For the most part important late summer and fall task have been checked off the to do list. What remains for us both inside and outside truly hearkens the season to come. We are half way though planting overwintered onions, we must prep and plant for overwintered carrots and yes of course garlic. In fact everything with the exception of pea and sunflower shoots, that we will start this year will be destined for harvest in 2023. We’ve always been of the opinion that fall truly has the best light of all and maybe there is something more to that than just the undeniable beauty of an October or November sunset.
There is a certain relief and feeling of reset when we pull a high tunnel of summer crops. The freshly prepped beds are like a blank canvas. Where in the same spot just earlier that day or the day before existed something that could be described as a jungle. This was the case this past Thursday as we said goodbye to a large planting of peppers and eggplant. A mornings worth of removal and prep left us with time in the afternoon for transplanting, onions, lettuce, radish, turnips, choys and Swiss chard. There was also 15 or so parsley plants that were inter planted with the hot crops that we incorporated optimistically into the Swiss chard rows. Whether in fact or simply in our minds replanting a high tunnel for winter gives us a feeling of starting over a sort of renewal if you will.
Speaking of renewed one thing that has been renewed is the fact that just because you did things right one year doesn’t guarantee the results will be so easily achieved the following. Here we are referring to our Ginger and Turmeric crop. From the very beginning issues arose when nearly all the seed we received was frozen in transit during the cold of February. Though we did receive some replacement seed it was slow to germinate. Then with the combination being slightly behind planting schedule, the summer heat and a kinked irrigation line discovered too late, all contributed to a very slow start. Our solution was simply to leave them in the ground as late as possible, one to hopefully get as much growth as they can. And two to put off the pain of harvesting a crop that we know will have us reminiscing to 2021. There is a fairly accurate saying that to farm one must be an optimist, so we guess it’s best to say that without failures what would be of our successes. And maybe just maybe the real thing to be celebrating is the process.
Have a great week