Turning

The final round of 2021 crops was planted into five beds in the greenhouse last week. This batch of lettuce mix and endive should be harvested in late December. Weekly transplanting commenced the first week of April and varied each week from more than an entire day's worth to a couple of hours. Not transplanting will open up time for other tasks now.

Over the past couple of weeks we were able to give our new berry patches some attention. The raspberries, which were planted in 2020 and should be harvestable next year, were weeded and trellised. The blackberries, planted just this year and already with some 8' long canes, were trellised and woodchipped (besides having been cultivated and weeded at least 3 or 4 times earlier this year). Organically managed berry plants don't seem to remain productive (for us) for more than 3-4 years so we'll probably try to incorporate them into our long term crop rotation, adding new patches every few years in an attempt for a continuous supply. This year was a gap harvest year, unfortunately, while last season's initial great blackberry fruit set was setback by disease and cane injury from cold, prompting patch removal and replacement.

We're now gearing up for the annual big garlic planting. Garlic seed has been saved at the farm since the 2004 season by setting aside approximately 300lbs from the summer harvest. With the help of CSA members we'll split bulbs into cloves, plant the cloves into raised beds, and cover the patch with straw to insulate, protect the soil, and prevent frost-heaving. We're hoping to plant the garlic the first week of November.