two sisters

First things first.
We harvested today. As much as we could as we are staring down rain for the next two days.

100 bunches of Turnips
100 bunches of Beets
101 lbs of Beans
530 lbs of Potatoes
540 lbs of Tomatoes

Phew!

On tap for tomorrow:

Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Broccoli
Summer Squash
Peppers
Eggplant
Arugula
Red Mustard
Golden Frill
Cabbage

Perhaps more. Perhaps less.

This morning E harvested the corn from the 3 Sisters Field. I got the squash after work today. The beans have been an ongoing harvest.
A quick update and comparison and then more pics.

3 Sisters Field today



3 Sisters Field 1 month ago



Yeah, kinda sad, but, 'tis the natural course of things.

On to the Squash.











The Corn









Misc photos











Moving Drip Tape



Leaves Turning



My Agricultural Tribute to Richard Serra



Dig

mowathon

Our power went out last night, incidentally.
Happy (or perhaps not) to have a cell phone as I would have had no other way to set an alarm for this morning. That being said I did wake up during the night to a restoration of power, but it was mad chilly in the room and there's NO way I was going to walk the 2+ feet to the clock to set it and its alarm. Gotta be kiddin. Anyway, thanks cell phone.

Buttered raisin toast, coffee and an apple was breakfast for me.

E and I first cleared all things from the W, Y and Z field areas in prep for mowing/weed whacking. She rocked the rotary mower and I the weed whacker. Happy to have done so as I enjoy detailing. I worked my way underneath the entire length of fencing in W.

D stopped by just before break and suggested that the blades of the rotary mower be either sharpened or replaced. After break, he and E set it up for inspection, removal of blades, etc. After a failed attempt to unscrew the nuts that held the blades, D gave up and took the assembly to a local shop that not only got the nuts undone, but had the proper model in stock. Eznuff

I took the riding mower to W and detailed the perimeter, inside and out. Finishing Y and Z area as well before lunch.

Oooooo, lunch was leftover pizza. Mad good cold pizza.

Afterwards I mowed the perimeter of the upper fields, in front of the chicken coop, all around the root cellar and the small hill behind the compost piles. Speaking of which, E turned 4 separate compost piles with the front end loader today. She also weed whacked the perimeter of Y/Z and the upper fields. Nice one.

The bench got my attention for an hour or so after work. Planing one of the broad sides with the adze.

Today's little respite from harvesting will not carry into tomorrow. We've got much to start harvesting for Saturday.

No worries though. I think I got my fill (maybe not) of groundskeeping for a "little" while longer.

dig

moving, mowing

So as not to tax my brain too heavily, I'm going to pass on the hour by hour recall of last Thursday and Friday. Suffice to say we harvested and the end result was this on Saturday:







Two newcomers to the harvest were Watermelon Radish and Daikon Radish (top pic, top row, 2nd & 3rd from left respectively).

Saturday's distribution was quite the juggling act for me as D and Marie were both out sick and E was off to Rochester to meet with a prospective landowner. Happily all went smooth.

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Spent Saturday and Sunday with H.

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Yesterday it was E and I as D was still a little under the weather.
We pulled in Radishes (All 3 varieties), Turnips, Mustard Greens, Goldenfrill, Summer Squash (whose productivity has fallen drastically) ....and Celeriac. Celeriac is one of the first pieces of farm produce I saw/ate this season and it was from last season's crop. We finally got to start harvesting this year's.
The process: As they keep well in the ground, we don't have to pull them all at once. Yesterday we took only 220, enough for one per member.
To harvest Celeriac you can do one of two things, try to pull it out by the stalks on top or lean the root to the side and sever the large taproots with a knife. When you remove it from the ground, hold it by the stalks and chop the mess of roots from the main bulb. Then slice off the stalks approximately 2" from their base.
Not too difficult, but glad D was there to "learn" us.

Gordon helped finish Celeriac and pull in Summer Squash. Before work ended I threw the rototiller on the Deere and turned in the former bed of lettuce in D.

I spent a couple hours on the bench after work (spent a little time on it today too, but didn't get that much more done).

At the moment:







Again.. coming along. Little by little.

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Today we finished harvesting for Tuesday distribution. Lettuce (which, good gravy, numbs the hands something fierce this time of year when cutting and washing), Broccoli and Kale. When D and Pam arrived we pulled some bunches of Cilantro and Dill.

It was time for a small break and then to pack the 70 bins for our remote distribution in the Bronx. Crazy, we culled what seemed to be quite a measurable percentage of the tomatoes that were left. Luckily we still had quite enough to make sure everyone got at least 3 lbs each.

During my extended break before distribution I worked on the bench a little more (as previously stated), cruised, showered and began to set up.
Things moved along without a hitch. Very nice.

Our plan tomorrow is to... get this.... MOW! Pretty much all day too... It will probably be the last mowing for the lands immediately surrounding Y, Z and the W's.

You will definitely be made aware of how things turn out.

Dig.

taking shape

I was stricken with a severe case of "mad-tired-full-belly" disease last night, hence, my lack of posting.

