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!

work. celebrate.

Nas in the phones.
Peanuts, hand to mouth.
Yuengling in a bottle.

Life requires celebration.
Large and small.

A rather physical day/week done.

We started the day harvesting in Y. Head Lettuce. I got to mow the headlands of the bed so our legs could remain dry during the washing part of the harvest. Yeah, all excited about mowing. Still.

Next up? W1. Spinach. Go know. We thought it was done/gone. Little did we know that bolting does not necessarily mean "over." It tasted great so we went for it. Got close to 90 lbs.

Next victim? Swiss Chard. A rainbow of watery fiber. Bunched by the dozen..ish.
Nancy and Judy pulled the yellow leaves from the row as D & E followed with their knives and twist-ties.

During all of this I ran to the barn, hopped the closest John Deere (w/ rototiller attached) tractor I could find and beelined back to W1. The (finally finished) Spinach beds needed to be turned over. I did just that.

Upon completion, D spun buckwheat seed (summer cover crop) by hand over the beds. Back to the barn I went to detach the rototiller and attach the brillion seeder (which, in this case, was to be used for its weight to press the cover seed into the soil). Before I could return to the field, everyone magically appeared at the office for a morning break.

Nancy brought muffins. GOOD! I heated up coffee. Drank it. Buzzed. Smiled. On with the rest of the morning... which consisted of pressing the cover seed with the brillion and raking the pathways beside the Swiss Chard beds. Many discarded leaves close to healthy leaves = Opportunity for rot/disease. I removed said leaves in a harvest cart and to the compost pile they went.

-Intermission-

Straight to summer squash (last piece of this week's distribution puzzle) after lunch.

-(aside) I'm having an extremely hard time putting together today's series of events in my head for whatever reason. I know we ended with trellising tomatoes, but I want to say some minor task directly preceded that as I remember D saying, "I'll go get ready to trellis while you guys do ...???" Ugh!!-

Anyhoo, we learned how to trellis tomatoes today. (note to self: we trellised a little late in the game. still effective, but way too much work. trellis tomatoes at around 12-18". much easier. better for the plant too.)
Not too complicated. Pound metal posts into the bed between every other plant. String 1 continuous twine, post to post, using a wooden stick (extends your reach to alleviate loads of back bending). Support plants about 3/4 high. Repeat. Easy.







After work and a quick hour of relaxing, I caught my second wind. What to do?
Hmmm. Tomorrow is distribution and I've got hours til dark?? Beautify!!
Mowing!! Rocked the mower for a couple hours... hit a hidden rock near the flower garden after most was done... bent one of the blades... had to quit... will fix on monday. Had a great time though.

Made my evening rounds with camera in hand.
A couple things stood out:

1. THE most gorgeous color (black purple??)/plant (to me) on the entire farm. Japanese Eggplant.









and

2. WE GOT BEANS!!! In the 3 Sisters Field that is. The Red Noodles are ahead of the pack.. then the Trail of Tears. No word from Scarlet Runner yet.
I feel like a proud parent. ...Pretty compacted soil. Fighters, these ones!!

















Can.You.Dig.It?

I knew that you could.

Dig

processes

Hand weeding A/winter squash:

Kneel in path
Identify weeds (mostly Purslane)
Discern from squash plant (easy, though other plants are not)
Extend hands, palms down
Thumbs behind base of squash plant
Push weeds/dirt away from base towards opposite side path
In return motion, sweep all fingers (small circles) through weeds/soil on either side agitating thoroughly
While moving to next plant perform steps 2, 3, and 4 so you can have your thumbs behind the plant by the time you're stationary.

Raking clumps in A/winter squash:

Stand in path at 45 degree angle from bed
Hold rake as you would a broom
Place rake about 2-3 inches from base of plant
Pull rake toward you through the soil
Move it slightly side to side at the same time to further break up clumps
Work your way down the row



Stirrup hoeing melons:

Much the same as raking squash except that you walk backwards along the path.



Harvesting carrots:

Stand sideways in path facing carrots
Place heavy duty pitchfork/shovel about 3-4 inches from base of greens
Force down into dirt with foot (as you would a shovel)
When about 6-8 inches down, pry tool back, forcing carrots up
Pull carrots by the bunch, gently shake off dirt and lay parallel in path
Tie 8-10 to a bunch
Rinse thoroughly and spray off with hose



Harvesting cabbage:

Force open leaves downward with your hands exposing head
With left hand push cabbage head to the side exposing the stem
Cut through stem
Place in bin

(no pics. sorry.)

Rototilling unusable crops back into soil:

Pull tractor to the head of the bed
Pull forward until rototiller is at the head of the bed
Engage PTO
Lower rototiller
Proceed down bed
Raise rototiller when you have reached the end of the bed/crop



Stretching at the end of the day:

Clear your mind of all thoughts
Stretch ALL muscles

Dig

small-scale living

Last night I passed on blogging. Why?
Lazy? Nah.
Away from the farm? Please.
To bed early??? Nope.

