August 18, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Garlic
Onions
Watermelons
Basil
Cucumbers - medium shares
Okra
This week's farm news
We had a few more nice and gentle rains this week. As lovely as they were and as much as we are not going to complain about wet weather, we were still not able to get in on the gardens with the tractor to work up more fall ground. We were able to do a light hand-cultivation of the fall crops that we do have growing - kale, arugula, red mustard, lettuce, and salad turnips. Our seedlings that we started last week are growing nicely and will be ready to set very soon (which is why we really need more garden space prepared!) Otherwise on the farm this week we spent a great deal of time hosting a string of lovely visitors. We had a visit from a sweet shareholder family that is about to move from Nashville to Alabama. We had a visit from a grazing specialist from the Conservation Service of TN. And we had a visit from our dear interns of last season, Jesse and Hannah. They are doing well and send love and hellos to all of you!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
2012 Season, week 15
August 11, 2012
This week's harvest
Sweet and Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Basil
Parsley
Cucumbers
Melons - assorted
and a little Okra
This week's farm news:
Early in the week, when the gardens were still too wet to do much of anything, we worked on making and seeding soil blocks for fall crops. We started lettuce, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli and cauliflower. As the soil dried a bit, I hand-cultivated the patty-pan squash and Eric hilled up the ginger (!). We also pulled lots and lots of weeds from here and there throughout the garden - especially in the parsnip patch. By Thursday morning, a few areas of the garden were just dry enough to prepare for seeding... And we had to scramble to get some kale, arugula, parsley, red mustard, and salad turnips seeded and some lettuce transplants set before the next round of rain blew in. We had hopes of getting some larger garden spaces worked up for cover crops, but that just didn't happen this week... Next week...
And Friday was Eric's birthday. Forty-one times he's traveled around that big old sun! What a gift he received with the cooler weather. Ahhh... Can't you feel fall just around the corner?
This week's harvest
Sweet and Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Basil
Parsley
Cucumbers
Melons - assorted
and a little Okra
This week's farm news:
Early in the week, when the gardens were still too wet to do much of anything, we worked on making and seeding soil blocks for fall crops. We started lettuce, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli and cauliflower. As the soil dried a bit, I hand-cultivated the patty-pan squash and Eric hilled up the ginger (!). We also pulled lots and lots of weeds from here and there throughout the garden - especially in the parsnip patch. By Thursday morning, a few areas of the garden were just dry enough to prepare for seeding... And we had to scramble to get some kale, arugula, parsley, red mustard, and salad turnips seeded and some lettuce transplants set before the next round of rain blew in. We had hopes of getting some larger garden spaces worked up for cover crops, but that just didn't happen this week... Next week...
And Friday was Eric's birthday. Forty-one times he's traveled around that big old sun! What a gift he received with the cooler weather. Ahhh... Can't you feel fall just around the corner?
2012 Season, week 14
August 4, 2012
This week's harvest:
Cucumbers (and a few Zucchini)
Potatoes
Garlic
Onions
Tomatoes
Basil
Parsley
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Melons for medium shares
This week's farm news:
We had a fun moving adventure with the livestock this week. For the first time ever, Eric grazed the animals down in the hollow, in the creek bottom near our house for a couple of days. But to get them down there, we had to walk nearly 150 animals (cows & sheep) the 1/4 mile down our driveway from the pasture, through the woods, to the creek bottom. Eric led the way on foot calling his herd (they are very accustomed to his call as he moves them to a fresh paddock daily - sometimes multiple times a day! His call equals fresh food!), and the girls and I followed behind in the golf cart... But I quickly realized I would also need to be on foot to help some rather bewildered sheep (they are not known for their wits!) find their way. We did this to start making use of under-utilized areas of our farm and for landscaping purposes! It's amazing what a mob of animals can do and how the land responds so positively to their presence. When managed properly, animals are the ultimate healers of the soil!
