It is hard to believe so much time has passed since our last entry - I guess we must be having fun! Apart from the continuous rhythm of weeding, watering, seeding, transplanting, and attending the market, a few things have happened. We harvested the garlic - we didn’t have a ton in the scope of things, but it was a pretty big harvest considering that when we planted, we weren’t 100 percent sure we would be selling at the farmers market this year! So now 200 bulbs are hanging in the barn, nearly cured and ready for sale. Interestingly, banana slugs (mascot of coastal redwood forests) have been drawn to the odor (we suppose). Luckily they don’t move quickly, and we’ve caught them mid-meal before much damage is done. Since we generally don’t have problems with banana slugs, we just relocate them whenever we happen to find them. Right before the garlic harvest, my mom visited and stayed with us for 2 weeks. On her “vacation,” she did so much weeding in our yard that it no longer looks like an abandoned house! She did finally get in a little bit of relaxing. We also - just today - added 12 chicks to our flock. They’re peeping away in the brooder. I’ll include photos in the next post.

Well, the difficult spring kept me away from the blogosphere for a while… but now I’m back, and I’m pleased to report an abundance of beautiful produce.  We’re now beginning week 8 of our 26-week CSA, and we have enough additional produce to go back to the Saturday farmer’s market as well. I’m still not fully recovered from the weather-related difficulties this year (read: wet soil, perennial weeds, fungal outbreaks, wind-burned & chilly summer crops), but… Read the rest of this article »

The alarm went off at 4:45 Friday morning…harvest day! We loaded the coolers and baskets into the quad trailer and zipped on down to the field. First item: Kale. This was our last kale cutting. It’s been a long greens season due to the rainy spring and it isn’t selling very well at the market anymore. Time to dig it up, feed the stalks to the hogs and plant a quick summer buckwheat cover. We load our greens into coolers right in the field so that the heat is removed as quickly as… Read the rest of this article »

Man is it fun to have all my CSA members coming out to the farm again!  The pick-up times are a great social setting, and it is really fulfilling to get to know the folks I’m growing food for.  After our seasonal break, I got to catch up with last year’s members… and since we’ve expanded, I got to meet many new members as well. My CSA membership goal this year is 160 members/households, and we started this year with 156! (I’m still hoping to fill those last 4 spaces). … Read the rest of this article »

The later part of spring is always very full, and this year’s wetness has kept things interesting.  We’ve been getting our big, once a season plantings done… onions, potatoes, tomatoes, etc… with frequent interruptions from the weather.  We’re in the midst of a cold spring rain storm that just brought a scary bout of hail to the coast and some snow at just 3000 feet!  When the hail was falling I was picturing swiss-cheesed rowcovers, but the walk around the fields… Read the rest of this article »

I find it extremely helpful to make a plan for all of the sowings and plantings for the coming season, and then to rigorously stick to that plan.  With most vegetable farms, having an extended harvest of various crops is important, but with CSA this need is amplified.  For CSA, you’ll likely be growing more types of crops and you’ll be needing a very regular supply of harvests. I start out by deciding what crops I want to grow over the course of the year (not yet getting down to varieties). … Read the rest of this article »

My favorite part of winter farm work is the part that happens indoors… planning for the year to come.  For me, this involves the following steps: 1. A crop by crop review to determine what changes should be made in the year to come. 2. Updating the harvest plan - when and how often to I want to harvest X crop for X market? 3. Updating the planting plan - to achieve the above harvest, when do I need to plant each crop, and how much should I plant each time? 4. Taking a seed inventory - How… Read the rest of this article »

Getting an early harvest is often a real plus for farmers.  The prices for the produce are higher, and boosting the diversity of your early farmer’s market table can attract customers and draw sales.  For my CSA, getting an extra-early start on some of the longer-maturing crops means that I can begin sooner in the year with a good spread by matching them with later-planted short season crops. Getting that early harvest usually also means putting in some extra work.  One of the techniques… Read the rest of this article »

In general, the farmers I know are the type of folks who don’t get sick very often.  It’s extremely hard to be out of action when the harvests are demanding, and you already have a giant backlog of work.  I managed to make it clear to the end of our mainseason CSA harvests, but by the end of last Friday, I was out.  I had a fever and couldn’t do anything for 5 days, and finally felt better just in time for Thanksgiving (yes!). During that time, though, the farm still had to bring… Read the rest of this article »