Field of Beauty
I find myself taking photos nonstop at the farm. I mean I always take at least one photo a day to post on instagram. But right now, I have a hard time pulling myself away from being the resident photographer back…
Pollination of the Corn
The popcorn has all tasselled out and now the ears are starting to develop. I love watching the pollination progress of the corn plant, as its different from other crops. The tassel which emerges from the top, after all of…
Ripeness
It’s hot out there. The heat can be hard to work in but, I’m not mad at it because the heat brings the ripeness. The warm temperatures allow the tomatoes to turn from green to red, or yellow or pink…
Field Observations
Everything is getting tall. The popcorn is about hip high and so are some of their companion weeds … I did get about half the popcorn field weeded. The bush bean plants which will later be dried beans are blooming…
The Tomatoes Are Coming
This week I picked my first two baskets of cherry tomatoes! Enough plants had just one or two ripe fruits, allowing me to fill my baskets. The plants still have some more growing to do and the rest of the fruit…
Just Keep Weeding, Just Keep Weeding
I’m still weeding the field, I mean I’m not sure it will ever end. When you work for yourself, you make the work schedule, create the tasks, you are the enforcer, and you are the employee. Normally I’m a great…
Oh Weeds
Right now it’s weeding time. The field is almost completely planted so the focus is on maintaining and nurturing everything to grow big and beautiful. This is the part of the season where you have to remind yourself that as…
Organic Policy Work
Last week I was in Washington DC for the Organic Trade Association‘s jam-packed policy week. It started with a great summit, on organic agricultural research at universities and sustainability incentives from different government agencies. The following day Clif Bar hosted a fun…
Tomatoes are in the Ground
The tomatoes are planted, all one thousand seven hundred feet of them. In the greenhouse, the tomato seedlings a quite big, filling up their trays and reaching for the sky. But once you’re out in the field the seedlings seem…
Working Out
I feel no need to go to the gym. I walk my daily 10,000 steps by moving full trays of seedlings around, I perform plenty of bicep reps from packing and unpacking goods for the farmers market, and this week…
Greenhouse Friends
Work in the greenhouse continues, potting up thousands of seedlings takes a lot of time. During my long stints in that plastic shelter I’ve been noticing all the wonderful critters hanging out with me. I spotted hoverflies taking a rest…
Slowly Getting Things Done
I’m still spending most of my days in the greenhouse, starting seeds and potting up seedlings. The water is hooked up at the field and the filter is set up ready to go. But I’m just waiting to hear back…