Posted by admin on October 24th, 2009 in Uncategorized
It’s worth noting that one of the biggest challenges Fat Cabbage Farm has faced this year has been: weeds. Without going into too much deconstruction of “what is a weed anyway?” we can say that the primary offenders to our operation have been amaranth, lambs quarters (both of which are edible), poison hemlock (yes, it is quite poisonous) and horsetail (high in silica and possibly a foliar innoculant against fungal plant diseases).
Despite the potentially useful qualities of some of these plants, the truth is that they compete in the rows with our veggie crops for water and nutrients, and for that, they must go. To make them go has cost Fat Cabbage Farm countless hours of weeding in various forms: hand weeding, knife weeding, flame weeding (definitely the most fun) and hula hoeing (see picture below).
- Sam demonstrates use of the hula hoe.
The weed pressure is actually so intense on our plot that we are planning to reserve an entire acre to “weed flushing” alone next year. The process will look something like this: Step 1: Irrigate; Step 2: Observe the carpet of weeds as they emerge; Step 3: Use the tractor and disc implement to cut down weeds; Repeat. The idea is that we will reduce the weed seed bank over a 4-6 month period of “weed flushing.”
In the meantime, I have shared two pictures below that show before and after a two-person, full day, hand weeding and knife weeding session on a ~120 foot row of celery.
- Look at all those weeds! Celery? Where?
- Ahhh. Now I see the celery.
Posted by admin on June 20th, 2009 in Uncategorized
Well, unbelievably, the summer solstice is here. Today is the longest day of the year and the official first day of summer. Every day from here out will be a march towards winter. “Farm time” seems always mindful of the future, and in our minds it’s as if the season is rapidly slipping away. It is too late (I’ve been told) to plant corn, beans and winter squash–they simply won’t reach maturity before the rains come. Yet, Fat Cabbage Farm still has a solid four months of growing to do. Our crops are really looking great these days and we are proud of the work we have done. Some highlights…
Early transplants of broccoli, cabbage and leeks have been harvested and delivered to Flea Street Cafe.
Our strawberries have turned red and deliciously sweet. More and more come off of the plants every week.
Our first direct sowings of beets, carrots and cilantro have matured and we have begun harvesting.
Tomato fruits are forming on the vine and the cabbages are indeed getting fat.
Posted by admin on June 3rd, 2009 in Uncategorized
Fat Cabbage Farm has enjoyed many firsts this season: first greenhouse sowing, first breaking ground, first plant out, first harvest. This week we received our first CHECK!
(Many thanks to Gene Richeson for taking the photo.)
Posted by admin on May 27th, 2009 in Uncategorized
Yesterday we harvested our first batch of salad mix. A visually pleasing blend of baby red and green lettuces, this stuff is just too beautiful not to share.
The mix was sown thickly in a block about 85 feet long and 30 inches wide. This seemed to do a pretty good job of excluding weeds, though I did spend about 3 hours doing a pre-harvest weeding. Another great thing about this crop was that it barely took any pest management (compared to the broccoli rabe that is) and it came out almost completely blemish-free (just a few slug nibbles here and there).
Behold:
Posted by admin on May 21st, 2009 in Uncategorized
After many hours of work and much anticipation, we finally pulled our first crops out of the ground and delivered them to our clients in Menlo Park.
We were so proud of our radishes, spinach and kale. . .the broccoli rabe and arugula on the other hand. . .it’s as if we took the name of our client FLEA St. a bit too literally. Our nemesis, the flea beetle, made millions of tiny holes on the leaves of our arugula and broc rabe. Since that experience, we have vowed to religously cover our crops with Agribon (a white polyfiber cloth that allows light in and excludes unwanted insects). We are also going to try a trap crop (probably a mustard of some kind).
Anyway, back to the real point of this post: pictures from our first harvest!
Posted by admin on May 4th, 2009 in Uncategorized
While farming does seem to occupy most of my days now, I do occasionally have time for other things such as. . . spinning wool! On a recent trip to Seattle, I picked up a drop spindle with the hopes of finally learning how to spin my own yarn. About two months later and a couple of sessions of “sit and spin” I have produced a spindle’s worth of yarn. Next step: collecting appropriate plant material to do a natural dye bath!
In photo below: On the left is the simple design drop spindle, on the far right is the wool roving I have been spinning with and in the middle is the freshly spun wool.
Posted by admin on April 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized
(Above) One of our one acre fields mowed, spaded, bedded up and ready for planting.
Since our first plant out, we farmers of Fat Cabbage have been keeping ourselves mighty busy. As of Friday, April 24th we have the following crops planted out in the field:
Transplanted
Broccoli
Red Russian Kale
Savoy, Mini and Red Cabbage
Bunching Leeks
Full Size Leeks
Broccoli Raab
Purplette Spring Onions
Lettuce
Zinnias
Directly Sown
French Breakfast/D’Avignon Radishes
Arugula
Spinach
Carrots
Red, Golden and Chioggia Beets
Cilantro
Lettuce
Bachelor’s Buttons/Centaurea
Calendula
(Below) Flats of Purplette spring onions and bunching leeks in the greenhouse ready to be planted out.
Posted by admin on April 11th, 2009 in Uncategorized
As if breaking ground wasn’t exciting enough, this week we prepared six 240 foot beds and planted out our first crops! On April 9, we fired up the tractor again and used a bed shaper to form raised beds that give the plants a lofty bed of rich soil in which to grow.
(Above) Check me out as I maneuver the bed shaping implement; I am concentrating very hard on keeping the row straight!
(Below) Here is a close up of the bed shaping implement. Two beds are worked at a time and carefully placed c-clamps draw “scratch lines” that will help guide our planting placements.
After preparing these beds, we transplanted broccoli, Red Russian kale and four varieties of cabbage. It was so exciting to place these little babies into the ground. They were certainly ready to leave the tight confines of their meager 1″ cells. All of these crops should be ready for harvest at slightly different times ranging from 55-70 days from the point of plant out.We can’t wait to deliver our first harvest to Flea St. Cafe we hope as early as the beginning of May.
Next week we will begin sowing crops like salad mix, arugula, spinach, carrots and beets directly into the soil. We will also transplant leeks and spring onions. As you can see, things have officially kicked off for the 2009 growing season at Fat Cabbage Farm.
Posted by admin on April 2nd, 2009 in Uncategorized
After weeks, months and countless hours of crop planning, seed ordering and loads of other tasks leading up to the growing season we finally broke ground on March 31. It is an incredibly exciting transition to go from a sea of lush, green cover crop to lofty, rich, brown earth.
It was also incredibly exciting to get my first tractor driving experience. Paul and Brian were both great teachers and after a brief introduction, I was able to mow almost the entire 1 acre field. It was very satisfying to watch the mower shred through the thick forest of bell beans, vetch and oats–all nitrogen-rich biomass that the spader (operated by Paul and Brian) incorporated deeply into the soil profile.
After several hours and many passes over the field, we were left with the soil that will host a season’s worth of vegetables, herbs and flowers.
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