Farm Happenings at Persephone Market Garden
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Week 20 -- Last delivery of the regular season!

Posted on October 26th, 2020 by Kristine Hammel

This week is the last delivery of the CSA season! The autumn has been great for the veggies, so we have been able to offer more than 20 options each week right through October. It's been a lot of fun to harvest! And there is still lots in the field, so we will be continuing with harvesting next week. I will send out a note early in the week -- if you would like veggies, you'll be able to order via Farm Stand. I'll continue as long as we have produce and that includes the winter squash and onions in storage. And we may eventually have eggs (in a range of colours) from our hens, as well as fresh bread from Katy -- the Denim Chef and fantastic crew member this season. We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, we have been covering beds with lots of leaves. After we finished covering the garlic, we continued with other beds that were bare. Most of the garden is now tucked in for winter. As we harvest and clear beds, we'll continue to cover them up.

It has been wonderful to witness the changes in the garden this season resulting from our shift to no-till methods. Not disturbing the soil has contributed to fostering a much healthier soil. Lots of compost has also helped. The biggest challenge of past years -- quack grass, a perennial that spreads through rhizomes in the soil -- is less and less a worry. We had tried controlling it through cultivation in the past, but it just came back. Now I see it differently. The presence of lots of quack grass is the soil telling me that there is a problem. It needs the quack grass and won't let go of it. Until I change what I do. By taking better care of the soil, the soil is letting go of the quack grass. And that lets us grow lots more and better veggies. Rather than getting stuck on the symptom (the quack grass), the challenge is to figure out the underlying problem and change that. It's all about observing and listening to the soil and the plants.

It's been a great season for us. I hope you have enjoyed your shares. I will be getting in touch to gather feedback in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have suggestions or ideas for next year, please don't hesitate to get in touch.