October 14, 2018
Produce, Start to Finish, Almost
by Farmer Derek

We enjoyed a productive past week on the farm. Prior to yet another rain event that begat the new fall-like feel temperature immersion we busied ourselves harvesting a few tons of sweet potatoes and half a ton or so of carrots with the help of CSA members. Considering the year we've had the sweets remained optimistic in their growth and output, satisfying our hopeful expectations. Carrots, less fortunately, endured more moisture than they can tolerate in our soils plus raised-bed situation; we had to return quite a few back to the earth where they'll enrich the next crop in the spring. Overall we still managed to salvage the same approximate weight as our total harvest last fall because we ambitiously sowed more seed this season.

Besides the retrieval of storage roots we also put the final touches on the Field 3 waterway and three water diversions therein. The dozer work complete, we had to sow tall fescue, rye grass, and oats then mulch 10,000 square feet of soil prior to Thursday's rain.

We also removed from the field all of the materials needed to grow eggplant, husk cherries, and tomatillos, plowed the soil, sowed a new (for us) cover crop mix of wheat, hairy vetch, and crimson clover, and incorporated the seeds into the soil with our disc harrow. That was probably our final opportunity to establish a cover crop prior to the winter.

On Friday commenced the indoor plantings for late fall and winter harvests. Crops going into our four tunnels will be harvested in December and January. Directly into the earth went the final sowing of greens which will be covered by our movable high tunnel after we finish dismantling the heirloom tomatoes. In addition to that, also on the agenda for this week is collecting additional storage roots including beets, purple and white daikons, and kohlrabi; erecting low hoops and covering crops prior to frost (!); cleaning up the hoop tunnel and preparing those beds to accept more late fall and winter greens; and constructing a waterway in Field 1.

Bon Voyage!