...how many more to go?

At least one more.

As of today, our successes and failures in this first season have almost always been summarized to inquisitive folks by stating, “We’re doing it again next year.”  The learning curve for this endeavor is steep, to say the least, but it seems as though every day there is a new problem that can be solved by applying knowledge either Vanessa or myself already have, or by doing some research and trying our damnedest to incorporate what we find.

I haven’t had a chance to review all of our blog posts, but if I do, I’m sure to see a picture, or read a story, or something, from early last season that will make me think (in caps lock nonetheless): “WE WERE TRYING TO DO WHAT? LIKE THAT? *grooooaaannnnnnnn*.”   But what’s passed is past, and what’s learned has most definitely been learned.  I titled an earlier blog post “Tangible Results,” and I feel like the evidence of those results has and will continue to be the proverbial “fire under my ass.” Take for instance the pictures comparing cover crop planted fall 2009, to the cover crop planted fall 2010.  As any organic grower will tell you, “it all starts with soil”, and it’s exciting to see such dramatic evidence of improved fertility on our plot.

Since things started winding down a few weeks ago, we’ve been on a diet of continuing education: I’m attending a series of workshops at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks to learn more about Biodynamic agricultural techniques, and have become increasingly interested in taking our farm in that direction.  I have a bachelor’s degree in the Philosophy of Science, and learning about the principles of Biodynamics has me fascinated.  Biodynamics comes from Rudolf Steiner, also a figurehead in Waldorf education, and sees its foundation in Goethe’s scientific philosophy.  Goethe’s view of science and nature is largely phenomenological and stands in contrast to the science of Newton, an empiricism that was the dominant scientific paradigm for three centuries.  A part of me is definitely pleased to find a new context in which to get back on the philosophical horse, and another part of me laughs that my most academic of endeavors has come back full circle, manifested as large piles of manure (whether or not that manure is from the *same* horse is yet to be determined, but I’m sure Newton and Goethe could argue at length about it).

In addition to doing another round of pigs this year (hopefully twice as many as last year), we plan on starting a small meat poultry operation in the back half of the pasture which will be available primarily as an add-on for the members of our CSA (we will have 10 shares available).

In the words of a more experienced farmer down the road: “Start small. Make it work. Get bigger.”

Our planned expansion next year might also include a few other outlets, but only if abundance requires another channel.  A little wishful thinking, or another way to light a fire? Who knows, but seeing how crop quality and quantity improved over the course of this past season, it feels like next season’s total output might be an order of magnitude larger than the first…. or maybe we’ll have another hard freeze at the end of May and this will be a fun joke I can humor myself with next summer, as I  read old blog posts to find out exactly what I was thinking. :D Jeezy peazy.

To our readers, I wish you a wonderful hibernation.  I’ll see you sometime in February.