THE BEET: VOLUME 18; WEEK 6
FULL SHARE & GREEN HALF SHARE PICK UP TONIGHT
Pick up today: 5pm - 7:30pm at PS 56 on the corner of Gates and Downing
This Week's Share
'Tendersweet' cabbage or a leafy Chinese cabbage
Dandelion greens
Romaine lettuce
Zucchinis
Cucumbers
Your choice of dill or cilantro
Yellow onions
Radishes
Kale or Swiss chard
Fruit: blueberries from one of three sources: Windflower Farm, Winney’s Farm, or Yonder Farm
Next week: Celery, peppers, tomatoes, basil, sweet corn and fennel are on the horizon...
Letter from Windflower Farm
Delivery #6, Week of July 15th, 2019
What’s new on the farm?
Jan went grocery shopping today, and to fit it all we’ve had to rearrange the refrigerator. To my surprise, buried toward the back, I found a green kohlrabi, a purple kohlrabi, a bunch of white turnips and some garlic scapes. I don't imagine that we are the only ones with these little treasures hidden away! We’ve had dozens of kohlrabi bulbs this spring generally served up in lightly salted slices or dipped in a little honey-mustard-mayonnaise concoction or grated over a salad.
This is what we’ll be up to in the week ahead: trellising tomatoes (on-going), staking peppers (a one-time operation), planting the last of our fall Brassicas, weeding leeks and sweet potatoes, irrigating sweet corn and new seedings and whatever else we can (it has become dry!), mulching winter squash, dealing with the chaos of vines in the table grapes, and harvesting cukes and zukes and tomatoes (which we do every day).
John, a friend of my youngest son, a big bear of a young man with a round face and giant paws, has just completed his training in massage. He called Jan last week to say he wanted practice and wondered if any of the farm crew might like a massage. The line would have been longer had there been any forewarning, but his timing was good nevertheless. Between the day John came and the day before, we picked up thirty 375-ft beds of black plastic mulch and harvested all of the garlic. It was hard work in high 80-degree temperatures, and a part of me wished I had played the boss card and found an administrative chore in need of my attention. John found no shortage of tight muscles and knots among the staff, who found the experience rejuvenating and decided they’d like to see John back again next week for more practice.
The use of plastic mulch to control weeds, warm the soil, and conserve both nutrients and water is widespread in vegetable production. It often makes the difference between a good crop and a poor one, and a profit and a loss. Nowadays, farmers can purchase biodegradable mulches that, from a functional perspective, are indistinguishable from the plastic stuff. They are generally made from corn starch, and when they are no longer needed, they can be tilled into the soil where they are quick to breakdown. But organic farmers are prohibited from using these mulches because they contain small quantities of petroleum. Instead, we must use plastic mulch—i.e., the same low density polyethylene from which shopping bags are made—or nothing at all. And afterwards we must pick up any plastic mulch we use and send it off to a landfill because contamination with soil and plant debris makes recycling impossible. I would much prefer to till under the biodegradable product, trace quantities of hydrocarbons and all, than to pick up and cart polyethylene film to a landfill, but that’s not an option.
I won’t enumerate all the problems associated with plastics—I’m sure you know them as well as I do. We are looking for alternatives. We cannot use straw mulch for early planted or warm loving crops—straw keeps the soil much too cool for good growth. We have dabbled in a reusable woven fabric that is said to last 20 years or more, but we have found using it to be very inconvenient. So far, the best bet, as in other aspects in our lives, simply seems to be to use as little plastic as possible. You’ll be relieved to know that by far the greatest proportion of our crops are grown on bare ground—think of corn, potatoes, half of the onions, all the root crops, all the herbs, and all the greens—and instead of spending time in the back breaking work of picking up plastic mulch after the harvest, we can focus more time on planting a good cover crop.
Have a great week, Ted