This week's harvest:
Cucumbers (and a few Zucchini)
Potatoes
Garlic
Onions
Tomatoes
Basil
Parsley
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Melons for medium shares
This week's farm news:
We had a fun moving adventure with the livestock this week. For the first time ever, Eric grazed the animals down in the hollow, in the creek bottom near our house for a couple of days. But to get them down there, we had to walk nearly 150 animals (cows & sheep) the 1/4 mile down our driveway from the pasture, through the woods, to the creek bottom. Eric led the way on foot calling his herd (they are very accustomed to his call as he moves them to a fresh paddock daily - sometimes multiple times a day! His call equals fresh food!), and the girls and I followed behind in the golf cart... But I quickly realized I would also need to be on foot to help some rather bewildered sheep (they are not known for their wits!) find their way. We did this to start making use of under-utilized areas of our farm and for landscaping purposes! It's amazing what a mob of animals can do and how the land responds so positively to their presence. When managed properly, animals are the ultimate healers of the soil!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
2012 Season, week 13
July 28, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Hot Peppers
Cucumbers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
The week was a busy one. We completely reclaimed what we call our "upper" garden - a one-acre garden patch - from the torrent of weeds that really took hold after all of that rain we had. We started by hand-weeding the late melon patch and hand-cultivating the butternut squash. Any place where Eric had a straight and open area he would first mow and then turn under the weeds with the tractor - like the long path beside our eggplants and tomatoes, in between the rows of butternuts, and the whole way around our sweet potato patch. The inside of the sweet potato patch was another matter entirely. Normally, our sweet potato patch is kind of like our showcase area of our gardens - completely weed-free and gorgeous. (Probably because it's our family's staple winter food so it's a high priority!) Somewhere along the way this season, we lost it! So we called in some intern recruits from our friend Jeff (aka the Barefoot Farmer) who has like twelve or so extra helpers right now! So with Eric leading the way, he and five young & able helpers made short work of the weeds that were trying really hard (and succeeding, too!) to take over our sweet spuds! And Eric, being the hard-working opportunist that he is, quickly devised a plan for having the crew of interns help mulch the fall tomatoes that we had just finished staking and caging the day before! Yes, it was a busy week... but a good one!
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Hot Peppers
Cucumbers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
The week was a busy one. We completely reclaimed what we call our "upper" garden - a one-acre garden patch - from the torrent of weeds that really took hold after all of that rain we had. We started by hand-weeding the late melon patch and hand-cultivating the butternut squash. Any place where Eric had a straight and open area he would first mow and then turn under the weeds with the tractor - like the long path beside our eggplants and tomatoes, in between the rows of butternuts, and the whole way around our sweet potato patch. The inside of the sweet potato patch was another matter entirely. Normally, our sweet potato patch is kind of like our showcase area of our gardens - completely weed-free and gorgeous. (Probably because it's our family's staple winter food so it's a high priority!) Somewhere along the way this season, we lost it! So we called in some intern recruits from our friend Jeff (aka the Barefoot Farmer) who has like twelve or so extra helpers right now! So with Eric leading the way, he and five young & able helpers made short work of the weeds that were trying really hard (and succeeding, too!) to take over our sweet spuds! And Eric, being the hard-working opportunist that he is, quickly devised a plan for having the crew of interns help mulch the fall tomatoes that we had just finished staking and caging the day before! Yes, it was a busy week... but a good one!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
2012 Season, week 12
July 21, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Basil
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
Zucchini/Cukes - medium shares this week
This week's farm news:
Just eleven days ago, we were still experiencing a severe drought. Now eight inches of rain later (and more rolling thunder in the distance!), it seems like the drought is officially broken! We are back to the sultry weather that is so much more "normal" to this region. Boy, it's kind of astonishing how quickly a body forgets how to cope with working out in that sultry heat!! Any garden task this week left Eric and I drenched (literally, dripping!) with sweat! And very much longing for a change of clothes! But, I suppose we got good and "cleansed". Our garden is like our very own sweat lodge, the sun our fire.
In the garden this week, our primary focus was tackling the jungle of weeds that have surged with all of the rain. A tractor with a mower sure helped speed up the arduous task of hand-pulling weeds - which we did a whole lot of, too! Next we need to turn under a bunch of finished crops and get the ground ready for fall-planting time! Hooray!
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Basil
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
Zucchini/Cukes - medium shares this week
This week's farm news:
Just eleven days ago, we were still experiencing a severe drought. Now eight inches of rain later (and more rolling thunder in the distance!), it seems like the drought is officially broken! We are back to the sultry weather that is so much more "normal" to this region. Boy, it's kind of astonishing how quickly a body forgets how to cope with working out in that sultry heat!! Any garden task this week left Eric and I drenched (literally, dripping!) with sweat! And very much longing for a change of clothes! But, I suppose we got good and "cleansed". Our garden is like our very own sweat lodge, the sun our fire.
