Late August Field & Farm Update

By Richard and Andrea

Can you believe we’re at the end of August already?!  We’re quickly approaching that transition point in the season where summer and fall vegetables overlap, the days are busy, the harvests are bountiful and the meals you get to prepare with all these vegetables are colorful and delicious!  The week’s have been flying by for us and there’s no shortage of tasks to keep us on our toes.  First it was garlic harvest, then a push to get the onions out of the field.  Last weekend we harvested about half of our potato crop and this week we’ve stayed busy harvesting thousands (literally) of watermelons!  The next big harvests coming up will be winter squash followed by sweet potatoes and that will bring us up to fall root crop harvest and our final big harvest push before we close out the season.  Ok, now that we’ve laid it all out, lets back up and talk through some of the details.

Farmer Richard inspecting a
pheromone trap in the sweet corn field.

While fall will officially be here before we know it, we still have a lot of summer to enjoy!  We hope you’ve been enjoying this year’s sweet corn, which has turned out better than we had anticipated.  Some of the sweet corn blew over in the storms we had back in July, but thankfully the crops have come through despite that and the corn has been very good!  After this week we’ll have one crop remaining to harvest.  This is the time of the year when we have to watch out for corn earworm, a pest that starts as a moth which lays its eggs on the silks of the corn.  When the egg hatches a little worm makes its way down the silks and into the ear.  It’s a harmless, but annoying little creature.  We’ve been monitoring its activity, first through reports from University extension who reported sightings in Coon Valley, which is not far from us.  Those reports coincided with the first moths we caught in our pheromone traps.  We’ve been using an organically approved spray to treat this pest and try to prevent the worms from being a problem.  So far it looks like our tactics have been effective, but you may still find a worm or two in this late season corn.  If you do, just trim the tip off the ear as the remainder of the corn is still wholesome and delicious!

Mini Sweet Pepper Field

As we move into the latter part of summer we are also reaping the benefits of sweet peppers, tomatoes, and watermelons!  This has been one of the most productive watermelon crops we’ve ever had!  Between watermelons, melons, tomatoes and corn, it’s been a challenge to get everything in the boxes!  We are just starting to pick tomatoes from our second planting, so there will hopefully be several more bountiful weeks of tomatoes.  The sweet peppers are just starting to change colors, so look forward to a variety of orange Ukraine, Orange and Red Italian Frying peppers and of course, mini sweet peppers!  If you’re finding the quantity of food you’re receiving is quite a lot for your household during this peak part of the season, consider how you can tuck away some of these vegetables through simple preservation methods so you can enjoy them throughout the winter and they don’t go to waste!  If you have extra tomatoes, chop them up and cook them down, then either freeze the coarse “sauce” or puree it.  If you don’t have time for the cooking part, just freeze your tomatoes.  If you have freezer space, all you have to do is wash them and cut out the core.  Put the whole tomatoes in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer.  When you take them out you can cook them down into a soup or sauce.  Peppers are also easy to freeze as you can freeze them raw.  I (Andrea) will include some of these preservation tips from week to week in the newsletter, so look to this resource for some guidance.

Looking ahead to some of our fall crops, we are happy to report that the sweet potatoes and winter squash crops both look very good at this point!  Richard dug some sweet potatoes just to see what was happening underground and they look great!  The butternut squash are so thick you can barely walk in between the rows in the field.  We’ll likely start harvesting them within the next few weeks, which means we need to get the rest of the onions and shallots trimmed, cleaned and into the cooler!

An established cover crop is
important to prevent erosion over the winter!

Last week we put out the last of our transplants with our fall lettuce crop and a crop of escarole and radicchio that we hope to harvest in November.  We’ve completed all of our main season plantings including our fall storage turnips and radishes.  We still have several weeks of plantings to complete for the crops we plant weekly including radishes, cilantro, bok choi and our fall spinach and salad mix.  Aside from this small lineup, we’re turning our attention to planting cover crops!  This past week we received over 7,000# of cover crop seed and we plan to plant it all!  Cover crops are an essential part of our system and we rely upon them to hold our soil in place over the winter as well as for the nutrients and organic matter they build in our soils.  Of course there’s also the benefit they offer to the planet as they sequester carbon.  It’s an investment in time and money, but one we feel more than pays for itself in returns!

