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
SO YOU WANT TO START A FARM? SIX THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW (WITH VIDEO)
VIDEO HERE.
As we chug through what is currently our ninth season farming, I am realizing that there are a near infinite number of elements of this work that the available farming literature can’t really or just don’t tell you about the realities of starting a farm—six in particular, however, that really stand out. And being July, I feel as though we are feeling every single one of these six elements all at once. Most of them in my back.
So I thought in the spirit of being utterly exhausted and almost completely enveloped by our job, I thought I would share the ones that have most impacted us in this week’s video and, of course, encourage you all to share your own. Because for me, I don’t think it’s going to help get people into farming—which we do need to do if we want good food in the future—if they have false expectations about what it’s like, especially in those first five years of starting your own farm. Those are just a beast. But don’t worry, I end the video on a positive note, because for every harsh reality of farming, there is, to be sure, an equal if not completely redemptive joy.
Oh, and watch for Wendell and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel! Thanks, guys! -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
THE SIX KEY TENETS TO NO-TILL MARKET GARDENING.
VIDEO HERE.
When Rough Draft Farmstead first started out, we wanted it to be an entirely “no-till” farm which we theretofore defined rather simply as mulching the garden with hay or straw and not tilling it. Period. So several years ago, that is what we attempted to do. We bought or traded for hay from a neighbor—usually impossibly giant, rotten round bales—and spread it over our gardens laboriously. Every fall it was battle to get it spread then in the Spring we would transplant or sow crops into it. This of course worked fine... to an extent.The soil did become more pliable and healthier below the mulch, but it also resulted in a lot of added weed seed (ergo a lot of added hand-weeding); in soil that was too cool for early tomatoes; in a lot of difficulty direct seeding; and in whole days or even weeks spent simply adding mulch. It was, in short, not sustainable on a market scale. Now, however, we have come to see the folly in our thinking. The mulch was fine, and certainly a bonafide no-till practice. Where we failed was in our own myopathy—that we saw no-till as a single thing (mulch) and not a nuanced set of principles that could be easily be adapted to any situation and many materials. So in today’s video I have laid out these new set of principles we are following to get our current minimal tillage farm turned entirely into a no-tillage farm. Oh and while you’re watching, don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube, especially if you’re interested in no-till gardening but even if not! I mean, who doesn’t love watching nerdy farm videos? Lots of content to come all year long (because fortuitously, growing year-round has an important place in no-till farming), so stay tuned. -Jesse