June on the farm

It’s almost officially summer, and I wanted to share a few farm photos. That’s sage in bloom. Isn’t it pretty? Behind the sage, is the Little Tunnel. We spent today composting the tunnel and laying fabric. Later this week, we’ll fill it with cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant.

This is the Big Tunnel. It has several kale varieties, Swiss chard, collards, tomatoes, and peppers (although most of those were eaten by some insect).

Here’s the other side of the Big Tunnel, where the tomatoes are planted.

The outdoor tomatoes are still small, but they’re doing well.

We planted fewer onions than last year, and it’s been much easier to care for them.

We should have a lot of beans this year.

First planting of the season

With the first farmers market about three weeks away, it was definitely time to get plants out of the propagation greenhouse and in the ground.

We were all feeling (mostly) better after a round of colds, so we headed up to the farm to plant kale (green curly, purple, and red), collards, Swiss chard, lettuce, and green onions. We’ll be seeding radishes and a few other things this weekend.

After a long break, Jason will soon get microgreens going for the Saturday, May 6, market at the Meadville Market House.

It was a beautiful, warm night, and we could hear the peepers in the woods. Ever since last season ended, Jason and I (and Silas, too) have been mostly working from our computers, and it felt good to get back on the farm. The garter snakes are back. The spiders and bugs are back, and so are the frogs, groundhogs, kale, and Ruggieros. See you all soon! Enjoy the lovely weather.

~ Stella

Spring is in the air — Season 9 begins!

Jason and Luna (above) spent Sunday afternoon prepping the Big Tunnel for planting. We’re hoping to plant our kale and other greens as soon as this weekend. The first farmers market is only about six weeks away!

Spring so far

It’s been a blur of baseball, cyber school, farming, and other work. So it goes with spring.

It’s Silas’s first year playing ball. Grandpa Gary mowed a ball field at the farm. We’ve had a lot of fun helping Silas practice and watching him play. By extremely lucky circumstances, I get to watch my 7-year-old and my 74-year-old dad play ball.

The photo above is how every season begins — with Jason starting dozens of seed flats. If you follow along, you know Jason quit his full-time, off-farm job in December. He also started his own company — a grant-writing and project management firm. We were both surprised — OK, stunned — at how quickly this took off. Another one of life’s plot twists. It’s been great for our family, but it’s re-shaping our year. We’re also going through the formal process of officially making me an employee of the new business. We’re still figuring out what a “typical” week looks like during the growing season, and trying to rein in the number of hours worked.

So this winter and early spring, Jason ended up poking seeds in potting soil late into the night once more. We thought days like that were behind him, but we were wrong. We were mistaken to think this new life would neatly click into place, but we’re figuring it out.

This garlic was planted last autumn. We’ll harvest mid summer.

The night Silas scored his first run!

First market of the season. You’ll find us every Saturday at the Meadville Market House at 9 a.m. We’ve been loving our market Saturdays. For one thing, the Friday harvest is so much easier and more enjoyable with Jason and me working as a team. The Market House has been a bustling place Saturday mornings. Opening the doors and at times seeing people milling all around has been awesome.

Down to the last chive. Someone came along and bought it.

Notice the change in attire from Week 1 to Week 2.

The Big Tunnel after Jason straightened it out and I put straw down thick. Green onions, oregano, spinach, broccoli, and radishes were growing earlier this spring. The empty rows now have tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.

Here we have garlic, kale, broccoli, and lettuce. You may notice the lack of landscape fabric. We learned last season that fabric is a no-go for anything in spring, and unwise year-round for any crop voles find delicious and we hold precious — like lettuce.

The onions are doing terrific. We put down thick straw and planted directly into it. We won’t worry about those anymore until late summer.

Above is a photo of the tomatoes and peppers we planted Memorial Day weekend.

Hope you’re enjoying spring. The CSA will likely start in the third week of June. We’ll send out plenty of notifications beforehand. We’ll probably open our online orders around that time, as well.

In the meantime, if you’re in the Meadville area, come see us on Saturday mornings.

~ Stella

A reminder before Season 8 begins

While we sat drinking tea and coffee after breakfast, Jason shared a memory that came up on his phone for today from 2019. It was the day we put up the plastic on the Big Tunnel.

As Silas and I scrolled through the photos, we chimed, “There’s Angelica! There’s Garrett! There’s grandpa!”

