Green Gulch Farm, wk6+7

So much happens in a week, it sends me reeling when i sit down to write. One of the things i'm noticing is how many different moods, different modes, different emotions i can have in the span of a week. Its wild, really. A lot happens, even if seemingly nothing is happening.

But i was talking about the plants and the farm, too! We planted the 4th (?) planting in the fields last week - we barely squeaked it in, just in time for the rain! It was some major rain, too. We planted the same things as before: lettuce (lots!!), brassicas, and a host of other things in smaller quantities: parsely, flowers (Nicotiana).

We had a work-party in the Kitchen Garden (the hand-worked section of the farm), so its looking well cleaned up as compared to before. We've turned all the cover crop in, on the KG beds, so its looking really nice. We planted lettuce and arugula, and we cleaned up the edible flower beds (Nasturtium, borage, Calendula) and chives.

Last week we also harvested for market (Mill Valley farmer's market, Fridays 9.00-14.00). Our plants from the first field planting are big enough to harvest! So exciting. We brought to the market: red mustard bunches, kale, spinach, salad mix, head lettuce, green garlic, herbs - chives, thyme, mint. We harvested in a downpour, but despite that, it was really fun to see the harvest (photo courtesy Dan).



Things start to make more sense (the boxes! all the crazy types of boxes and storage and systems) after seeing that. I feel like i don't harvest very fast yet, but hopefully with time i'll get more efficient. My manager said to me that she doesn't know very much about farming, really - that with all of her experience on farms, the main thing she knows how to do is harvest. Since we spend so much time harvesting, that makes sense to me.

We have so many varieties of lettuce. I'm beginning to learn some of them. But its sort of mind spinning:
- Galisse
- Tango
- Natividad
- Breen
- Brunia
- Baby oakleaf
- Greenleaf
- Aerostar
Its amazing - its fun to learn them, since mainly i know them from the sowings and i can't identify each variety yet. But we're getting there. I also learned (er, re-learned?) last week that Swiss chard and beets are the same plant! And i learned that all peas (green peas, snow peas, snap peas) are all the same species, Pisum sativum L., just different variants or subspecies.

Happy Memorial Day! I think this is a good day to envision a world where we all listen to each other, and resolve our conflicts peacefully, and take pride in our culture and heritage.