Farmer Kurt’s Field Notes Sept. 7, 2024
Howdy everyone!
This week was another crazy week, but good news! The high season madness is starting slow down. I think we’ve hit the apex. It’s a good thing too because my crew is tired. It rained on Friday — praise God! I love it when it rains because it means I get to sleep. Corinna was gone most of the day, so I had the whole house to myself. I slept until 2 PM. Feeling much better.
Wednesday was a highlight for all of us. Seniors from the PENTA Culinary program came to visit the farm. Every year they get a farm tour, and they always make a delicious lunch for us. I mean… delicious! Plus they usually volunteer for one hour. I had 4 jobs ready for them, and they really knocked some things out. One of the crews hauled away sand bags from an entire block of beds. Another group “rolled watermelons” off the poly, so my crew could more easily pull off that plastic row cover later in the day. Group 3 bagged up the cherry tomatoes for the Thursday CSA boxes, and group 4 weeded my overly weedy carrot patch.
My 6-man crew spent a big chunk of the week harvesting yet another truckload each of fennel, peppers, and watermelons. We’ll continue to do so for a few more weeks — this is our main revenue generator for the fall, so I’ve got to hit those windows. Glen sub-soiled and disked the back acres for me. We decided we need to land-level them too, before we throw up beds on them for next year. After that I’ll seed cover crops on them to overwinter. Hard to believe I’m already planning beds for 2025.
The next crop of bush pole beans are growing in my high tunnel. If you walk on the bike path next to our property, you can see them. They vines are climbing up the trellis. I had Jose tie additional string levels so they can get really tall. That will make it easy to harvest.
Juan sprays down leeks from last week’s box
You’ll notice some new crops showing up in the box and online store this week… winter squash is a big one. My crew harvested it on Saturday — lots of it. We’ll be storing this for several weeks and doling it out to you in waves in your box. I’m also selling some of it wholesale. The cauliflower and broccoli and fall turnips are coming in, too.
Corinna and I host a farm tour for our regional farmer colleagues this Sunday. This will be our chance to “give back” and educate the farmer community on how to run a successful CSA operation, as well as wholesale. I remember when I was a young farmer really appreciating the chance to learn from people more experienced than I was. I feel like I now get to give back.
Kurt and Josiah process garlic.
Every few extra seconds I get, I’m in the greenhouse with my boys processing onions and garlic. We plant the garlic seed at the end of October. I’m hoping to get you garlic one week this year, but most of it will be saved for seed so I can restock my supply. It’s pretty expensive stuff!
Corinna brings in a harvest of pawpaws.
Corinna continues to make progress with her health. Working with this new functional doctor who specializes in gut health has been a deal-breaker. It’s very exciting to see her acting more and more like her old self. We’re hoping for a full recovery within a couple more months. Thank you for praying for her. The end is in sight!