I am in time to collect lugs from the barn before the volunteers arrive for our first winter CSA harvest. It is miserably cold and wet. I begin picking tatsoi with Evan. It is slow going compared to the spicy greens and arugula that Nicole and Mary are harvesting. As we go on my fingers become more and more numb, despite my fingers losing much of their power and ease of movement it is not painful. Kristen has assumed some of Meg's usual responsibility, she comes by on the golf-cart and picks up the harvested produce. She sends Even and I over to pick parsley. Bunches of parsley are wrapped together with rubber bands which becomes increasingly difficult with such cold fingers. The rest of me is not really cold, which helps, next week I should have appropriate rubber gloves. Only 26 bunches or so to be gathered takes us little time, Kristen arrives again as we finish; perfect timing. We crowd the club car as it is raining steadily.
To hill top where the wind is brisk and temperatures seem colder. We are picking cilantro from the tiny mounds growing close to the ground for warmth and because they have been clipped so many times by our scissors and the gnashing teeth of deer. Again the number of bundles that we have to collect is far less than summer CSA. I only have 12 to make, but my fingers will not move, they do not have the power to stretch the rubber band and hold the cilantro. I am dropping leaves here and there and barely holding them together. I actually have to use leverage from my leg to get the bands on. Kristen finishes a few ahead of me and takes some of Even's recounted bands. Then some of mine. Incredibly we are done harvesting all before noon.
Evan and I work in the greenhouse weeding and then tying up the raspberries. I am happy to find that Kristen wants to cultivate raspberries throughout Fabio, I am sure they will readily take over. I don't know how this fits into a long term plan, it just seems to me that raspberries will do just fine outside. Evan tells me that his banana plant is doing quite well, and that he will eventually get some fruit. It is not long before we head in for lunch.
Cathy, Kristen's mom is in town helping out in Fred's absence. We are lucky to have her back, people were not that impressed with the church ladies lunches, or at least they can not compare with Cathy's. She has made shepherd's pie in a new crock pot, the biggest one they could buy. There is tapioca with raspberries for dessert. I bring in my drawing from landscape drawing class to show Kristen and finally propose that I design her a food forest. I think she is impressed by the drawing and my open ended pitch. Something for her to think about. As usual after lunch everyone leaves, taking their work share home after 4 hours work. Good deal.
Kristen makes me a list of three major things for me to work on this afternoon.
1. Pull plastic out of the corn, tomatillos, or eggplants
2. Plant spinach and fennel in empty spaces around the greenhouses
3. Strip some more garlic for planting
The cold wet day continues as I head out by myself, I figure starting with pulling plastic and getting it out of the way will be the correct plan of action. I start in a row of corn, notorious for begin a pain. This row has been cut down, with what I am not sure, just little stumps remain. It does not take long for my boots and gloves to become caked in mud. It is comical how much will actually stick to my feet. Mud mixed with straw reminds me of the recipe used to make mud bricks or cob. I buck like Ella at the milk bucket when she has had enough, trying to release my mud weight. Mud is flung up to ten feet. I find that walking through the weeds takes it off quite well. I am impressed at the boots that I am wearing, never have I experienced a leak with this pair (Crater Ridge). My last pair did blow out and soaked up water readily. I find the shortest rows in the tomatillos and pull the plastic from two of them.
The rain increases and wanes, I think it is time to head into the relative comfort of the poly tunnels. I notice that much of the greenhouse is drying out. There are less people around to do this job and it is less important, but there are apple tree cuttings, the citrus that I brought, figs, blackberries, herbs, and more that should be looked after. After a good soaking I take a tray of fennel, a tray of lettuce and one of spinach. It joys me to not have someone telling me how far apart to plant the seedlings. I surely have mentioned that high density planting makes the most sense to me. There are plenty of considerations when planting. Some things like head lettuce will be harvested, and if a plant is already reaching maturity planting underneath it won't effect its growth. This may slow down the seedling planted underneath, but once the mature plant is harvested the one underneath will have its day in the sun. Spacing the plants too far apart leaves room for weeds to move in, and dirt that is left un-shadded is likely to dry out quicker. Plants in nature grow on top of each other and do quite well. I understand we are growing for size and eliminating competition is a practical idea, but a little healthy competition is what makes a plant work harder to become bigger and stronger. Think of plants like a city skyline. The buildings and plants all reach up, hold their footprint and capture their share of sun. Eventually the silhouette changes as older buildings are torn down and new high-rises take their place.
Kristen and her father are in the barn packing up produce, lots of greens. There will be peppers in the shares, but they were harvested in the weeks prior. Shares will also include garlic, cilantro, a bag of potatoes not grown on the farm, but organic all the same, and some mint or rosemary. The lugs are filled up in the barn where I am peeling garlic. The temperature is so that the cooler is turned off and the produce is left out in the open with no adverse effects. I would imagine that the cooler might even be used to keep the frost off the goods as the winter wears on.
