For this week's post, Michael has asked me to share my perspective on farming and I've found that most of all, farming has been a great learning experience for me. Here are just a few of the lessons I have learned.
1.Weather is either your best friend or your worst enemy
-So far this season, we've been lucky enough to have some nice farming weather: upper 70s to low 80s, partially cloudy and a slight breeze. I've always found that its easiest to do your least favorite tasks (hand weeding, straw mulching and raking beds) when the weather is the nicest and do the easier things when the weather is not so great. Although sometimes this scheme is not possible to maintain, most notably would be the week that Michael and I spent planting tiny onion seedlings while on our hands and knees during the rain and cold of March. Now, if only we could do something about the incessant bugs!
2.Things usually don't go as planned:
-I'm sure Michael would agree with me that has been our number one issue so far. For instance, much of the early season crops such as the arugula, radishes and broccoli rabe that were direct seeded were overtaken by tons, and I mean TONS, of grass. However on a positive note, I've never seen onions do so well! At this point, there are four 200 foot triple row beds (that's about half a mile) of beautiful white and red onions.
3.You will feel peaceful and love your job one day and then want to cry the next:
-My farming friend Virginia likes to say that organic farm work is “back breaking but soul enriching” and that's the best description I have heard so far. Seeing all the hard work that goes into growing the wonderful veggies that we produce has given me a new found appreciation for what the earth provides for us. Its cliché but a visit to the farm will make this quite apparent. And, although I'm sure there is no scientific basis for this, I find that veggies that I helped grow always seem to taste better than store bought stuff.
4.There is a reason that chemical herbicides and insecticides are so popular:
-Organic weed control, usually in the form of physical removal, is hard work, takes a lot of time and requires constant vigilance. Enough said.
5.Farming requires courage
-Besides learning to be comfortable around ginormous spiders (seriously, I didn't know spiders this large existed in this part of the world) my main goal for this season has been learning how to drive the tractor. This endeavor has been somewhat nerve racking for me since I am used to driving an automatic car (“what's a clutch?”) and I get nervous that I will hurt the tractor/crops/myself. So far, no people, plants (except a few onions) or machines have been harmed while I've been driving the tractor and I've learned a lot of essential things such as how to hook up the implements to the back, using the broadcast seeder to plant cover crops and using the plow. I also owe a lot to Michael for being so patient and helping me learn!
6. Other miscellaneous and fun facts:
-the flowers of bok choi and tatsoi are edible and taste like broccoli
-new potatoes are just smaller regular potatoes that are harvested early, same with green onions
-tomato plants need to be pruned in order to encourage fruit production
-many species of “weeds” are edible: parslane, dandelion leaves, and lambs quarter (however I don't recommend picking and eating any of these if you find them, since they may have been sprayed with pesticide)
-beans and legume crops need to be inoculated with beneficial bacteria before planting
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy eating all the veggies as much as I enjoyed growing them!
Until next time...
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