Succession Planting

Marketers throughout New England tell us, "Come September 1, get out the jack-o-lanterns, and scare-crow displays: It's Fall!" Despite the advice we are still planting seedlings like we have been doing since April. Here, Amanda puts in some Spinach.

Some things that do well in the cool of spring can be replanted in the fall with moderate success. We are constantly replanting things like dill, cilantro and lettuce throughout the summer. . Certain types of sunflowers are planted in succession also, all as an attempt to guarantee a continued crop. You can mimic this in your own home garden by re-planting culinary herbs and greens throughout the summer.

The days are numbered for our 5:30 roll call in the field (as seen below). The sun is taking longer to rise each day making a sweater and socks an essential grab on the way out the door.

We strive to keep the humor and camaraderie in these early hours and as the season shifts gears to the coming of fall. We are still weeding and planting but will start to turn some focus to plowing in another new field across Hanson Road, plowing under the old strawberry field and cover cropping these areas to add a green manure to the landscape. There is also a fencing project to focus on and LOTS of shingling to do before we see the snow. We hope to have the 3rd apprentice cabin re-roofed, the outhouses shingled and the new kitchen and walk in cooler space shingled all by winter. Once that snow comes, we get to put our feet up for just a moment and take a deep breath. Ambition is good but deadlines can really get us moving! Here is where we put out the shameless plea for the volunteer who has roofing/shingling experience!

There have also been a few questions about volunteer time here at the farm to fulfill your work requirement. The best answer is that we are always looking for helping hands with the harvest on Tuesday and Friday mornings. We start at 5:30 and strive to finish by 12PM, with a break from 7-7:30 for breakfast.

This week's harvest

• -lettuce
• -potatoes
• -tomatoes
• -purple string beans
• -broccoli/cauliflower
• -summer squash/zucchini
• -cukes
• -basil
• -beets
• -bell peppers
• -fennel
• -tatsoi (similar to pac choi)
  

Don't forget to take a moment to smell the roses....or dinner as the fancy may be.

Blessings on the meal,
Stacy and John

Sunflowers we have known

When sunflowers bloom, they call for the camera. Each conveys a different personality...
Thistle-like beginnings:


A winking opening:
A bright hybrid:



An odd twin headed flower, the new one getting ready to bloom as soon as the first one leaves off.
A row of flowers bowing to the rain and praying for the sun:


10 foot tall planting grown in this Spring's pig pen:
From beneath:
From the top:

A big momma flower which laid on the ground allowing a dozen or so children to bloom:

Anyway, tour the flowers for yourself. How many more weeks of blooming????

Harvest
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Squash
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Pac Choi
Radishes
Peppers
Basil
Mint

This week we benefit from a little help from our neighbors and friends at Snell Family Farm. As some of you know, of the THREE attempts to germinate cucumbers, only a 3rd of one of those plantings actually got going (remember: wettest summer ever...) So, there is a cucumber patch we will borrow from this week so that we won't miss out entirely on our cukes! The fine print would read "un-certified organic", which means that the Snells are not certified organic growers, but on the ground they sub-lease from Broadturn Farm, they do not use any substances not allowed in organic production. Yes, there is more to organic farming than not using broad-spectrum, persistent pesticides, and petroleum-based fertilizers. There is crop rotation, manure application waiting periods, "integrated pest management", record-keeping, and more... but back to the cucumbers.
The Snells (who are very responsible farmers) have some very compelling reasons to not be certified organic. The best reason is the integrity they have earned through their direct marketing relationships, for which no label is required. But during this especially difficult season there are a couple of very interesting arguments against organic certification.
The different materials unavailable to organic growers can moderate a disaster season like this one. Many organic farmers will be deep in debt by the end of the season, and some may not financially be able to continue farming. Theoretically the higher price of organic covers the higher costs (like labor, but also the more expensive organic input materials). But that is just theoretical and in a good season, everyone has short term memory, and prices go down. Organic farming can be extreme in its ups and downs, and that is hardly ever a good thing. Moderation is more sustainable.
Another issue is the quantity of materials many organic farmers are loading onto crops to keep the late blight from spreading. We use copper as a fungicide, which is a "natural" material, but certainly not advisable if sprayed every week for a whole summer; same thing with sulfur which is used on fruit trees. This approach to the season is like fighting a match with one hand tied behind your back. Less effective materials are being used in an attempt to deliver the same result as gotten with conventional techniques. That means more material, more frequent tractor circuits spraying the material, and more residues. Again, moderation might be more sustainable.
You can see that John Snell and I have had a few interesting discussions in the field, me with my back-pack sprayer, and him on his dusty sprayer tractor.
"It isn't exactly a peaches and cream year, that's for sure!"- John Snell

Spores on the air

Hello Members and blog readers alike,

This week's blog is coming to you from apprentice #3, Megan. I came to the farm May 15th, and saw the rains take us through to what seems to be only quite recently. Long warm afternoons were replaced with soggy mornings, and we are still seeing the effects of this weather in our fields. So far this week the popular phrase has been, "spores on the air." Yes, there are spores on the air of all types that are creating many new and amazing small problems in our most excellent field, namely in our cucurbit field. I tell this short tale on behalf of our squash. These unfortunate little beauties seem to have attracted some of these bodies creating what I like to refer to as a case of polka-dot-itis. With this knowledge, my recommendation is to eat these delicious vegetables with haste. When eaten soon after the harvest their condition will not affect their flavor, only their appearance . This is your opportunity to have fresh squash and sautéed onions tonight!