Dinner is breakfast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, pure maple syrup and hot cocoa that Kristen's father has made. I mix the powder in some hot water from the tea kettle, it is surprisingly delicious. There is powdered milk in it and a whole bunch of other spices, cinnamon and allspice almost I'm certain of it. During dinner Fred is reached on Kristen's i-phone in a Skype session. It is 1:00 in Italy only a five hour difference. Fred's flight has been cancelled and he is getting home sick. What a poor guy stuck in Europe for an extra day or two (sarcastically). No real information is gained from the conversation as baby talk ensues as Evelyn is introduced to intercontinental video calls.
To hill top where the wind is brisk and temperatures seem colder. We are picking cilantro from the tiny mounds growing close to the ground for warmth and because they have been clipped so many times by our scissors and the gnashing teeth of deer. Again the number of bundles that we have to collect is far less than summer CSA. I only have 12 to make, but my fingers will not move, they do not have the power to stretch the rubber band and hold the cilantro. I am dropping leaves here and there and barely holding them together. I actually have to use leverage from my leg to get the bands on. Kristen finishes a few ahead of me and takes some of Even's recounted bands. Then some of mine. Incredibly we are done harvesting all before noon.
Evan and I work in the greenhouse weeding and then tying up the raspberries. I am happy to find that Kristen wants to cultivate raspberries throughout Fabio, I am sure they will readily take over. I don't know how this fits into a long term plan, it just seems to me that raspberries will do just fine outside. Evan tells me that his banana plant is doing quite well, and that he will eventually get some fruit. It is not long before we head in for lunch.Cathy, Kristen's mom is in town helping out in Fred's absence. We are lucky to have her back, people were not that impressed with the church ladies lunches, or at least they can not compare with Cathy's. She has made shepherd's pie in a new crock pot, the biggest one they could buy. There is tapioca with raspberries for dessert. I bring in my drawing from landscape drawing class to show Kristen and finally propose that I design her a food forest. I think she is impressed by the drawing and my open ended pitch. Something for her to think about. As usual after lunch everyone leaves, taking their work share home after 4 hours work. Good deal.
Kristen makes me a list of three major things for me to work on this afternoon.
1. Pull plastic out of the corn, tomatillos, or eggplants
2. Plant spinach and fennel in empty spaces around the greenhouses
3. Strip some more garlic for planting
The cold wet day continues as I head out by myself, I figure starting with pulling plastic and getting it out of the way will be the correct plan of action. I start in a row of corn, notorious for begin a pain. This row has been cut down, with what I am not sure, just little stumps remain. It does not take long for my boots and gloves to become caked in mud. It is comical how much will actually stick to my feet. Mud mixed with straw reminds me of the recipe used to make mud bricks or cob. I buck like Ella at the milk bucket when she has had enough, trying to release my mud weight. Mud is flung up to ten feet. I find that walking through the weeds takes it off quite well. I am impressed at the boots that I am wearing, never have I experienced a leak with this pair (Crater Ridge). My last pair did blow out and soaked up water readily. I find the shortest rows in the tomatillos and pull the plastic from two of them.
The rain increases and wanes, I think it is time to head into the relative comfort of the poly tunnels. I notice that much of the greenhouse is drying out. There are less people around to do this job and it is less important, but there are apple tree cuttings, the citrus that I brought, figs, blackberries, herbs, and more that should be looked after. After a good soaking I take a tray of fennel, a tray of lettuce and one of spinach. It joys me to not have someone telling me how far apart to plant the seedlings. I surely have mentioned that high density planting makes the most sense to me. There are plenty of considerations when planting. Some things like head lettuce will be harvested, and if a plant is already reaching maturity planting underneath it won't effect its growth. This may slow down the seedling planted underneath, but once the mature plant is harvested the one underneath will have its day in the sun. Spacing the plants too far apart leaves room for weeds to move in, and dirt that is left un-shadded is likely to dry out quicker. Plants in nature grow on top of each other and do quite well. I understand we are growing for size and eliminating competition is a practical idea, but a little healthy competition is what makes a plant work harder to become bigger and stronger. Think of plants like a city skyline. The buildings and plants all reach up, hold their footprint and capture their share of sun. Eventually the silhouette changes as older buildings are torn down and new high-rises take their place.
Kristen and her father are in the barn packing up produce, lots of greens. There will be peppers in the shares, but they were harvested in the weeks prior. Shares will also include garlic, cilantro, a bag of potatoes not grown on the farm, but organic all the same, and some mint or rosemary. The lugs are filled up in the barn where I am peeling garlic. The temperature is so that the cooler is turned off and the produce is left out in the open with no adverse effects. I would imagine that the cooler might even be used to keep the frost off the goods as the winter wears on.
Dinner is breakfast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, pure maple syrup and hot cocoa that Kristen's father has made. I mix the powder in some hot water from the tea kettle, it is surprisingly delicious. There is powdered milk in it and a whole bunch of other spices, cinnamon and allspice almost I'm certain of it. During dinner Fred is reached on Kristen's i-phone in a Skype session. It is 1:00 in Italy only a five hour difference. Fred's flight has been cancelled and he is getting home sick. What a poor guy stuck in Europe for an extra day or two (sarcastically). No real information is gained from the conversation as baby talk ensues as Evelyn is introduced to intercontinental video calls.
No comments:
Post a Comment