Steam rolls off the compost pile
as it is turned with the compost turner

As we “put our fields to bed for the winter,” we’ll also be spreading minerals and compost to put fertility back into the soils for next year.  Silvestre has made some nice windrows of compost and it’s heating very nicely!  After the last turn it heated to 160°F overnight!  In order to be compliant with the NOP (National Organic Program), it needs to be maintained at 140°F for a minimum of 15 days and we will turn it to stir it up and incorporate more oxygen a minimum of 5 times during that period.  This process not only turns the raw materials into actual compost, but the time it’s held at these temperatures also kills weed seeds and any pathogens.  By the time it’s finished it will look like “black gold!”

Benchmark for the water level is in place
(lower left) & the permit is posted!

We usually start our conversations by somehow talking about the weather, so we’d better circle back and cover that topic!  Despite receiving rain over the past few weeks, we’re still pretty dry!   Our irrigation crew continues to work hard to keep up with the moisture losses we see simply based on evaporation and transpiration.  Now that the plants we’re watering are more mature, they lose more moisture every day as they “breathe,” but we also see greater moisture loss when it’s windy and hot.  On the topic of irrigation, we’re happy to report that we did receive our irrigation permit that was pending for one of the properties we lease.  We shared about this application process and our irrigation practices in an article we published last month.  We are grateful for the support of the DNR in issuing this permit, but also for the positive feedback we received from some of the community members who initially had expressed concern about this application.  We will continue to do the best we can to manage our irrigation practices responsibly.  Last week Richard and Luis put in the benchmark for the new permit, posted the permit and we’re hoping to start irrigating soon.

Cows grazing on green pastures

In the pastures, we’re happy to report both the cows and pigs are content, thriving and doing well.  The cows continue to enjoy their pasture grass and we have a good supply of hay put up for their winter feed.  The pigs have also been eating well and are starting to enjoy hickory nuts falling in their pasture.  Hopefully they’ll have a few acorns to snack on this fall too!  While we are sold out of pork for this fall’s deliveries, we do still have beef available.  If you are interested in stocking up for the winter, you might want to consider purchasing a custom half beef.  It’s our most economical offering and you get to choose how you want it processed!  Just email Andrea, our meat lady, if you are interested.

Well, there are many other crops and farm activities we haven’t even touched on, including the gorgeous purple and yellow cauliflower that we’re harvesting this week!  We still have a lot of work ahead of us to finish out the second half of our CSA season.  Pretty soon we’ll also start laying the groundwork for next year’s CSA program and start pre-booking seeds and supplies for next year.  The cycle keeps going and we continue to be grateful for your support of our farm.  Enjoy the final weeks of summer and we’ll meet you back here later this fall for another update!

The SoilMobile...Come see it for yourself!

