This is when the farming season really takes off.
The 11 person, 75 hour workday (yeah, one day) last week? Replanting 50 beds from hail damage and spreading 70 yards of compost this past season? It was all just a warmup.
To the outsider of our farm culture, it might seem like we are always building, or planting, or doing something. And yeah, it has been a crazy season. But, to those of you in the know, this is what we’ve been preparing for. It’s the time when things shift from being less abundant, to fully abundant. This whole enterprise can be lean, tight, sustainable, and successful despite what our culture thinks about small farms and our food system. We are all out to help prove this.
We will fire up our root washer, farm-built in the shop this winter, for the first time today. I'm mounting hardware for the waterline in the photo above, while Mary prepares the rest of the hardware. And we fired up version 1.3 of the flame weeder just last week (and again this week) to tackle more fall and the last summer crops. And the garlic harvest, all six 120 foot beds, are now safely drying in our nursery, with shade cloth and fans and the garlic braiding is about to begin. It’s easy for all of us to think that we are over the hump now, and the farm will just sort of coast through the season, and you’ll pickup produce from us at market or the farmstore. And, we'll all go to bed at 5pm, well rested. But no, not at all. When you come to the farm from here on out, there’s always something big going on, and sometimes while it’s behind the scenes, this week -- and the rest of the season -- it’s all really carnival.
You’ll most likely see that root washer running today if you come out at 3.30 for the hosted farmstore. The chickens will most likely be enjoying treats from the pack-shed. If you want to feed them, just ask for a bucket of treats. Whole gardens are getting taken out of production in preparation for cover crop. Just a few more big plantings are still going in, in addition to the weekly plantings, and the last of our fall ground preparation is happening, and that’s all just this week. The last big summer crops are getting ready to fruit (come on tomatoes, you are almost there), and you’ll see some of the first eggplants, mountains of cucumbers, and some peppers, along with lots of surprises — including some new head lettuce we’ve been happy with. Oh, and did I mention that we have another full time crew member in addition to our Thursday pack shed princess? I haven’t even talked about the intern crew cabins at all this year, really. They are both getting close to getting power and the last interior carpentry, and everyone, and especially the residents in our tiny village that feed you all are looking forward to their completion.
In the barn office, we are finalizing a workshop schedule that will help our community put up food. And, on a more serious note, it’s part of our makeup income plan for the hail damage we had earlier this year. It really never impacted farm members, and really we brought just a tad less to two farmers markets, but they were crops that help us pay off debt and run a tight ship, and we really do need to replace that aging 1992 Geo Metro that can’t leave the Bitterroot, so you get the point.
The best way you all can help is to come on out to the farm. Walk around, join the excitement, and boy, there’s a lot of new stuff here - we even re-arranged the pack shed and for the boat loads of produce about to come in, have everything from new harvest supplies to (finally) another garden cart coming. Malaya even got a summer hair cut. A couple of us set aside Tuesdays to visit with you all from 3.30-6.30, so come on out! It’s farm season, and we are so grateful for you, and abundance.
Special Note to Members: Remember this spring, when we had to ration produce a little? We are imposing mandatory minimums from now on. I’m kidding, but not really. Salad mix? It’s now unlimited. You thought we weren’t growing enough carrots? Think again? You want to pickle some beets? We’ve got you covered. We are getting very close to firing up the third large cooler in the farmstore and there’s a lot more out on the counters now, including some coffee we’ve purchased from farmer friends in Indonesia. We roast that here as well, every week. And members and friends, tell others about the farmstore. It's the time when we really do have enough for everyone, so please help spread the word about the self-serve, always open farmstore.
See you today, or at the farm!
