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The artichokes were tilled in today. The field looks pretty rough right now, chock full of artichoke stems and burned out buds. Yesterday the crew came through and picked everything. And the plants looked quite ancient, straggly and prickly. Their giant downy leaves had turned dry and brittle. What a treat to watch that cycle. We have a new batch ready to plant soon.
I met someone that doesn’t like raspberries. Once. She is perfectly normal in all other ways that I know of. But quite unique as she’s my first non-raspberry fan.
We grow lots of raspberries. We rarely have any left over after a market. Though they don’t need much attention to grow, they take much more time to pick than probably any other crop we grow. Most of the rows of raspberries are mowed to the ground in the winter. They begin to regrow in spring and they are more than chest-high now, filled with flowers and buzzing with bees. The first fruit is set.
Last fall we divided the raspberries and grew them up in the greenhouse.
The raspberry field before crushing.
The raspberry field was one of rockiest spots on the farm. Paul ran (well, maybe crawled would be a more descriptive verb) through with the “rock crusher” and really transformed the ground. 
New rows were planted several weeks ago, next to the current crop. And they are growing fast.
My mouth is watering already. Raspberries are an amazing, potent fruit, for most of us.
Many fields are moving from spring to summer crops.
The summer squash looks great! You can see where the variety changes from Raven (our green zucchini) to Gold Bar (the yellow), in the center left of the photo.
First tomatoes planted May 1st. This picture was taken May 3rd. Peppers and eggplant are under the covers beyond the tomatoes.
The tomatoes were staked May 11th and the covers have come off the peppers and eggplant.
Broccoli, fennel and spring onions.
May 3, looking like peak?
May 13, mowed between the rows.
Kinda gorgeous with kale, fennel and broccoli going to flower.
As we slowly move onto the property, I have had trouble finding time to add to the blog. But I have lots to say. So here we go.
This small odd-shaped field is visible from Arnold Drive. These pictures show the carrot successions in there now, planting, picking, growing.
The far rows of carrots, closest to the nursery, are being harvested now. The crop in the foreground should be ready before we run out of the others. The top photo shows the open bed in the middle being planted on May 3rd. They should be up soon.
It’s been “in the future” for a very long time. But now is the time we are moving from a lovely little house in Glen Ellen, provided to us while we worked at Oak Hill Farm. We’ve been here for more than 10 years.
It’s a small house and as our lives together gained momentum, we found the need to spread, to build shelves and made adjustments that pleased us organizationally and visually. The garden came together with little art vignettes scattered about.
Moving triggers memories. Choosing what is important to bring with us, what should stay here and what has passed it’s prime is quite interesting. Then we see if we agree(!), maybe the most revealing part of this process.
Yesterday we moved the outdoor items.
We’ll begin to move into our new home, right in the middle of the land we are farming, next weekend. And we couldn’t be more excited! It truly feels like a new beginning.
Did I mention, we got married? We did on, April 1, no foolin’. 
This is the rather large fenced in "yard" behind the house we are moving into. All our largest garden furniture is lined up along the fence. There is an apple tree, in full bloom right now, to welcome us. Plenty of room for improvement!
There is a lot going into the ground today. There is a greenhouse of perfect-sized plants, and prepared fields, dry enough to plant into. Plus, it is a dry day before predicted rain! Seeing the opening, last night, Paul quickly made a planting map … the day’s work.
The crew will work all day, filling the blue truck’s bed with flats of plants and driving to the edge of the ready bed. Then one worker, usually Servando, walks along the row, separating the plants from each other and the plastic flats, then as he walks along, he drops the plant in the row. The furrows are marked with a shallow trench by a tractor mounted shovel. 
The “dropper” is followed by someone on his hands and knees, quickly scooping soil around the seedling, standing it up and pressing firmly around its stem. 
When the rows are finished and the water is giving them their first drink out in the field, it’s a little thrill.
