Getting Lucky
When the pieces align and farming is fun
I hadn’t seen the farm in 9 days. A flurry of Spring weddings and a cold came through, leaving me absent and my crew holding down the farm. I tried to be around more, but it wasn’t possible.
Stepping onto the land after being away, especially during a period of incredible growth, is overwhelming. The peas are starting to flower, the second round of lettuce is prime, and the garlic is nearing its maximum height. It seems that for every cultivated planted there are 3 weeds. The farm is full of life in a spiral of beautiful ugly.
Dancing around Spring rains is a challenge when you are feeling 100%, it is nearly impossible given the recent circumstances. Still sniffling, I headed out yesterday after arriving home the previous evening. My day begins with a walkabout checking on the progress of crops, making a digital list of tasks to do, and what to harvested for the upcoming week.
Weed the high tunnel, cultivate the first round of carrots, trellis this row of tomatoes. My list grows and incorporates sending texts to chefs about wholesale availability for the upcoming weekend. I am setting up appointments with a welder to repair a tractor part, and electrician to work their magic and figure out a way to increase our cold storage. I start in our oldest crops eventually making my way to open ground.
Last week a crew member cultivated about an acre in preparation for a round of planting already two weeks late. The soil was dry and crumbled through my fingers, it was time to plant.
I fire up our 60-year-old tractor and head out to perform the final pass on bed preparation. Sputtering up and down the field I get two passes in before she dies. I head back to the barn, find we have one remaining gas tank and drive our intermittingly working golf cart back out to the field. The extra gas fires the engine right up, a relief because that doesn’t always fix the problem, and I finish the remaining passes.
Ground prepped, the row marker comes out. We walk up and down the beds, marking 3 rows that will allow the walk behind tractor to cultivate the unplanted crops. Then the seeders arrive. In total we plant 6,600 feet of crops before lunch.
Then, overhead sprinkler lines get moved into position. Luckily, I haven’t invested in a pipe trailer so a pile of the 30-foot metal lines is readily available. As I am moving the pipes into position, clouds have begun forming over the mountains, a distant grumble of thunder echoes into town. By the time I am moving the last couple pipes, it is starting to sprinkle, and I am nervous about lightning.
I leave the farm to fill up gas tanks and run a couple more errands just as a downpour erupts from the sky. Rain continues off and on for the next few hours.
We just nailed a huge planting. A mixture of quick rotation and long-term storage crops got deeply watered with no need to turn on a pump. The soil, now saturated, will sit without heavy mechanical pressure until those crops need harvesting. We got lucky.
We also were prepared. The ground had been prepped for the final pass the week before, seeds had been ordered months before, a crop plan helped guide our choice of what to plant, and years of training a crew member culminated in a streamlined running of seeders and tractors.
Sometimes it all comes together. Farming is putting together little pieces over time to grow momentum and create continuous production. Just as these beds were planted our first rounds of greens are ready to be turned in, the beds replanted with more seasonally appropriate foods. We celebrate these wins, and then return to putting the farm together, one piece at a time.
Farm News
Our retail nursery is flush with an incredible assortment of veggie, herb, perennials, and flower starts ready for your garden. To celebrate the abundance, we will be offering 4 plants for $20 deal! Mix and match any 4 plants, gallons and hanging baskets excluded, this week at the Farm Stand. Take advantage of our overstock position and fill those gaps!
We are in the swing of harvest as greens, roots, and herbs come in from the field. In stock this week:
Greens- Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, arugula, spicy mix, spinach
Roots- French radish, Hakurei Turnips
Vegetables- Rhubarb
Herbs- Mint, nettles, oregano
Where can you find us?
Farm Stand Hours: Wed-Fri 10-6, Sat-Sun 10-4
Larimer County Farmers Market: Sat 9-1
Lafayette Farmers Market: Sun 9-1