Tiny Farm Blog Organic micro-farming with two acres and some tools ~ a daily photo journal...

A view from the north end of the market garden field, the reverse angle of a couple of days ago and a relatively rare perspective for me. Although the crops are on a 7-year rotation that marches them from here towards the barn, I still tend to spend more time down around the greenhouse-Milkhouse end, no matter what’s growing where. Today, I’m once again checking things out as fall clean-up proceeds in pieces. The nearest section is the new addition, recently cleared of squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and melons, and the raccoon-fated corn just out of sight on the left. After one season, it’s a little overgrown with grass, but not bad. Next year, this will be beans!

The main barn is huge. I’ve gotten used to it, because it’s always around, but it’s on a whole other scale from my tiny farming, and I don’t know it that well. Upstairs, in the cavernous main space, mysterious rigging and wooden contraptions that probably have something to do with hay float in the shadows 30-40 feet up. There are hidden stairways, built-in ladders, chutes and trapdoors in the floor. In a little corner in the back where it stays cool, I store garlic and onions during the summer and fall. I also take a long view of the garden field from the top of the gangway leading in. The barn was built in 1949, after its predecessor was accidentally burnt down by the idly discarded cigarette of a wandering stranger (”hobo”? “itinerant rural homeless person”?) who’d spent the night. The main structure is all wood—mortise and tenon—with no nails or other metal fasteners involved. I’ve picked up lots of details and stories centered around this barn. It symbolizes farming, it makes this place look like a farm, but to me it’s mainly just…space. That’s a little weird. As I took stock of the last of the onions and the seed garlic today, I decided to spend some time on really looking around. Explore now!

Autumn, what autumn? A finer summer’s day it would be hard to imagine… A warm, gentle sun in an absolutely cloudless sky. A silky soft breeze, without a trace of stultifying midday heat. Here’s the widest view possible with this camera, from the highest vantage point around: the market garden where I spend so much of my time! It all still seems a little odd to me, but I wouldn’t want to give it up!!

A new view of the far end of the field, taken from on top of the soon-to-be-roofed farm stand. The garden looks shockingly half-empty to me, but in fact that’s only due to being more on top of cleaning up finished sections than in years past. Also, most of the current crops happen by this year’s rotation to be way at the top: squash, corn, tomatoes, brassicas, and the last two plantings of carrots and beets are off in the distance. I’m broadcasting oats into the empty sections and hoping for WATER to fall like manna from heaven so there’ll be a decent amount of fall growth. Lots of clouds but still no rain…

From the gangway to the upper level of the barn, the View shows the new, unusual pattern of the field as summer progresses: less veggies! Compared to barely a month ago, the difference is clear. And it’s even more striking when you walk through. What’s happening is, with this year’s more intensive planting and harvesting, larger sections are finished earlier than in previous seasons. I don’t find this pleasing: too much emptiness, where crops should abound—it’s not the main season fullness I remember (although even now, there is still more upcoming yield out there than ever before)! That’s the way of the busier market garden. And according to the plan, this year’s first organized fall cover cropping—oats, winter rye—should actually fill up the emptied sections, starting in August. I guess you’d call that positive progress, though I still take great, simple pleasure in seeing pure abundance in the field. Not logical, but there you go!

Hot but not a scorcher, a bit of a breeze, full sun in a clear blue sky… Even at a distance, the field is starting to show clear signs of vigorous veggie activity (see one month ago). And, amazingly (although, according to plan!), we’re on top of the weeds. Today was a bit of a semi-day off for me, with only a few hours here and there of hand-weeding, and lots of strolling around thinking about this and that (mostly, about things on the neverending to-do list…). Particularly now, still in spring start-up mode, tiny farming is REALLY full-time, you’ve gotta be into it 100%…so, you’d best love it as well. I’m having fun!

The latest View. The weather’s been warm and sunny for the past few days, but the nights mainly cold, often drifting down to zero C and a bit below. No rain, and the ground’s getting dry. Finally got round to cutting the grass (no more soaked feet in the morning). The white pails all about are for the spring cleaning of rocks pushed up over winter. Nothing green in the way of crops to see from up here, but just about everything seeded so far has emerged. Overall, nice!

The View from the top of the gangway that leads into the upper level of the barn. Once things get growing, I go up here every day to survey the scene. Today, it pretty much sums up the spring so far, mainly damp, grey and gloomy (see Mar.16, Feb.18). Without sun, the grass has hardly started to green up. You can just make out the yellow markers in the very first section on the left where yesterday I got in beds of spinach (Bloomsdale, Spargo), beets (Scarlet Supreme, Detroit Dark Red) and radish (Rebel, French Breakfast). That felt good!

A beautiful day in the snowy field, looking back at the outbuildings from the greenhouse. I used the Kubota (the trusty compact tractor) to clear the path, more to take it out of the shed and give it a little run than because the snow’s too high to trudge through. The temperature’s around zero C, the sun is getting higher in the sky and warmer as she climbs, snow is melting at the edges and through the thin spots wherever you go… Is spring in the air? Sure feels like it!