Today had all the makings of a slow, steady, gentle soaking, but so far, a mainly misty downfall has added up to a measly 5mm. Of course, I’m not unappreciative of ANYTHING in the way of rain. And the plants are looking mighty perky. Overall, the field is heading into that final sizing up stage that leads to main season fullness (see three weeks ago). Time can move so fast. Some real rain, please!
Veggies
Extreme makeover
The one dark secret of this organic field, something you couldn’t really tell from selected photos, is the prevalence of pigweed (amaranth, mostly or all Amaranthus retroflexus if I’m ID-ing correctly). About two-thirds of the garden seems to be completely saturated with pigweed seed. Weeding two or three times for all-new outbreaks is common. In some spots, it’s literally as if some phantom planter is broadcasting new seed, thickly, every couple of weeks. And when it’s a closely space crop like the all-lettuce salad mix in the pic, this means painstaking fingertip weeding.
Here, Andrea and I spent about two and half hours clearing 200′ of 5-row beds, the entire latest succession planting. Luckily, conversation made the time transparent (thinking about all of the extra labor devoted just to de-pigweeding is a little painful). As best as I can figure, the pigweed came along with the two-year-old, not-fully-composted cow manure that we spread in the fall of Year 2 (three years ago). We put down I’m not sure how many, but many, tons on just over an acre—the ground was positively springy!—which was great. Except for the pigweed seed. Eventually, the vast store will be depleted (the seed is apparently viable for five years). Until then, it’s a lot of extra work… The pop quiz question: “What have those cows been eating?!”
Spin cycle
Here’s an important piece of the post-harvest station, the trusty washing machine-turned-salad spinner, flanked by laundry sinks, working on Sunday CSA harvest. The washer idea I read about someplace. When the washer here on the farm started doing odd things to clothes and was heading for the scrap heap, I intercepted it and pressed it into veggie service. With the agitator removed, it’s used on the spin cycle. Good ol’ centrifugal force! The trick to preventing leaves from getting crushed—either shredded (spinach) or veiny (lettuce, other light leaves)—is not to load too much at a time.
The sinks contain cold well water. For the most part, rinsing greens is done to quickly cool them down after being cut in warm conditions (like…a hot afternoon, you can’t always pick your moment). Sometimes, it’s also to wash off dirt splashed up by rain. Rinsing greens for one reason or another happens about 75% of the time during late spring through midsummer. Once the days start getting shorter (yuck…), greens harvests can usually be timed for the cooler evening, and rinsing happens less often. The sinks are also used to rinse other crops when they need it!
Simple, effective!!
Stupice first on the vine
For the third year running, and no surprise, Stupice is the first tomato to start fruiting. This extra-early heirloom is said to be from Czecholslovakia, and its performance hasn’t been even nearly beat for earliness in the 70+ varieties, heirloom and modern hybrid, that I’ve tried over the last four years. The toms are kinda small, maybe 2-4ozs (56-112g). Taste is tart (perhaps not for those sensitive to the mildly acidic) and, um, fantastic… This year, all of the tomatoes are really ahead, with fruit appearing on at maybe two dozen early and mid-season varieties before the end of June. Mmmmm…. (Now, to finish semi-staking, or shall we sprawl?!)
Late June harvest
The harvest is still small: snap peas, broccoli, mesclun, the last of the garlic scapes and spring spinach, beet greens, the first few, baby beets. With 50 CSA shares to fill this year (around double from last year), plus the farmers’ market, a couple of local outlets, and the farm stand, I’ve really upped the ante. Even with PEOPLE at work in the field, I’m concerned about quantity. Where bad germination and losses from pest damage here and there have been no real worry so far, now every little setback seems…dire. Probably, most of this is in my head, endless millions of small farmers have done it before and are doing it now. Still, staying tiny and diversified at my particular scale seems tougher than before. It’ll work out, and for now, any uncertainty keeps the adrenaline on a steady slow drip! :)
Corn
After a month, the first planting of corn is about a foot (30cm) high and doing fine. There are two varieties this year, Earlivee, an “old fashioned corn taste” (su) type, and Bon Appetit, a sweeter (se) type, only about 800′ of each. Corn every year is a battle all its own, the corn and me against the raccoons. The coons are my biggest (as in, size and intellect) garden foe, and unfortunately, they usually win. A couple of years ago, I invested in electric fence and a solar-powered controller. This only kept them at bay for a while. I still haven’t figured out how they got past it…I’ll have another chance to find out this year. No fence, positively no corn (maybe a few ears, literally, out of a couple of thousand). I grow only enough to eat and to include a dozen or so in the CSA shares. With the amount of sweet corn out there, and the ridiculously rock bottom prices when it’s in season, selling corn at the market or stand hasn’t seemed worth it. At the very least, it’s fun to watch it grow!
Pumpkins unveiled
Removed the row cover that had been protecting the pumpkins from the cucumber beetles. The pumpkins are doing fine! The CBs will keep coming, but the plants should grow faster than the beetles can munch. There’s also a chance of CB-transmitted disease, that’s a chance I’m taking. One spray-free alternative is to reposition and replace the row cover more loosely, giving the plants room to grow, but the cover I’m using also traps heat under there, and cuts off some sunlight. I could buy super lightweight cover, designed for insect protection only—it doesn’t protect against frost and lets in most of the light—but that’s an unwelcome expense this year, and possibly more of an additional expense than it’s worth. From here, the pumpkins should come out fine, CBs and all!