FALL GARDEN + NEW MUSHROOMS + SWEET CORN LOVE (WITH VIDEO)

VIDEO HERE.

Taking a stroll around the farm on our YouTube today and talking about some of the things we have going on including the new residents of our intern cabin who are really a couple of fungis.Okay, you kind of have to say that one aloud to appreciate it. Also, since fungi is already plural neither I, nor my spellcheck, actually believe “fungis” is a word. But you know, things are always funnier when you explain them.Anywho, enjoy and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube while you’re there! -Farmer Jesse

IT’S HARD TO WORK ON A MOVING TRAIN.

My mentor Eric Smith from Bugtussle Farm used to say often that, “it’s hard to work on a moving train.” It’s a phrase I have always loved and now, as a farm-owner, one I find almost relentlessly illuminating. Especially when you’re in the middle of the season, but even when you’re not, a moving train offers an obnoxiously accurate analogy for a farm business. Farms feel like locomotives: there is a mass of power and work that goes into getting a farm going that, when wanting to change something, makes your options 1) take the train off the tracks, which is financially impossible for us. Or 2) get out there and find some time to do extra work. And we have run into this reality in many areas of our farming but especially of late in our no-till transition. For one, we are attempting to turn a normal, (low) tillage garden into functioning no-till business mid-season which means that we are still having to deal with many of the weed and compaction issues generated by our previous practices... while trying to grow food and make income. That part of the train, in other words, is still in motion—the pistons chugging ahead mercilessly—while Hannah and I are hanging out of the cab windows attempting upgrades. And to be sure, Hannah is very pregnant. Because that’s the reality. As a farm that is increasingly four season (making everything “mid-season”) we can’t just shut the business down for six months to remodel. If we want to do this transition, we have to put in the work while we are already putting in a ton of work. And we do want to, if not need to, transition. Simply, no-till is the only longterm solution that fits our overall farm goals and ideals, making these upgrades a necessity if we want to keep farming for a few more decades. The hard work you do in a year should always (when it can) go towards making next year easier. My back is not getting any younger. The tractor is not improving with age. The weeds aren’t just going to stop enjoying bare soil. We have to think more holistically about what we’re doing—indeed, a royal and first-person plural “we”. Every year we have to ask ourselves, if we’re going to work on this train is it going to make the train more autonomous? Because if not, then why are we risking ourselves to do it? This idea of an autonomous garden isn’t new—indeed, it is just permaculture. It is what Fukuoka saw in the dog on the beach. And honestly, it’s the basis of any successful business—cut down on the work that doesn’t add value. So should it not also, where it can, be the basis of market gardening? There is nothing wrong with planting and harvesting annuals every year—indeed, there is something very delicious about it—but it’s everything else that goes into that work that we want to reduce. The soil disturbance and thus erosion. The time spent cultivating. All of it. All the muda. All the unnecessary work.We could let the train keep running as is, of course, but eventually I’m not going to be able to shovel the coal. I’m not going to be able to do the repairs. I’ve got to start now, getting the train in shape while I’m still in shape to do it. It’s a wild ride, and a bit risky, but we’re already seeing some improvements. The train is already running better. Plus, I’m enjoying watching it go from coal-powered to solar. From machine tillage to biological. I’m enjoying the thought of less weeding, more time spent with my family, and frankly a train that can quietly and regeneratively drive itself. -Jesse

TURNING YOUR GARDEN PATHS INTO FOOD (VIDEO).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkTyv-iAJFYIn the middle of the above video I have a realization that I don’t fully process until later when I’m editing and that is: our garden paths take up one third of our growing space.That’s crazy.I mean, I knew it was a lot but I’d never put a number to it. So that furthered my feeling that adding value to your garden paths isn’t just an issue of income, but one of ecology and proper stewardship—one third of my entire garden is compacted dirt!Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this video and let me know if you have any questions, ideas, or comments—I’m all ears... and 1/3 pathways. Sheesh.- Jesse  

OUR FIRST NO-TILL TRIALS HAVE BEGUN, Y'ALL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0NtroaasaoWhen I envision our farm becoming 100% no-till over the next few years, there are a few basic concepts that define for me what that will (more or less) look like.The first is that the growing beds will be permanent (which, albeit a little wonky, they technically already are). The idea here is that we never have to rebuild the beds with machinery and by avoiding that process we can maintain nice, loose vegetable beds with good soil structure and a healthy population of macro and microbiology.The next is that they will always have something growing in them to increase photosynthesis. This process, as I vaguely recall from high school biology, traps carbon and feeds soil microbial life (and grows nutritious food, obviously). And we want to take advantage of that by never having empty beds so we can always be storing carbon instead of loosing it.Another core no-till concept for us is that we will plant these beds densely to decrease the amount of soil exposed to the sun, and increase the amount of food grown per square foot. We hope with all this vegetation to eventually no longer need the broadfork at all, and instead allow the roots and soil life to move the soil around and aerate it as necessary.There will also be a fair amount of compost involved, depending on the crops. Next year we will add a significant amount to each bed, then supplementary amounts as we go forward.Anywho, with that I want to introduce you to Ever Bed with the above video. We are in the middle of a few no-till experiments this month, but perhaps none more exciting than this one. Ever Bed is a kind of proto-type for our transitioning no-till farm that encompasses much off what I sort of envision most of, if not all of, our garden looking like in the coming years.The idea here is to never take it this bed of production (ergo “Ever Bed”), and to use it for growing food (not cover crops) year-round, adding compost before every crop in requisite amounts. We will also always be trying planting Ever Bed’s next crop before the last one has come out of the ground. What we’re trying to do, especially in the summer, is take advantage of the canopy of certain crops (not all) to help provide shade for more tender crops. In this way, Ever Bed‘s first crop was celery, which we will start harvesting in two weeks, so we just interplanted the bed with Salanova lettuce, which conveniently needs two weeks of partial shade to establish itself (especially in this summery May we’re having).Of course, we are not going at this blindly. We have always done some amount of interplanting, and we know where it works and where it doesn’t. Also, I have taken a soil sample from Ever Bed to make sure that it is still building organic matter throughout this process as I can compare it to the average of each of the plots. If it is not, I will change gears and regroup. If you see anything that strikes you as not-quite-right about the process or video (beyond my haircuts which, yes, I unfortunately do myself), let us know. As I often emphasize, I will always take one good criticism over a thousand attaboys any day.There is more information in the video and more information about out no-till adventure at our YouTube channel (which you can subscribe to here, if you so please).- Farmer Jesse