The season's first distribution will be this week, on Thursday, for both locations. We are expecting that this week's share (although not as robust as it will be in coming weeks) will consist of the following: broccoli, napa cabbage, radishes, and lettuce. For those of you who missed out on our "bonus" distribution last week, make sure you keep your eye out for our brand-spankin' new, special veggie delivery vehicle (aka our Reefer)!
Since it's been awhile since I've posted (apologies), there has been TONS of activity at the Farm since I last wrote. First, the well was dug as I last reported. The next step required a plumber, a water pump (of such capacity that the plumber insisted that should we go anywhere, we take it with us), a half mile of irrigation pipe, and a rented implement known in the biz as a "ditch witch." Essentially, Farmer Mike had to create an irrigation system, to bring water from the well to the planting fields (obviously the distance of a half-mile), which involved burying said pipe at least 2 feet underground. The still-wet conditions did not help. But alas and alack, after a weekend of extremely hard (and frustrating) work, Farmer Mike got 'er done!!
This is the "ditch witch" in action:
Now that the pipe is in place, we were all ready for the electrician and Allegheny Power to come out and get us electrified. The electrician was on top of his game and came out immediately. Allegheny Power, on the other hand, put us on their "to do" list and said, we'll see you in 2-3 weeks!!
Thank goodness we had a generator (her name is Genny) on the property that could provide a temporary power source so that we could get all that hard-dug water (and hard-buried pipe) to deliver the water to the fields! Also, thank goodness, Allegheny Power must have heard the desperate despondency in Michael's voice when faced with a 2-3 week waiting period because they came out within the week!! All's well that ends well...
Or is it?
Take a look at this picture and see if you can deduce the answer to the question above:
If you guessed "all's well that ends well....NOT," you would be correct!! Apparently, during the irrigation pipe installation, the sections of pipe needed to be connected with clamps. Ever being cautious, Farmer Mike did not want to secure the clamps too tightly, fearing that it could collapse the pipes. Despite such precautions, we have now suffered two leaks (and of course, the latter leak was MUCH more difficult to locate), which required uncovering the pipe and fixing the leaks. Apparently, in his cautious installation, the clamps were not installed with sufficient tightness to keep the water from leaking out of the connections. There are several other areas where the pipe is connected that have yet to leak, but it is only a matter of time. Thus, that muddy guy in the picture above (I promise, he does not normally come home looking that worse for the wear) will likely be uncovering and repairing leaky pipes for weeks to come. Perhaps this post should be entitled D is for Distribution...and Digging!
I acknowledge that this post has more words (and a lot less pictures) than normal. I felt that I owed a significant post to the recent happenings at the Farm, since I have completely neglected my blogging duties. I truly aspire to bring you a weekly post...and now that the season is (almost) officially under way, I suspect I won't have trouble keeping you informed! With that in mind, please feel free to email recipes (using the Farm's veggies, of course) to michael@1acrefarm.com. Also, if there is a particular subject you'd like to hear more about (or see pictures of), let us know that, too! We loving hearing from you.
Until next time...
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