Carlito's Farms

01/05/2024

Just some gorgeous shots from todays walk ⛄️ 🐶 gosh are we lucky to call this our yard! 🫶🏼 nature soothes the soul… and so do dogs.

09/11/2023

Happy Monday! Check out these yummy ENERGY ballz. I changed the recipe by adding 1.5 scoops chocolate protein powder, 1/4 cup melted coconut oil, and 1/8 cup h**p hearts. I rolled half in crushed peanuts & the other half in a sweet craisin/nut blend.
Also, Go Bills tonight 🏈

Here’s the recipe:
⚡️Energy Chocolate Butter Ballz⚡️
1 cup quick oats
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup honey
¼ cup raw h**p hearts
¼ cup ground flax
1 tsp vanilla
pinch sea salt

08/06/2023

08/04/2023

After almost thirteen years of being together and five years of marriage I finally listened to her about one thing, move the garden to the orchard. Now we have over 6000 square feet to play with with our organic/naturally grown crops we plant every year. It was great advice and I know our passions for growing aren't at the same level but she has stood by me and supported me. I couldn't of met a more hardworking, tough as nails women in my life. Yet she has her sensitive/emotional side that's underneath just like me. In our lives we have faced too many hardships and losses in our lives for our age, but I believe that's what only brings us closer. So to my wife on our anniversary, thank you for letting pursue my passion for farming, growing, harvesting, canning, poultry, beekeeping, wine making, maple syrup etc... You have been my rock and I love you for it forever and forever.

08/02/2023

Tuesdays harvest!
🧅 ☘️ 🍅

08/02/2023

Todays harvest! 🥒

07/31/2023

Some of today’s harvest :-)

07/04/2023

Here's the before and after pictures. Now I call that a clean military hair cut.

07/04/2023

Time to butcher the zucchini plants. We received 3.5 inches of rain in 36 hours. This creates a breeding ground for diseases and pests. As I started pruning this morning I am finding hoards of silver whiteflies, remanance of cucumber bettles and first generation of squash bugs. After a rain like this it's the perfect time to prune and get diatomaceous earth on the ground to kill all of these pests. In add the leaf cutting brings needed sunlight in, exposes flowers for pollination and reduces the risk of harmful diseases that thrive in wet unlighted soil. I always say give them a buzz cut, new leaves will grow back, but if you leave old ones on that may carry a disease, you will lose the whole plant and possibly your entire crop.

06/26/2023

No matter how grueling the day can be, the views of my backyard never disappoint at the end of the day.

06/24/2023

So I wanted to do a little run down on cucumber bettles. They do survive winters here in our location usually in leaf litter. The adults emerge in late May and June. They tend to go to squash and cucumber plants to feed and mate. Once fertile they lay eggs in soil and those eggs hatch several weeks later. The larvae will feed on a plants root system until they emerge from soil as adults. The most critical point for any gardener is the first adult phase. The feed can critically hurt/kill young plants and also mature plants can be infected with diseases such as bacterial wilt. Of course then the larvae from successful mating could entirely damage a plants root system. So spraying Neem oil on your plants either prevents them from eating and they starve or if they ingest sprayed leaves it destroys them internally. Diatomaceous earth spread around the base of the plant will pe*****te the shell and cause dehydration. They are on top of my list of pests next to squash bugs and tomato hornworms. I know this is a lot of information but I hope it can be useful.

06/23/2023

Came home from work and found the largest infestation of cucumbers bettles I have ever seen. They coated my zucchini and cucumbers. I have well over a hundred of these plants and they all had them mating to make the first generation of the season. I have filled my battery back pack sprayer with 4 gallons of my Neem oil mix. I knew pests would be an issue this year because of our mild winter and above average spring temperature. I suggest to fight them hard now because if you get a second generation this season you could lose a lot of your plants. Fight the fight, but stay down the natural organic path.

06/19/2023

I know I haven't posted in a while but it was this garden I have been working on for almost three months. I have put over forty new pine posts I harvested myself, redid the fencing, resurrected old raised rows and created several new ones to make my over 6000 square feet of heaven. We have over 300 tomato plants in, over two hundred peppers, long day onions, carrots, beets, radishes, corn, cucumbers, beans and summer squash. We have winter squash and pumpkins germinating as we speak. I have never been more excited for a season and we look forward to seeing as many as we can stop by and buy our organic/naturally grown produce and free range eggs

04/30/2023

Beautiful chive harvest this morning!

Who is ready for some onion dip and salty chips!?

03/08/2023

Base is done for new greenhouse. All up cycled wood. Need to figure out door size and then comes the roof and greenhouse film

03/05/2023

My best friend and I burning syrup

03/02/2023

Fun stuff happening on the homestead this week! Tapping maples, making syrup, building greenhouse, and yey….spring cleaning! 😂

02/27/2023

Hey y’all! Shannon here! 👋 For the first time this year we’ve tapped our silver maple trees to make syrup! Typically, you would use sugar maple trees. However, these trees also produce lots of yummy sap that is boiled down, filtered filtered filtered, and slowly made into that thick, mahogany colored syrup we love!

That’s what I love about farming — it’s an experiment! I was science major and always loving to learn how things work so this a form of continuing education! We should never stop learning and growing! By the way, we will have our syrup for sale in our CSA PROGRAM and on our farm stand for 2023!

We can’t wait to see you out at the farm this year! 🍁

02/23/2023

Hope this storm doesn't hurt my silver maples for two reasons. One I am doing maple syrup this year and if these branches snap a lot of sap will pour out of breaking points instead of the taps. Two those beautiful blossoms are the first food for our honey bees in spring.

02/15/2023

Our first harvest of the year is here! 🥕

Very exciting news: we will be growing a variety of mushrooms this year! 🍄

We will also be running our CSA produce subscription this year starting mid May- October/November.

For questions, please email [email protected]

07/14/2022

https://www.amigone.com/obituaries/Jason-E.-Swiatek?obId=25343805 #/celebrationWall

I am sad to say we lost my brother a week ago. It has taken a toll on my family that I could never have imagined. He was such a fighter and I knew he looked forward to ten years down the road helping me on the farm and making sure it would flourish. Much of my time lately has been helping my sisters and mother organize arrangements and also comfort each other during this dismal time. I am trying to keep the farm alive with my wife as much as we can. I wanted to let all know why there might not be eggs or produce expected as of late. We thank all of our patrons and look forward to your continued support.

View Jason E. Swiatek's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

06/19/2022

I am sorry for delay, but I have scapes and full heads of my organic Muir red leaf lettuce available in refrigerator. Scapes are $2 lb and lettuce heads are $2 also. Later this week I will have some organic heads of bibb and romaine lettuce.

06/15/2022

Well we have definitely added to our apiary. We started the season by losing four hives with the strongest left over. We purchased one from Masterson's garden center in east Aurora. Then I caught two swarms from my original hive In the last two weeks and just caught one in my bait box. This is the first year in a long time I was down to one hive. As beekeepers we need to keep the faith, catch our swarms and bait them if needed. These are the most important creatures on earth and we need to spread the word. Without bees, we don't exist.

06/11/2022

Forgot to mention the last beneficial part of pulling scapes. It's easier and quicker, especially when you have over a hundred pounds of garlic planted.