At the wheel
Tilling in the monster oats green manure/cover crop is a task where the Kubota compact tractor sure comes in handy. The oats is tall, dense and seemingly unstoppable by cold. It took a double mowing to get it down to … Read the rest
experiments
Zinnia vs calendula
A vibrant slash of orange and yellow—the half-row of calendula seemed to be fairly unfazed by the recent blast of sub-zero cold, where the zinnias didn’t do so well. Another bit of first-hand frost experience to file away. Elsewhere in … Read the rest
Putting food by
With the farmers’ market over, time to turn to fall-and-winter things. This year, I’m for the first time organizing a proper veggie selection for storage (it’s about time I started…training for that future CSA root cellar!). Instead of the usual … Read the rest
Harvesting Brussels sprouts
That was interesting! I’ve harvested Brussels sprouts by picking the individual heads, but for our first bigger harvest of about 60 plants, to speed things up, I decided to take the whole thing.
First try: chopping the base of the … Read the rest
Making mulch, part 3
The grass and alfalfa mix spread in the greenhouse a few days ago is drying nicely—it’s almost done! It was a tad touch and go at first, the rows in the field were starting to turn black and decompose, and … Read the rest
Making mulch, part 2
Working just ahead of more rain, Conall (fighting a cold that’s knocking people out around here—farmers can’t get sick!) and I raked the mini-windrows of grass and alfalfa into little mounds, piled it on the trailer, and dumped it in … Read the rest
Making mulch
Yet another experiment: making mulch from some of the hay that grows alongside the garden. The hay, originally alfalfa and red clover, is dying out, and what’s left is mainly grass and alfalfa, currently around 10″ (25cm) high. I cut … Read the rest