Newsletter: Sun Is Shining
Emmalyn and Cody between rows of leafy, organic goodness in a hoop house at Foxtail Farm.
The weather is sweet. To the rescue, here I am!
One perk of working the land is being able to observe how connected everything is. Watching the cranes, geese, and swans fly north, then south, then north again over the past month told us that we weren't out of the woods yet. Once the frogs started singing their evening serenade last week, we knew that spring, honest to goodness spring, was finally upon us.
We humans are part of this thing too, of course. Dragging our bodies around after the twelfth chilly cloudy day in a row, we lamented not only the lack of growth in the plants, but also how little work we were getting done. And when a day like yesterday comes around, all of a sudden everyone is buzzing around, smiling, joking, and busting their humps. Good thing too, because we had a lot of fresh produce to harvest for this box!
As much as the weather turnaround has lifted our spirits, we got another big boost this past weekend. Our friends and mentors Jimmie and Laura paid us a visit on their way back up to their farm in Alaska! Emmalyn worked at Denali Organic Growers for three years, and the amount of knowledge about growing organically, living sustainably, and leading a life full of intention and love they passed on to us cannot be overstated. Needless to say, their visit was a big deal for us.
Sharing this newer part of our experience with them was so rewarding, and seeing their excitement for us felt so so good. I often struggle to see past the list of projects when walking around the farm. Hearing Laura and Jimmie's perspectives and observations about Foxtail and the hard work we've done was very refreshing, and much needed. And, of course, we got to take advantage of some highly skilled pro bono farm labor as well. Over the course of a couple hours, Emmalyn, Jimmie, & Laura up-potted hundreds of starts.
Up-potting plants into larger containers once they've outgrown their cells is always a part of our spring, but this year we've had to do a lot. We recently discovered that all of our potting soil is, essentially, defective. Foxtail, along with many other vegetable farms in the region, rely on the same supplier for our potting soil, and this year we all got soil that is deficient in nitrogen and has a high PH. Without getting too technical, nitrogen is one of three key nutrients for plant growth, and plants (especially vegetables) need a neutral to slightly acidic (lower) soil PH to be able to absorb nutrients. The more alkaline the soil is, the less nutrients the plant can uptake. When there's limited nutrients already, growth slows and plants can sicken.
Part of the reason that neither we nor our other farmer colleagues caught this sooner is because of the weather. When every day is cold and cloudy, you expect slow growth. Once we and our friends started to see signs of nutrient deficiency (purple veiny leaves, yellowing of plants), we knew something else was amiss. By that point however, weeks had gone by and hundreds of hours of labor had already gone into these plants. To make a long story a little shorter, this soil debacle is why we've had to cut off our plant pre-sale, and why we won't be sending as many to market. After commiserating with other growers in the area, I'd expect that to be the case for many farmers and markets for the next few weeks.
The good news is that once these plants are put in other, healthy soil, they rebound very quickly, within a couple days. Up-potting has worked wonders, as has any transplanting into ground soil in our hoophouses. If you've already purchased plants from us online, we will have already transferred them into healthy soil. We still recommend getting them into either the ground or a larger container as soon as you can.
That's the big news from here at Foxtail Farm, hope to see you either Saturday at Midtown Farmers Market or Sunday right back here for the Farm Crawl!
Be well,
Cody
What’s in the Box?!
-Spinach: Some of the final spinach for the spring season. Enjoy a fresh salad, or cook with it if you wish.
-Kickin' Mix: A blend of sweet and spicy greens. This colorful mix is a farm favorite.
-Arugula: This tender, greenhouse grown arugula is not as peppery as we like it, but the flavor is still great!
-Breakfast Radishes: The leaves are amazing as well. Sautéed or wilted into your morning eggs. What a treat! Also great on buttered toast with salt or just for snacking.
-Green Bibb Lettuce: Jimmie (of Denali Organic Growers) lovingly calls hoop house grown crops "aristicrops." In some ways, it's true! They need more attention, and the texture is always lighter than that of their outdoor field grown counterparts. It's worth it for these Bibb lettuces I daydream about in January...
-Sweet Mokum Carrots: Yum. Love ‘em raw with humus, steamed, sautéed or roasted.
-Cilantro: Garnish all of your favorite foods! Unless you have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. Then, you could gift it to someone else!
-Napa Cabbage: Very tender Napa cabbage. Great for a salad, slaw, or stir fry. Check out our blog for other recipe ideas! :)
-Nasturtium Flower Infused Vinegar: We infused Nasturtium flowers from fall hoop house plantings to make this vinegar the bright red color it is. Tangy, with a hint of the sweet/spicy flowers, this vinegar makes a great salad dressing.