Day 92-96

Morning Glory, get outta here!

Hello there! This week was a roller coaster of hard work, sickness, yoga, bees and pumpkin checks. I was ready for Friday to roll on around to get a break from 12 hr days. But enough whining, let's talk farm.

Tilling it up

On Monday I learned to use the tiller in the sweet potato field. It's a heavy dude to lift in and out of the truck, not too bad to push though. It was not as effective as I would have hoped it to be and was barely tilling up the shallow roots. What you gotta do is lift the tiller up and down while you go, to really get those culprits out. One of them was called morning glory, but between you and me it was anything but glorious in the sweet potatoes. They had to go!

Strawberry Field

Remember those strawberry plants that were oh so good in Spring? Wells, the runners from those guys have had time to develop and create mini strawberry plants! When you see them start to develop roots they are good candidates for transplants (didn't even have to be wait-listed).  You take them off the runners and if you have a lot, like an insane 7,000, then you can put them in a bin with wet paper towels so they don't dry out. When potting the little guys you need to barely put the roots in the soil, just enough to cover them up. Cory was MIA during this, so the process instructions were askew and therefore, led to unsuccessful potting. We'll be doing a lot of these little guys and we still have about 6,950 to go, so more to come!

Runner with New Growth

Finished Product

Bee Hive

Started out Tuesday with a bee hive visit! Hello Mister Bees! A super needed to be added to give the bees more space. If they don't have enough space they start shopping for new real estate (swarming) which cannot happen because we want that sweet honey. You have to add a queen excluder so that lady doesn't get all up in the new super right away, causing a swarm to happen at a faster rate. We used the smoke to calm them down; well, it sends them into panic "is there a forest fire?" mode. They try to protect themselves by burying their little heads in the honey comb. So I guess I shouldn't say calm them down, I think that'd be pretty freaking scary thinking you were about to be torched. The smoke distracts them from stinging us, would be a more accurate description.

Suiting up

Holding the Super with Frames

With all the smoke and nature going on my allergies showed up yet again and protested me working on Tuesday, so after a battle with my nose (Nose Wars 2012) in the tomato field, it won and I went home. I came back later to pint cherry tomatoes and then called it a day. "You look awful" was the response I got from CVS cashier and intern Jason; thanks for that. I was rather drained the rest of the week so Cory let me do the delivery.

Thursday we pretty-uped the hoop houses and planted more turnips, beets, arugula, and carrots. A lot of weeding, prepping, and trellis action happened as well. The fun part of the day was the yoga! Andrea came to the lodge where we cleared out a space so she could give yoga instructions while we looked at the sunflower field in the background! She's going to come every week hopefully, in exchange for a CSA box.

In the Box

-2# Heirloom Tomatoes

-1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes

-1# Chinese Eggplant

-1 Sugar Baby Watermelon

-1 Tasty Bite Cantaloupe

- 3-4 Ears Sweet Corn

-1/2 # Okra

-1# Squash Or 1# Cucumber

-1 Herb/Zinnia Bundle

Stone Cold Killah

There's a new bug in town, called the Mutilidae, velvet ant, or cow killer ant. They come in a variety of colors like orange, blue, gold, black, white, or silver. Ours are a scarlet red; their bright colors serve as an aposematic signal to stay the hell away. They are a species of wasps actually, the female's do not have wings and resemble ants. They are known for their extremely painful sting, facetiously said to be strong enough to kill a cow, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant is applied to some species. I've read that they make noise when alarmed but it's hard to hear over the screams of whoever it bit (how pleasant). One crawled over my hand. I hope that never happens again.

Asian Pears

What you never knew you didn't know on Asian Pears. Grown throughout East Asia, many names including Pyrus pyrifolia, Sand Pear, and Apple Pear (because of its appearance and texture). The fruits are generally not baked in pies or made into jams because they have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, very different from the buttery European varieties. They are commonly served raw and peeled. The fruit tends to be quite large and fragrant, and when carefully wrapped (it has a tendency to bruise because of its juiciness), it can last for several weeks or more in a cold, dry place. Tastiness.

We ended the week with market harvesting which went a lot smoother with 5 people as opposed to the 3 we had last week, thank goodness. Lots of peppers coming in: Anaheim, Poblano, Jalapenos, Shishito's, Pepperoncini's, and a couple Red Bell peppers. Nothing too spicy coming through yet, mostly sweet. We made bouquets again and I'm sad to report this could be the last week for one of my favorite flowers celosia. It's located in a hoop house bed we need to solarize to rid the soil of insects/insect eggs. Farewell, beautiful unusual flower, hope to see you again soon!

P.S. I'd like to do a pumpkin watch update, they are doing so well! Trying out a new technique by building up mounds to give the pumpkin roots more space to grow. It's used for melons, so we're trying it out with the lil pumpkins! Love.