Farmers need to enjoy experimenting, or at least tolerate it, because it’s an inherent part of the job. Conditions are constantly changing; no two years are the same and the need to reevaluate and pivot are constant. We’re very open to experimenting, perhaps more than the average farm, and we have a long history of trying new things, whether it’s working with outside researchers and organizations, or internal tinkering.
Here’re just a few of the “experiments” we’ve currently got underway:
We’re trialing the Amiga, an all-electric mini-tractor from a new company, farm-ng. It’s designed to be highly adaptable and customizable. So far we’ve just used it for weeding but this video from the company shows some of the other uses. One reason a machine like this would be attractive to us is its lightness compared to the standard large, heavy tractor. Unlike our normal tractors, it could get into the field under slightly wetter conditions than our normal tractors. This time of year when we often struggle to keep up with weeding, that would be a huge benefit. During some tests, it showed faster weeding for carrots, not necessarily for lettuce, in the picture above. It’s also a big plus if it’s ergonomically better, which seems to be the case, as is it’s use of electric power instead of diesel. We’ll be sharing our thoughts and experience with farm-ng and in the future, if it turns out to improve our speed, thoroughness, and fuel use, perhaps we’d consider acquiring one of our own!
Last weekend, the AgHiRE Program, run by the Center for Land-Based Learning in Woodland, graduated it’s first cohort, which included three Full Belly farmers! For the past few months, they’ve attended two weekday afternoon classes and an all day Saturday class per week covering leadership, communications, digital literacy, regulatory awareness, and English. Congratulations to Nefi, Roselia, and Catalina! Andrew isn’t a program graduate but did attend the graduation!
Lastly are the plants – two accidental discoveries.
First, last year’s anemone field (planted in November 2023) is still producing flowers! After finishing the spring harvest last year, the beds were mowed and disced, then a cover crop was planted, it was grazed by our sheep, and then was mowed again. To our surprise, the anemones have emerged this spring and were even taller and more productive than our new anemones that we planted last fall! They’re some of the prettiest weeds around. The new plants have started to catch up and are certainly more efficient to harvest. Picking the old anemones is a bit of a scavenger hunt!
Then there’s the fennel, which will be in this week’s CSA boxes. These bulbs resprouted from the roots of the fennel you received in fall. When harvesting, we cut right below the bulb, leaving the roots intact and only taking the above-ground part of the plant. The normal thinking is that fennel is a one-harvest plant, but about ten years ago we found that at least for us, those roots will grow new fennel bulbs, so it’s become a regular part of our crop planning process! These fennel bulbs are usually smaller and need to be bunched, but this year we’ve noticed that they’re larger than usual. The fennel is joining the scunions (the scallion-like spring onions you get from planting old onion bulbs) as another unconventional upcycled vegetable in your box this week.
The surprise anemones and fennel aren’t particularly photogenic, but they do prove just how tenacious, resilient, and just plain cool plants can be.
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
Recommended Reading: Cuts to USDA Local Food System Programs
We wanted to share this week’s newsletter from the Real Organic Project about recent cuts to the Local Food Promotion and Local Food For Schools programs. These programs have been incredibly important for many farms and for the children and food insecure families who eat the vegetables, fruits, dairy, and other food that they produce. You can read the newsletter here.
