That's it that's all for fieldwork 2010

It being a warm day & all, I decided to give starting Ruby 1 more try this afternoon. Brought out battery charger, hauled a long extension cable down from the barn & hooked it up, but the charger just clicked & whirred & told me the battery was already charged (lies!!). So I called my awesome brother Jamie for advice, and he kindly swung by in his 4-wheel drive Subaru which he drove right through the snow to where Ruby sat. We hooked them up for 15 mins or so, he revved the engine a bunch, and after a few deadly-sounding clicks, Ruby's engine started to cough. A few more tries & she was running smooth!!

So now Ruby & the bush hog (which would not detach from the PTO) are tucked into the barn for winter. A few last outstanding tasks are taken care of too: I finally scraped all the hornets' nests down in the greenhouse, made sure the roof is sufficiently shedding snow, grabbed the last few wayward bins & tools still kicking around, and am ready to call it a year.

Well, other than the never-ending spreadsheets of course...

I need to remember this

I just got pretty much my all-time favourite CSA feedback from a member today. It's had me grinning for hours. Emily is a wonderful childcare provider to 5 or 6 little ones, one of whom ("Mr. O") came with her on a farm visit back in August or early September. I remember him carefully helping us shuck edamame beans  - with surprising patience! Now, more than 3 months later, this story from Emily:

Angie .. You and Fertile Ground have had a major positive impact on half a dozen little kids, thanks to your warm welcome to little Mr O that day we visited. He has shown an interest, hesitant at first, but now much more enthusiastic, in eating vegetables. First carrots. When I told him they're "from Angie's farm" he ate them. Of course, the younger ones had to have some too. Then it was kale. Then squash. Today at lunch I served lentils and rice and squash. "But Emily, we need kale from Angie's farm"!!!! (and Mr. O isn't even here today). Their reward for eating the rest of their food was kale from Angie's farm. GOTTA LOVE IT."

I need to remember what an incredible impact 2 hours can have on a child's life. And just what it means for kids to experience a sense of real connection with the source of their food - in person but, apparently, even just in story!

Stuck

Poor Ruby. Can't get her battery to fire up (despite hooking it to the car battery for at least 10 minutes last week) so she's stuck in the snowstorm instead of tucked into the barn for winter shelter where she belongs.

Need to decide if I'm going to give starting her up 1 more try (maybe with a battery charger instead of the car?) or just tarp her & leave her in the snow. For the moment I have little choice, given that she's probably been drifted in by the recent snowfall & I doubt her engine would turn over in this cold anyways.

I don't really know how much worse it would be for her to spend the winter fully outdoors rather than in an unheated barn, but it somehow feels wrong & neglectful.

Oh summer....

What I'm Excited About These Days

It has the potential to be quiet this time of year. The days are short. The fields are sleeping. Usually I spend a lot of time sleeping - recovering from the stress & exhaustion of a really full and demanding season. I'll admit I've done my fair share of sleeping over the past month, but for some reason I'm not actually feeling all that exhausted.

In part, this is due to the fact that it was a really good growing year. In part, because I had such good help in the fields. In part, it can be chalked up to the fact that it was my 3rd season and I benefitted from the increase in confidence and knowledge that experience brings.

However, in large part this is also because of a project I'm excited to throw myself into this winter. I wanted to write a bit about it, in the hopes that some of you who read this blog live in my neighbourhood - or that those of you who don't might be inspired enough by the concept that you consider a similar initiative in the neighbourhood where you live.

I've been reading a lot of non-fiction this fall - in particular about climate change, peak oil and global economics. Heavy, yes. It was overwhelming me for awhile, until I discovered the Transition Network. Transition Initiatives are community-led responses to the pressures of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and increasingly, economic contraction. Perfect! This is a way of mobilizing communities - neighbourhoods to entire cities - to acknowledge the threats posed by climate change and depleting oil resources then choose to respond in really positive, action-oriented ways by building local resilience through community-building events, projects to improve sustainability, and strengthening the local economy.

I started talking to people, and I've been absolutely overwhelmed by how 100% of the people I've talked to about this in my neighbourhood have said they'd like to become involved. 100%!!! To that end, we're holding a 1st official neighbourhood conversation about Transition next Friday, Dec 10th. I'm really excited about what could emerge here.

If you live in the Mount Hope neighbourhood and would like to come out please talk to me. If you don't, consider finding or starting a Transition Initiative in your own community. Those in KW should contact Transition KW as a resource group - they've already sponsored a number of events in the area.

Despite my heaviness and anxiety about the path our global community is on, I'm feeling really energized by the potential of the SMALL - by the capacity inherent in our local communities. One foot rooted firmly in cynicism, the other equally firmly in optimism. It'll be fascinating to see where this goes...

Mini-Market at Little City Farm

Karin & I have been hosting a joint mini-market at Little City Farm Tuesdays from 4:30-6:00. Karin has fresh wholegrain bread made with local organic flour (it was still warm when I arrived last week!), yummy vegan pies, and preserves such as jam, pear butter & salsa. Also available for sale is her entire Homestead Herbals line of soaps & other herbal products. I've been bringing an assortment of fall veggies - some fresh from the field and some from cold storage - including carrots, beets, leeks, kale, tatsoi, broccoli, parsley, squash and garlic. There might be some fennel & kohlrabi next week too!

We'll be there again this coming Tuesday - let us know what you'd like & we'll set it aside for you, or just drop in & take your chances. This Tuesday I'll have uncleaned storage carrots and beets by pre-order for anyone interested in putting some into their cold cellar for the winter. Email orders@fertilegroundcsa.com if interested.

Wrapping up

We're down to the very last field tasks for the season. The wash station, greenhouse & barn have been cleaned up. The trellissing is down. The cover crops are all growing nicely. The row cover and irrigation have been packed away.

Just the very last of the winter harvest is still happening, and as of yesterday the carrots have all been dug and only a couple hundred lbs of beets remain. It's been a long, warm fall so I've held off on harvesting the winter roots until the soil & the cold storage have chilled out a bit. Helps the roots keep longer.

Here are Thomas & Andrew pulling beets:

Although I've enjoyed a few lovely field days over the past couple of weeks I'm finding my body awfully ready for hibernation. Long nights of sleep & afternoon naps are increasingly where it's at. I could sleep & sleep & sleep & sleep.... Maybe I just will. For a few weeks anyways.

A moment of pride?

OK. So I've tried for 3 years to grow broccoli. The first year all 1000 row feet bolted before they were big enough to harvest. Epic fail. Last year I scaled back & just did some small test crops. Some bolted again, but 1 of the fall test plots worked out great. Unfortunately, that only amounted to about 15 heads.

THIS year I decided to give it a full try again with a planned fall crop of broccoli for all CSA members (and a test of 50 cauliflower plants). The foliage came along beautifully, but I was nervous when, come October, there was still no sign of them heading up. Then this:

Because my biggest problem in the past has been bolting, I decided to err on the side of caution on the heat front & take the row cover off good & early. This, however, left the plants more susceptible to pest damage. Decided to just hope for a worm-free crop without the help of the physical barrier that row cover provides...

...AND the result??

OOOOEEEE!! I have rarely been such a proud mama!

As a bonus, we got almost 100% harvestability off the cauliflower test crop - might just try more of those next year....