Weather Respite

We're tremendously thankful and appreciative of these cool days and nights that followed just barely enough rainfall last Thursday. That .65" was the first rain that fell in almost two weeks. In anticipation of adequate rainfall we sowed just under a mile of fall/winter carrots and are hopeful they receive another drink of precipitation today. We trialed a method of weed control prior to planting that involved covering the 60'x210' patch with silage tarps for a month to stimulate weed seed germination followed by termination through occultation (sun starving the seedlings). The goal is to remove weed pressure and reduce the weed seed bank in the soil so that the carrots have a better success rate and labor is reduced.

Besides seeding carrots for fall and winter consumption, we've been busy transplanting many other late season treats. Celery, fennel, kale, chard, beets, cabbage, napa cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, hakurei turnips, and lettuce have all been planted in the past couple of weeks. The hoop house is filling up with successions of arugula, romaine, salad radishes, daikon radishes, radicchio, kale, chard, beets, and lettuce. We have about 3 more weeks of sowing for transplanting outdoors in September then we transition to a few weeks of sowing for transplanting into tunnels during late September and early October. Crops transplanted in September and October will be harvested in November and December (Late Fall CSA season).

Very soon we'll begin sowing cover crops over spring and early summer veggie crop fields. Last week we spread compost on those areas and worked it in with a chisel plow. We'll try to subdue the grasses and other weeds that have taken over these spots since the edible crops were harvested with another pass or two with the tractor. This should give the oats, rye, wheat, clover, buckwheat cover crop seeds a better chance of successful germination and growth. We're planning to sow the cover crops seeds a bit later this year to avoid them maturing this fall and dropping their own seeds and becoming a weed problem next year (mostly a buckwheat issue).

Enjoy this great weather! Come to a workshift if you can!