Reason: I talked to my sister on the phone for almost an hour and a half. Really nice. I feel very fortunate to have family that I love and enjoy talking to and can be around for hours/days...even if we only get to do so once a month... or year. The basic things in life.

Thanks family!

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So, yesterday, E and I continued our self-management stint. Though, to be fair, D was just about back in action. He spent the morning doing office work. Obviously just as essential as anything else. Also, to be fair, I think he should have been home resting more. A troo trooper, this guy.

The rest of the broccoli, 700+ sprigs of basil and 180+ summer squash were harvested to make up the balance of our Tuesday shares.
With the help of Johanna we got a jump start on filling the 69 bins to be taken to the city for Tuesday's drop off. With D laying low in the office, I seized the opportunity to take the "share picture" for the week.



Not terrible, but not even close to what D can capture.

With bins loaded and placed back in the cooler, we took a short break. Coffee and cookies. Chips Ahoy cookies. Yeah, yeah, I know. Questionable ingredients. But, good gravy, they tasted awesome!! Thanks Johanna.

Before lunch I managed to rototill two beds in F and help finish hand-weeding the carrot row in E. Carrots are, without doubts, the most painstaking weed experience on the farm. For me anyway.

After lunch we loaded the van, I made myself comfy in the driver's seat and sped off toward the city. A truly by-the-book drop off. No news is usually good news when on the road.
On the way back I stopped for groceries. My body was screaming for some fresh fruit. ...all is good now.

I cultivated the sides of the path in the 3 Sisters field after I got back. And must say, AGAIN, it's looking really good.





Look at that corn!!



This is one of the MANY reasons why I will pursue (and stick with) small scale farming. One has the luxury of being able to pay attention to detail. Individual plant growth.
Dozens of acres of corn?? Numbers. Figures. Works for some... not me.

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Today. Wednesday. June 25th! Already.

We played catch up. Seeding flats, (trans)planting and cultivation. Rutabaga & lettuce in the greenhouse,



herbs/parsley/lettuce/scallions in D/summer squash in F, and winter squash in A...respectively. I learned how to direct seed with a Planet Jr. Love the human-powered implements. We then pulled out the drip tape to water in the transplants as the sun was pretty merciless this afternoon.

So, yeah, F saw its very first seeds today!! Cucumbers and squash! Now, come one soil..Do it up!



This afternoon we weeded A (Winter squash). Period.

I don't have a "before" picture, but this is what it looks like now.





Just reinforces that small-scale notion. This could not be done so thoroughly/carefully were it on a larger scale.

Post workday had me mowing around the 3 Sisters and F. Meditation time...

A full belly and a shower earlier finds me quite satisfied and happy with this Wednesday. Another great day with its own unique discoveries, successes, failures (or "learning opportunities), laughs and reflections.

I'll end this post with that thought... and some pictures of the sheep, older chickens, "teen" chickens and baby chickens at the request of my sister. All from today.









The teens and Scrawny were hanging out on top of the root cellar.









for H.



Dig.

exceptional

This weekend was exceptional. In all ways.

Distribution had a great energy to it (or so I was told...).
I got to mow for the first hour.
I spent 10 hours afterward cleaning the back barn.
D's son had his 5th birthday celebration.
H made her train.
I shaved.
The longest day of the year came and went.
It was gorgeous.
The drive from the train station was breathtaking...
Exceptional amounts of rain = Exceptional growth. So lush. Everything.
Wine and pizza. Does it get any better...?

-Sunday-

H & I direct seeded 3 bean varieties in the 3 Sisters Field.
Cherokee Trail of Tears (in the outer corn stalk mounds)
Scarlet Runner (in the inner corn stalk mounds)
Red Noodle (around the base of each canopy branch)
We also strung together and secured the branches of said canopy.
Storms rolled through at regular intervals.
So happy/excited about the results and can't wait to see the beans begin their ascent...

In the evening I got a call from D.
He was LAID OUT with a major sinus infection/fever. Resting Monday.
It definitely had to be serious. D works non-stop.... really.
E & I were to move and shake the farm for the whole of Monday.

-Today (didn't get any pictures as it was raining on and off for the duration)-

First, I would like to thank the semi-elderly cab driver (same one each time. same woody station wagon too. nice.) who "hustled" to pick up H this morning. Again.. she made her train.
E took inventory to determine what and how much we needed to harvest.
I loaded the van with the proper tools/bins and we hit W1.
Bok Choi
Broccoli
Head Lettuce
Scallions
Kohlrabi
Turnips

Not bad for a two-person venture.
E spent the afternoon writing up another Member Newsletter article.
Me? I cleaned the perpetually dusty/dirty office. Lookin good now.
note to self: forevermore, use a LARGE window fan to draw dust out of enclosed spaces when cleaning. yeah, sometimes it's the obvious that hits you last.

A very successful "apprentice-led" Monday.

Pic time? I'd personally enjoy it.


















H holding the canopy branches together as I rush to get the twine (well, yeah, enough time to snap a picture)...



