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News and Notes | The Anchor Run Blog

Posts Filtered by Month - January 2017 |
Show Recent Posts

January 29, 2017
Sign Up For 2017 Main Season And Help Us Plan For Membership Numbers
Log in to the website to purchase your Main Season share and mail your $200 deposit to secure your spot. Thank you for your continued support! Spread the good word to other past, present, and future members!
This share was distributed at the end of July 2016.
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January 29, 2017
Greens and Roots of Course
Winter Harvest #5 (Week A) should include potatoes, cabbage, onions, purple top turnips, kohlrabi, beets, celeriac, radishes, lettuce mix, spinach, arugula, baby kale, mizuna, and greens mix. Some items will be a choice.
An end of January middle of the winter CSA farm share!
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January 29, 2017
Here Comes February
Yankee Hardy Lettuce Mix Blend looking vibrant in the greenhouse; its 1st cutting should take place this week. We'll also probably take a second cutting from the hoop house shown below if needed. Spinach should come from the field - amazingly - as well as the hoop house.
With the arrival of a new month, a calendar page flip, winter's midpoint, seasonal unexceptional cold returns, descends. Crop structures will need to be closed and sealed up before nighttime to trap daytime heat. We'll probably also add interior covers as well, as added insurance. All of these crops have experienced deep lows already so they should be prepared for this round of cold. Very soon daylight will lengthen beyond the 10-hour mark and will increase rapidly to the 12-hour equinox in March. During February we're anticipating accelerated crop growth which will hopefully translate into additional fresh greens in the share.
We hope you've been enjoyed the winter share thus far. If you have any comments or suggestions (or criticisms) for us please send them our way!
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January 22, 2017
Mid-Winter Harvest
Winter CSA Harvest #4 (Week B) should include potatoes, garlic, cabbage, kohlrabi, beets, turnips, radishes, celeriac, baby kale, arugula, and greens mix. Some items could be a choice.
Last week's share bounty, courtesy of Field Manager Hannah
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January 22, 2017
Sign Up For 2017 Main Season And Help Us Plan For Membership Numbers
Log in to the website to purchase your Main Season share and mail your $200 deposit to secure your spot. Thank you for your continued support!
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 22, 2017
Continued Growth
Spinach and chard re-growth in the hoop house; slow growing scallions, too
Is this a mild winter or a mild stretch of weather? I think I can remember a few nights of single digits. We're almost at the end of January and March is only a month away, which basically signifies the beginning of mental spring. The northeasterly winds of last winter dumped two feet of snow but today we're looking at rain. Protected crops are growing and we're keeping records and collecting growth data to better plan for future seasons. We're busy contemplating improvements for the 2017 Main Season and wrapping up leftover jobs from this past year. The warmer weather and unfrozen, albeit constantly wet and squishy, ground enables us to spend more time outside. Crops are easier to harvest when our fingers aren't frozen. Washing is manageable when pipes aren't blocked with ice. Are we spoiled this year or would some deep and long cold be good for the fields and spirit? Of course we have to take what comes, what we're given. All we can really do is plan, assess, reflect, and act. What will the rest of 2017 bring?
We enjoyed a short family trip to balmy NC to greet a new niece and play outside!
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January 15, 2017
Whether We Weather The Weather
By Derek McGeehan
The new addition to the Anchor Run Farm sign thanks to field manager Hannah.
Is it winter or not? For a few days it feels, sounds, and smells that way, then the next round of a thaw arrives and with it a beckoning to be outside, a solitary confused peeping frog, and the smell of decomposing daikon radish cover crop. On the one hand I want it to be cold to set back bugs and diseases for the following season, but on the other hand mild weather is pleasant and productive. Thermal fluctuations are probably normal and happen most seasons but going from a low of 2 degrees to a high of 65 degrees a few days apart is extreme. Give me one month with temperatures consistently below freezing with a long autumn and spring on either side and I would be happy. With an extended forecast of above freezing temperatures and daylight slowly getting back to 10 hours a day, thinking about spring and earnestly getting ready for the next growing season will probably commence.
Under Gabe's watchful supervision aka meaningful distractions Hannah winds up last season's irrigation drip tape for next season's use.