Speaking of "full-belly," when you have the means and time, roast the following in olive oil (together or separately): Delicata and/or Sweet Dumpling Squash; Potatoes; Turnips; Beets; Carrots; Fennel. Make a side salad. Eat. Pass out. Sooooo good.

Tuesday had us harvesting like mad to get the city shares packed by lunch. The last of the summer crops are in need of gathering as are the quick-to-mature fall greens and root crops. We started with lettuce (only one head this week. slowing down), then Tatsoi (thinning them), Turnips (two ginormous per), Radishes, Broccoli!(yay Fall Brassicas) and Chard (new bed in D). All of that coupled with what we had harvested on Monday left us with an insanely large share for our Tuesday people.
We were packing share bins until just before 1 o'clock. Worth it though.





The rest of my Tuesday was as usual. Drive shares to the city. Return and unload empty bins. Help tear down distribution.

After doing dishes and eating crazy good roasted food, I was toast. Slept well.

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I'm a coffee person. I drink 10-16oz every morning. Always enjoyable. Ritual at this point in my life. However, there are mornings when the coffee (same coffee as always) tastes so good one must wonder why it hasn't been outlawed yet. Maybe it was the cool cool air this morning too.

Anyway, we began by tackling the transportation of winter squash from the greenhouse to the back barn. Using the big wooden harvest bins, we filled them to the top with like varieties and moved them by tractor. After about an hour we moved to our rest-of-the-morning project: De-rocking the 3 direct seeded beds in F. Why? To actually give us a chance at proper cultivation, i.e. basket weeding and wheel hoeing. F field, while wonderfully low to nil on weed pressure, is quite high on rock pressure. Ergo, rock, young farmer... And that we did. Looks great and I got to go through the three beds with the basket weeder with ease. Spend time on one task, save loads of time on another.

-Lunch-

Afternoon was mostly wheel-hoeing and handweeding in D. The Purslane has no clue when to stop... so I gave it one. I also helped E finish moving the squash to the back barn. All done... and we now have a truly empty greenhouse. At least through the end of the season.

After work? 3 hours of bench work. The result?







Getting there! Nice. GORGEOUS wood too... really.

What I did:
After drawing the profile of the side of the piece, I flipped it so the underside was facing up. I made many parallel depth cuts with the chainsaw. And after knocking out the first few pieces in the middle (i worked my way outward) the rest of them came out pretty readily with 3-4 smacks of the adze.
With the "goof room" I gave myself, the bench is still a little thick, but now I can really shave it down bit by bit. Exciting.

One more pic before I forget. Hard to believe that just two weeks ago this field was crawling with winter squash. Now it's crawling with Oats.



Dig.

tomatoes, guitars and benches... good gravy!

We sure meant to harvest tomatoes on Friday and knew there would be a little more than usual, but we didn't expect it to be one of the major harvests of the season.

1,700 lbs of Tomatoes!!



...and that's not even half of them...





Mad thanks to Nancy, Katherine, Daniel, Judy and Johanna!

During the afternoon I wrote another newsletter article. This one on Pedal Power. Something I have posted about before. Around 2 it began to rain so E quit the cleaning of the pepper beds. We cleaned the front barn and set up for the next day's distribution.

Friday evening I was lucky enough to be invited to two different members' houses. Johanna and her husband Mike had me over for dinner. Mad tasty food and great conversation. Thanks! From there we went over to Bob and Marilyn's for some laid back jamming on guitar/singing. A little wine, some old union protest songs, good times. Thanks again.



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A few pics from this week's distribution. We are getting into fall root vegetables. Our turnips are other-wordly large. Just as tasty too.









During distribution I helped prepped the tractor and hay wagon that I would be driving in the town's Community Day Parade. Every year the farm participates. Some riding the wagon dress up in costumes, others are just along for the ride. Either way... really fun. Tomatoes were handed out from the wagon (and thrown) to parade attendees. People dug.











After all was returned and put away, I picked up hb for her "remainder of the weekend" visit. Laid low that evening.

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Sunday was kick started by groceries, coffee and a wonderful brunch. Yep.

From there it was time for me to "get back on the horse." The bench, that is.
The foot feels great and the weather, while a bit hot, was perfect for outdoor work. I rough planed the 3rd side of the log. 'bout 3 hours in all.
Take note of all the ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY precautions/gear when using a chainsaw. Very serious, potentially very dangerous stuff. Fun nonetheless.











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Today we began by harvesting Arugula, Tatsoi and Scallions (huge scallions). Beans brought us to lunch. After food I made my way to the newest (only) succession of Squash and Zucchini in F while E harvested/culled peppers. I joined the rather "rot"errific activity for the remainder of the afternoon. If you're wondering, a fair number of peppers rot on the vine and must be pulled out lest they spread bacteria/sickness to other plants. Not the most pleasant of smells/textures... but a necessary procedure for sure. Thanks to Gordon for showing up to help.

After the work day I made a beeline to the bench. Having only 1 more side to rough plane, I was excited. I chalked, chainsawed and adzed the final side in about 1 1/2 hrs. Not bad.











And, hey, I've already got some takers/sitters. Nice one.



Until tomorrow.

Dig.