Field Turnover

So much is changing so fast.

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Nothing lights a fire under a farmer faster than the prediction of the season’s first rain, especially if the timing is early or the outlook is for significant precipitation. Ideally, a farm’s fields are fully clean of plants and weeds, bedded up, composted and cover cropped if necessary, before the first rain event of the season. And rain is predicted for the next three days, not a lot, but certainly it will change things.

In our case, many of the fields are still producing a straggling amount of food. In some cases a newer planting is kicking into high gear; tomatoes for instance. In other cases, the crop is finished for the season, like the first plantings of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.  The fields with finishing crops are the target of attention before the rain. For example, this field of peppers was essentially finished with another crop in full production so Saturday it was mowed, tilled, composted and bedded up.

Another important winter prep detail involves making room for storage crops, onions and winter squashes, in our case. Storage crops are the staple for small diversified growers who rely on having something to sell while they are unable to get into their fields because of weather.