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January 15, 2017
Mid-January Thaw Slaw
By Derek McGeehan
The greenhouse protects the next round of greens after a few inches of clinging snow.
Winter CSA Harvest #3 (Week A) should include potatoes, beets, cabbage, garlic, kohlrabi, baby kale, greens mix, arugula, radishes, turnips, and celeriac. Some items will be a choice.
This interesting fungal creature is assisting in the decomposition of one resident weed tree 'Tree of Heaven' that we've repeatedly cut back; it looks subterranean or extraterrestrial. **Will not be included in the share this week.
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January 8, 2017
Grating is Great
By Derek McGeehan
Winter CSA Harvest #2 (Week B) should include potatoes, cabbage, beets, garlic, baby kale, arugula, mizuna, turnips, radishes, and celeriac. Some items may be a choice and/or may be unavailable if the sun doesn't thaw the interior of the high tunnel.
A simple way to incorporate your miscellaneous roots or cabbage into any meal is to grate them. This was a splendid epiphany recently because it is so easy, improves a dish, incorporates seasonal produce, and adds quality nutrition. We highly recommend you try it, especially if you're having difficulty using some of the less-familiar roots.
Sampling some greens before the big freeze
Red cabbage and watermelon radish, produce we'll be seeing during the Winter CSA
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January 8, 2017
It's Winter
By Derek McGeehan
And it's cold! At 7:30am Monday morning it was 2 degrees outside, 10 degrees inside the high tunnel, 25 degrees under the two layers of inner row cover in the high tunnel, and 30 degrees in the greenhouse, thanks to some subtle propane heat. This was our 3rd single digit morning this fall/winter and probably won't be our last. By 3:00pm Monday afternoon it warmed up to a balmy 23 degrees outside, 42 degrees inside the high tunnel, 46 degrees under the two inner covers, and was 47 degrees in the greenhouse. Fortunately, miraculously, marvelously all of the unheated greens survived and looked happily content by this afternoon. Quite a rebound since this morning, but they were only exposed to 25 degrees or so, which is tolerable, apparently. It's pretty amazing that the simple addition of inner covers protects crops this much, all passively without added heat. This cold arrived on the back of a warm spell, so the leftover warmth of the soil is probably getting trapped under the covers. Twenty-five is low, especially for relatively mature greens that need to be harvested soon. These greens began their lives at the end of October and should be around for a second cutting at the end of February. After we're through with the first cutting in the high tunnel we'll begin cutting in the greenhouse and around then we'll also take a second cutting from the lettuce mix, spinach, and chard in the hoop house. These are our goals anyway. Please enjoy these nurtured organic greens!
Covering and uncovering the protected crops are typical winter growing tasks
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January 1, 2017
Winter CSA Harvest #1
By Derek McGeehan
Winter CSA Harvest #1 should include potatoes, garlic, cabbage, beets, arugula, baby kale, mizuna, greens mix, radishes, turnips, and celeriac. Some items could be a choice.
Uncovering a couple plantings of baby kale, arugula, mizuna, and greens mix after a cold night.
Gabriel tests ice thickness after a cold night.
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January 1, 2017
The Calendar Flips
By Derek McGeehan
Sunlight is perfect this time of year for a good photo, as is Dana's eye.
Welcome to the 2017 Winter CSA! Share distribution begins this Wednesday 1/4/17 1-8pm for Full Shares and Week A Half Shares. Week B Half Shares begin next Wednesday 1/11/17. To find out what week you are, log in to your account. If you participated in the Late Fall CSA as a Half Share, your pick up week is the same.
It's been two weeks since our last CSA pick up; our first week off since mid-May. Thirty-two weeks of harvest and pick up in a row. Not that this week was a week without work, but the gap in harvests allowed additional focus in other areas, or time off from work. On the farm there is almost always a job or task begging for completion, beginning, or a brainstorm. At least there were some holidays spent away from the farm, when it is possible to separate oneself from the responsibility. Either way, the crops look great. I'm excited to harvest fresh greens again this week: baby kale, arugula, mizuna, and greens mix.
