Tillage

I hope to use this for a while this winter to talk about some of the production methods I am thinking about and the experiments we did this year.  

Jo and I just got back from a farmer conference in Manchester NH, and our heads are spinning with new ideas about soil health, tillage, and high tunnels.  We hope to do as much experimenting as possible this year.  Today I was thinking about our sweet potato to garlic to brassica to winter squash rotational sequence.  Right now, after the sweet potatoes have been harvested, we plant the garlic and mulch it with leaves (the leaves are new this year, usually we use straw or hay, hopefully it will work!) when the garlic is out, the beds are plowed and harrowed, and we plant brassicas, after a couple weeks, we broadcast rye and vetch and hoe it in, next spring, when the rye and vetch are tall, we mow them and plant winter squash into the stubble, not bad, but not as good as I want it to be.  What I hope to do is eliminate or reduce the tillage between the garlic and brassicas, and was thinking that as long as the mulch on the garlic is thick enough, and there aren't too many weeds to deal with once the garlic is out, we could come through with the chisel plow, with the shanks moved so that only the bed is being plowed, unfortunately the wheel base of the tractor is wider than the beds, so that never works as well and we want it to, and I have never tried doing that in the summer with beds that still have mulch on them, we have always raked the mulch aside, which I worry will be too much work for the middle of the season, but if we don't rake the mulch aside, I don't know if direct seeding will be possible.  I wonder who else is thinking about this sort of thing.  Katie

CSA Pickup August 17 (#10?)

Amazing that we are at the halfway point of the CSA. And it finally feels like summer! The weather report says it will be hot and dry like today for the rest of the week, which is good news for our tomatoes, melons, eggplants and the like. We picked around 7 flats of tomatoes today, and Katie and I are feeling like the luckiest farmers in New England to have tomatoes in the face of the devastating blight that has been plaguing farms in the Northeast. We had an epic workday today in the heat, with many helping hands and we managed to harvest all our onions and set them to cure in the greenhouse. We also picked for the CSA and swam in the retention pond at the farm to cool down in the midday heat.

Some important points:
Payment The second half of your CSA payment is due tomorrow. If you haven't paid in full for your share please bring payment in the form of a check or cash to the pickup tomorrow. I have a record of the amount you still owe.
Late Pick Ups Many folks last week sent me an email either late Sunday night or Monday to let me know about a late pickup. Unfortunately I am very busy on Monday and don't have time to check my email. If you want your share set aside for a late pickup, either email me by the SATURDAY before the pickup, or CALL on Monday before 5pm. Katie 351-4633, or me at 644-2800, and we can set aside your share.
Veggie Storage Tips Keep tomatoes on the counter with an upside down glass bowl over them, tomatoes loose flavor when refrigerateddry off potatoes before keeping them in a paper bag on the counterlay out herbs and greens on a kitchen towel to dry them, then put a small cloth in the bottom of the plastic bag that they will be stored in in the refrigerator, excess moisture causes them to rotbe sure that onions are drycukes, zukes, cabbages can be stored as is in a plastic bag in the fridge
Your share tomorrow:tomatoes!leekssalad mixarugulacucumberseggplant zucchiniherbs

--
jo!

CSA Pickup Aug 9 (#9?)

I was joking earlier today while we were picking that I should title this email "at least we don't have locusts." Certainly, this season we have been plagued with unseasonal weather which has, while not decimated, certainly dismayed many of our crops, mostly the summer fruits. Though talking to other area farmers, it seems like we have gotten off easy. Though we have found some blight on our tomatoes, and they are less productive than normal, we have not lost them! And we do have tomatoes! A friend of ours who runs a farm in Germantown, NY said he lost not only all his tomatoes, but also his potatoes. Thankfully we have had a great potato crop this year, as evidenced by the last of the purple potatoes we dug up today. It seems they love this Andean weather we've been experiencing (potatoes originated in Peru).
In other farm news, we are well on our way to having replanted most of our spring field with fall broccoli, radishes, carrots, kale, and cabbage. In tomorrow's share you'll have:

shallotslettuce mixchardtomatoescucumberssummer squashgarlicpotatoes (full shares)head cabbage/napa cabbageand herbs!
enjoy,
--

jo!

