The cool and damp of Fall slowly makes it’s way into the lives of growers like our selves, especially in a year that is warm and lacking rain fall like the one we just had. The strong sun and dry soil becomes a way of life but as the days get shorter and the soil cools moisture does not so easily disappear. The sun however is one thing that begins to disappear, staying away a little longer each and everyday. More or less all of this isn’t too much of a problem just more like a challenge which must be overcome. With a bit of planning and a bit of the old farmer resilience finishing off Fall’s key tasks should happen in no time at all. The challenge of moist soil almost impeded one of the most time sensitive tasks of the season, seeding overwintered carrots. Direct seeding like we do in the case of carrots requires relatively dry soil with a smoothly prepared surface. Despite incredible Saturday weather over night sprinkles left the carrot beds wet and needing additional prep. Originally we planned to seed sometime this week but the already wet ground and impending storm necessitated seeding on Sunday. With a bit of torching, swiveling and raking the beds were quickly prepped and seeded, just in time for the rain. With a break in the weather today we will cover the beds creating low tunnels, the perfect home for our baby carrots to overwinter until their grand emergence in late Spring.
Meanwhile the epic task of planting 400 lbs or garlic continues in earnest. Jen is laser focused at accomplishing this task and we are happy to report nearly a third of the way there. Though there is still a good deal of bed prep which remains before we can plant too much more, to be this far along so early in November gives us an optimistic feeling to say the least. In addition to the garlic progress the second caterpillar tunnel is up and covered, needing only the end walls in place before we can call that task complete. Much like the low tunnels on the carrots putting up these end walls should happen easy enough today during the break in the weather.
On the market fronts there isn’t much else to say but we continue to be honored and in awe of this Good Food community we are a part of. The return of the Madison market went about as well as a market could. The only down side being that there are only two markets remaining in the season before we have to say bye for now to many of our Madison friends until the Spring. On Saturday CIty Seed through an amazing donation from just one person continued their generous work of supplementing the loss of snap. We again saw a flurry of new faces, overwhelmingly families who were coming to the market for the first time. Being able to bring nutritious organic food to those who need and appreciate it is a big part of why we do what we do and cannot say enough how powerful being a part of this community is. Meanwhile in our own small community of Middlefield we are continuing to have our open farm shop hours on Fridays 3-6 as another option for you to get the veg you want and need. We of course still offer preorder on Friday and Saturdays but encourage you to come by on Fridays if you haven’t ordered. One quick note on preorder, we have moved the Friday pick up time forward one hour to 3pm so as to line up with the farm shop opening.
Have a Great Week