Fourth gear. The rain has officially abated and with high temperatures crops are growing quickly. Our lean crew spreads their days between harvesting, planting, weeding, and maintaining plants in a high intensity dance.
Every available bed is planted which sets my eyes on crops needing to be removed for fall harvests. Garlic garners our attention as we move to get the crop curing and beds flipped for planting next week.
The garlic harvest is a beautiful moment, especially this year with a bumper crop. Garlic marks the first bulk harvest of precious winter food. After 9 months in the ground, the heads have formed and are ready to be cured in the barn. With several thousand to pull many hands will make light work. Hopeful for volunteers, we are opening two shift (7-11 and 12-3) for people to come and help. Lunch is included in the early shift. With the abundance of the crop we are psyched to be able to offer seed garlic for your garden. So the link below to reserve garlic seed today.
Once these beds are cleared they will be disced, composted, and tilled, opening bed space for direct sown fall chicories, lettuce, asian greens, herbs, and roots. We will allow them about 1-2 weeks of rest before this planting takes place.
The pea beds are getting a similar treatment as the hearty spring crop gets removed to make way for second rounds of planting. I am very thankful for the abundant pea crop this season. We can usually count on 25 pounds per 100 feet and this year we were closer to 35. These peas gave their life for us and now the plant material will feed the next round of hardy annuals.
Warm season harvests like field tomatoes and peppers are right around the corner and the next few weeks mark a big push to set the farm up for fall. In cutting our acreage in half these bed turnovers are super important for the bottom line. Less acreage means there is little space for life giving cover crops. Instead we are focusing on leaving crop roots in the ground, and turning in the upper growth to provide fodder for microorganisms.
The less acreage has however boosted our productivity. Combinations of higher focus, the cover crops from last season boosting the soil, and the rain is leading to bumper crops. Personally I think the plants simply enjoy having us around more. Humans and garden crops have been coevolving for over 10,000 years so it wouldn’t surprise me to learn we are communicating with one another. My feeling is they appreciate the community as much as we enjoy the growing.
Now is the time of the season to focus and make a smooth transition. It is also the time of year when equipment breaks so wish us luck!
Farm News
The Store is popping with abundant harvests of vegetables and Colorado fruit. We also got new Folks Farm hats in last week available for purchase in the Store. Here is what you can expect in the store this week:
Greens- Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, kale, chard, collards, radish microgreens, herbs
Roots- Radishes, turnips, beets, onions, kohlrabi
Fruits- cherry and heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers
The Kitchen Herb Garden is also open for those interested in harvesting their own herbs. We have chives, mint, sage, basils, and parsley available. Cut your own flowers will be coming soon!
In final news we are excited to be hosting our first concert! See poster below for more information.