Cleaning Up

It being officially September, I'm finding myself thinking ahead more & more frequently to this season's wrap-up, and even to plans for next year. It's quite the juxtaposition - just as we're in the peak throes of harvest time, my mind is jumping ahead to thoughts of clean-up, sleep, and starting over. Maybe that's because I'm tired. Maybe it's because the fields, too, look tired by this time. All that gorgeous spring freshness has passed and the plants - even the ones in full production - are looking past their prime. It might also be because most of the thinking work is done for this year - we're just following through on plans now. The planting is done. The weeds are mostly taken care of. The plants tell us when it's time to pick them. Our bodies are working hard, but if I want to think, I have to think ahead to 2011.

I've been mowing crops down and sowing cover crops (just oats & clover so far - fall rye will go in soon). Here's a few pictures of the 2010 clean-up efforts:

Mowed chard.

Mowed zucchinis (they were ridiculously splattery flying out of the Bush Hog - very fun):

Oats & clover coming up where the spring lettuce & peas used to grow:

I'm feeling super-satisfied with how evenly the oats & clover distributed together through the broadcast seeder. Now to see if the clover gets established enough to survive the winter. If so, the oats will winterkill but the clover will provide nice, green, nitrogen-rich cover in the spring. Hooray for experimenting and having things to look forward to for next year.