CSA Pickup #7

Well, at least we haven't been completely flooded out, but the fields have never been so muddy in July. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how crazy this weather has been, but it certainly has kept us on our toes. Thus far there hasn't been any all out crop failures, although our onions appear to have blight and are slightly stunted. Miraculously, everything else is holding out and producing well. This may be due to our intensive organic practices and meticulous management, and luck.

In other news we harvested our entire garlic crop this morning in the rain. I am really happy we got them all out in time, they are big and beautiful and not rotted from the rain!
In your share tomorrow will be:lettuce mixchardpac coicabbagebeetsonionscucumberssummer squashgarlicherbs
jo!

CSA Pickup #6

Well, it seems as though the farm has been transformed in the past week. I think it is in the best shape it has ever been this time of year. Amazingly we have stayed on top of all the weeds, which is a rare occurrence, especially in the middle of July when everything begins to grow widely out of control. The superb field management is thanks in no small part to our two secret weapons: amazing workshares and mulch. This year, inspired by Ruth Stout's "The No Work Garden Book" we have decided to mulch a much bigger portion of the farm than we normally do and to lay down a thicker layer of mulch at that. In the past we have always mulched our tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. This year we have also mulched all our alliums (onions, leeks, etc.) and a few other crops. Mulch is wonderful because it keeps the weeds at bay, and it provides a protective layer to the soil, which helps it retain moisture and regulate temperature. Though spreading mulch on as much as a half acre or more is a lot of work, in the end it saves time and nurtures the soil.
Today with our workshares and CSA member volunteers we mulched all of our sweet peppers and the third succession of tomatoes. We also hoed half the farm, and weeded our perennial herb bed and our latest picking of lettuce.
Also!! To my great joy and utter amazement much of our melon crop has recovered, thanks to the warmer weather and most likely all the compost we fed them. While I still suspect that we won't have as many melons as last year and they may not be quite as unbelievably tasty, it appears that we will in fact have melons and they will of course be delicious. Phew.
For tomorrow..........leeksgarlicpotatoescucumberssummer squashbeets cabbagechardpac choisalad mixherbs: cilantro, dill, basil
thanks,

jo!

no more shares

The word is official. No more summer shares are available.

From Katie.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone 3GS]

CSA Pickup #5

Hi all...We are planning a workday for next Sunday, between 2 and 6. We will hold one about every month from now on, so if you can't make this one, you will have plenty more opportunities. We're excited to be able to show you what we do out there. I don't yet know what we will be doing, but likely there will be some weeding involved, some picking, and maybe some mulching, so if any of this sounds fun to you, come out! If the weather is bad, it will be canceled.
We had another great work day today, with a cameo from one of last years workshares and 3 CSA members, thank you so much! We all fared a little better in the sun this week, after having some time to acclimate. It really feels like summer (ok, almost). The weather, of course, is a mixed blessing, it seems like most things are about a week behind where they were last year, due to the rain and lack of sun, but I think that they are just behind, and that they will still produce as much as last year, no permanent stunting, except with the melons. Of course, some things have done much better this year than last, like the beets and fennel which love the rain. For us though, it has been pretty great, as working in 70 degree weather is much more pleasant than when its in the 90s.
In your shares this week:head lettuce- red leaf, romaine, royal oakleaf, green butterheadgreen garlic- this is uncured garlic, fresh from the ground, it has wonderful flavor, but doesn't store the way cured garlic willpotatoes- variety Salem, an all purpose potatobeetsfennel (just a little bit, don't worry, by the way, its great sliced thinly in salad, and you can put it in kim chee, grill it, roast it with onions, etc.)onions or scallionsherbssome zucchini
Love and sunshine,Katie
(and from Michael, remember to check out the recipes page, and send me anything great you've got that you want to share!)