Crazy twine-tying concentration





Voila! Now picture it with long burgundy beans hanging all over it and vines wrapped inside and out. Dig.

wikipedia even says "sputnik"

Waking up this morning (after having dug holes and pounded in branches.. after having weeded all day yesterday) took some real conscious effort. Crouching down to pull pants from the bottom dresser drawer required the help of both hands/arms. While I surely don't consider myself old (nor do I think I ever will), I was definitely letting loose a rather unfamiliar collection of grunts and groans. Where did these come from?? What can I do to make sure they do NOT become permanent "me-isms?" More conscious efforts I guess. That and a little more stretching....

As is our Friday order now, we headed directly to harvest.

- Chinese Cabbage (Different wider variety; Huge; Like the taller ones better though)
- Bok Choi (We know the drill)
- Kohlrabi (Funky Sputnik-lookin veggie. Part of the brassica family. Tastes like broccoli stem) Wanna see????





- Head Lettuce (Some have bolted by now so they were left to be tilled under)
- Turnips (Capped. Judy and Nancy harvested them single-handed)
- Scallions (Pulled in bunches gently from the soil. Such fragile leaves. Washed and bunched)
- Broccoli (I'm not sure if I've made it abundantly clear by now, but harvesting broccoli is fun... believe me. You oughtta come by and try it...)
- Mustard Greens (Tended to those myself. Tended a few bunches right into my mouth. Mmmm)
- Basil (First harvesting out of Field Y. Cool)
- Summer Squash (E & I. Yellows and Zucchinis. Their skin is so easily damaged. Even the plants spiny stems/leaves can completely score them. Gotta be careful)

A picture of today's group





Judy, Nancy, Daniel, Katherine, D & E.

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, remind me to tell you about the deep inner joy one can experience by throwing a Bok Choi Grenade. I'll explain when I have pictures for support.

Somewhere in there we had a nice sit-down break with coffee, pumpkin muffins (thanks Katherine), and banana bread (thanks Nancy), aaand donuts (thanks D), aaaand Irish Soda Bread (thanks Amy). Stuffed.

These pics from midday. The white on blue was blowing my mind. As well as the blue itself.





After lunch I mowed... period. How wonderful is that?
W3, W2, Y and Z all had rye about to go to seed and it was my job to prevent it from doing so.

E and I visited a local winery after work, had a tasting and made a couple purchases(of which I am presently partaking).

This evening... strawberries were picked and eaten, more branches were cut for the 3 Sisters field and my guitar was played for a while. A truly relaxing evening.

Tomorrow... distribution and H time.

Dig.

quickly, but not

Today was a quiet meditation.

I transplanted approximately 600 tomato plants by hand.
That was the first task of the morning.
Same body movements up and down the beds.
I had help from Martha, a new volunteer.

After the tomatoes were planted, we mulched them with the hay we received last week.
Same body movements spreading the hay over the three beds.
I was in my head for most of the morning.
Repetitive movements. Repetitive thoughts. Absence of thought. Breathing.

Tomatoes. Before and after.







This afternoon we weeded the melons in Field B.
Same position and movement for three hours.
I was definitely in my head for the duration.

I am continually amazed at what our bodies are capable of doing... over and over and over...
I am grateful for the opportunity to find out.

My evening continued the meditation.

A walk to the gas station for Coke, Peanuts and Beer. Essentials.

Straight to the 3 Sisters Field to dig holes for, erect and secure 8 - 8 ft branches with which I'm fashioning a mini gazebo in the center. Will have pictures of this tomorrow when I am finished. Exciting.

Was all in my head for that as well.

Enjoying some beer now and envisioning a long night's sleep... in my head.

Dig

just another weeding wednesday

A cool, cool morning. Cool by me.

The temperature was to reach only into the low 70's.
How perfect is that for weeding? Umm. Apparently, really...

We weeded today.

Our initial focus was on the Onions/Leeks/Scallions beds in W2. I drove the Farmall to the field and basket weeded the scallions. There was scarcely enough room between the rows for the weeder, but it looked to me that the scallions were not harmed. They were only leaning over slightly in the direction of the tractor after I made the passes. When D arrived he was a little surprised by the decision to machine weed and reinforced the point that the scallions' leaves (leeks and onions as well) are rather fragile and can grow poorly/die or be susceptible to disease if broken or disturbed (so true. barely breathe on these things and they break). I felt kinda bad. Perhaps I should have passed on machine weeding as the scallions looked a little disturbed.
In a short while, though, D said that the basket weeding was a good decision as they didn't really look bad after all and it saved us quite a bit of hands-and-knees work. All good...
I wheel hoed and hand weeded the rest of the morning away.

Also, this morning saw several volunteers from the Salvation Army harvesting Spinach. How great to have direct charity activity as such. Glad to have the help and glad to be giving...
A few pics, eh?





A "tool" of the trade... ???



The "Official Vehicle...."



with the "Official Dog" inside. Nice.



Just before lunch I basket weeded parsnips and carrots in W2 as well. The carrots weeded very well. One row of parsnips got a little too much dirt kicked on them by the path-scraping tynes on the tractor. I uncovered the row by hand. Don't want to lose any tasty parsnips at this early stage... or at later stages either.

