Farm Happenings at Diggin' Roots Farm
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Farm Happenings for August 18, 2020

Posted on August 16th, 2020 by Sarah Brown

Hello Friends;

We're doing the irrigation waltz around here, feeling the full transition to mid-summer bounty. Tomatoes and cukes and zukes and green beans become demanding, if not insistently generous, friends. The onion tops are toppling and the winter squash are starting their downhill slide into a sea of yellow powdery leaves. Both of these signals are reminders of a heavy near-future of handling and crating and sorting and storing for the months to come. It's been an exceptional onion year (they're huge!) and a very vigorous year for winter squash. The vines have been lush and robust, but not until they die back can we really see if they've been busy making fruit. We've been fooled before, but my initial investigations indicate that it'll be a well stocked larder for the fall. The voles and gophers are beginning their most destructive mid-summer gathering, making headway into our fall root beds of beets and carrots and potatoes. Even the pepper plants are beginning to topple amidst their constant tunneling and nibbling. I'm setting traps most days for the gophers, to limited success, but the voles....well, the voles are a different story altogether. They are so numerous our fields look like swiss cheese this time of year and at times it'll seem appear the grass is crawling beneath our feet. We've been encouraging more raptors and snakes to take up residence and do their good work, but the voles are definitely winning the number game this year. Anyway, our only hope is to size up our fall roots quickly enough, and soon enough, that they can be harvested, cleaned and stored before sacrificing too many pounds (hundreds, really) to those industriously voracious ground-dwellers. In some sense, it's the ironic toll we pay for using limited tillage and no chemicals on our farm, BUT learning to co-create with these creatures can be utterly maddening. 

On the bright side, the fall block is looking clean and robust, aside from the inevitable rodent pressure. The brussels sprout plants are grand and the fall cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli is well on its way to a perfect late September/early October harvest (despite the flea-beetles' best intentions to eat everything first). We're seeding the first of the fall spinach and radish and always more lettuce lettuce lettuce. This week and the next will likely be the last of the summer green beans, so we hope you've enjoyed the flurry. The peppers are finally hitting their stride, so please keep an eye out for more in the coming weeks (Jimmy Nardello's, bell peppers, and even a few spicy little numbers). 

Please let us know if there is something that you have especially enjoyed (or NOT!) or if there is something you'd like to see more of. We do our best to maintain a very diverse harvest each week, and we are relying on you to set your share preferences to ensure a desirable product distribution for the shares. That being said, the system is obviously far from perfect. Nothing can replace your direct and honest feedback (positive and/or constructive) for which we are grateful. It is a gift to know you care!

Stay cool out there.

Your Farmers,
Conner + Sarah (+ Wendell + Sylas)