It is about 30 degrees cooler than last week at this time! That's caused us to adjust significantly. On Monday morning as we got ready to harvest for the CSA not only did we have to find warm clothes, but we were also searching out raincoats so that we could at least attempt to stay dry. As you can see Emily doesn't look very dry, but of all the rainy weather tasks picking peppers isn't too bad since you don't have to dig anything out of the ground!











The carrots didn't come out of the ground this clean, but once the mud has been sprayed off they are ready to enjoy. At least that is the way that Evan seems to like them best. By the way, he did not manage to finish all of that carrot.





We didn't harvest these greens on Monday because they are just starting to produce. They are a plant called Hon Tsai Tai and while the leaves can be eaten they are generally grown for their flowering stems. These are a sweet, succulent treat in the spring and fall.






Finally we've got some spinach that is just getting its first true leaves. Since the weather was hot and dry we put more seed down than we usually would. In the patches that germinated well we've got lots of plants, but there are patches that aren't as good. We are trying to be better about taking notes of everything that happens during the year so that we can plan for it next year. Sometimes it is frustrating that when something is unexpected we can't correct for it until the next year, but as we grow on our land year after year we are definitely learning how to be prepared for many eventualities.

Autumn begins?!?

Fall is officially here! But...it is still 90 degrees outside and we still have not gotten any measurable rainfall. In fact the irrigation routine is now so ingrained in our daily rhythm that I switch or turn on the irrigation as regularly as I brush my teeth.

Emily and I decided that we would recharge a bit this weekend before really delving into fall crops and end of the season cleanup. So we went on a farm tour to Mick Luber's Bluebird Farm in Cadiz. Mick's farm is nestled in the hills of far Eastern Ohio. The drive to the farm was beautiful and the farm itself was intriguingly different from our largely flat, midwestern setting. The growing area on the farm was divided into two spaces. One in the valley, pictured here.


And another at the top of the hill on which the farm sits.


After returning home from the farm tour we took Sunday off. The only farm work that we did was of course moving around irrigation. Then on Monday morning we dived right back into harvesting for the CSA. First we cut these bok choi. As you can see we've grown them in a tunnel of fabric called remay, which prevents pests from demolishing this particular crop.


Then we judged that this lettuce could wait another week or two until we harvest it.


Next we picked kale, sweet corn, tomatoes and finally peppers. While we picked bell peppers and jalapenos for our CSA we also grow some other peppers that we really like.


These are called Jimmy Nardellos. They are super sweet (sweeter even than the colored bells that are always in great demand) and are great raw in salads, sauteed in a stir-fry or roasted and used in soups or sauces.

We are trying another Italian frying pepper called Corno di Toro this year. These beautiful peppers range from slightly hot to mild with a great taste. They are an excellent addition to sauces. We really like them on pizza.


We also have jalapenos growing. With the hot dry weather we've heard from customers that these have packed quite a punch this year.


Finally we've got lots of bell peppers growing and starting to ripen (red, yellow and orange peppers are all fully ripe green peppers). We have not had as much luck this year with the peppers as we have in the past so we are just starting to get some turning. It is just one of the things that happens when it is constantly raining in June and the peppers get planted three weeks late!

Perfecting the art of irrigation

Most farmers who grow produce in Ohio irrigate at some point during the year. This year we have run irrigation almost every day since mid-July. Because we are growing more crops and because it has been so consistently dry this is the first year that we have run this much irrigation and it is tiring. But on the other hand we get to harvest sweet corn in the middle of September!


Plus since we've kept them on water the ears are a good size. Now we just have to work on controlling the corn earworms.


We are still putting crops in the ground. Most of these seedlings will be planted tomorrow.


These seedlings won't be planted tomorrow because they were eaten by one of our chickens. They occasionally get out and on Sunday evening I found a chicken walking around contentedly. Fortunately, the chicken did not venture onto the table to eat the all of the other seedlings that were waiting to be planted.

Elsewhere on the farm it always feels a bit more like fall once we've got butternut squash curing in the barn.


Plus these turnips are growing nicely and just beginning to size up.


Finally we've got sunchokes blooming on the farm. We planted these tubers for the first time this year. They are a starchy vegetable (you eat the tubers) that is native to most of North America. We did little more than throw these in the ground and they have taken off. They are a perennial and we are using them as windbreaks in our fields. The sunflower-like flowers are an added bonus.

Labor day, literally

Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day all come and go pretty much unnoticed at our farm. We certainly don't question the significance of any of the events or causes that these days celebrate; we simply have too much to get done! So we harvested for our CSA delivery on Sunday and Monday this year, though we did take longer lunch breaks so that we could watch some of the US Open.

Even though a few cool nights (it was in the forties when we got up on Sunday morning) have begun to slow down the tomato plants we are getting another great week of heirloom tomatoes.


We like to do two plantings of heirlooms so that we can have them longer into September, but it didn't happen because of the wet weather this spring so we are still relying on our first planting.

It is dry, dry, dry right now at the farm. So we've been watering whenever possible. The well is just starting to show some signs of fatigue since it really hasn't rained since mid-July, but we are pumping out what we can to try to grow some fall lettuce for our customers.


The sweet corn is on drip irrigation so it is nice and green and almost, almost ready.


It is great having a late crop of sweet corn that will be appreciated even more because there isn't much local sweet corn around now. Elsewhere on the farm we have a very different corn growing: broom corn.


This is an ornamental corn (though you could make a broom out of it if you really wanted to) that Emily will use in her fall bouquets.


Even though the flowers are slowing down with the shorter days there are still lots of zinnias to cut. This is a 200 foot long bed of zinnias planted in three rows that is only about half of the zinnias we have on the farm this season. Emily says that she wants even more next year!