After lunch we "hung out" in Y. Doing what? You guessed it. Weeding.
Three B's. Beans, Beets and Basil. Easy weeding... well, compared to, say, carrot seedlings.
Funny. D's son, J, an almost 5 year old bundle of energy, entertained us with a few improvised songs. One of which we ended up all singing together... over and over again.
The lyrics? Simple.
The message? Well, that depends on how deep you'd like to go...
---------
Get on the dirt bus!
Get on the dirt bus!
Get on the dirt bus!
Yeah!

Get on the dirt bus!
Get on the dirt bus!
Get on the dirt bus!
Now!
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A fantastic afternoon. Oh, almost forgot to mention that D and I tossed the Frisbee for a while after work. Yay! Frisbee. Definitely a must-have in my life.

As I write, it's raining. Has been for a couple hours now. Moderate, but steady. Such a rainy season so far. A "growing" season...
which leads me to an impressive fact:
The total weight of harvested vegetables so far this season??
5600 lbs.

Dig.

storms. brain- and rain-

Saturday.
7am.
Distribution day.
The air was heavy. Humid, but cool-ish. Before the morning ended, though, I must have lost a pound in sweat. Warmed up quickly. We met in the office to check the weather and talk through particulars. I, somehow, drew the lucky card. I got to MOW! Quite the oddity too as all "beautification" is usually taken care of Friday or earlier. However, D wanted a "path" mowed in the grass to the peas in Solar Lower field as we were letting members pick their own if they wanted. No argument from me.
Before I could dig in, though, we had to set up the distribution area in the barn. As E & I set up tables, scales, bags, etc., D usually draws up the master share sign for the day.



It shows the members what their "take" is for that particular week.
For example:

1 Head Bok Choi
2 Heads Broccoli
1 Head Chinese Cabbage
1 Bunch Turnips
1 1/2 lb Spinach
2 Heads Lettuce
5 Garlic Scapes
1/4 lb Snap Peas -or- Pick Your Own! (Sign are posted at the bottom of the beds to demarcate the picking area)

With set-up done (close to it, anyway), I dashed off to the mower and began carving my "paths." Amazingly, after I was done, D gave the green light for me to continue. Nice! Kid in a candy store... For real. I got about an hour in when D pointed me in the direction of the tomato, pepper, and eggplant beds. Cultivation. Muy necessito. With the help of the same 3 volunteers from the day before (Thanks! Again!) we weeded about 10 beds altogether by the end of distribution. All of the plants (and weeds too) have been thriving in this tropical weather. Quite a few peppers in view... Can't wait.

With distribution finished and everything cleaned and packed up, E motored me to the train station. My bi-monthly trip to the city. Whirlwind, but definitely needed.
A great time as always. H and I checked out the neighborhood gardens. Seems they're benefitting from the hot, humid weather as well. Sunday evening came quickly and I was back on the train upstate.
Spent my time brainstorming ideas for a pedal-powered (multi-person?) farmall. One whose basic purpose is harvesting, but could have implements added and be used for cultivation, seeding, towing, sidefilling, fertilizing, etc. The biggest obstacle is power. Horsepower, to be exact. With the best cyclists in the world being able to sustain little more than 1 hp for short periods, and, for example, a Farmall Cub sustaining about 14 hp at speed, one can see the limitations pretty readily. What to do? Employ a heavy flywheel/pto combo to up the torque? Design with only one "lightweight" application in mind, i.e. harvesting? Both? I believe any step away from fossil fuel is a positive step, but if the time is going to be taken to develop anything, then the goal(s) should be realistic. I've got some basic things mapped out in my head already. To be mulled over... Will update from time to time.

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Monday

To start the day/week, we made our rounds of the fields to see "what condition our condition was in..."

Pics from the tour-

3 Sisters Field



Beans sprouting (adjacent to the drip tape..)



Basil. Soon to be harvested.



Before(left) and after(right). Carrot seedling cultivation. Painstaking...



First picked garlic bulb of the year. Beautiful.
Looking to harvest around July 4th.



Potatoes in Z



Leafhoppers on potatoes (sorry, bad pic). Important though. D is rather skittish about these guys, and rightfully so, as an infestation could decimate the potato crop in no time. What to do? Hold on mowing down the rye/vetch area beside the potato field until the entire field can be reemayed. The leafhoppers have (more than likely) set up shop there and, if forced to move, will "hop" over to the potatoes.



Hay that was delivered on Friday.



Kohlrabi



Kale.



Rather than explain the consequent project list, here it is (well, most of it):



As you can see under "Cultivation," it was finally time to flame weed. And flame weed we did. Pretty easy. Aim a propane-fueled flame at a row as you walk the length of it. Singe weeds. Fun stuff.





From there it was straight to W1 to harvest Chinese Cabbage and Lettuce. The cabbage was ginormous.. and so was the lettuce. Crazy big.
While E & I harvested, D brought out the rototiller to turn used beds back under.
How wonderfully strange to witness/experience. The entire cycle in just 60 days.



