Hey everybody! I hope you're all currently indoors and away from possible falling trees or other dangerous wind-blown debris. We had an absolutely gorgeous harvest today, and then like the weatherman said, right around 2pm those 50-60mph gusts showed up and started blowing us and our stuff all around. But, by that time we were finishing up washing and packing in the pack-shed so we got to watch from inside as it really start to pick up. Other than that it was a one-in-a-million December harvest day, just beautiful. Here is a nice shot of the first batch of salad mix we harvested out of the hoop house as it gets it's first dunk before heading over to the store. It's a really nice mix of a few mustards, pak choi, and spring raab. Two of the mustards in the mix are actually my farvorites: Gold Frill, which are the light green frilly leaves (makes sense), and Magma, which are the kind of brownish leaves just poking through in the center/top of the picture. They've got a nice mustardy kick to 'em that I really like with salads or on sandwiches. |
As for field cleanup, we're on the home stretch of just needing to get the last bit of tomato trellising out of the field: winding the string and pulling up the posts and storing them until spring. Luckily de-trellising is a job that gets a bit easier as time goes by and the plants that the trellising wraps around disintegrate. But, as both Josh and I have mentioned in previous posts, rolling up drip tape was the big priority for us and is a job that goes the opposite direction and gets more difficult as time goes by. Weeds continue to grow over the tape and basically bind it to the ground making it impossible to roll up without going through first and pulling it up and off of the ground. With that being said, we already got it all done!! It took a couple of marathon afternoons between a few of us on the crew but we finally got it all out! Here is what our roller looks like, with a couple of the rolled up bundles of drip tape behind it. Truthfully I don't really mind doing it, it takes just enough technique to keep it interesting and it can also be a bit hypnotizing to watch the tape wrap around the roller...in a weirdly satisfying way. |
In other field-work related news...with my newly acquired construction skills I'm taking charge of erecting the two new hoops houses on the farm this winter. I had time last week to mark the layout for the posts on the two sites (I used trigonometry and everything to make sure things were square and inline with the other hoop houses, thanks Pythagoras). Now I just have to wait for a good (dry) window to rent an auger and drill 80 holes 9 inches wide and 2 feet deep according to my layout, then it's only up from there. I'm anxious about it, but I'm also excited to try and put my knowledge to the test when I actually have people counting on me to call the shots. It's time for me to "crack the whip", as Narendra puts it :) That's all for now, don't get blown away. Til' next time, Louis |