By Andrea Yoder

     We’re moving into that point in the season that Farmer Richard likes to refer to as the “the crack between two worlds,” otherwise known as fall. Summer crops are winding down, fall crops are starting to come in and before long we’ll be harvesting the final crops for winter storage. This is also the time when Farmer Richard makes it a priority to “put the fields to bed for the winter.”  This means applying generous amounts of compost and planting cover crops. So why is this such a priority?  First of all, we don’t like to leave fields vulnerable to erosion by leaving them barren over the winter and the cover crops help keep the soil in place. The other reason cover crops and compost are high priority is because they help replenish and build the soil. The combination of cover crops and applications of compost are vital to ensuring our soils remain rich, full of biodiversity, and have bioavailable nutrients in place for next year’s crop.  Soil is nothing to take for granted…it is literally our life source, and it directly impacts our survival. So, as we set out, year after year, to grow food for you and your family, we take great care to ensure we are doing what we can to enrich and care for our soil. We admit, we’re still learning. Yes, after over 40 years of farming Richard is still learning about how to care for our soil! The bottom line is not all soil is created equally, and it’s just one more reason why it’s so important that we all understand where our food comes from, how the soil it grows in is cared for and form that connection between our food choices, our health and well-being and the environment.
     Our Harvest Party is coming up on September 25, and we’d like to introduce you to one of our friends who will be joining us for the day, Sandy Syburg. You’ll know Sandy when you see him…he’ll be the guy with a smile on his face talking about soil, compost, microbes…oh, and he’ll be standing beside a big bus with a purple cow on the back, a farm scene painted on the side, and quotes about soil written all over the outside of the bus.  Sandy is the President/Co-Founder of Purple Cow Organics, located in Wisconsin, and what I just described to you is Sandy’s SoilMobile. We have worked with Purple Cow for several years now. They make all of the potting soil we use to grow our transplants in the greenhouse and for the past two years we’ve purchased compost from them by the semi-truck load to put on our fields in the fall. We’ve invited Sandy to come to the Harvest Party with his SoilMobile, not because he’s looking to sell you potting soil or compost, but because he has a passion for soil and wants to help others learn more about how important it is for all of us…not just farmers! Sandy’s SoilMobile is actually a repurposed school bus that runs on alternative fuel. 2015 was declared the “International Year of Soils,” and Sandy had the idea to use the SoilMobile as a tool to bring attention to this important topic. Sandy toured around the Midwest in this bus with an educational mission to share this important message:  “The key to life as we know it is healthy soil, and if a nutrient is missing from soil it is not in the food we eat. Plants take nutrients from soil, and our soils are often depleted of the nutrients that plants, animals and humans need. Therefore our soil needs to be rejuvenated.”  Among Sandy’s messages: … “instead of loading soil with chemical fertilizers to make up for nutrients, microbes and organic matter lost over time, replace them organically. It can take hundreds of years to create just a small plot of healthy soil and less than two decades to destroy its usefulness. With soil under siege, everyone should be involved in learning and implementing ways to improve this vital ingredient in growing healthy plants and food.”  Sandy’s message isn’t just for farmers, he’ll talk to anyone! Urban gardeners, community gardens, basically anyone who is interested in growing healthy plants and/or eating healthy food.
     I had the opportunity to talk to Sandy last week to find out more about how he became so passionate about soil. I found out that Sandy actually has many interests and a whole hosts of projects that spin off of each other. To start off, Sandy is actually a “farm boy.”  He grew up on his grandparents’ farm. His grandmother had a 3 acre garden and grew vegetables for the five families that lived on the farm. Sandy’s job was to manage the compost pile under his grandmother’s direction. He remembers her talking passionately about “feeding the soil” and considered it criminal to let any organic residue go to waste. In fact, he remembers his grandmother seeing someone burning leaves in their yard….she did not approve. She sent her grandchildren to pick up the leaves and bring them back to their compost pile. She also referred to hauling manure as “hauling sunshine.”  Thus the concept and practice of making compost and respecting the integrity of soil was something instilled in Sandy’s mind even as a youth. Little did he know that it would become a major part of his life’s work!
     Sandy has been making compost since the mid 80’s. Over the years he’s been involved with promoting and developing the practice of composting.  In the early 90’s there were only a handful of compost facilities in Wisconsin. Over the years this picture has changed and now there are over 200 composting facilities in Wisconsin. In 1993 the DNR banned yard materials from going to the landfill. In 2005-2006, Sandy worked with the state to write new guidelines for composting. This is great because we are no longer sending usable natural products to the landfill. Instead, these residuals are being converted into usable nutrients. As Sandy says..“It’s a no-brainer! Why wouldn’t you allow nature to capture nitrogen in the air instead of having to buy it or use synthetic fertilizer.”
     As we concluded our talk, Sandy reminded me that everything is so connected. We are at the intersection of local food and an understanding about how, where and by whom it was grown. Farmers are learning more profitable and sustainable ways of farming by managing nutrients differently and returning carbon to the soil. Consumers are becoming more ecologically aware and we hope more are becoming interested in the connection between the health of our bodies and the health of our food.
     In case you haven’t noticed a theme in our newsletters recently….we’d like to encourage each of you to build and form a strong connection with the source of where your food is being grown and learn more about how it is grown. We hope to see you at the Harvest Party!

