriate soil sample container is actually collected from the composite sample and sent into the lab.

Soil sample bags

Soil sample bags, after you pull the sample be sure to use a plastic bucket or other non-ferrous container. For instance if you use a metal bucket you can pick up Iron from it.

Depth of sampling is usually at least six inches, but may extend to 12 inches or more, depending on the situation.

Soil sample potassium levels

Soil sample potassium levels

Sampling technique (depth and placement) may also depend on whether the field is irrigated, bedded or flat, and also on what is needed from the analysis such as nitrate-nitrogen (NO3–N), sulfate-sulfur (SO42–S), phosphate-phosphorus (PO43–P), sodium (Na) or total salt concentration, etc.. In reference to sample frequency, depth, amounts of soil needed, and tests to run; this will all depend to some extent on the nature and intent of the sampling process as to whether it involves routine management or diagnosis of problem areas in a field.

Soil sample core depth

Soil sample core depth

At the core of creating a great corn maze……..Ok, a little agronomy humor….. is getting all of this done timely and correctly. You do not want to sample soil when it is wet for instance. Doing so can affect the results you get back reflecting inaccurate Potassium levels which are a huge part of the equation. We sampled our corn maze right after harvest and are waiting on the Lab report to make fertility recommendations and applications. Based upon crop removal data we know a bit of the story already and will apply liquid manure and then balance the rest of the needs at planting time if need be.

Technology tools in the form of handheld and tractor mounted GPS systems are commonplace today.

Technology tools in the form of handheld and tractor mounted GPS systems are commonplace today.

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Tools like the GPS are used in the actual design of the corn maze and when we go into the field to cut the design paths which I will touch upon in a upcoming blog post.

Ohio Wine and More… and Pigs???

Friday, February 14th, 2014

Ok, If you are a “Hoytie-Toytie” wine snob….you are not going to like me or my blog. Save yourself some time and click on that little red “X” in the upper right hand corner. This is a story about how we ended up raising hogs (pigs, farmers call them hogs more than pigs) again, and how they end up in the hands of Chefs in and around the HOT emerging Cleveland local food scene.

Hi, Watcha' doin'?

Hi, Watcha' doin'?

I am a family farmer, winery owner and soon to be brewery owner along with my wife, brother-in-law and my in-law’s. Brace yourself we are incorporated so technically a “corporate farm” I guess, you have to be for liability concerns. I drive a 2000 F-350 with 194K+ miles on it, I bought my wife a “new car” last year it was a 2007. We don’t live large we work hard. We are a Winery with ADHD, basically I shoot pumpkins out of a cannon for a living and also build corn mazes.

Me, on the deck of our pumpkin cannon getting ready to fire.

Me, on the deck of our pumpkin cannon getting ready to fire.

I was scanning the web and stumbled across a article about a local Chef in Cleveland following his dream and opening a butcher shop behind the West Side Market. I thought cool, so I followed up and read about it. His name is Adam Lambert and is currently a chef at bar cento . He will open a butcher shop in the “Palace of Fermentation,” Sam McNulty’s multi-faceted project currently taking shape in the Culinary Arts Building behind the West Side Market. You can read the story here.

As I read the article I came to realize the hogs we raise end up with him via Fresh Fork Market ! But here is the story behind how we got back into raising Hogs…..

My brother in laws Steve and Todd getting ready to load some hogs.

My brother in laws Steve and Todd getting ready to load some hogs.

We used to farm “large” about 15 years ago. 3,000 acres, milked 150 head of cows, trucks, grain lots of equipment. We eventually got run out by houses and low commodity prices. We sold stuff off and tried to survive. We opened a farm market and started raising small vegetables. My wife’s family has lived here (Marlboro) since the 1800’s. Her family has done everything, sheep, hogs, cows, dairy, tanned leather, taught school etc. etc. But one thing they had never done was “Agri-tourism”, corn mazes, pumpkin picking, hayrides and such.

2013 LoCo Motion corn Maze

2013 LoCo Motion corn Maze

After a few years corn maze’s were just not enough we needed to add more things for people to see and do. So we heard about racing pigs and thought we know pigs lets give it a try. But we don’t just race pigs…..we do NASHOG! The finest in Flat track pig racing in Ohio! We even built them a new track this year without a “Sin Tax”!

NASHOG race track

NASHOG race track

Our pigs have lots of room to move, run and have fun. They mostly just like to eat and sleep however. To train them to race you need cookies! Pigs like to eat pretty much the same stuff humans do and they run for Oreo’s!

"Pig Pile" soaking up some rays

"Pig Pile" soaking up some rays

We do “NASHOG” races on fall weekends starting at about noon and going till dusk. We get enough pigs so no one has to run too much but still have enough time to get cookies. They get a BIG shot of grain at the end of the day. Even giving them full feed they still grow slower than their buddies back at the farm who don’t get the opportunity to run the flat track every day. Maybe the stress of “celebrity” holds them back too? They do have lots of fans.