On that March day, Angelica returned to the farm early to pitch in with the plastic. And Garrett, of Fat Hawk Farm, is community-minded, and well known to set aside time to help when he’s needed. Another person who has always been the first to volunteer a helping hand is Gene. He spent a long, frigid December day with us in 2018 putting up the trusses for the Big Tunnel. My dad, Gary, spent many cold days working with us on that project, too. And we couldn’t have done it without my mother, Darlene, caring for Silas. Friends of ours from Bradford, Fawn and Greg, drove down one day to help dig holes in the cold and snow before we realized we really needed to rent an auger! It is a credit to all of their natures that they lent us their time and labor.

Seeing the photos this morning whipped up feelings of gratefulness. They were a good reminder as we embark on Season 8. Few people reach their goals by sheer will alone, even when it may seem that way. The kindness of others helps lift trusses along the way.

~ Stella

That’s Garrett, of Fat Hawk Farm, in the air in March 2019.

There’s Angelica! Spring 2019.

Grandpa Gary and Jason drilling the post holes in November 2018.

Grandpa Gary, left, and Gene working on the frame in December 2018.

Jason giving his father-in-law a much-deserved coffee and doughnut.

From the time he could help, he often has. But on those days when it’s just too cold, or the work will be too dangerous or long, we’re lucky to have the support of his grandmothers.

Spring gifts

Stock image

I was about to call it a night when Jason turned to me on the couch and said, “Want to see the baby lettuces?” Tired as I was, he looked and sounded too sweet to refuse.

He has them in the basement under grow lights. Poking out of the potting soil, reaching for the light, are the tiniest lettuces possible. Just wee green slips. Baby broccoli and lots of herbs, too. The oregano is so small you have to squint to see it. And lots of kale. Seed trays are the first sign of spring for us. Here are a few more favorites:

BIRDS SINGING

Everywhere and all the time. Isn’t it a relief to hear them again?

MOSS SEASON

The moss is never more brilliantly green than this time of year. Any place it grows takes on a mysterious and enchanted appearance. Unless it’s your roof.

HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS IN HIGH GEAR

We had all winter to make home interior tweaks but as usual we waited until now. Maybe it’s because the clock is about to run out on such projects, when farming takes over in early spring. Or maybe the promise of good weather has us motivated to tackle all that needs tackling. Right now, we’re making a few inexpensive but big impact changes to my office, including green paint. And Jason taught me how to refinish my desk.

EGGS

Hurray! The chickens are laying again. This is a big deal since we go through about four dozen eggs a week. The ladies are relishing rolls in the dust on sunny afternoons. It’s nice to see them in the yard giving their feathers good shakes.

SYRUP MAKING

We put in about 10 taps. When conditions are right, we’re getting about 10 gallons of clear sap a day. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of maple syrup. Our goal is two gallons of syrup for the year.

TUNNEL WORK

Jason mowed inside the Big Tunnel the other day and worked up the rows. He seeded carrots, cilantro, radishes, and spinach.

BACKYARD BASEBALL

The weekend was extra warm. After an all-around great day, I was doing a few things in the house when I spied Silas and Jason playing catch in the back yard. Silas will be a minor leaguer this spring. He missed out on T-ball altogether thanks to the pandemic so Jason’s been working with him on the basics.

On this particular evening, the sun was setting behind them, and with no leaves to block the glow, they were both outlined in gold. I watched them as a warm breeze blew through the screen. Thank you, Spring, for so many gifts.

~ Stella

Tomato progress: Now there's a lovely sight!

Silas monitors all things ripening on the farm, especially berries and cherry tomatoes. So of course he was the first to find these little green beauties.

Cherry tomatoes in the Big Tunnel June 11.

Tomato plants give a distinct scent from the time they’re wee, and it gets more intense as they grow sturdy and climb. Even in February, when we’re watering baby tomatoes under the grow lights, that aroma brings to mind summer. Filling buckets with cherry tomatoes. Finding a beautiful Cherokee Purple heirloom with a nibble out of it, so it’s all mine to ferry home and savor with feta cheese, or cook down to sauce. Glowing yellow tomato dust from fingertips to elbows.

Like a lot of things, there’s a good deal of joy in the anticipation weeks. After all, it’s fun to poke around, spying on the green fruits. There’s no real work in that. When the tomatoes finally do burst on the scene, it’s high summer, and the harvesting gets intense all around.

Here are the tomatoes in the Big Tunnel. Jay added more clips to the string, and they’re due for another pruning.

