Farm Happenings

Weather: We’ve had two weeks – or is it four? – of cold, grey weather. Reminds me of growing up in Seattle, except that I wasn’t trying to get a bunch of carrots and beets out of the field while I was in high school. We’ve had some beautiful sunrises, and when the sun does break through, it’s glorious. I think a week ago Wednesday was maybe the most beautiful day I have ever seen on the farm, the sun shining brightly, the autumn air crisp but not freezing, the colors in the trees just too beautiful for words. Two juvenile bald eagles tussled over something above the creek in the late afternoon. We had a hard, hard freeze on Saturday night last weekend, harder than I’ve ever seen this early in October.

What We Did: We’ve got harvest running at full tilt right now. We pulled the storage cabbages and Chinese cabbages out of the field last week, just ahead of the freeze, and started our roots harvest in earnest on Wednesday with beets, winter radishes, and carrots.

Comings and Goings: On Monday and Tuesday last week, Chris traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to testify at a USDA hearing about the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. The proposal would provide government oversight of a marketing label to be awarded to handlers who comply with as-yet unspecified food safety “metrics.” A similar agreement in California has had devastating environmental effects, without a measurable increase in food safety since it was initiated in 2007; the same players are involved in the national proposal, which seems likely to close market doors to small farmer-handlers like Rock Spring Farm. If you are feeling wonk-ish, you can read Chris’ testimony here: http://www.nationalorganiccoalition.org/testimony.html