Farmer Kurt’s Field Notes Week 4 (July 1-5, 2024)
Can you see the leeks through the purslane?! Purslane grows rampant if we let it.
This week was “Weeding Week.”
Our guys spent a whole day weeding peppers, basil, and eggplant up front. They spend a half day weeding the leeks and kale in the back block. Purslane, red root, and lambs-quarter are our biggest problems — with purslane winning the contest by far. Ironically purslane is a superfood, highly nutritious, and we sometimes add it to our salads. I tried putting it into CSA boxes one year. I think people were confused (possibly offended? LOL). Now the fields look beautiful again. It feels good to stay on top of the weeds like this. I know it won’t last.
Speaking of weeds, our asparagus field just looks incredible this year. It’s ferning out — which means the spears have grown tall and developed feathery, fern-like foliage. The fern-like foliage allows the plant to photosynthesize, creating food that is transported down to the roots and crown. This energy is stored and used for producing new spears the following spring. Letting some spears fern out each year is crucial for the health and longevity of the asparagus bed. The ferns help build up energy reserves in the roots, ensuring the plant remains vigorous and productive. In addition to energy storage, the ferns also produce seeds, which can contribute to natural propagation if allowed to fall to the ground.
Every year, I’ve had trouble keeping this acre of asparagus weed-free.
After all, it sits dormant for 11 months of the year. This year, I learned a trick from a mentor of mine to keep the beds weed-free. I planted a cover crop — buckwheat and tillage radishes — in between the beds. These grew up quickly and have choked out any “bad” weeds. Plus, the cover crop will add powerful nutrients to my soil when I till it in later in the year. It’s brilliant! I have had so many farmers message me, “How are you keeping the weeds down in your asparagus!?” So I made a video which you can watch above.
Last week, we harvested the garlic.
It’s a pretty normal year. Garlic gets planted at the end of October, and then I “mulch it” with a protective layer over the winter to keep it from freezing. (I learned that the hard way years ago, remember?) This year, I did a “mulching trial” to determine the best way to cover my garlic. I left one bed mulch-free. One bed was hand-spread with rye straw (which took a TON of time). And the other bed I used a straw blower machine to lay the mulch. Half of that bed was laid with hay and half with rye straw. The “winning” method was the straw blower machine using RYE straw. The no mulch bed got so weedy, I had to harvest it early for “green garlic” in the Salad Shares this May. As a result, I’ll need to buy in more garlic seed since we lost that whole bed of garlic.
Our chickens are thanking us.
I finally got our chicken waterer system figured out. Our chickens live way out in the back acreage where they can forage in our grasses. Their “chicken palace” is now equipped with an automatic watering system, that uses gravity to pull water from a tanker into little cups in their coop. One of the valves had been broken for a while, which meant we were having to haul water out there by hand several times a day during those really hot days. After ordering several wrong versions of the part, we finally got it right. And our chickens are happy again.
We’re selling mushrooms in the online store!
You may have noticed that we are featuring a new item in our online store now: mushrooms. These are grown by my buddy Zak Zientek, the founder of Portage River Mushrooms. I call him the “mushroom guy” now. He used to work for us as a grower a few years ago, and towards the tail end of our time together, he started experimenting with mushrooms and cultivating them in a grow room. We went to visit his place two weeks ago, and wow! Things are really taking off! He says he can’t keep up with the demand, and he’s looking to buy an additional grow trailer. I’m so happy for him. To support his entrepreneurism, I want to put his product in our online store this season, and see how it goes. Please share your feedback with us. This week we’ll have Lion’s Mane and Shiitakes, but he grows oysters and all kinds of other stuff too, which we hope to bring into the mix over time.
Noah and the crew harvest kale. Notice the “tent” on the wagon. This provides shade for the recently harvested crop.
Planting Fall Crops This Week
Hard to believe, but I’m planting for the fall this week. The guys are out there right now transplanting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and fennel today. Everything looks beautiful right now. We should have tomatoes from the high tunnels in two weeks. Sweet corn is about 3 weeks out. The sweet potato vines look fantastic. My winter squash and melons are strong. Summer squash seems to have avoided the squash beetle for now… You’ll notice amaranth in the online store this week. This is a green that is super heat tolerant. I like to grow it in the summer months, because it doesn’t turn bitter like other lettuces can. It’s such a beautiful green. Let me know if you like it!
Corinna wants me to remind you that we are taking a farmer vacation from July 19-23. There will be no CSA pickup the week of July 22-26. We are flying to Alberta, Canada, to attend the Cold Lake Air Show with our boys. OF course we are!!
Until next week!
-Farmer Kurt