Here’s a tomato comparison photo.

This was about two weeks ago, on May 29.

~ Stella

The first CSA harvest is in! How much did we pick?

We’re packing 55 CSA shares for Lucky Season No. 7. We have 20 half shares and 35 full shares, and the harvest is in for this week’s CSA. They’ll be packed tomorrow morning, and then distributed over three days.

Over the seasons, we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) there are two keys to a smoother CSA week.

1.) Have a detailed, written plan for the week. When it’s written out, you might look at it and say, “Well, damn.” But you must have a plan in front of you. It’s better than looking around the farm and having that same thought. For the CSA, I make a list a week beforehand of the produce we think will be ready to harvest. Jason’s seeding and planting schedule aims to hit its mark every week, but of course the weather is always a big factor. I plan out what we’re going to harvest down to the exact number of kale leaves. Then, I map out when we’ll harvest. Having a clear plan makes any changes that crop up during the week less painful.

2.) Do. Not. Procrastinate. Never. Don’t do it. No. Do not. We mostly stick to the written plan, but if an opportunity presents itself, we take it. Like, say, the radish pulling went way faster than expected. Okay, then pick some spinach right now instead of tomorrow. We cut greens that store exceptionally well, such as kale and spinach, as early in the week as possible. When cut properly, in the cool of morning or evening, and immediately rinsed and stored in airtight containers in the cooler, they can keep for several weeks, so picking them a few days in advance is perfectly fine. Early on in my farm years, I had the ridiculous mindset that all CSA produce had to be harvested only one day before it’s packed. This is completely foolish. Fresh vegetables store well. Don’t make it harder on yourself than it needs to be.

This is our second season with about 55 members. For our biggest CSA season, we had 75 members. That was when we had a part-time helper. With Jason still working off-farm full time, we decided to keep the CSA around 55. The fact that we sell out every year is a positive indicator for future expansion.

But back to present day. Want to know how much we harvested for this week’s CSA? Here you go:

Kale: 20 pounds (This is 600 big leaves.)

Lettuce heads: About 100

Pea shoots: 7 pounds

Oregano: 4 pounds

Spinach: 6 pounds (This week, the spinach is only going in the full shares. Sometimes we alternate what the half shares and full shares receive. It all just depends on how much is ready to harvest.)

Parsley: 3 pounds

Green onions: Not sure how many. It felt like an eternity’s worth. Darned green onions. A tedious vegetable if there ever was one.

Radishes: About 3 bushels

Every season, as that first CSA week draws near, I get nervous. We still harvest for local shops and fill website orders every Monday, plus we’ve got to, you know, grow stuff. There are times when the weekly schedule looks totally bananas. There are times when I look around and think, this whole thing is nuts, isn’t it? Are we nuts? Well, maybe it is, and maybe we are, but, we’ve got a plan, and we just need to stick to it. And no procrastinating. No. Never. Huh-uh! Don’t even think about ! ;)

We’re loving the pick-up we bought last fall, even with all its quirks. It’s so easy to load bins in the bed. We’ve still got the Toyota RAV4 and its trailer, but the truck is much easier. That’s the whole lettuce harvest for the CSA this week. It’s about 100 heads. Time to take it home and let it soak before storing it in the cooler in bins.

~ Stella

First garlic harvest

Jason and Silas pulled the first garlic last weekend. It’s early for garlic around here. This Early Portuguese was in the Little Tunnel all winter. We’re saving these heads for seed garlic, which means we’ll break them open and plant the cloves.

A lot of the outdoor garlic has curly scapes. We’ll cut those soon for CSA members. Scapes, which are the start of a blossom on a garlic plant, have a delicious flavor. They must be cut to prevent the plant from focusing its energy on a flower, rather than a nice garlic head. This is our first truly serious dive into garlic growing.

~ Stella

Tomato progress (lean & lower method) - May 10 & May 29

This year, we’re trying the “lean and lower” system with vining crops in the tunnels. You can read all about that here. Here’s a look at how the tomatoes are doing. First, is a photo from the Big Tunnel taken May 10, 2021.

May 10, 2021: At this point, we only had tomatoes in the tunnels. There’s too much of a frost risk outside. Most of the tomatoes were still too small to clip to the string.

Here’s the same row, about three weeks later. They were all big enough to clip, and some of them now have two clips. So far so good.

May 29, 2021: Many even have blossoms.

~ Stella