Welcome to our 7th Harvest Week. July 23 (Wed Delivery)
Welcome to our 7th Harvest Week!
Farmer John Writes about Farming by Satellite
The open house was a fabulous event. The Selfish Giant was a huge hit. So was the dessert table. Thanks to all who showed up to visit your farm.
The Crops
Basil Heads-Up
This week’s basil is somewhat battered from the heavy storms this season. It still smells great and it will at least make a great pesto.
Mysteries of Watermelon
Our watermelons have matured unevenly, due to the excessive moisture. Many are superb; some are under-ripe. Normally, our veteran farm team can tell the difference between ripe and under-ripe from how the melon appears, but this year, the under-ripe melons look similar to the ripe ones. This is a quandary. The team is doing the best they can to provide you with a sweet, ripe melon, but if the melon you receive is not sweet and ripe, our sincere apologies. You’ll probably get a sweet one the following week.
Mysteries of The Box
Sometimes an unfamiliar item might show up in your box. What to do? Sign up with Local Thyme. We receive many raves about the free Local Thyme Recipe service. Sign up at www.localthyme.net/register . Enter the farm code AOLTFREE under “My Farm Sent Me A Code.”
The Weather
It finally stopped raining for a few days. The cool overcast weather has been a blessing for the crew.
The sky is always telling a story.
The Work
I said to Primo, “are you going to be able to get to that wiring on the milkhouse project?”
He winced. “The pickup has a hole in the gas tank and the electrical connector is shot; I have to go get a new tank and connector. The battery on the Fordson lost its charge; I’m charging it and have to diagnose it. The delivery truck started to leak hydraulic oil again; I have to take the connections apart and seal them. I have to cut the delivery slip sheets in time for the pack today.”
By this time, we were laughing.
Primo and Pollo inspect an irrigation leak.
U-Pick Garden
Our U-Pick Garden is coming on, with beans, peas, and some flowers available now.
More from Shareholders
Visit us often at www.facebook.com/angelicorganics , where we post exciting farm developments regularly, and shareholders post recipes, tips, and photos.
Box Contents
Please Note: This summary is written before you receive your box—please be aware that some guesswork is involved. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.
Sweet Corn
Lettuce
Arugula
Cucumbers
Zuchinni/Summer Squash
Sweet Peppers
Basil
Anise
A Sweet Onion
Watermelon
Beets
GPS RTK (Real Time Kinematic) Navigation
Taking a cue from our ancestors who looked to the heavens to navigate, we receive guidance from a celestial body to lay out our fields. (I’ve written about our navigation system in other years, but I want to offer a reminder in this column.) Due to our tractor’s triangulated satellite RTK guidance system, all of our growing beds are laid out to a tolerance of about one inch, meaning that our tractor tires and our growing beds never deviate by more than an inch off the grid. This means that we don’t compact our soil in the 48″ wide area where our crops grow. This results in better aeration of the growing area, more water permeability, and a looser soil for roots to penetrate. It also allows us to work the soil earlier after a rain, a huge benefit in a year like this one.
We can work the soil earlier for two reasons: 1) we are not compacting it by driving over the growing area of the bed (soil is very susceptible to compaction when wet); and 2) the narrow area where the tractor tires go is compacted from our tractor going exactly in that path previously, so the harder compact strip of ground between the beds keeps our tractor from sinking.
The windows between the rains have been extremely narrow this year, with more than twice the normal rainfall in June. We go into the fields as soon as they are dry enough to work. With our RTK system, this means sometimes we can get into the fields more than a day earlier than if we didn’t have it. Then we move very fast.
What rain? All Primo sees is dust. Dome with antenna on top of tractor cab is the RTK receiver.
Perfectly straight rows, no soil compaction, enhanced soil structure, thanks to our GPS RTK guidance system.
Registration is still open for Permaculture Design Certificate Course at the Angelic Organics Learning Center
The Learning Center is excited to offer this unique course to our community. Permaculture is an ecological design system for more sustainable lives and communities. It combines sustainable agriculture, natural building, water management, community development and more. Join as we learn to better care for the earth and be a contributing part of a resilient ecosystem.
Sign up for a hands-on farm workshop now at www.learngrowconnect.org/events
Warmly,
Farmer John
