What does late August look like on the urban farm? Much as the weeds benefited from the long days of light, rain and space to grow, so their growth slows as days shorten and rain is less frequent. Well, other than the fact that it is raining during a thunderstorm as I type! And so the fall crops can get ahead of the weeds if we give them a good go over this week and next. Indeed, due to the softening rain, we find we can pull whole dandelion roots and long grass roots out wholesale by hand. More work than hoeing, but hand weeding in entirety means we don't have to deal with them again. We also do rogue weeding which means going through the field pulling all of one or two particular weeds which are going to seed, to stay their reproduction. What is a weed? To us, all plants have a place and value, but in our farm fields a weed is a plant in the wrong place - specifically in a place where it negatively effects the crops, by shading, overusing nutrients, and so on.
The Night Market was a blast and a huge success. Many people came out. It was packed. The music was amazing. So many happy people were there eating and enjoying company at a large agricultural event. For those of you who didn't make it, and have not been in past years, put August 24th 2023 on your calendar!
