Agriculture Works

Every Spring I sow seeds either in flats in the greenhouse or outside into the soil and hold my breath until the first germination. Why should I be surprised when the little white shoot just barely breaks through the soil, slowly turning into a bright green seedling? It's what is supposed to happen! It reminds me of a quote, "The person who entrusts the seed to the sun and the rain is a person of hope", or something like that. I can't find who said it, but I know we all think it.

I plant the seed, and care for it of course, but that's it. Its the seed that is enacting its genetic destiny. Upon sprouting, the leaves start to develop the capacity to absorb nutrients from the soil and air. Roots develop to further support the plant growth. This photosynthesis in the leaves is used to produce the chemicals secreted through the roots as they grow. The specific fungi and bacteria beneficial to plant growth feeds on these secretions and cells sloughed off by root growth, in turn providing nutrients to the very plant it's roots attracted, by being consumed by larger microbes. Plants are orchestrating this whole process by controlling the chemical secretions and hence attracting the specific bacteria and fungi they need during their growth cycle. It's a completely natural system that doesn't need me at all. Great! I'm taking a vacation!

No, it's not time to hang up the Carhartts just yet...somebody has to plant that seed!

Not quite Spring

I was told an old weather proverb today: "Warm weather is not here to stay until Winter song birds freeze three times.
I feel sorry for those birds because I actually think they froze three times today alone! It was an interesting day with sunny skies and wet, snow falling simultaneously. Then the skies turned scarily grey and snow was blowing in all directions. I was hiding out in the greenhouse all day so was protected somewhat from these almost-Spring-temper-tantrums. I am heating only half of the 40' greenhouse right now, to reduce my propane costs, and to maximize growing space the seeding station is in the unheated section.

By hanging a curtain with extra greenhouse plastic I am able to 

reduce the heated greenhouse space and cut costs. 

The smaller space is filling up fast as Spring seed starting is well underway and I am already tempted to move the curtain back a bit. But cooler weather is predicted for the next week. 

My eagerness to get things started is calmed somewhat by the weather and I know that Winter will move over eventually to make room for growing food.

Seeds!

That's a LARGE box of seeds!

It's full of mostly tried and trusted varieties and some new ones I am expecting become mainstays. In the next couple weeks I'll be firing up the greenhouse, picking up the potting mix I use, and preparing to start thousands and thousands of seeds. The 2013 season is right around the corner!

CSA Shares Available!

CSA shares are now available for the 2013 season!
I am so excited how the CSA is growing, and because of the great feedback I got from members I am confidently expanding the number of shares and adding a Syracuse drop-off. My continued focus is to bring fresh, richly grown produce to the farm's members and to expand within my role as farmer and caretaker of the farm.
While we may still be covered in snow I am energized by the thoughts of Spring's long days, Summer's bountiful harvests, and Fall's deep flavors roasting in the oven...See you there!

Sample CSA share from early July

        Sample CSA share from early August

Sample CSA share from early October

To Sign up for the CSA or get more information visit The Website or email me at Farmer@Dailyharvestfarm.com

A Season in Pictures

I realized I did not post very much this season. The farm demanded a lot more of my attention this season as I increased production to accommodate the CSA shares. I am so pleased at how well the season went and feel so happy to have a happy, growing CSA membership. 
Here are some pictures from the season taken by Farm Intern rock star: Gretchen! By the end of the day we were beaten down and exhausted but she always managed to pull out the camera and grab a few photos.

                                                    Zinnias for bouquets and "pick your own"

                                                                        Beautiful Asters

                                            Garlic harvested and ready to hang, all 3,000 bulbs

                                             Meg was a big help overseeing the garlic harvest

                                                    Tromboncino Squash-an Italian Heirloom

                                        A typical Saturday Market morning-Fun with vegetables!
                                                    (photo taken by market friend, Bob Allen)

 

                      Thanks Bob, for these beautiful photos and for capturing the vibrant life in our food!

                                                            Pepper plants chock full of peppers

       I think this was my best year for heirloom tomatoes. They were sweet, juicy and produced great well into September! We experienced some disease but pulling any infected leaves kept the rest of the plants healthy for good production during this hot, dry Summer. 

  Onions drying. They may be small, but I am just relieved to have onions! Soon after transplanting 5,000 onion plants they were hit by 2-3 nights of freezing temperatures. The plants that survived were then void of rain for the next 6-8 weeks or so. (What a season!) Irrigation only goes so far...but we produced some delicious onions this year.


A few of the Fall crops flourishing on the farm:

                                              CSA share for October 1, week 18

                                               CSA share for October 8, week 19

Heat and Drought

My pleas for rain have grown louder and a bit more desperate this week. After the difficult growing year last year, I vowed to not shed another tear over the weather. So, this year I am taking a more positive outlook and controlling what I can control.   I continue to irrigate and build organic matter in the soil, which help to hold water in dry summers. But the soil is dry (and dusty) and feels very hot as we assess soil moisture and get ready to plant Fall transplants. I am hesitant to put any plants in the ground as I know they will become stressed immediately, and we could lose them. And while we are irrigating as much as we can, there is a limit as how much water can be distributed in a given week. We are now going into our 6th week without any significant rainfall -- we have received 3/4 inch total!  To put this into perspective, vegetables require an inch of rain EACH week for optimal growth. Now you can understand their (and my!) stress.

Valuable time is spent away from weeding and tending to the crops as we lay thousands of feet of additional drip lines, turn on and off valves, fix leaks, and flush the filter system to keep the lines clear of any silt and dirt. I often remark that it would be so much easier if it would just rain!Despite this, we really do have a bounty each week. The cucumber and squash are plentiful with millions of blossoms, the tomatoes have beautiful green fruit, and the beets and carrots are deliciously sweet. As we are finishing up with Spring broccoli, we are starting to harvest tender, sweet cabbage and cauliflower. Peas are on their way out, as predicted, and we are gearing up for the big garlic harvest! You are all welcome to come out for this major harvest, we will announce the date and time soon, and we will plan for a fun evening of harvest followed by snacks and refreshing beverages!

                                  Green Heirloom Tomatoes- Getting closer to your plates!

                                                          The CSA share this past week

It's starting to look like a vegetable farm!

I love early June! The crops start to put on a lot of growth, quickly, which makes the farm come alive with new colors and shades of green. It is hard to take a break, let alone a day off, this time of year but when I look around at all the delicious food growing around me I am reminded how much I love this work. It also helps that Matt is also inspired by the vegetables I bring home and cooks them up for delicious, healthy dinners.

The first two weeks of the CSA are behind us as well as the first week of markets. This time of year the harvests are mainly greens with some early roots, until the peas and broccoli mature...which should be very soon! I will happily eat greens every day of the week because I know they give me strength to put in extra hours on the farm. We are working hard to hold back the weeds, which are growing stronger than the crops in some cases. It is best to kill weeds when they have just barely germinated and it is effortless with one of the farm's many long-handled hoes. If we miss this window, we have to spend more time and energy to remove the weeds. But weeding is just another aspect of the farm work that needs to be addressed in order of urgency, and I am constantly making lists and prioritizing and re-prioritizing. Checking and re-checking to make sure everything gets done on that days to-do-list. When something doesn't get done on the day it was intended, there is a very good chance it will not get done that week since each day is planned and has new priorities.
I'll post some more pictures soon, but here are some from the past two weeks:

 

 Sugarsnap peas are just starting and they are so sweet!

 The first round of carrots-best germination I have ever had!

 Tender head lettuce

Radishes- bunched for CSA shares

Tomatoes are thriving in the warm sunny days.