Enjoying the first of the new year outside; a warm spring-teaser.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
News and Notes | Posts Filtered by Month - January 2017
 
title title title title title title title
title title title
News and Notes | The Anchor Run Blog

Posts Filtered by Month - January 2017 |
Show Recent Posts

January 29, 2017
Sign Up For 2017 Main Season And Help Us Plan For Membership Numbers
Log in to the website to purchase your Main Season share and mail your $200 deposit to secure your spot. Thank you for your continued support! Spread the good word to other past, present, and future members!
This share was distributed at the end of July 2016.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 29, 2017
Greens and Roots of Course
Winter Harvest #5 (Week A) should include potatoes, cabbage, onions, purple top turnips, kohlrabi, beets, celeriac, radishes, lettuce mix, spinach, arugula, baby kale, mizuna, and greens mix. Some items will be a choice.
An end of January middle of the winter CSA farm share!
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 29, 2017
Here Comes February
Yankee Hardy Lettuce Mix Blend looking vibrant in the greenhouse; its 1st cutting should take place this week. We'll also probably take a second cutting from the hoop house shown below if needed. Spinach should come from the field - amazingly - as well as the hoop house.
With the arrival of a new month, a calendar page flip, winter's midpoint, seasonal unexceptional cold returns, descends. Crop structures will need to be closed and sealed up before nighttime to trap daytime heat. We'll probably also add interior covers as well, as added insurance. All of these crops have experienced deep lows already so they should be prepared for this round of cold. Very soon daylight will lengthen beyond the 10-hour mark and will increase rapidly to the 12-hour equinox in March. During February we're anticipating accelerated crop growth which will hopefully translate into additional fresh greens in the share.
We hope you've been enjoyed the winter share thus far. If you have any comments or suggestions (or criticisms) for us please send them our way!
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 22, 2017
Mid-Winter Harvest
Winter CSA Harvest #4 (Week B) should include potatoes, garlic, cabbage, kohlrabi, beets, turnips, radishes, celeriac, baby kale, arugula, and greens mix. Some items could be a choice.
Last week's share bounty, courtesy of Field Manager Hannah
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 22, 2017
Sign Up For 2017 Main Season And Help Us Plan For Membership Numbers
Log in to the website to purchase your Main Season share and mail your $200 deposit to secure your spot. Thank you for your continued support!
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 22, 2017
Continued Growth
Spinach and chard re-growth in the hoop house; slow growing scallions, too
Is this a mild winter or a mild stretch of weather? I think I can remember a few nights of single digits. We're almost at the end of January and March is only a month away, which basically signifies the beginning of mental spring. The northeasterly winds of last winter dumped two feet of snow but today we're looking at rain. Protected crops are growing and we're keeping records and collecting growth data to better plan for future seasons. We're busy contemplating improvements for the 2017 Main Season and wrapping up leftover jobs from this past year. The warmer weather and unfrozen, albeit constantly wet and squishy, ground enables us to spend more time outside. Crops are easier to harvest when our fingers aren't frozen. Washing is manageable when pipes aren't blocked with ice. Are we spoiled this year or would some deep and long cold be good for the fields and spirit? Of course we have to take what comes, what we're given. All we can really do is plan, assess, reflect, and act. What will the rest of 2017 bring?
We enjoyed a short family trip to balmy NC to greet a new niece and play outside!
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 15, 2017
Whether We Weather The Weather
By Derek McGeehan
The new addition to the Anchor Run Farm sign thanks to field manager Hannah.
Is it winter or not? For a few days it feels, sounds, and smells that way, then the next round of a thaw arrives and with it a beckoning to be outside, a solitary confused peeping frog, and the smell of decomposing daikon radish cover crop. On the one hand I want it to be cold to set back bugs and diseases for the following season, but on the other hand mild weather is pleasant and productive. Thermal fluctuations are probably normal and happen most seasons but going from a low of 2 degrees to a high of 65 degrees a few days apart is extreme. Give me one month with temperatures consistently below freezing with a long autumn and spring on either side and I would be happy. With an extended forecast of above freezing temperatures and daylight slowly getting back to 10 hours a day, thinking about spring and earnestly getting ready for the next growing season will probably commence.