Moving on to life on the farm... Camp is finished now for the year. I was a counselor for 3 of the 8 weeks and really had a great time. My cabin is now outfitted with a few of my favorite drawings from our campers. I have a drawing of our ducks playing in and around and under their baby-pool pond, I have an abstract in purple of a ghost in the field, a few handmade birthday cards, and only the very best and inspiring of our leaf prints. The kids and I did some weed identification along with the leaf prints, and I now have a somewhat reliable knowledge of the weeds of this region; and while I know I hate them and that they make our fields and lives difficult, I can't help but find them quite fascinating. They are beautiful, edible, unwanted, poisonous, and they don't need more than a casual suggestion to grow healthy and strong. We have sometimes spoken of how weeds and their eradication can really shape the activities of an organic farm. Maybe this is the reason that I find them to be so interesting. They are our bane, and they are our itinerary. It seems foolish not to consider them more fully. We continue to weed, to seed new crops, to harvest, to make food, to eat, and sometimes get in a swim.

Looking forward to seeing you on harvest days,

apprentice #3
Megan

ps. thank you workshare members and volunteers for your help! It is always nice to have fresh conversations when those weeds beg us to give them more of the same. See you soon...

This Week's Harvest:

Lettuce
Parsley
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Squash
Onions
Basil
Peppers
Beans

(Beauty)

A friend of mine who is a school teacher once told me she equates August with one long Sunday. This would mean that June is the equivalent to Friday and July is like Saturday.

The big news of the week is not great. In fact, it makes our hearts sink. The late blight is moving north fast and we are near to losing most, if not all, of the tomato crop. We have our fingers crossed and are harvesting tomatoes as fast as we can to guarantee a taste for everyone. Other farmers in the area have pulled their crops and farmers in the Hudson Valley region are announcing that tomatoes will be absent from the market and CSA shares this season. One of our brides for this year emailed from NYC to tell us her CSA farm has late blight and they will not be able to distribute tomatoes or potatoes this season.

If there weren't biological explanations for plant disease and insect infestations, we would surely be blaming the gods and maybe even consider some sacrifice to divest our farm from the tragedy that is this season. As it stands, we start pondering the possibility that large agribusiness on the west coast has been funding the seeding of clouds to cause an abundance of rain and sprinkling late blight spores on fields in the northeast. It is so easy to turn to big brother as a scape goat for all things gone wrong. The reality is that we are honing our ability to keep all things in perspective. We try our best to do this work and keep our sanity and our souls intact. Most days, we lay our heads down with satisfaction, knowing we are trying our hardest to do the right thing. But often, in the summer, we wake up in the middle of the night, stressed out about something....sometimes its concern for the safety of the livestock, other times we worry about the satisfaction of our customers. This season, it is our customers we worry about. This is the season that is truly testing the CSA model...the "we're partners....all in this together" concept. This has always felt easy, until this year. We thank you for all your support and understanding as we coax the farm along. Where are the garden fairies when you need them?

(Entertainment)

This Week's Harvest

• Green Beans
• Dragon's Lingerie String Beans ( you can eat the whole thing!)
• Lettuce
• Basil
• Tomatoes
• Summer Squash/Zucchini/Patty Pan squash
• Potatoes
• Celery
• Onions

Blessings on the meal,

Stacy and John

(Things we can control)

Full Bloom

Finally it looks like the heat has come, and the garden is incredibly responsive. Not only do the plants need the warmth to put out flowers, but heat allows the micro-organisms in the soil to decompose organic matter and the organic fertilizers we use. Our plants have been lacking food during these cold rainy weeks, and finally they are getting solar food and soil food.
If you happen to have a few minutes on your next visit to the farm, be sure to say welcome to Blackberry, a nice dairy cow that came from a neighbor of ours. She is a Jersey-Holstein cross just four weeks into "freshening,"meaning she had a calf that long ago, so she is producing quantities of milk. She is not used to all this green grass since her previous family did not have enough space for her to graze. So, she really enjoys the barn, and will take some practice to feel comfortable in a rotational grazing system such as how we manage the other animals.
It will not be long until we start to get some tomatoes from the garden. These cherries will be first, followed by some smaller slicers. As with everything else, as soon as we have enough to spread around, we'll put it in the distribution-- starting modestly, but hopefully increasing in quantity....
and then we'll have PLENTY of some things...
Harvest:
lettuce
peas (the last of them... finally)
beans
cherry tomatoes
mizuna greens
garlic
beets
zucchini
cilantro
green peppers
cabbage
Mizuna is a salad green much like arugula, but more mild.
Patty pan squash can be eaten skin and all. They can be prepared like zucchini and are interchangeable with summer squash and zucchini in recipes.

We have a favorite recipe we use religiously every season and publish each year. It is a camp favorite.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 c. coarsely shredded unpeeled zucchini

2 1/2 c. flour

1 3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. yogurt and/or milk

4 tbsp. cocoa

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

topping

3/4 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. walnuts, almonds, or other nuts

Combine all the ingredients except the topping items, and pour it into a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

One last thing: we are working with our friends from Wolfpine Farm in Alfred to offer a winter CSA share this year. Tom, at Wolfpine, has been organizing this endeavor, sourcing produce from several different Maine farms. We will have his display at the CSA pick-up.
Here is his pitch:
Winter Shares with Wolf Pine Farm
Wolf Pine Farm will be offering a "winter share" from November - May with local, organic food from Maine farms. Shares will include over 50 different foods including greenhouse greens, dried herbs & beans, frozen berries, grains and staples like potatoes, carrots & onions. Distribution is every 3 weeks. Shares will be delivered to Broadturn Farm (schedule TBD). (There are other drop-off sites too.) Choose the "group delivery" option. Visit www.wolfpinefarm.com/winter or grab a brochure in the barn for more details.

If you are interested, tell Tom we sent you!

Blessings on the meal,
John and Stacy