David and I did check-ins with a few farm team members this week. It was so encouraging to hear them talk about plans and learning goals, and continuing to work with us! A fascinating thing is happening. Some farm team members are planning to spend some time working at Warehouse Market, and Market folks want to work more on the farm!! In the next little while we’re going to do an end of season review to discuss what went well, what didn’t, and what can be improved. Once the review is finished, we’ll incorporate some changes, and make a plan for the winter and next year.

So far the changes we’ve made are proving to be fruitful. Irrigating with rain water (which we had plenty of this year) helped lower the salt levels in our fields and greenhouses. The crops are responding, and we expect to harvest bountiful greens and other vegetables all winter. We’re excited about what Andrew is learning about cover cropping. For example, we will do germination tests on all cover crop seeds to make sure they are going to germinate and grow quickly to outcompete weeds. We want them to grow quickly and cover the soil before winter. In the spring he’ll work them in before planting vegetable crops. We did get some bad seed this year and it was very discouraging. We’ve also been learning about the role cover crop root exudates are playing in soil health and buildup of organic matter.

We hosted some friends and family on the farm over the Thanksgiving weekend, and our hearts are full of wonderful memories. We really enjoy the children, especially, getting into activities they are not familiar with. Like pulling carrots out of the ground, or collecting eggs from the hens, harvesting their own kale, or the older ones helping David split wood for a fire and roasting eggplant and flatbread over it.