Under Gabe's watchful supervision aka meaningful distractions Hannah winds up last season's irrigation drip tape for next season's use.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 15, 2017
Mid-January Thaw Slaw
By Derek McGeehan
The greenhouse protects the next round of greens after a few inches of clinging snow.
Winter CSA Harvest #3 (Week A) should include potatoes, beets, cabbage, garlic, kohlrabi, baby kale, greens mix, arugula, radishes, turnips, and celeriac. Some items will be a choice.
This interesting fungal creature is assisting in the decomposition of one resident weed tree 'Tree of Heaven' that we've repeatedly cut back; it looks subterranean or extraterrestrial. **Will not be included in the share this week.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 8, 2017
Grating is Great
By Derek McGeehan
Winter CSA Harvest #2 (Week B) should include potatoes, cabbage, beets, garlic, baby kale, arugula, mizuna, turnips, radishes, and celeriac. Some items may be a choice and/or may be unavailable if the sun doesn't thaw the interior of the high tunnel.
A simple way to incorporate your miscellaneous roots or cabbage into any meal is to grate them. This was a splendid epiphany recently because it is so easy, improves a dish, incorporates seasonal produce, and adds quality nutrition. We highly recommend you try it, especially if you're having difficulty using some of the less-familiar roots.
Sampling some greens before the big freeze
Red cabbage and watermelon radish, produce we'll be seeing during the Winter CSA
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 8, 2017
It's Winter
By Derek McGeehan
And it's cold! At 7:30am Monday morning it was 2 degrees outside, 10 degrees inside the high tunnel, 25 degrees under the two layers of inner row cover in the high tunnel, and 30 degrees in the greenhouse, thanks to some subtle propane heat. This was our 3rd single digit morning this fall/winter and probably won't be our last. By 3:00pm Monday afternoon it warmed up to a balmy 23 degrees outside, 42 degrees inside the high tunnel, 46 degrees under the two inner covers, and was 47 degrees in the greenhouse. Fortunately, miraculously, marvelously all of the unheated greens survived and looked happily content by this afternoon. Quite a rebound since this morning, but they were only exposed to 25 degrees or so, which is tolerable, apparently. It's pretty amazing that the simple addition of inner covers protects crops this much, all passively without added heat. This cold arrived on the back of a warm spell, so the leftover warmth of the soil is probably getting trapped under the covers. Twenty-five is low, especially for relatively mature greens that need to be harvested soon. These greens began their lives at the end of October and should be around for a second cutting at the end of February. After we're through with the first cutting in the high tunnel we'll begin cutting in the greenhouse and around then we'll also take a second cutting from the lettuce mix, spinach, and chard in the hoop house. These are our goals anyway. Please enjoy these nurtured organic greens!
Covering and uncovering the protected crops are typical winter growing tasks
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 1, 2017
Winter CSA Harvest #1
By Derek McGeehan
Winter CSA Harvest #1 should include potatoes, garlic, cabbage, beets, arugula, baby kale, mizuna, greens mix, radishes, turnips, and celeriac. Some items could be a choice.
Uncovering a couple plantings of baby kale, arugula, mizuna, and greens mix after a cold night.
Gabriel tests ice thickness after a cold night.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
January 1, 2017
The Calendar Flips
By Derek McGeehan
Sunlight is perfect this time of year for a good photo, as is Dana's eye.
Welcome to the 2017 Winter CSA! Share distribution begins this Wednesday 1/4/17 1-8pm for Full Shares and Week A Half Shares. Week B Half Shares begin next Wednesday 1/11/17. To find out what week you are, log in to your account. If you participated in the Late Fall CSA as a Half Share, your pick up week is the same.
It's been two weeks since our last CSA pick up; our first week off since mid-May. Thirty-two weeks of harvest and pick up in a row. Not that this week was a week without work, but the gap in harvests allowed additional focus in other areas, or time off from work. On the farm there is almost always a job or task begging for completion, beginning, or a brainstorm. At least there were some holidays spent away from the farm, when it is possible to separate oneself from the responsibility. Either way, the crops look great. I'm excited to harvest fresh greens again this week: baby kale, arugula, mizuna, and greens mix.
Enjoying the first of the new year outside; a warm spring-teaser.
share on Facebook share on Twitter link
spacer
spacer