Last fall, Ron, Jo and I worked for days tilling the ground and picking up rocks to get our garlic patch ready. It was quite simply – hard work. Now we have to get ready to plant our pawpaws and elderberries. This time Ron decided we would just clear rows for planting, not the whole section. On Saturday April 23rd Ron and brother Don went out with our trusty BCS tiller to get started. Myself, I was at home waiting for the cable guy to come, and then decided that I was just not feeling the farm that day. It was cold and damp and I really was more interested in baking cookies. Have to keep a ready supply on hand to feed our volunteers. I puttered around the house getting a few things done and was surprised to see Ron home earlier than expected. The ground, full of rocks had proved to be stronger than our tiller. Ron dropped it off at repair shop and came home to get the spare tines we had stashed in the garage. Should make the repair much easier, but it would still be a week or so before we got it back.
Bright and earlier Sunday morning Ron and I were at the local rental store hoping they had one of their large tiller available to rent. Bad news at first. Both had been reserved but if they weren’t picked up by 9 am, they would call us. Less than a hour later we were heading back to pick one up. This thing was at least 4 times the size of ours and it came with its own trailer and hitch. A quick lesson in how to unhook it, run it and we were off. One final warning about making sure we drive it as close to where we plan to use it ringing in our ears.
We stopped by gas station to fill it up and I had a brain storm. We can use our 4 wheeler to haul the tiller from the road down to our field. Of course it wasn’t that simple. Ron used the 4 wheeler to bring our trailer up to the road so we could get the tools and supplies down to the field. Then we unhooked the trailer and went back to the road to get the tiller.

The first row went pretty easy. Ron and Don had already done most of the hard work the day before. But the rocks, my God so many rocks. We hooked the trailer back to the 4 wheeler, lined it with a tarp and brought it along side so we could toss rocks in. It was going to be a long day. But we got a huge boost when Don and his son Jesse showed up to help. Between the four of us, we filled the trailer again and again with rocks, driving each load across the stream to dump onto Ron’s road. He is still working on a name for that. Maybe we should have another contest for that.

The day got later, but we were determined to get the job done. Shortly before 3 pm I called home and left a message for Jo. She would be home from work soon and I wanted her to pop back out to store and grab something for dinner. Ron had another idea. He told me to tell her to come on out and help us finish up. When she called back, I could tell she was not thrilled, but she came. A good little soldier. With her help we were soon finished.
Six rows of ground tilled up and sort of picked free of rocks. Ron promised all of us dinner at Denny’s but we still had to collect all the tools and get them back into the Transit. Then get the tiller hooked back up the to the 4 wheeler and up to the road. Then we all drove to the rental place to drop it off. So sore, tired and hungry. And dirty. Not sure why they actually let us into Denny’s. We ordered and talked and talked. Jesse and Don had so many ideas about what we would do next. Our food came and while our waiter was handing it out, he knocked my burger onto the floor. I couldn’t be mad at him. He felt so bad and I vividly remember my own waitressing days. So we were delayed a bit in getting home. But it was so good to get there. Showers all around and changed into comfy clothes. Collapsed on the couch and called it a day. We all slept well that night. Though the soreness hung around for the next few days.
I almost forgot, Ron arranged to rent a power auger for next weekend. Oh joy.

Not quite sure where Ron got his pawpaw obsession but he has been researching and talking about them for a year now. He wasn’t a Girl Scout, so he didn’t sing Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch around the campfire. But he knew that line. For those who don’t know they are the largest edible fruit that is native to the US. They look somewhat like a mango and have large black seeds. They don’t travel well as they bruise easily which is one of the reason that they are not as common now. Lewis and Clark ate them during their expedition and George Washington ate them chilled. They are used in baked desserts, in drinks, in ice cream and now some are making beer and wine out of pawpaws. Ron is also interesting in planting them as they are considered a threatened species in New York.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba
I had never tasted a pawpaw until we attended the 2015 Mother Earth News Pair in September. Andrew Moore who wrote the book – Pawpaw, in search of America’s forgotten fruit was one of the speakers. Not only did he give a great talk about the pawpaw but he had samples for us. I can confirm that they are custard like and have a tropical taste. I was most impressed and now on board with Ron’s plan. This one at least. One thing we did find out that that more research is needed. There are numerous varieties available and we have to have at least two different ones growing in our little patch.  Surprisingly there are not a lot of nurseries here in NY that sell pawpaws.  Right now he is trying to contact a company out in MO.  We shall see.
Ron decided where he wanted to plant them and bought wooden stakes and marking paint. While he and Jo used the measuring tapes to lay out the grid, I kept busy digging up and moving rocks. Part of our gym membership plan.

Not as easy as it looks. They got 30 of the stakes pounded in and then discovered they were way off in their final measurements.  Ron likes to have straight rows, cause we all know that nature grows in straight lines.  Some serious double checking took place.

The end result looks pretty good. You can just make out our straw covered garlic patch in the background.

Not a bad effort for a few hours work by one person.  If only I had a friend or two nearby who could come out and help me.  Maybe next spring.
Any planned work out on THF now depends on the weather. Ron is so not a fan of getting work done on windy days. We had been talking about ordering some frozen pawpaw pulp from a company in Ohio and trying to make something with it. Ice cream was at the top of the list, if we could find someone to loan us their ice cream maker. Ron discovered Cornell University in Ithaca, NY’s Facebook page and learned that they actually grow and sell pawpaws in their store. We were too late to get any fresh ones but among their ice creams flavors is pawpaw. While it is a 2 hour drive from our house, we decided as rain was forecast and we really needed to know if pawpaw ice cream was any good, the trip was on for Saturday Nov. 7. We arrived at Cornell Orchards on Dyrden St in Ithaca at 8:25 am. Have I mentioned that we are early risers? There in the cooler was our target. Pints of ice cream.
As we looked around to see what else they had for sale, we were greeted by one of the staff. Sadly we did not get her name but she was a delight, giving us a tour of their apple cooler and offering samples. If not for the cold, I could live in their cooler. The smell of the apples was wonderful. Just made me happy. She was fascinated with Ron’s plans to grow pawpaws and she chatted with us in between helping other customers. We bought 6 pints, shook her hand and headed out to the Transit. We packed the pints in our cooler with ice and headed for our next stop. My efforts to make the long trip more worthwhile were probably not the best idea with ice cream in the back. By the time we got home, it was not quite as frozen as it should be. We got it into our freezer and planned to sample it the next day.   It was obvious that the texture had suffered a bit from the re-freezing but the flavor had not.  It was quite good.   There were small chunks of pawpaw throughout and while Ron really enjoyed them, I would like to try another ice cream that just used creamy pulp.  There is still so much we have to try and learn before Tiny House Farm can be a success.   It is a good thing that both Ron and I are up to the challenge.