A small crowd catching a pig race

A small crowd catching a pig race

But at the end of the Corn Maze, Pumpkin Picking Season what is there to do with a bunch of highly trained athletes that have a bit of ego and celebrity? At first we took them to auction and took an absolute beating not even getting back our costs. It is the wrong time of the year for people to want pigs to feed out. So we took them to the home farm and started feeding them out ourselves for our freezers. We had few people buy one here or there but not too much of a consistent market for them.

Feeding time, that's all the time really.

Feeding time, that's all the time really.

That’s where Fresh Fork market and the patrons of Cleveland area restaurants and other customers of Trevor and Fresh Fork came in. Trevor starting buying our “Surplus Racing Pigs” and soon more. We starting raising hogs again year round now. Some regular breeds some special breeds depending upon what is asked for.

Now That's FAST FooD!

Now That's FAST FooD!

So thank you for supporting local folks doing cool new things and next time you sit down in Cleveland for a special dinner with friends, it may not be McDonalds…..But it still could be, “Fast Food”!

Looking for a Real Nice Christmas Tree? Check out our Neighbors to the East!

Friday, November 29th, 2013

People often ask us when they are out at our place, “Are those your trees?” as they point to the Eastern edge of our farm. No we say but the folks that own them are awesome. It is Moore’s Christmas Tree and Dayliliy Farm and we always suggest that people make the journey back out to the Marlboro/Hartville area to find that perfect tree.

Just the start of your selection!

Just the start of your selection!

The Moore family is a great bunch of folks. They really have a great sense of humor. In fact a few years back Dave Moore was out tagging trees in the fall. I launched a pumpkin and really got a hold of it. The tree field is over a half mile away. My cell phone rang and it was Dave, he said the last one landed about 35 feet from him and in a real relaxed and calm voice asked if I could “back it down a bit”, I obliged him. The next year they put up the following…….

Moore's Target

Moore's Target

We try and work together best we can throughout the year. For some of our Cross Country and extreme races we run on the farm we often use part of Moore’s farm as they have a good hill to challenge the runners on. But the day after Thanksgiving they have the perfect setting to come and harvest the perfect tree. You can wander their farm and have a variety of ways to get your favorite tree. Once you pic the tree you like you tear off the bottom part of the tag they have put on the tree. It has the trees price and a matching number so you get the right tree once it is cut.

Two piece tag

Each tree has a tag on it with its price.

Once you have found the tree you like you can cut it yourself or tear the tag off, go to the shed and pay for it and have Moore’s cut it. After it is cut you bring the tree to the shaker if you like.

They can Shake your tree to clean it up.

They will Shake out all the birds nests and dead needles

After the Shaker you can have it “net wrapped” or sort of bagged so it is easy to transport and get in the door at home.

Wrapping the tree

Wrapping the tree

After they wrap it they can also drill a hole in the center bottom of the tree if you have a tree stand that has a spear up the center. This is a huge help if you have ever tried to drill that yourself.

The parking lot is nearby so it is easy to get to your vehicle.

The parking lot is nearby so it is easy to get to your vehicle.

They do much like we do, they have created a great place for families to gather and experience a day on the farm, instead of pumpkins it is a Christmas tree.

Finding time for family fun

Finding time for family fun

So look for this sign just about one half mile East of our place on the same side of the road.

Moore's sign on the North side of 6 St. Rt. 619

Moore's sign on the North side of 6 St. Rt. 619

Oh and don’t forget to stop by and see us after you have walked around out in the cold! We always have some HOT Soup on the stove and a whole bunch of other menu items to warm you up! Keep in mind we are closed on Sundays.

Many great menu items to choose from

Many great menu items to choose from

Getting “Lucky”

Monday, November 18th, 2013

Life is full of “Cliche’s”. Most of them do make sense and are meaningful if not overused and used appropriately. The older I get……. I bet you thought I was going to say “The wiser I get” right? Well yes, but I prefer to look at it more like “Gee I was sure stupid when I was young”, how did I ever survive? As I travel along inside this box of chocolates on this journey my “work” affords me the opportunity to interact and engage with lots of different folks for many walks of life and viewpoints on it all.

This past weekend I met Bennie. Bennie has M.S. Bennie has his “work cut out for him” as does his family. I can’t say much about Bennie, I really don’t know much about him, his struggles or what it is like to be in his shoes. But I got lucky in the sense I was able to help Bennie and not hardly lift a finger.