From there we harvested the remaining garlic scapes and the next round of mature summer squash. Speaking of which... update:



Lunch was a luxurious 45 minutes.

As we opted out of the day's CRAFT visit (2+ hours away?? not so much), we set to work harvesting Bok Choi from W2. This Bok Choi was not as nice, in my opinion, as what we harvested the week before. Still, tasty as all get out.

The last part of the day saw E focus on weeding the aspargus bed while I removed a downed tree that fell on the fence around W and replaced my fiberglas fence support booboo of last week.



Evening came on, muggy and calling for severe thunderstorms. I dig me some storms, so I was excited when the rain really started to fall and the lightning and thunder punctuated it all. However, I was on the phone with H when a call from D came through. A tornado. Yep. One of those. 5 miles away in the next town. Coming this way. I thanked him, confirmed it online, hung up the phone and ran to tell E. We made our way to the basement underneath the office (brick building)... and listened.... It was all I could do to stand still. I was excited and a little frightened. I've always wanted to see/experience a tornado, but would rather it from a bit of a distance. I called H after about 20 minutes of waiting (and hearing nothing) and asked for her to go online to see if the threat had passed. Seems that it had. Good news all around. We were fine and so was the farm (all except two not-so-fortunate beds of spinach that got torn by hail. booo.). Yay!

Later in the evening I made (for the first time ever) Kimchi. Four jars of it.





I'll let you know in 2 days how it turns out.

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Today

3 words: Spinach, Broccoli, Distribution

Sooo straight forward.

We harvested the beat-up spinach first. 83 lbs of it.
And then, with the help of our friend, Johanna, we leveled almost 2 whole beds of Broccoli. 460 heads in all. The harvest process for broccoli is definitely enjoyable. Thwacking the stalks with a big knife and furiously pulling leaves from below the head only to chuck it underhand (or overhand) to a designated catcher who places it in waiting bins. Quite fun.

Before



During



Sneaking a bite



Post...



We took all of our goodies back to the barn where shares for remote distribution were put together. Would you like to see what today's share looked like?



Yeah. Pretty nice.

Today's pick up was relaxing. Everything flowed pretty smoothly. We even managed to get our 17 tee-shirt design entries hung up on a huge canvas just as distribution began. Members got to vote on their favorite design. The winning design will be used on the official 10th season shirts. Community. Definitely.

So, I think this could very well be my longest post yet.

I truly have nothing else to add at this point. Well, two things.
Thank you, as always, for reading this blog... and...

dig

recap

Yesterday.
We harvested in the morning.
Spinach
Head Lettuce
Bok Choi
The morning remained cool.
D and I moved to laying down drip tape.
We laid approximately 1 mile by the end of the day.
-Leeks/Lettuce in E
-Melons/Direct seed veggies in B
-Winter squash in A
E and Judy seeded mass quantities in the greenhouse.
After work, E & I worked on the 3 Sisters field.
Looking good.
I also resuscitated 39 heads of wilty lettuce that were left in the field.
Mea culpa.
I slept soundly.

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Today.
We harvested in the morning (with several helping hands).
Chinese Cabbage
Beets
Turnips
Snap Peas
The morning was a little warmer today.
Before lunch we weeded the Summer Squash bed.
After lunch 3 different volunteers helped us through the end of the day. Thanks!!
We weeded Y.
A lot.
Really small plants/weeds.
At the end of the day we received 70 bails of straw.
They will be put on the tomato bed in Y.
Did my regular post work chores.
Showered.
Blogging.
Falling asleep.









Dig

looking to learn

Last night. Closest I've come to capturing lightning. Next time...



How every workday begins



Summer squash update





Grounded 7000 plants by hand today... including: Scallions, Leeks, Lettuce, Melons (D&E), Eggplants, Winter Squash



Eggplant flats



Melon flats



Solar Lower prepped for transplant



Amazing tilth in this field. Thanks in LARGE part to Peter (he rocks..or de-rocks)



Previous round of eggplants. Beautiful.



What flea beetles can do when eggplants are not covered.



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Our afternoon was spent finishing eggplants, laying drip and hand planting all of Field A with Winter Squash. No pics.

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After work I passed out for a solid half hour in the chair at this computer. Felt good.

Then...

To work on 3 Sisters Field. I decided against woodchipping the path. Going to let it grow over with natural weeds. Will keep it trimmed and contained. Like that look much better already.



and I'm not sure what this "knee high by the fourth of July" stuff is all about. Apparently the corn didn't get the memo: It's JUNE 11th! Awesome, really.



The youngest members of the farm.



The sweetest members of the farm... Am I excited? Indeed. Woohoo! Berry season!!



The road back to the farm "proper."



A cooler day. A gorgeous night. A pillow that beckons.



dig

tuesday haiku

Last night after work,
with weeds growing, I wheelhoed
in three sisters field.

The sod that I tilled
does not want to die just yet.
Hoe was sweating too.

