Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Next year...


Today is very windy (45+mph gusts), very warm (74 degrees), and very spring like (with the threatening thunderstorms) and with spring in the air (although it is October) it makes me think about next season all the more.

This is a fun time of year. We get to make great plans and execute them on paper! I will always find a way to make a spreadsheet or two, which Farmer Hubby will laugh at me for. He spends time looking at equipment deciding what are next seasons big investments (we need a chisel plow, but what about a new tiller? we really do need to get that cooler we have been talking about, if we can swing it but how are we going to upgrade our wash line (technical term for a couple tables with slatted tops and a garden hose)?)

Right now things are still so preliminary our plans are in the sky and there is no need to put numbers to anything. That will come later, the reconciling of reality with our budget.

We are deciding which areas we will just grow cover crops on next year, which places need the most TLC.

It would be nice to cover the whole farm all next year, but at some point we need to actually grow food, I doubt our CSA members want to eat just Buckwheat, Clover, Rye, and Mustards. So we are working on a cover strategy. Right now almost everything (not next years potato field) has a winter cover planted. We will try to rotate cover through a lot of our tilled areas next year, and start a couple new small fields. Eventually, we will build up good soil, but that is a long term project. One of the "Wish list" items is a planter for limited till cover crops ($9,000, but WOW, is it a nice toy!).

(More dreaming as I dream...)

Friday, October 22, 2010

Event in the Barn...

This week has been busy! We held a canning class on Saturday, our Farm Fall Potluck on Sunday, and then on Wednesday we hosted a group from Leadership Akron at our farm.
I love the way our barn looks in the dark. It is a great space for events, the problem being that we have a lot of stuff which needs to be stored in the barn as well! Getting everything straightened and organized is a project, we are hoping that in the future we will be able to keep the farm more like this, more often.
In the photo below is the new park Superintendent, Stan Austin, talking to the group about his hopes for the future of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.