Jade Addressing the Volunteers and Participants

Jade Addressing the Volunteers and Participants

You see this past fall we hosted a event that really stretched us at the farm. On October 12th we hosted the Federal League Cross Country Meet. Lake High School is located just West of us about 4 miles in the Village of Hartville, Ohio. It is a small community but where the school sits there is no room for a good Cross Country Course. We are located in a different School District (Marlington) but have relationships all over the running community due to some of the events we have done in the past. The reason it stretched us was immediately following the race we had another event scheduled that afternoon and evening that brought us our biggest single day attendance ever. On the day we had over 6,000 people visit the farm in total.

Federal League Meet Oct. 12th 2013

Federal League Meet Oct. 12th 2013

We have done 5K’s as well as “Extreme races” (Mud Runs), ours was called the “Farmathalone”. We have prepared a course on the farm and pretty much maintain the paths year round to both farm on and do a variety of special events. As part of our “Brand” we like to promote our authenticity as a real farm but also have it so it can be a dual use facility for marketing what we grow and produce.

On the the 12th a young lady by the name of Jade Smith was on the Lake High School team and ran along with her teammates. Most of the schools had practiced in the weeks leading up to event and Jade had been out several times. It was pretty cool, while the coaches Jeff and Chris busted their butts to make the course race ready for the event you could see the students as well bending over and pitching stones aside and leveling ruts.

Jade is in the National Honor Society and members need to do a project as part of the requirements. She choose to do a fund raiser for a boy in their church named Bennie. Jade along with her coach Chris Wise asked me if I thought they could use our course as the location for a 5K. I brought it before our family and we said yes. So they organized it and took on the challenge.

It was not a big fancy “Chip Timed” event. It was about a young lady helping a young man because he needed it. Chris came out and dug into some of our supplies, brought his own and laid out the course. Jade her Mom and crew did all the other stuff you need to do make a race happen. I just opened the gate and tried to make sure we didn’t leave anything dangerous lying around after our fall clean up.

Bookin it for Bennie

Bookin it for Bennie

We were “Prepared” for an “Opportunity” to come along, and I guess you call that being “Lucky”. It was so rewarding to be able to help young adult who came to us with their arms stretched out asking for a “Hand Up”, rather than just a “Hand Out”. I’ll help those kids all day long and twice on Sunday.

 

A quick recap of the 2013 “Growing Season”

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

“Fall 2013” is just about done for us! It has been a long time since I sat down behind the keyboard to make a blog post. I left you back on March 8th 2012, a lot happened since then. That year we had a bumper grape crop and bust of a corn maze. In 2013 we had just the opposite. If you watch the video I posted from the last post those grape buds made it just fine, then the fears I had in 2012 hit us in 2013 and we lost over 95% of our grape crop. The good news is the corn maze had the best crop ever which made for an awesome maze and a overall great “Fall”!

I took this picture of a full moon rising over they vineyard Friday May 28th as I left the corn maze field after working ground to get ready to plant it the next day.

Bad Moon Rising

Bad Moon Rising

That was not a welcome sight to me knowing what a sky can do like that when High pressure weather patterns arrive in late May. I figured we’d have a bad frost but no idea HOW bad. When my wife left the winery at 11:30pm that night there was already a light frost on the window of her vehicle.

Grape vines morning after a freeze

Grape vines morning after a freeze

The feeling a farmer gets when they look at a crop like in the one in the picture above is hard to describe. There are a lot easier ways to “make a living” but I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything. You just sorta learn things like this happen and you try and maintain a “long view” and find the positive. My father in law also lost 17 acres of sweet corn that night, but he took a gamble on trying to put some corn out in “low ground” that grows awesome crops and got burned.

Close up of "fried" grape vines

Close up of "fried" grape vines

The “Big Picture” you just keep telling yourself and keep on swimming as Dory would say (aka Finding Nemo). That same day I took the pictures of the fried grapes I loaded the corn planter and got busy planting the 2013 corn maze. We had already started getting fall campfire/corn maze reservations back in April and I needed to start getting ready.

Loading the Corn Planter

Loading the Corn Planter

I like to plant the corn a bit later than you normally would so that it stays green as long as possible into the fall season for purposes of the maze. This worked well this year and I will get back to that with future blog posts just on how we do the corn maze.

Looking over the hood while planting corn

Looking over the hood while planting corn

The corn maze growing season really had its ups and downs. I have done a lot of work to the corn maze field and it paid off this year. We fixed some drainage problems and have been on a steady annual program of applying cow manure to help with both fertility and organic matter.

But the sun came up each and every morning!

But the sun came up each and every morning!

But the sun came up each and every morning! One of the reasons I do what I do is this is my view from my “office”. People work all year to get to a “place like this”, I live it everyday. Besides all the “normal” stuff we do we also embarked on a other special projects designed to make our fall destination a one of kind place and over this winter I’ll try and review the year both in projects and all the special events we do.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy your trip to our farm as I cover some of the things we do.

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Winter time Field Drain Tile Work

Winter time Field Drain Tile Work

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
Final Ride

Final Ride