News and Blog

If you want to get in on the spring tours we encourage you to plan early.                                 

Thumbs up for NC State !

For many years research at Universities such as NCSU have largely focused on actions that affect production or controls to prevent problems. A breath of fresh air came in the last issue of the college of life science’s PERSPECTIVES magazine. It was clear that a shift to understand the biology and ask penetrating questions is bringing to light some very encouraging signs.

Dr. Keith Harris and NC State alumnus Whit Jones joined together to work with grower Ron Cottle to find a new way to capture the benefits of the goodness in muscadine grapes. Well established, the nutritional benefits of muscadine grapes are the focus of many seeking to improve human health and well- being. Here, this trio have come upon a way to consume the whole grape in a manner to ensure that processing doesn’t destroy the natural benefits of the grapes. After careful washing a powerful blender was used to pulverize the entire grape, hulls, seeds and all. This was made into a frozen smoothie. What is impressive about this are the efforts to maintain the qualities of the grape. It is well known that the hulls and seeds are concentrated sources of anti-oxidants, protein and fiber. The end result was real nice.

An article on addressing childhood obesity revealed an interesting twist to bring together several different areas of science to better seek how to effectively address many of the issues involved in childhood obesity. This included people from the horticulture and animal science fields as well as nutritional biochemistry and psychology fields.

Dr. Sopia Kathariou heads up an intense research to understand how the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter function. Part of the problem with past approaches to problems is the solution only treats the surface of the problem and not the root. As with Listeria resistance to disinfects and exposure to antibiotics allow the bacteria to by pass many procedures that are intended to control food safety issues. By understanding the needs and make up of the bacteria the opportunity to reduce it’s presence in the food chain is possible without attempting to make food sterile or create future problems of stronger pathogen strains.

Dr. Heather Patisaul’s work on finding solid answers to tough questions concerning how manmade chemicals are affecting our lives and the lives of the next generations is very striking! How refreshing it is to see an earnest effort put into finding concrete answers to such important issues. Her work has brought attention to the chemical Biphenol A or commonly known as BPA. This chemical is commonly found most everyday products we use such as water bottles , eye glasses to linings for food and beverage cans. So common is this chemical, traces can be found in the blood and urine of nearly every person in the United States! One of the tough questions relates to it’s possible affects upon human reproduction. This is a serious work on a reality latently hidden from everyday consciousness.

All of this is a reminder of how important the food we eat is. Some healthy questions to ask yourself may well be , Do you know where your food comes from? Do you know how it was grown? How does it’s nutritive value compare to what could be? When our government will not allow the origin of food to be clearly known to consumers , it may be time to ask questions ourselves.

    Would you like to know what the weather will be like in February, March and April? So far winter has been a dramatic contrast to the last two years. The warm weather has been nice but not for everything. Consecutive days of warm weather cause fruit trees to move auxins toward the terminal ends of the trees. This enhances bud development which brings on blossoming. As this process occurs the buds become more susceptible to cold weather damage. One of the difficulties with situations as these is to have the major tasks of pruning, freeze protection and the likelihood of numerous nights of running water on the trees at the same time.  I write all this to help you appreciate the fruit when the season comes. Meanwhile the repairs continue, planting continues and we are thankful to have you as friends and customers.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Indigo Farms. The market will be closed in until February. However if you should want any vegetables , eggs, honey , jams, organic lettuce, organic diakon just call 843- 399-6902 or 910-287-6794 and let us know. We still have several things coming off the farm. Thank you for your being a part of what we do. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the future. The next  few weeks will be busy catching up on repairs and preparations. Look for blogs that may reflect what is happening. The next email will likely not go out until late January. But blogs will be posted on the web site.

Fresh off the farm update.

We are now harvesting some crops that should help with the holidays and your late fall meals.

Broccoli, kale, rape, mustard both slick and curly, turnips, turnip greens, tender greens, radish, diakon, kohlrabi, collards.

Butter beans, ford hooks, green tomatoes, baby romas tomatoes, romas tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, organic cherry tomatoes, organic eggplant are still available.

Just starting our late harvest of peanuts. They look very good and won’t get any fresher so if you enjoy peanuts or if you want to make your own peanut butter here is an opportunity. Look for lettuce soon.

It is a good time for sweet potatoes (covengton and red jewel as well as some white sweet potatoes). These potatoes are grown from neighboring farms. We have much more that we are bringing in including apples, nuts etc.

Don’t forget our apple cider and baked pies as well as the Garden Center that has many items that would make very good Christmas gifts.

NASPIG NEWS from the STOCKYARD 100

The last week of STOCKPIGRacing for the 2011 season gives us the final standings and the official champion of NASPIG 2011. Jack Be Quick wins the championship with an impressive 344 points! He did it by overcoming some stiff adversity on October 15 to win all of his 12 races that day. It puts him in a rare class among STOCKPIG racing. Gold Rush finished second with 253 points and actually gained on the leader this past week. GOLD Rush was in fifth place on October 1. She gradually moved up each week to be a strong competitor. Magic Lantern had 190; One Too Many had 175, a strong comeback for the "headache kid"; Ironsides had 140; Happy Jack had 129; Merlin had 126; Muchkin had 102 and Little Boo had 101. For Muchkin it was the first time the pig got off the last place spot. She did have some fancy moves, spinning on the track and running in the wrong direction but she did make the most of her final races to advance upward.