E was detailing.
A handheld weeding tool worked.
The field looks great now.



With the corn growing
we started to mound them up.
A little to start.



Next to plant is squash.
Why not protect from weeds soon?
We'll direct seed them.

Beans plant in 3 weeks.
Direct seeding around corn.
Should be plenty tall.

---------

Today we started
close to 6 to beat the heat.
Sweating by seven.

We harvested lots.
Lettuce and arugula.
Radishes, turnips.

Broccoli was fun.
I didn't cut my finger!!
Woo! and Hoo! I say.

---------

Then we prepped soil.
Fertilized A, B and F.
E tilled quite nicely.

(Realizing something.
I didn't take many pics.
Crazy busy day.)

I helped pack some shares
for remote distribution.
Pam volunteered. Yay!

My turn to drop off.
I left the farm at one ten.
I was back by five.

Drop offs are fun.
The driving part is quite nice.
Good to have "me" time.

---------

This evening brought us
a pretty heavy downpour.
Soooo much cooler now.

The weather forecast
shows lower temps tomorrow.
Crossing my fingers.

Good rain plus sunshine
equals amazing plant growth.
Can't wait to see them.

dig dig dig dig dig.
dig dig dig dig dig dig dig.
dig dig dig dig dig.

yeah, it was hot

I considered avoiding any talk of "the heat" today as it is/was surely on everybody's mind. But, really. 96. Feels like 102. 46% humidity...

This by lunch (actually by 10am).



Ok. More on that below.

First, my weekend. Beautiful!

Saturday morning was our second distribution.
On the menu:

Spinach (some of the best ever grown on the farm, says D)
Broccoli Raab
Turnips
Radishes
Head Lettuce
Bok Choi
Tatsoi
Garlic Scapes
Red Mustard Greens
Goldenfrill
Arugula (just a little left)





There seemed to be quite a few more visitors this Saturday. Lots of talking/laughing/socializing. Enjoyable.
The sheep are certainly becoming minor celebrities in these parts. Unfortunately the fast heat of the morning forced E to reconsider keeping them out for the day. I imagine I would feel the same if I had been in a heavy wool jacket. They made it through distribution, but were put in shortly after by me. I've grown quite fond of them. The oldest one had a little sinus congestion, so E fed her some garlic scapes as a "clearing" agent. She seems much better now. Also, fyi, getting them back to the barn is a GREAT deal easier when their harnesses are already on. Believe me.

The rest of the day and most of Sunday was spent with H. We did all of the daily farm chores together (as is the case when she visits) as E was visiting a friend. In short... awesome.

Sunday evening, after closing up for the day, I put some time in on the 3 Sisters field. Basic hand cultivation. The soil which has (very fortunately) had an even rain/sun/rain exposure for the past week is perfect for cultivating. Crumbles with little effort, but doesn't blow away in a dust cloud when worked through.

This, in fact, is a handy segue into today: Perfect (hot) cultivation conditions.

Our intent (I think) was to harvest until lunch for tomorrow's distribution.
At 6:30ish am (after taking inventory of the weeks remains) we were in W1 rounding up the majority of the rest of the spinach. And while the spinach beds were leveled with a degree of ease that's been unseen to date...



I still managed to cut myself twice. That makes 7 this season already. Not quite sure what to make of that number yet. Still thinking...

Onward.

We moved to Bok Choi after weighing and storing all the spinach we gathered.

Bok Choi is a pretty easy harvest. Straightforward cut and gather. Counting the heads aloud as they go in the harvest cart, washing and placing them in containers for cooler storage.
We took a quick bagel/coffee break after harvesting. It was at this time D made the decision to pursue cultivation for the rest of the day. Can't blame him. Save for the oppressive heat, the process was a relative breeze. Speaking of breeze, it does not exist a foot above the soil. Only radiant heat and humidity. Pretty stifling.

We worked (read: basket weeded, wheel hoe'd, hand weeded, raked) through the melon beds in B and the vegetables/herbs in Y. After lunch, I finally got to try my luck at hilling potatoes (note: sidefilling 5:1:1 with the tractor attachment at the same time works well as the hilling plates cover and kick the fertilizer right to the side of the potatoes) with the Farmall.

Why hill potatoes???

1. The plates loosen/aerate the soil and allow for better growth. The soil can also more readily drain/shed water.
2. If the potatoes are exposed to the sun they will green.
3. Hilling covers/kills weeds. Less work for your hands.

D was satisfied with the results. Though I must remember to hill up one side at a time as to avoid a "ridge and valley" effect which kind of defeats the purpose of hilling.

Our day was done shortly after. Aaand shortly after that we were invited to take a dip in the pool that's owned by the farm's governing organization.
What can I say? I went from "brain-dead and over heated" to "full sentences and 98.6" in 30 minutes. Amazing!

Looking forward to tomorrow as I now know what hot days feel like and am prepared for all those ahead.

Big morning harvest and a trip to the city for our remote distribution is on the docket. Good stuff.

Dig.

fridays for good

This morning... IT RAINED!!

