The Last 2 Weeks in Pictures
Summer Growing Season Dwindles / Fall and Winter Garden Underway
This isn’t normal August in NC weather. It was almost chilly this morning.
The agenda for this weekend:
- get the winter garden plot ready – the plot was previously grass, but a black silage tarp had been over the spot all summer. We ran the spring tooth harrow and the the disc through the plot. We do low tillage farming, so after our initial pass with the tractor, we try to only use the BCS walk behind tractor after that. The plan is to build good soil which leads to a healthy garden.
- plant the winter garden plot (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi)
- pull up drip tape from beds that are finished for the summer. Next weekend, I hope to run the flail mower through those beds, lightly till and plant a cover crop
It has been a busy summer. The winter garden is much smaller and should be much less work, giving everyone a much needed break. Our farm functioned this year as a community garden. I’m proud of the fact that we’re winding down the growing season with the families that we started in the spring with! Go team.
Preparing a Winter Garden Bed
Pictures from the farm this week – thanks Connie!
Some Pictures from July
Its been a hot month, but the produce keeps rolling in. The okra and peppers love the heat!
Simply Us Farm – Community Farm Tour
Come join us on Saturday, July 30th at the farm for our annual farm tour. You can meet the families involved in the community garden and see how it works. The farm is located in Bennett, NC. Get your tickets below.
Growing, Growing, Growing
Cantaloupes, Pumpkins and Winter Squash are Growing Like Crazy
Pictures from the Farm – 2nd Week of May
Summer is here and we are starting to harvest veggies!
First Weekend in May – Update
Everything is growing! Here are some images from this week.
Rolling with the Challenges on the Farm
Gemba Walk after Mowing
Lets take a walk around the farm and see what is growing!
One of the topics that comes up in the video is the concept of imposing my will on the farm. Planning for the growing season requires creating a calendar of when to do what. Different crops need to go in at different times so that requires planning. We need to have the ground ready to plant. This year is very much a building year so we had infrastructure that had to go in. We put in:
- 3D anti-deer fences
- drip irrigation
- new beds for planting that were previously pasture
We have also been working to add additional perennials this year
- elderberries
- figs
- peaches
The garden beds are shaping up. They spent the last three months under a silage tarp but are now mostly ready to plant. The elderberries, figs and peaches are growing.
We also did work in the food forest area that we started building in 2021. We added a trellis for the blackberries and covered the hugelkultur mound with a silage tarp for 3 months to help suppress weed growth this summer. We also put down a biodegradeable paper around the bushes and trees and covered it with hay.
These have been great successes. Which would not be possible without everyone that has helped out on the farm. Our farm is structured as a communal community farm. We have another family that helps out. We share the harvest with them. Having their help has made this possible.
One of the challenges of accomplishing these things is timing. It is critical to have materials (hay, biodegradeable paper, plants, hardware and lines for the drip irrigation, and a bunch of various item) in place and ready to install. The next step is to have a plan where the materials and manpower are ready to go. I developed a calendar for the year. Then each week we have a list of items to accomplish. The list makes helps everyone to plan their time and know what tools to bring. It also helps us to work as a group and sometimes to break down in to 2 groups to work on some items in parallel.
Can Impose My Will on the Farm?
Weather is always a factor with outdoor activities like hiking or camping. Weather is an even bigger factor with farming. Not only the weather on the day you plan to work in the fields but also the weather leading up to the days you have planned to work.
If the fields are wet, then you may have to wait for them to dry out before preparing beds or planting. If the soil isn’t warm enough then seeds won’t germinate. A late frost can kill young plants. Maybe the tractor breaks down in the middle of the field (been there).
It takes effort and organization to
- make sure the materials and tools you need are ready
- make sure any equipment is ready for use
- confirm that the people helping are in place and ready
Days and weeks before you
- made sure you had budget for anything that needed to be paid for
- ordered any materials or equipment and made sure it arrived
So you have all this lined up and on the calendar. But that doesn’t mean it will happen. Weather, equipment issues, or other frustrations can keep your plans from happening.
My desire and my decision to do X,Y, and Z on a certain day doesn’t mean it will happen. My will to accomplish work on the farm is totally subservient to reality of circumstance. There are many things that can delay plans or even cancel them. Its really easy to assume that because I planned something and got everything ready, then it will happen. The life lesson comes when it doesn’t . Farming will teach that life lesson again and again. I’m not able to impose my will on the farm. It works better if I set up goals and plan for success but not get upset if those plans don’t work out. Humility wins. Farming, or even gardening, will definitely teach you humility, patience and the value of a backup plan / rain date.
Parting words: plant a garden!