In the garden this week, our primary focus was tackling the jungle of weeds that have surged with all of the rain. A tractor with a mower sure helped speed up the arduous task of hand-pulling weeds - which we did a whole lot of, too! Next we need to turn under a bunch of finished crops and get the ground ready for fall-planting time! Hooray!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
2012 Season, week 11
July 14, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
"Peace" (Yellow-Flesh) Watermelons
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Garlic
Basil
Lettuce
Sweet & Hot Peppers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
What a difference rain makes! My, the garden has come to life again! (Well, all the weeds have certainly come to life, too!) And the pastures are just drinking up this lovely moisture. We had several rains this week. (My heart feels sad for those farmers that are still suffering through the drought.) Beginning with a pretty intense blowing, booming, crashing storm on Sunday night. (Of course, while trying to cook out over a fire at the creek...but, hey! I was happy to sacrifice a cook out for a good rain!) From that breaking point we've had mostly overcast skies all week and intermittent rain showers. Such a stark contrast to the week before! Hallelujah!
And, this week we had a young woman, Mindy, move to the farm to finish out the season with us as our intern. She's just in time for another big planting time as we prepare to get fall crops going. And she proved herself to be a trooper as her first "harvest day" with us was mostly done in the pouring down rain! So I guess our "intern-drought" was broken this week, too!!!
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
"Peace" (Yellow-Flesh) Watermelons
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Garlic
Basil
Lettuce
Sweet & Hot Peppers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
What a difference rain makes! My, the garden has come to life again! (Well, all the weeds have certainly come to life, too!) And the pastures are just drinking up this lovely moisture. We had several rains this week. (My heart feels sad for those farmers that are still suffering through the drought.) Beginning with a pretty intense blowing, booming, crashing storm on Sunday night. (Of course, while trying to cook out over a fire at the creek...but, hey! I was happy to sacrifice a cook out for a good rain!) From that breaking point we've had mostly overcast skies all week and intermittent rain showers. Such a stark contrast to the week before! Hallelujah!
And, this week we had a young woman, Mindy, move to the farm to finish out the season with us as our intern. She's just in time for another big planting time as we prepare to get fall crops going. And she proved herself to be a trooper as her first "harvest day" with us was mostly done in the pouring down rain! So I guess our "intern-drought" was broken this week, too!!!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
2012 Season, week 10
July 7, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
"Rescued" Sweet Peppers
Basil
Zucchini/Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, folks, as of this writing still no rain here on the farm. Our "town" just 8 miles away received an inch and we got about 12 drops, no joke. We are beginning to see some heat and water stress in the garden. The second planting of corn just couldn't even produce ears. Our sweet peppers are loaded with big green fruit but are getting severely sun-burned (so we basically stripped the plants of most of their fruit, bringing you the ones in OK shape - thus, "rescued" peppers.) And when we were digging potatoes this week, we noticed a fair number that were blackened...like they are literally cooking in the hot soil. Not good. But the tomatoes are sure hanging in there, which is good news! And our melons that are ripening right now (and should be in your baskets next week) will likely be incredibly sweet. Our young planting of melons are still growing vigorously and beginning to vine out. And those butternuts we planted last week - nearly 100% germination!
As I'm writing this, I am keeping an eye to the sky watching a bank of clouds to the northeast, maybe (strangely) even moving this way! Needless to say, I am hopeful.
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
"Rescued" Sweet Peppers
Basil
Zucchini/Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, folks, as of this writing still no rain here on the farm. Our "town" just 8 miles away received an inch and we got about 12 drops, no joke. We are beginning to see some heat and water stress in the garden. The second planting of corn just couldn't even produce ears. Our sweet peppers are loaded with big green fruit but are getting severely sun-burned (so we basically stripped the plants of most of their fruit, bringing you the ones in OK shape - thus, "rescued" peppers.) And when we were digging potatoes this week, we noticed a fair number that were blackened...like they are literally cooking in the hot soil. Not good. But the tomatoes are sure hanging in there, which is good news! And our melons that are ripening right now (and should be in your baskets next week) will likely be incredibly sweet. Our young planting of melons are still growing vigorously and beginning to vine out. And those butternuts we planted last week - nearly 100% germination!
As I'm writing this, I am keeping an eye to the sky watching a bank of clouds to the northeast, maybe (strangely) even moving this way! Needless to say, I am hopeful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
