Cheerful Cherries
The cherry tomato plants are happy and fruitful. They are now producing an endless stream of ripe tomatoes. I love how quickly I am able to fill up a pint basket and the satisfaction of carrying a full flat (box)…
Tag seasonal
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…
An Early Spring
The weather has been so sunny and warm it’s hard to remember it’s February. Here in Sonoma we have gotten very few rain storms this month but it’s not the lack of precipitation that worries me right now, it is…
Time for a Winter Break
Friday was my last farmers’ market for the year. The time has flown by since March when I arrived at the market with spring vegetable seedlings and green garlic. As the year progressed the vegetable seedling selection expanded and contracted; tomatoes…
Cold Weather
Thanksgiving night the sky was crystal clear, the wind howled and the temperature was near freezing. The wind was so loud and the moonlight so bright that I had to get up and look out the window to make sure…
The Spirit of Autumn
I spent the week picking pumpkins, cornstalks, and gourds for both the farmers market and my house. My jack-o-lantern is carved and hanging out on my porch awaiting Halloween visitors. One of the many things I love about autumn is…
Weightlifting Pumpkins
I have been harvesting pumpkins and gourds since mid-September, but I’m pretty sure that last week was my biggest harvest yet, not in number of pumpkins but in weight. Most of the pumpkins weighed around twenty pounds each. I felt…
Local Jeans
Last Saturday I drove out to Bolinas to the beautiful Mann Family Farm to attend Fibershed’s Grow Your Own Jeans event. The event was the debut of jeans made of organic cotton and indigo grown in the Capay Valley, then woven…
Autumn Days
The morning light starts a little later and the evening sunset shows up earlier everyday. The air is crisp and clear, autumn is here. The crops all know that summer is over. The tomato plants are still producing but the…