Farm, stuff...

Just had to see what's down on the farm at Clagett Farm this year, and was not disappointed last week. Not just because of the plentiful lavender (above) and other herbs/flowers (though not sunflower yet), but because even on the old farm, there are new developments. The farm looks somewhat different every year, because crop rotation is practiced, so even the same crops are planted in different fields from year to year. For instance, the current garlic field used to have peppers planted there. Crop rotation is used to keep the soil from becoming depleted of nutrients.

Maybe I somehow missed the sweet peas last year, but not this time! Better yet, they lived up to their name, being sweet and tender, and pickers were encouraged to taste to distinguish between sweet peas and snow peas (the latter I can live without). Peas are probably the one crop you pick without bending down, so picking them is a welcome treat after picking, say, rainbow chard (also quite tasty, and plentiful). In fact, the greens of various kinds are plentiful this time of year, as well as various lettuces, and rather large zucchini specimens.



I know the farm produces and uses compost to fertilize the soil, but now it's openly requesting material for composting from shareholders and volunteers. This can be a win-win situation, helping the farm create compost, because it comes back in the form of organic food. The only thing is, I'd need to get a bucket or crock (with lid), to keep compostable (is that a word?) food scraps (no meat or dairy) safe before transporting them to the farm. I'll get to it, eventually. Anything to keep down the use of petroleum products (synthetic fertilizer is often made from natural gas, a byproduct of petroleum processing, which has become an industry in its own right).

Laboring, for good

Weeding in (non-milagro) beanfields last week, near this gorgeous sunflower cover crop field (which means, incidentally, there are a lot more sunflowers around Clagett than last year--yay!), makes you appreciate work in all its forms--when on the farm, by the people and plants. In essence, the sunflowers are working, just by standing around looking beautiful, because as cover crops, they help prevent erosion and help fertilize the soil, making a type of green manure.

Discouragingly, hard work can seem to be for naught when there are diseases like the tomato blight on the loose, rampaging tomato plants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, as the tomato harvest is noticeably down from last year. However, I noticed that while most of the tomatoes were adversely affected, the smaller ones, notably the cherries and Sungold held up reasonably well. My guesses as to their durability, particularly the Sungolds, is that the variety is pretty hardy to begin with, as Sungolds have a longer growing season than most other tomatoes. Also, the small size helps the fruits (yes, tomatoes are botanically considered fruit) get more exposure to sun and air than other varieties, as the staked plants are rarely, say, knocked to the ground after a storm as happens much more often with larger, heavier tomatoes. While I wish there were more of the other tomato varieties (such as the supremely tasty Black Prince), I'm glad the little Sungolds are surviving...
Oops! Because I'm not sure which cable station Planet Green is on, I missed last week's episode of Emeril Green featuring Clagett Farm CSA.

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Because summer's coming to an end, and I like sunflowers and Pembroke corgis, a video combination featuring both, with a surprise at the end--a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of the season.