At 5am it started and did not stop until around 10. Rather heavy at times.
We harvested (I realized that Fridays through the rest of the season will be very similar to this one, work-wise)...water rolling off of every limb. I must say I truly enjoyed it all. The work. The rain. The work in the rain. The soaked pants/sleeves. The camaraderie. Very nice.

As we did little more today than harvest for tomorrow/Tuesday's distributions, I think pics (and some captions) will tell the story well.

Proper gear? Absolutely essential. Faux bad attitude? Optional.



Approx 7am



Judy, Nancy, E & D



Today we harvested:

Spinach (loads of it...still)
Lettuce
BokChoi
Radishes
Turnips
Golden Frill
Mustard Greens
Broccoli Raab

This was by noon.

At which time the rain had stopped and we found this in our Member parking area.



What to do? Syphon, of course.





At the time of this post, most of this puddle has been syphoned to the downward sloping driveway about 50' away. Success!

After lunch we harvested garlic scapes (stems that will eventually hold the plant's flower), very tender, very tasty.



Heavy competition.. Who's faster? Mentor or Apprentice? My money's on the guy with 10 years of experience... but I'm always up for a gamble.







With that done, D called the day for us. Woohoo!

The evening?

I weedwacked what I did not have a chance to address in W's fields yesterday.

Closed the greenhouse/chickens. Did the dishes and shortly afterward, at the beginning of my quest for food, I turned this



Into this





It was actually a little disconcerting how completely the thing disintegrated.

Done and done. Cleaned and fed. Happy.

Looking forward to the morning's distribution. Socializing with/giving fresh food to members = Good Times.

dig

melons, yams and fireworks! oh, my.

When life hands you a perfect day to plant, what better to do with your time than, well, plant.

We woke to rain Wednesday. Not a whole lot of it but enough to give us pause before we made moves toward planting.
The watermelon and canteloupe seedlings were breaking out of their flats. Before they could hit the ground, however, we received a package (more than a week late) of our sweet potatoes (they arrive in bunches looking very similar to leeks). We ran with it. To Y we went. One 400' bed of yams.
Luckily the soil was easily workable as the rain continued. A metal-tipped wooden dibbler in my right hand and yam sprouts in my left, I made my way down the row. All was caked with mud within minutes. Awesome. Really.

Right after that we set out to get about 900 melon plants in the ground in field B.
Was rather happy with the rhythm I was able to attain in getting these guys grounded.

Just as we were finishing, two of my three guests for the day arrived. My brother, J, and his girlfriend, M.



Lovely kids. This is their first visit to the farm, so D very kindly let me have an hour lunch to show them around. They (as most are) were loving the chicks/chickens. Can't blame them. Aaaand they were up for some post-lunch harvesting.
We spent the afternoon bunching radishes and slicing off leaves of spinach.



Many laughs and two minor wounds (like brother, like brother) later....



we finished our field time and weighed up our take.
63 lbs of radishes and 81 lbs of spinach! Go team!

Very soon after, my third visitor showed. It was H's birthday and she made the trek to the farm to hang with me, bro, M, E and the chickens. How cool is that??
We broke open some rather tasty biodynamic Petite Sirah & Pinot Noir and enjoyed a beautifully warm evening. Pizza also made an appearance. "Mad good pizza!"

My brother (who also enjoys fire(y) things) brought a few small "party favors." As soon as it turned dark, we went to one of the lower fields and had a very small birthday celebration.





A great day. A great evening!

---------------

Today's tasks were (inadvertantly) studies in minamalism... if you like.

We began late today at the suggestion of D. 9am work call. What a cool guy.

With the weatherman calling for scorchers from Saturday on, we had a hard time deciding whether we wanted to focus on irrigation prep or move on some neccessary weeding. D made the call to weed and we headed out.
Parsnips and carrots in W2 got some TLC. The first time we weeded carrots (in W1) this size (really tiny) I was confused as to why we were doing so. We were brushing away dirt from in between mini carrot tops with no real weed in sight.... Let's just say, I get it now. Taking the time to brush out all of the weeds at their "white thread" stage saves sooo much time later, and allows the vegetable to have space/energy to grow right from the start.
Beets also got thinned along the way, giving them room to grow.

Before lunch, on our way out the field, D got curious to see what was doin underneath the surface in our White Clover cover crop. A quick chop with the hoe into the soil revealed wonderful nitrogen-fixing nodules all over their roots. These unseen processes continually blow my mind.

The latter half of my day was mowing W2 lawn and rye/vetch crops. Inside. Outside. Upsidedown. New Holland. Riding Mower. Weedwhacker. What can I say? I enjoy it.

This evening has seen a bit of brainstorming as to how I'm envisioning the path in our 3 Sisters' Field. For now we're sure we want dual-branch arches over the length of the path, perhaps to plant beans upon so they could dangle down for easy pickin. We'll see... exciting though.

Tomorrow is an early harvest day in prep for Saturday's pick up.

