ON FROST AND SUCCESS.
We got our first frosts this weekend. And It felt.... good. Really good. Sometimes frosts can come at the absolute wrong time––too early, too late, too unpredicted––but we were expecting these and we were excited to see them.Frost sweetens the greens. Frost kills off unwanted weeds. Frost makes an excellent last name. But moreover, frost marks the end of the season, and a good time to celebrate. Or at least you always hope so.Of course, things are still growing, and will continue growing well into the winter. But mostly it will be the crops we want to be growing––carrots, beets, greens. Otherwise, the summer weeds are toast, the winter cover crops are rocking, and the main bulk is out and safely stowed away.So now we finish up our season with our wonderful shareholders, and start planning next year's garden, looking at seed catalogs, and getting ready for what we feel will be our best year yet––2016. We're excited about our CSA––very––excited about our markets, and excited to still be farming six years in. Not every young farmer lasts that long. Not every young farmer gets to experience frost elation. But every time we make it to that first fall frost, we feel a little victorious––one more year down, one more year in the books, one more year of experience completed. And although we will only know a year from now how we did, we do think next year will be a great year––more mushrooms, more honey, more vegetables, more fun. More pigs? Maybe that, too. All that said, we truly won't know until those first fall frosts of 2016 when we can look around and say, "By golly, we did it again!" So thank you, frost. It's always good to see you.- Jesse.
PATCHY FROST.
This weekend, after a few teasers, we finally got our first frost. And many plants were effectively toasted. But what a season it has been! We could not have asked for a better year here in Bugtussle to get established. It was never very dry, it was never very hot, it was always sort of wet––albeit occasionally too wet––but it has been a near perfect vintage (if one is allowed to apply that term to vegetable farming) throughout.We don't, of course, expect it to last. We expect drought years and floods, heat waves and sudden, unwelcome cold snaps, but in many ways we felt we were shown some true Southern Hospitality this year. And we're extremely thankful for it.Of course, this doesn't mean the season is over necessarily, just the growing season, the tomato season, the peppers, eggplant and summer crop season. With a frost, in fact, comes a lot of sweetness. Carrots will officially become the sweet, odd little roots we all know and love. Kale will lose its lightly bitter edge and replace it with a touch of sugar. Salad turnips will suddenly go from chubby, spicy vegetables to chubby, spicy apples. If someone were to ask me what my favorite time of year is, it wouldn't be as simple as fall or spring, summer or winter. It's right before the first fall frost, and right after. It's right now, amid the sweetening.- Jesse.
CSA STUFF AND STUFF.
Shooting for the end of May/beginning of June for our first CSA deliveries means that we've had a busy week: getting a lot of plants started and some ground worked up alongside some general plotting, crafting, planning, designing and deciding. The chicken coop is coming along nicely, our new house is coming along nicely, the garden is growing, we've made some great new farmer friends and the weather seems like it will be much more friendly to our poor baby plants this week than it was last. It really doesn't take much to do better than 3 frosts in a row... as I write this, however, we're getting a much needed light and gentle rain here in Danville. Apology accepted, weather.Anyway, we hope our CSA members are as excited about the upcoming season-–and especially the fresh vegetables!––as we are. It should, God willing, prove to be a diverse and plentiful 15 weeks. Also, we looked at the pear tree yesterday, and I can't make any promises...but weather permitting, our fall CSA might be getting some tree fruit in their baskets! However, let's not get ahead of ourselves yet as the summer season is just around the corner and will be far from short on treats! If you are still on the fence about signing up for the CSA, don't sweat it, there are a few spots left but we don't know for how long –– here's the info on the shares. Please contact us if you have any questions, reservations or suggestions.Lastly, Hannah and I are excited about an interesting upcoming event this weekend. For the Earth Day Forum taking place in Washington D.C. on Sunday, there will a sermon by Kentuckian Matthew Sleeth at 8:45 in which he will be launching the new Seminary Stewardship Alliance and having a conversation with Wendell Berry on "why the church should take a leading role in environmental conservation," as quoted from the Lexington Herald Leader. The events will be streamed on the Blessed Earth site and at the National Cathedral site, nationalcathedral.org. As you know, we love Mr. Berry, and environmentalism in the church (or lack thereof) is something Hannah and I discuss all the time. This should be fascinating no matter your faith or denomination, so remember to tune in!And for no reason whatsoever, here are some pictures of the other Wendell Beary, looking a little bored on this rainy Monday morning.- Jesse.
FROST, TRELLIS, RIBBONS, AND COOPS.
Here is a brief recap of the week: As predicted, we had several more frosts and had to keep covering and uncovering the plants with sheets and blankets, checking on them, worrying over them. But despite that, everything continues to grow! The garden is full of peas, chard, kale, lettuce, potatoes, onions, and garlic. We trellised the peas, mulched the berry plants, direct seeded beets, and dug rows for our tomato plants. The cold frames are full of herbs and celery preparing to go into the ground. Yesterday, we started lettuce, squash, cucumbers, and cilantro from seed. I ripped a bunch of fabric strips out of the aforementioned sheets and blankets and tied them all around the fence (super scary deer defense, I know). Jesse nearly completed our (100% salvaged!) chicken coop, and Wendell got really dirty.- Hannah.
