I love this photo that Casey took of the southern entrance to our field from the road. To the right of our trusty field gator is our now six year-old willow hedge. It has certainly thrived and provides a useful buffer between our fields and the farm to the south.
You may have noticed that I (Katie) do most of the documenting of our farm. I suppose it’s in large part because Casey’s doing most of the rest of the work. But it’s also because these are my strengths and loves — I do actually even have degrees in writing AND photography! Not that I think overly highly of my skills in those areas now, but they’re both things I continue enjoy doing, capturing these weekly images and stories from the farm.
But today Casey took the camera with him as he went out to harvest, and I thought I’d share this week the things that he found worth of capturing. I’ll do my best to provide relevant captions of my own.
Look at how big our apples are getting already! (This is thanks to our diligent thinning but also just the passage of time and some lovely summer-y weather.) Our earliest apples — the Chehalis — look like they’re just a few weeks out from being ready. Hard to believe but true. Also, check out that farmer hand!
Some of our apple trees are so loaded with fruit that we are planning to prop the branches this summer (because we fear they may break under the load of their fruit otherwise). In other exciting orchard news, some hornets have build a big round paper nest in one of our Methley trees — the ones that will ripen first (and soon!). Hornets are aggressive against people who come too near to their nests. We’ve had other nests on the farm before, but never in places where we got in each other’s way. But we need to pick those plums! Casey’s already been stung twice just for being in the area, so he’s been trying to figure out how to remove the nest safely. He knocked part of it down with a 40′ long irrigation pipe yesterday, but it didn’t fully remove it. More careful work to come on this matter so that we can pick plums for you soon!
Casey harvested the first of the garlic today! In our ongoing “dribs and drabs” model of getting farmwork done without extra help, he decided to just harvest twice as much as we need for this week’s share — half will go to the CSA and half will be hung to cure for use later. He’ll keep doing that until most of the garlic is out!
Close up shot of garlic and the farmer’s hand again!
At breakfast this morning, Casey was extolling the virtues of our current tillage system (as well as pondering new improvements for future seasons). This tool, our chisel plow, has been especially helpful this year. It has only a few strong tines, which get dropped very deep into the ground to run straight through. They break up any hard “pan” deep below the surface without turning the surface. The result is a lighter soil that still has plenty of healthy soil life.
After the chisel plow comes the power harrow, which has lots and lots of vertical tines that spin around in the soil (again without turning it over). This is the final tillage that Casey uses on a bed before planting it. And of course, there’s our good old tractor. Just the right size for us. (Not too big; not too small.)
So, there you go — a little tour of parts of the farm that caught Casey’s eye today.
Daily life out here continues in its normal summer pattern — lots of harvest, planting, and weeding.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
~ ~ ~
Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- New potatoes — These are the first of this year’s potatoes! And, they’re purple!!!! You’ll find that new potatoes have a different flavor and texture than ones that have been stored. I personally enjoy both types of potatoes, but I do find it exciting to be enjoying the new textures and flavors (and colors) of this season!
- Head lettuce OR broccoli
- Chard
- Zucchini & green summer squash
- Torpedo onions
- Garlic — Pictured above! This is a soft-necked variety of garlic, great for all your typical garlic uses.
And this week’s extra goodies from the farm:
- Eggs — $6/dozen
- Ham — No nitrates-added artisan-made ham from the last of our hogs! $12/lb
- Ground pork — $8/lb
- Pork organs, fat & bones — $4/lb
- Coming soon ~ Beef and goat!
