Three milestones

The last few days have been crazy. In so many ways. They represent a turning point in our season, in that we had some big milestones. There were, as always, many bumps along the way. As always. As always. Sigh. So, here they are—milestones and bumps both:

Milestone #1
We bought our second tractor! We’ve been hinting at this in the last few posts, and I actually wrote a long post about how great our first new tractor was right before we realized that it didn’t actually work for our purposes (so I deleted that post while we figured things out). The first second tractor (confusing you yet?) was a used Massey Ferguson. Only 113 operating hours on it and cute as a bug, but about as powerful as one too (16 hp). In actuality, the Massey (who we nicknamed ‘Fergie’) should’ve worked to pull our new disk and mower, but it turns out that not all the cylinders were firing (decreasing its power) and it was much too light to really move around safely with implements on the back.

So, yesterday the guy we purchased the Massey from (Tom Moehnke of Moehnke Machinery) brought out a second second tractor, this time a more powerful, studier used Yanmar. Casey used this tractor (‘Yanni’?) this afternoon, and it worked wonderfully, even when disking some major sod. But … bumps! Then it wound down and now won’t start. Sigh. Tom’s going to come out again and take a look tomorrow (we love this guy), so for now we’re using the walking tiller to work up the beds that had been disked. We’re not totally setback, but it is another delay.

Here’s a photo of Casey on the Yanmar right before it quit for the afternoon:

Milestone #2
We transplanted into our newly worked beds! We have plants in the ground! Finally! Considering that our first market day is still a month away (and the first CSA pick-up longer than that), we’re right on time—but compared to Cedarville Farm, this feels a little late. Either way, this is definitely a milestone. Yesterday we planted out our peas, chard, kale and some short-season brassicas (broccoli raab, bok choi, turnips, mustards, kohlrabi). Soon we’re going to plant out some of our succession items: lettuces, green onions, bush beans, beets, sunflowers. After that we’ll plant some longer-season brassicas, our onions, squashes, and on and on. At this rate, we should have a decent selection by the first market and a great selection for the first CSA pick-up—even with our later start. Having plants in the ground, we feel like we’ve ‘launched’ our veggies out into the world. Now all we have to do is wait and watch, right? Haha. Just kidding.

Here’s a pretty picture of part of the chard bed and our Allis at the end of the day:

… of course, getting the beds prepped, figuring out our planting method, transplanting, setting up our irrigation for the first time, etc took awhile. It was one of the longest days we’ve worked in a few weeks (12+ hours). And it we knew it was going to be chilly over night, so we also had to row-cover the beds before leaving. There’s nothing quite like unfurling row cover in a stiff cold wind at sunset with your honey. Very romantic really. Like Valentine’s Day (or at least like February). Even though Casey and I were both cranky at the end there it was a very productive day, and the row covering was worth it: it frosted pretty hard out here last night. The water left in the hose was frozen solid this morning. (Working late was also worth it because we used it as an excuse to get burgers and milkshakes from Alf’s, the delicious local burger joint—which, incidentally, has a monkey named Elvis.)

Of course the tractor situation has made the road to transplanting bumpy as well. We’re gratfeul for the BCS walking tiller—which isn’t ours but part of our lease agreement here at Seven Spoke Farm. It’s been our salvation these few days of tractor uncertainty. The BCS is a trooper.

Milestone #3
This morning we had our first official organic inspection! Yay! We were nervous as we prepared (one of the many distractions that kept us from posting for a few days), but in the end it was fabulous. Our inspector was super nice, even though he couldn’t answer all our questions—the national organic laws dictate that inspectors act as disinterested third-parties, therefore they can’t ‘counsel’ on matters of methods, etc. Weird but true. Even with that awkward relationship, he was very friendly and made us feel at ease about the process.

Looking through all of our records and procedures was a good exercise for us as well. We’ve heard many farmers use the ‘excessive paper work’ as a justification for not being certified, but we’re grateful for the incentive to document our choices. Since we’re just starting out, we feel like having very clear records of everything (and I mean, everything) will be incredibly useful as we grow our farm into the future. We won’t have to rack our brains to remember what we applied to which field and when—it will all be there.

Obviously we won’t receive official certification notice for a few weeks yet, but it seemed like everything went smoothly. We’re excited to be ‘officially’ organic. We love the accountability of it all—it feels great being able to promise (and know that it’s true) that we’re ‘organic.’ We also like being a part of a larger organic organization (Oregon Tilth)—we feel like our fees are our way of giving back and contributing to the larger organic movement. It’s organizations like Oregon Tilth that really make ‘organic’ mean something at market. Even though we’ve heard strong arguments against certification for small farms, it’s a good thing for us.

Whew. That’s a lot all at once. As I said at the beginning, it’s been a momentous (and sometimes bumpy) few days. I guess that pretty much defines most of this year so far. When you’re just starting up, every day presents new challenges and successes. We’re just glad we get to have both (though the mistakes sometimes stand out more than the things that go smoothly).

In closing, here’s a nice shot of the hothouse with flats outside. It looks like a farm! (This is from a few days ago—most of the flats outside have since been planted in the fields.) …