I delivered the last round for our fall CSA. It was sad, for me…that was a great route. Everyone, although I didn’t see you very much, it was a pleasure. In case you were wondering, our CSA starts up again in April. Tomorrow is a new day. A day to do nothing…but the dishes, and the laundry and cook, and….and….
Here is a picture of me on day 1 of delivery…for the fall
I was thinking about this moment right now! It will be a nice break! See you in April Fayetteville!
Today we said goodbye to the last WWOOFers of the season, Sunny and Lan. What a joy it was having them, as well as everyone else this season. Without the help of strangers, Paul and I wouldn’t be able to do what we do. A person can say thanks all they want, and possibly still not get their point across. I feel like I couldn’t say it enough to prove how much I mean it. So, I’ll just type it: thank you.
It’s bittersweet, the whole WWOOF-host thing. All of these people who come into my life, impact it in some shape or form, and then they leave…onto the next farm, or just moving on. Just so you know WWOOF-pack, it doesn’t get any easier, saying goodbye. I wish you all now like I did during our ‘See you later’ speeches the best of luck. And please, come see me.
Tomorrow is the last delivery for the Fall CSA, and Paul and I are going to be very busy harvesting, packaging and delivering food tomorrow, our heads will be spinning. We’ve been doing the whole CSA thing for 34 weeks straight. It’s been a lot of logistics, and long days, which turns Wednesday into Friday. This Wednesday will be interesting, there will be no one else to cook for except my family, no casual conversation except for my family, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO! We still have game night…(which by the way Pat and Pakis, I’ve won 5 in a row, come challenge me!)
It took me a week to get these photos up, but good things come to those who wait. If you don’t see yourself here, it’s not because I didn’t care…Thank you too!
It’s been a long season, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of strangers, who turn into friends. Thank you to WWOOFUSA, as well as WWOOF, for helping farmers and volunteers connect!
You know it has been a long season, when your plants start producing magical, yet comical fruits. They must be saying to us, sit down and have a laugh, it’s almost over.
Not only are there penguin peppers, but peppers with funny noses:
These peppers are doing their job, showing us that plants can have a sense of humor too!
We’ve been really busy here on the farm, our main project right now, on top of EVERYTHING else is re-erecting the Mothership. If you aren’t a 2-greenthumbs superfan, let me fill you in. Last march our hoop house, the Mothership, was blown down in what we later found out was a F1 tornado. Look back into my archives, there were pictures and tears shed. But NOW we are putting a new Mothership back up, better than ever. There were lots of hands involved in this, there are some pictures on my other farm blog Ozark Alternatives and I will add some more here as well.
I would just like to add that we also pulled the roof up and over! There are no pictures of that, because all hands were on deck. FARM LIFE!
The other evening, we were out, and when we came back there was a present waiting for us. A farm friend from down south in the land of Greenwood Arkansas swung by, waited, and left leaving a very nice present.
Thank you David for the home-made soap and the home grow loofah! Are you trying to tell us something? For any of you locals, David’s wife makes and sells home-made soaps at Ozark Natural Foods here in Fayetteville. Her brand is called “Dixie Flower Soaps” They are exceptionally delightful, for we have received some of them before. So be sure to check out her products on the shelves.
This evening, something magical happened. I’m just going to bombard you with pictures, because I couldn’t decide on the nicest few…I was so frantic in snapping them, that as a collection they are appropriate in giving you my experience, and also a sense of how quickly it came and went.
The Set-Up:
I was in my front garden watering some green beans, looking west. I just so happen to turn my head east, dropped my hose, ran for my camera and called to my son Oliver to come and see the sunset. When he came outside, he looked west, and shrugged as if to say “so?” I flipped him around. He was excited about the colors, but wasn’t too excited about the fact that it was in the east. Until I helped him put two and two together. Fayetteville and the surrounds, if you were not lucky enough to see this magical sight, I hope these pictures do it a little bit of justice.
This is what it looked like to the west…not quite as spectacular.
We have encountered infestation upon infestation this season, the first time ever for us to have to battle so many wars on so many fronts. When things like this happen, and you grow organically like we do, you need to figure out some options. What isn’t an option, is what most people would flock to, some Sevin dust, or some sort of Monsanto product. Us fringe wackos use things like diatomaceous earth, or neem oil, or Pyrethrin. Things that work, but aren’t a 100% knockout punch. This morning, one of our WWOOF’ers, Heidi, and I were weeding in a bell pepper bed, and we had scores of uninvited guests also present with us. These pictures I am about to show you are graphic in nature, and not suitable for all eyes.
These are Blister Beetles. When squished, or if they get on you and give you a nibble, they have a defensive secretion that causes your skin to blister. The chemical they secrete is harvested in certain species of beetles and used to remove warts. I wasn’t expecting this kind of excitement at 6am, but at least I had on socks and shoes. Poor Heidi had on shorts and flip-flops. We soldiered on, the whole time thinking “NO WHAMMIES!!!”
Not only were the beetles on the pepper plants themselves, but on all of the weeds we were pulling. I would sweep them to the side with my glove and then pull. What’s the saying? Hindsight is always 20/20? Well, in hindsight, we probably should have got the hell out of there…it was like weed pulling Vietnam. Poisonous bugs EVERYWHERE, that harbor a blistering agent…those sneaks.
The thing about these bugs, is that there are 7500 varieties of them. These happen to be striped. The ones we fought off in Big Poppa (Hoop House #2) were all black…they were goth blister beetles. AND, these bugs were not there yesterday. Ladies and gentlemen out there in cyber-land, if you know how to communicate with these devils, please let me know. I’d like to make peace and show them some nice and tasty weeds to munch. Isn’t that strange when you think about it? Mammals and insects are no dummies when it comes to a tasty snack. They wait until it’s practically ripe even…I just blew your minds, chew on that for a while.
It was definitely a party. I went on one of those google searches to find a picture of a blister from a blister beetle. I found the most gentle one to share, they can really tear a person up…so you’re welcome.
Just a little note, Mother Earth News has taken me on as a blogger for their “Happy Homesteading” Blog. Here is a link to my first blog post for them. And for those of you who are finding this blog for the first time through them perhaps, welcome! I encourage you to start from the beginning…and the rest of you for that matter.
Today! Today, today, TODAY!!!! Today is the final day of our first CSA season. It is quite exciting around here, and yet doesn’t seem real. It feels like only yesterday that we delivered for the first time and said, “Twenty-three more weeks to go.” At that time, the end was not in sight. As the countdown drew closer to the finish line, the sentiment was more like “Pump the brakes.” Now, here we are, at the end. This isn’t the end however. We have committed to ten more weeks, for those who want to sign up for a fall/winter share. The bulk of the work for the season is coming to a close though. A thank you is in order for all of our customers this first go round. Just know that there was a lot of work and effort from both farmers involved, to bring you the best local food experience. Thank you for believing in the value of having fresh, local vegetables delivered. Thank you for understanding the working relationship with your local farmer and how important that is. And lastly, thank you for giving it a shot! We hope to see many of your faces again next year! To Mother Earth, let’s have a more mild summer next year, I missed having copious amounts of tomatoes.
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