human-ness

I am excited about the coming week.
I am excited about the past weekend.
I am excited about future farming prospects.
I am excited about human-powered agriculture.
I am excited about raspberries
I am excited about ...............

The coming week:

Lots of mowing, for sure. We are hosting the next CRAFT visit (our topic is Mechanical Cultivation which D knows inside and out) and D wants the place to sparkle. So do we. The great news is that the place already sparkles. Just one more pass should do...
Lots of celebrating as well. My brother and his girlfriend.. and my friend Jonny all have their birthdays this week. NICE.
The 4th of July means fireworks!! NICE.
H will be visiting. NIICE.
We will be harvesting tons of garlic on Friday with members!! NIIICE.

The past weekend:

Distribution was fantastic.

The share was easily the most varied/colorful yet.

Beets
Broccoli
Carrots
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Summer Squash
Zucchini
Garlic Scapes
Head Lettuce
Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Scallions
Spinach
Goldenfrill







Amy from Wild Hive joined us this week. Sold a loaf or two from what I could tell (snark snark)...



Mike from Thunderhill Farms was selling fresh eggs as well. SO MUCH GOOD STUFF!

We crowned the winner of our 10th Anniversary T-shirt design competition. Congratulations. Dig the design. Think I'll get me an apron (oh yeah, available in apron format as well).

During distribution I got a chance to further cultivate the winter squash in A. Seems that Purslane has no idea when to quit. Pull it out and leave it in the row? It just re roots and comes back. And that in a few days. Tenacious, that stuff.
So I hopped on the Cub and worked my way down each row turning the soil with the spade attachments. The process is very similar to hilling potatoes (as it is just that, hilling soil to cover weeds), but it is so much more delicate. Squash stems are about as fragile as they come, so running an iron shoe down the row about an inch from each plant at a couple miles and hour took a little doin. And being right across from the members' parking area, on display, made the experience a tiny bit nerve wracking. Regardless, the result was satisfying.



After distribution it was straight to the train for a quick city getaway.
Simply, wonderful.

Future farming prospects:

H and I will be visiting with a land owner in PA in a few weeks. She has expressed interest in the possibility of the two of us farming her land. More as that unfolds. In short... we're excited. We shall see.

With that in mind, this past week has handed me quite a bit of brainstorming concerning human-powered agriculture.
More thoughts research on a bike/tractor/harvester.
Brainstorming irrigation possibilities... i.e. Pedal-powered water pump filling a large gravity tank. Hmmm.
This guy seems to have the right idea.
H sent me this. Also very cool.

Thoughts. Thoughts.

Raspberries:

Just that. Had my first one from our row. It was not fully ripe, but I couldn't help myself. I've got a bit of a berry fixation. Again... I've got a bit of a berry fixation.

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Today? Straightforward.

Harvested Kohlrabi, Carrots (note to self: buy big rubber/waterproof overalls. used d's today. aaand...being dry after washing 100+ bunches of carrots is really really nice), Scallions, E & D harvested Summer Squash/Zucchini

A new/old volunteer, Gordon, joined us for the rest of the morning and ALL of our afternoon. Now THAT's a trooper.
We weeded herbs in E. That took us to lunch.
Afterward I weedwhacked the paths between the beds of garlic. Kinda painful. Whole lotta flinging of small "stuffs" at my legs/arms/face.
Then it was down to Y to cultivate carrots, leeks, scallions, cilantro, beans and others I'm forgetting. Gordon wheel hoed and moved irrigation... by himself. Go on now...

After work, E and I made a trip to pick up a free washer/dryer from a kind soul that offered it to E online. We hook it up tomorrow and it's "good-bye" to painful remote washing experiences... Hello, convenience!! Thanks E. Good score.

Finished the day with some hand cultivation in the 3 Sisters Field. First half done, second half tomorrow.

Speaking of, I get to be here for distribution this week.

Dig!