We are what we eat….so we better make sure it’s good!

by Farmer Richard

There is a lot happening at the farm this time of year. We’re running a race against time to harvest as much as we can before winter sets in for good. We’re busy planting some of next year’s crops already…garlic, sunchokes and horseradish are just a few. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, we also have to start thinking ahead to the next season as this is a crucial time of the year to lay the foundation for next year’s crops. The nutritional well-being of our soils and plants is paramount to the success of our crops, our health and yours! Our philosophy has long been to provide our plants with everything they need for healthy, vigorous growth. Healthy plants are strong & can defend themselves. They can outgrow the weed competition and insects are not attracted to them. They are also more resistant to disease. The result is dependable production, higher yields, and food that tastes really good! While this is a basic concept of good organic farming, it is not easy. However, we can attest to the fact that it actually works!

Just as with human health, a lot has to go into the system for everything to function optimally. Right now we’re in the midst of reviewing our annual soil tests. Every fall we take samples from our fields and send them off to a soil lab where they are analyzed for a variety of nutrients and indicators of soil health. One of the important results we always look at on our soil test is the CEC, cation exchange capacity. Simply put, CEC is an indicator of the organic matter in the soil and the soil’s ability to hold nutrients. We are blessed with some very rich soil in our valley. In particular, the fields on our home farm are a soil type known as silt loam. These fields have a high CEC, which we can see on our test results, but also in the quality of the crops that grow in these fields. Soils with high CEC are more resilient and have a more stable soil structure. They hold water and nutrients that can support plants during periods of drought, yet at the same time they drain well during times of excess moisture. We strive to increase the CEC and amount of organic matter in all of our fields. But how?

Organic matter is built by adding compost, growing cover crops, and by supporting microbes in the soil that break down crop residue thereby returning it back to the soil. Many of our farm’s fields are vibrant colors of green right now, as they were seeded to a cover crop earlier this fall. As soon as we finish harvesting a crop we immediately plant a cover crop. This fall we planted a diverse mix of oats, millet, rye, winter peas, vetch and clovers. The purpose of a cover crop is to keep the soil covered and protected from wind and water erosion that can occur over the winter. They also support soil microbial life, capture and hold available nutrients and produce nutrients by capturing sunshine. We have found that cover crops are one of the most efficient ways to maintain and build soil fertility. After the crop is planted, there is no further buying, hauling or spreading necessary. Everything happens right in place in the field. The cover crops will go into the soil to be digested by soil organisms (ie tiny microbes to earthworms) and become food for our next vegetable crop.

Cover crops and soil building are still just part of the big nutrition picture. Our fall soil tests also help guide us in making decisions as to what additional minerals we will apply in the fall for each field. Every year we take nutrients out of the soil in the form of vegetables which we send your way. In order for the complex system to work, we have to make sure we replenish them and provide them with a balance of nutrients to draw from for their critical life processes. So we buy and spread mixed mined minerals to replace the ones that left the farm in the form of food for others. Does this really make a difference? We think so! Minerals and trace elements are key components to many plant and soil processes. If they are not present or are not in appropriate balance, systems do not function optimally and the crop may not have as many nutrients.

While much of our soil building efforts happen in the fall, we also invest in the nutrition of our plants during the growing season by providing them with additional minerals and nutrients at critical stages of their growth. We do this by adding nutrients to irrigation water delivered through drip lines to the roots and also foliar feeding which feeds the plant through the leaves.

Many farmers question whether all this nutritional hoopla is worth the extra effort and expense. As stewards of the land, we feel that it is our responsibility to not just take from it, but to also care for it so it can be productive for many years to come. We also feel that it is our responsibility to grow the highest quality food we can grow. Isn’t the whole point of eating to nourish our bodies? So when we’re asked if it is worth it to spread minerals and compost, plant cover crops or provide additional nutrients, we find it hard to not answer “YES!” Maybe you can taste those nutrients too?