  Thanks for an exciting season.

NASPIG NEWS from the STOCKYARD 200

    The last week of October’s racing continues the shifts that separate the top pigs from the pigs that seem content to just be pigs on the track. This week #8, Jack Be Quick, regains his winning edge with 5 wins. The # 1 pig , Gold Rush, took in 4 wins. The #6, One Too Many , gat 2 wins as did #3, Ironsides. Magic Lantern #2 got one win along. The points leaders are:

#8 Jack Be Quick 319

#1 Gold Rush 226

#2 Magic Lantern 186

#6 One Too Many 163

#3 Ironsides 128

#9 Happy Jack 114

#5 Merlin 111

#7 Little Boo 94

#4 Munchkin 88

This will be the last week of the season for

STOCKPIG Racing for the 2011 season.

NASPIG NEWS from the STOCKYARD 400

The October excitement continues! This weeks racing saw some changes in tempo among the pigs and the points. The #1 pig , Gold Rush proved to be the dominant pig on the track. The point leader pig #8, Jack Be Quick, performed well and added to his lead but for the day Gold Rush garnered the best performance. Clearly Gold Rush and Jack Be Quick had the fastest times on the track. Both these pigs can run at the upper level of STOCKPIG racing. For Gold Rush it was a big move up from the number 5 spot on week one moving up each week until last Saturday’s milestone to get to second. The #2 Green Lantern is a solid third just behind Gold Rush. The outlaw style of racing initiated by the #6 pig , One Too Many, continues to play havoc on these pig’s racing. His influence is strong upon many other pigs, especially #7, Little Boo.Jack Be Quick was caught in a couple of races that cost him at least one win. The #9 pig, Happy Jack was another mover in last weeks races. He came from the number 8 spot to the number 5 spot. The new point leaders are:#8 (254); #1 (177), #2 ( 170); #6 (126); #9 ( 95); #3 ( 93); #5 ( 88); #7 ( 86); #4 ( 63).

Information for October 29:

   Hay rides are planned for the morning. Pumpkin patch is still not certain. The hay maze, corn stalk tipi, straw house, barnyard, scarecrows are open. I believe there will be some pig races in the morning and around 2:30 or 3 pm. Check the blogs about Thursday to see more specific details and Pumpkin patch.

 See the Blog for STOCKPIG RACING update.
There are plenty of mums, flowers, Fall decor, apple cider and apples , a good time for beans, look for some fresh cool season vegetables soon. diakon and sweet potatoes, honey, etc. Heirloom tomaotes are starting to come in also.

NASPIG NEWS from the STOCKYARD 600

A new point leader gets a hard earned victory and the nickname " Marathon Pig"on the Naspig circuit. Number 8, "Jack Be Quick" showed his colors while battling back from the brunt of the worst manners ever seen in STOCKPIG racing. After running at high form during the practices early and mid week he found himself being the target of not one but two pigs who would rather fight than race. It was a real consternation for STOCKPIG officials as they debated the possibility of disqualifying the number 6 pig, One Too Many. But One Too Many was dealt a blow as some of the pigs found a way to get by the terror of tactics. A case in point was the number 4 pig, Muchkin, who delighted in getting by number 6, running away then turning around and running past him again only to get by him a third time before crossing the finish line. This seem to put number 6 in his place. But then came Friday and it was as if number 6 and number 7, Little Boo, decided to get number 8, Jack Be Quick. By the end of Friday, Jack Be Quick was only too quick to get on the track afraid of the two track bullies. You could see the nervousness even before he went into he first turn.

Then came the next morning, Pumpkin Day, and Jack had to face the challenge of racing in the most important race of the season. Being second in the points race and with a possible 120 points to be won it would take his best effort to accomplish that. From the first race to the last, Jack Be Quick kept his cool, but not without being tested. The pigs run two times each scheduled race. The first run is three pigs and the last is all nine pigs running together. Three of the runs had Jack Be Quick running against the number 6 and 7 pigs. On Friday that would have been a complete wreck for Jack Be Quick. But the pig stayed focused and managed to ignore their tactics and in one case got free to come from way behind for the win. It is very rare for a pig to win every race on Pumpkin Day. That is hard to do but the marathon pig did it!

Magic Lantern #2 held on and is now in second. That is not bad for a pig that is not that fast. Finishing has been her strength all season. Gold Rush #1 did an outstanding job of sorting through races to get to third in the points race.

The point lead is as follows:

Jack Be Quick #8 leads with 202,

Magic Lantern #2 has 150,

Gold Rush #1 has 113,

One Too Many #6 has 90,

Ironsides #3 has 72,

Merlin #5 has 62,

Little Boo #7 has 60,

Happy Jack #9 has 58,