Lettuce Rejoice
November 3, 2022
Seeing the Forest through the Trees
Administrative Details:
Welcome to Week 4 of the Winter Share!
The veggies are looking great and for the first time ever, we actually have extra shares available in our winter season.
Did you know that you can refer a friend and both of you will get a $10 credit? Here’s how it works:
https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044975613-How-do-I-refer-my-friends-
What’s in the Box?
The sweet potatoes are finally cured and are delicious.
In their honor I’m offering up this sweet potato curry. You can use spinach, kale, or chard in it an all are equally delightful:
https://jessicainthekitchen.com/easy-sweet-potato-curry-one-pot/
On the Farm
We planted a forest this week. How many people can say that?
It’s a mini forest, to be sure, less then a quarter acre in scale, but great things come in small packages (I mean, I’m not exactly a giant). I loosely (really loosely), followed a forest design style called the Miywaki Method, in which you survey the native vegetation, gather a mix of many native plant species (we used around 30), amend the soil, plant VERY close together (3 plants per square meter), and then mulch very heavily. If things go well you end up with a forest composed of climax species in just a decade or two instead of a century. I’m an impatient person so this all sounds great to me.
A few weeks ago, I found myself talking with a friend and explaining that I had a theory that you could crowd native trees, into a community of sorts (because that’s what would come up in an actual forest); and this would protect and create a microclimate, and then maybe you would have less mortality. I had this theory, but I was also nervous to try it in fear that the competition would be too fierce. Luckily for me she told me that this is being done, and there is a whole school of thought around it and an actual method.
So here we are, forest planted and mulched, and Sunny (the dog) and I, stroll through each morning as the actual sun pokes over the horizon and paints the sky in gold and pink.
I like to think that in ten years there will be a canopy overhead, little creatures foraging and romping, and bird species not before observed on our little slice of paradise over here. Planting trees is an ultimate act of hope and I love planting trees.
In case you were wondering: October is the perfect time to plant, so maybe go dig a hole.
That’s all for now, happy eating until next time.
Farmer Tamara
