Farm Log

This week everybody worked full tilt to get some critical tasks accomplished. After a long day of greenhouse work last Friday, the crew arrived on Monday to almost-ready fields. Ben and I mudded in a few transplants to test out a transplanter we borrowed from our friends at Featherstone Farm, and when it worked with our transplant system (!) we went into overdrive to get it ready as the soil continued to dry.

The windy weather dried the ridges out a little faster than it did our bottom fields. What fields dry out first can vary tremendously depending on the exact kind of weather that’s drying things out. The wind blows harder on the ridges, pulling moisture out of the soil. Down in the bottoms, the soil is quite a bit nicer and will drain and evaporate water more quickly in less windy conditions. I took the tractor and the tiller up and got some ground ready for laying black plastic; by the time I finished, the bottoms were ready, so I prepared the transplant beds and quickly killed some weeds where we’ll be planting our next two crops of carrots.

Ben hooked up the transplanter and drove while Sarah and Inga fed fennel, endive, escarole, radicchio, scallions and mini-onions into it. This new transplanter is really something else, even though it’s cast-off technology from another farm. Since 2004, we have used a water wheel transplanter to put our crops into the field. Pulled behind the tractor, the water wheel has large hollow wheels that fill up with water; spikes on the wheels punch a dibble into the ground, and a hole in the spike fills the dibble with water. Two or four people ride on the transplanter and set the plants in the muddy holes by hand.

On our new transplanter, a shoe opens up a furrow in the soil. The two riders set plants into a pocket that grabs the plant and carries it down to the furrow. Press wheels push the soil around the roots, and the pocket lets go of the plant. With the old water wheel planter, each really fast worker could put in about 450 plants per hour, not including the time it took to scrape the mud off of the spikes, or fill the tanks with water, or load and reload plants; both of these took a lot of time. With the new planter, Sarah and Inga (who had never used it before), were putting in over 700 plants per hour each, including the time it took to load and reload the transplanter with plants (we are running this planter without water right now, and it doesn’t gob up). I figure our transplanting productivity has doubled!

While Ben, Sarah, and Inga were working to set out plants in the lower fields, I started laying plastic up above. The black plastic warms the soil, which should help us to get better crops of peppers, melons, and paste tomatoes. It also keeps the dirt off things and helps control weeds. We have a big, green machine to put the plastic down on the soil and pull it tight, but the job still takes a lot of time; then again, I laid over two miles of plastic between Monday night and Tuesday morning, so I guess it’s only fair to expect it to take a little while.

Everybody started an hour early on Tuesday to get a jump on things, and the crew kept the transplanter running all day. I killed weeds in the peas, carrots, and beets then moved on to seeding. I put out our first crop of beans – yellow wax, Dragon’s Tongue, and edamame – at the same time my neighbor was putting in his soybeans. I usually like to wait until about two weeks after the neighbors put in their fungicide-treated bean seeds to put my untreated beans in, but I decided not to wait for the soil to warm any more this year. Besides, I’ll get to plant more beans in another week or two.

I tilled down some fresh cover crop to make room for the celeriac and some perennial herb plants before I started seeding carrots. Ben had to leave at the end of the workday, but Sarah and Inga and I put in another ninety minutes on the transplanter setting out shallots and onions. I seeded some carrots when we were done, and was just pulling in to switch seeders when it started to rain, which kicked me out of the field for the night.

We devoted the rest of the week to harvesting, washing, and packing our vegetables and herbs, no small undertaking. Everybody gamely dodged raindrops all day on Wednesday and it looks like we are on track for an on-time finish on Thursday.

Farm Happenings

Weather: Kind of wet. And still cold. Here it is the middle of May and the ground still feels like August. The rain seems to be coming frequently enough to make getting into the field a challenge, but not impossible. And, nicely, it isn’t coming in deluges, but these nice showers that wet everything down and just soak in.

What We Did: Well, we did a lot of stuff that was big and cool, but we kept things moving along, as well. The greenhouse got watered every day. We harvested 1.5 miles of asparagus on Friday, Monday, and again on Wednesday. Harvest buckets got washed. Tractors got fuel. Bills got paid. I keep having to remember to pat our collective backs over getting the fundamental maintenance tasks done in addition to the big pushes.

Natural Notes: The wild plums are in full bloom, so walking the kids to the top of the driveway to catch the bus results in perfume-y olfactory overload. The rabbits are getting braver, waiting longer as we walk up the drive. Bluebirds were cavorting in the dead elms along the creek before Tuesday night’s rain, and I saw two goldfinches and a rose-breasted grosbeak flitting around on Friday. A heron has returned to the valley, standing in the creek every morning. And today, two Canadian geese kept flying around, honking at each other. I think they were lost.

Little Victory: Somebody tried to destroy our mailbox in a drive-by on Monday night. We’ve had two mailboxes – both hand painted by my mom with our logo and farm name – destroyed by vandals in the last three years, so I finally invested this winter in a heavy-gauge steel box. The vandals knocked it over (I found bits of wood stuck to the hinges), but the box is fine and I set it upright on Tuesday morning. When they hit it with their 2 x 4, I hope it hurt.

In the Kitchen

Asparagus yield went into the stratosphere this week as that crop finally hit its stride. We pick it three times a week just to stay on top of it, and it is no small job in the spring with other things always on our plates. We decided to put two bunches in the box this week because asparagus is like the sweet corn of May. For a bevy of ideas about using it, refer back to last week’s newsletter. By far my favorite preparation for asparagus is to drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and grill or broil until tender. If I’m feeling really fancy I’ll squeeze some lemon juice over the top.

Asparagus Pizza

Dough for pizzas doesn’t have to be hard. In the past, we’ve kept frozen Boboli crusts available for emergencies. These days, I’ve got my bread machine programmed to make the dough; I set it up in the morning in under three minutes, and at the end of the workday I’ve got pizza dough waiting.

2 pizza crusts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 lb asparagus
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup coarsely grated parmesan
salt

Preheat the oven to 500. Slice the asparagus spears in half lengthwise, then slice the halves into two or three pieces; you should end up with something like a course julienne. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil. Mix the remaining olive oil with the thyme and spread over the pizza crust. Salt to taste. Top with the asparagus, mozzarella, and parmesan. Cook in the oven for about ten minutes, or until crust and cheese are lightly browned.

The overwintered spinach is heading over the hump now. We divided Wednesday’s harvest into “cooking” and “salad” spinach because the two varieties we planted are growing at very different rates. The cooking spinach would make a fine salad, you’d just have to chop the leaves a little bit. And, of course, you can cook up the salad spinach, too, if you prefer. Although it hardly fits with the foodie scene, I do love spinach steamed until soft, drained, and topped with butter and salt.

Carrots are still storing well, and we’ve been especially enjoying them cooked in various ways. Mostly, we keep it simple with carrots, sautéing in olive oil or steaming them, but occasionally I like to do something a little more.

Spicy Carrot Salad

2 lbs carrots
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp cayenne

Julienne the carrots. Whisk together the remaining ingredients until emulsified (alternately, have your seven-year old shake in a covered jar for several minutes). Toss the dressing with the carrots and serve.

While cress is often treated like a microgreen and reserved for garnishing fancy dishes, I’ve enjoyed using its tangy flavor around the kitchen this spring. In general, add it last or dress it separately to keep it in top condition, and don’t dress it until you are ready to serve it.

Carrot Salad with Cress

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
4 large carrots, julienne
1/2 cup cress
salt and pepper

Whisk together the onion, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Dress the carrots first, and top with the cress.