Sleep is a must.

dig

"goin on" goin on... (updated below)

I am continually amazed at how much can be accomplished over the course of one workday, let alone from waking to sleep...

Friday was ALL about harvesting for our first Saturday share pick-up at the farm.

It was an EARLY one for all.
4:30am looks something like this.



When 5:30 hit, we wasted no time getting all the necessary tools (knives, whetstone, harvest bins, tally sheet) for our day in W1. Tools collected, we headed down to the field to see what was ready to be gathered.
Our focus ended up on Spinach. Right time, right size, right taste. All told we harvested about 160 lbs. That's quite a bit of spinach.
Lucky for us, our Friday volunteers (Nancy, Johanna and Judy) showed up mid-morning to help make quick work of Radishes, Turnips and Tatsoi. I got to "mow down" some Red Mustard Greens myself. Note to self: Mustard Greens = Amazing









The sun stared down at us rather fiercly, which made our break that much more enjoyable/necessary (I like these pics):









-----continued------

We ended our "workday" around 2pm, but as you may have guessed by now, the work usually continues.

I was eager to do the final soil prep on our 3 Sisters field so we could get the corn in the ground. "Knee high by the 4th of July," you know...
The chisel plow was up first, but yielded a none-too-spectacular result.
The previously plowed/rototilled sod seemed to be too compacted/dry. I made an attempt in 4 wheel drive, but didn't want to take the chance of breaking a tyne on the plow. So, I set the plow to a comfortable depth and made my way through.
Afterward I de-rocked the field (1 front-loader bucket full) and rototilled a final time.

Huzzah!!



By this time E had joined me and began gathering seedlings, compost, tools, etc. as we didn't feel like waiting to plant. In the meantime, I dove head first into the creation of the path that will run through the field.
I wanted 2 things out of the path:
1. No angles.
2. When the corn is high enough you shouldn't be able to see out either entrance when standing in the middle.

So, this is what I came up with.



Closer look (with soil tamped in prep for wood chips)





I am happy with the results and can't wait to get the woodchips down.

E and I then planted a few dozen Hopi Blue Corn seedlings at 3' intervals. We dug a hole for each about 8" deep and mixed a little compost in at the bottom. Placed the seedling and brought dirt back around.





Closed up and satisfied with day/week, I hit my bed for some much needed rest... Saturday would be the first "Saturday member pick-up" at the farm. Nice.

-Saturday-

The day started @ 7 as the first members would arrive @ 8.
Not a whole lotta prep as we had taken care of most the previous day.
Weigh produce to see what we have and how much each member can take.
Set up wonderfully fresh greens/roots on stands, write up our share signs and let the chips fall...







I had quite a good time meeting/talking to several of the members. Thanks again for being an active part of sustainable agriculture. We appreciate it.

All was put away by 11:30 and I made a mad dash to the train station for a whirlwind 24 hour trip to the city.

-Wonderful time...-

Arrived back at the farm around 11pm Sunday night and went directly to bed. zzzzzzzz.

----Monday----
Morning.
This on April 3rd...



This yesterday...



(....yeah....)

D & I spent the morning harvesting in W1 (so much time in W1...) while E rototilled A, B and F in prep for this/next week's planting of winter squash and melons.
Harvesting was rather frustrating. I could not, for the life of me, get into a rhythm that seemed to carry me fast enough. Fumbling hands for some reason.

Actually took this pic before harvesting. Funny, that.



We made our way through Lettuce Mix (cleared our 1st half bed. kinda sad),



Swiss Chard (beautiful colors. really. cartoonish) and Red Russian Kale.

Right before lunch we direct seeded summer squash and cucumbers in B 2 & 3.
4" & 6" spacing to be thinned to 1'.

The afternoon had us laying drip tape for both beds. Was feeling a bit better by this point as the sun worked its magic on my mood...

Spent the last hour of work (plus 2.5 more) mowing/weedwacking to beautify for Tuesday's member pick-up. Also, pounded soil in the path through the 3 Sisters field.

Closed up greenhouse n chickens and called it...

----Tuesday----

Early morning. Straight to the field. Harvesting.

Spinach, Arugula, Turnips (enjoy washing these guys), Mustard Green (btw, 1.5 cups of these greens by themselves has your entire daily dose of Vitamins A & C), Golden Frill (spicy n good), Tatsoi, Broccoli Raab (just a lil bit).

Regulators, mount up...



Back to the barn for distribution prep. The shares for our remote drop-offs were up first.

Thanks to Johanna and Pam for their help.



Well-oiled machine...



Before lunch I jumped on the New Holland and leveled some rye in B through E that was starting to go to seed. Once again... I enjoy mowing.
After an extended lunch we packed up the van and E took off for the city. I helped D at his house for a spell and came back to ready for the Tuesday pick up.

Hmmm. Pics might be good now.









Another chance to meet more members. Good stuff. Packed up by 6:30. Day was done.

Ironically, my free evening has been spent playing "catch-up" here.

Happy that I seem to have remembered it all...

By the way, we have 9 more chicks!! More on them tomorrow.

Until then, sleep.

D.I.G.