This planting includes broccoli, celery, fennel, leeks and onions. They were started in the greenhouse in Feb. This is the first large planting of the year. There is room in the greenhouse for more flats to be started. 
It feels like the real start of the year. The first crop ready to harvest will be Napa cabbage in about 6 weeks, toward the end of May. Celery, leeks and fennel need 80 days before you’ll see them on the farmers’ market stand. Some of the onions need 100 days.
Our fields probably got 3-4 inches of rain last week. It messed with last week’s Friday Farmers’ Market and allowed us to begin our restaurant deliveries again. Nothing flooded, no crops lost, just a little mud and the wind has ripped plastic covers. We’ll carry on and are happy for the boost to the water tables around the county.
Today the farm was busy with field preparation. It feels like spring. But there was added urgency because much needed rain is predicted. Not just trace amounts, but possibly days of the wet stuff which will hopefully be able to bring us closer to some kind of rainfall normal. We’ll see.
One field is being readied for some long overdue cover cropping. This field has been in constant production for many years, but in the interest of restoration and more fall production, it’s getting tilled, composted and planted with a “green manure” crop which will grow through the spring to build a better soil. In June or July the crop will be incorporated into the soil to augment the fertility and enhance soil structure. The vegetable crop that follows should get a boost from this process.
Another field is being readied for peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, about a month away from target first planting.
Our salad production is in full swing. Rows of colorful lettuces are in stages, some ready to be picked, some already grown past their prime. And some rows are just emerging, barely there yet full of promise. 
The head lettuces are grown in the greenhouse then transplanted and covered to keep them warm. The covers have been a huge help this year, allowing better growth for many crops, including the kales and chard. The plastic is a bit tricky to attach to the hoops that cover the bed and when it is windy, checking the covers is the first chore of the morning. But even with that issue, the covers are a plus for us.
We are almost out of carrots, but this week was our first harvest of baby Tokyo Turnips and Green Garlic. You can see the beautiful turnip greens are plentiful and vibrant. The next carrot crop is just to the left. The rainbow chard is just out from under covers and shining. Spring is springing.
Sure feels like spring…warm, dry and windy. Our beekeeper is concerned about the lack of nectar to feed the bees. It’s been so dry. And the worry is that it will rain throughout the month of March.
So, irrigation has been running. Lettuces and and greens are under covers. Fields are being readied for planting and planting is happening.
This bed of fennel and kales was planted Friday. Strange confluence in that 2 or 3 people asked about when we would have fennel again. As you can see, it’s probably 6 weeks off.
Favas are flowering. 
The artichokes are starting to really produce.
Ideally, before we do get rain, all the ground that can be planted should be bedded up and composted. Paul is spending a lot of time on the tractor with his compost spreader right now. This first picture, you can see him off in the distance. Through the power of ZOOM, he comes a bit closer. The spreader he made last winter is working like a charm and getting a lot of use. Looks like it’s gotten a nice rusty patina over the year.
There is only one eucalyptus tree left. One that was leaning too severely to gamble felling without first topping. One for a professional. Quite a sight, a little sad and shocking,
but we are recovering. The field closest the gone trees, is almost dry enough to begin tilling. Thank you all that helped with this big project, Paul Martinez and his crew that did all of the chipping, the Paul’s Produce field crew and Ralph Romberg who spent many days making this big project possible.
Many projects are tackled in the winter on the farm. Crops grow so slowly in the winter, everything we grow can be sold at a once a week market and our CSA. That will change as the weather warms up more crops are in need of harvest.
There are new shelves in the shop. 
Organization and the cleaning that happens alongside, is happening.
Another thing that’s happening is the greenhouses are warming up. Soon the humidity will drip from the “rafters” and mist up the camera as soon as the door closes.
But for now, the tomatoes and peppers are in the center on a bottom-heated table. The covers come off each day. Fans and automatic louvered vents maintains temps up to about 85 degrees even when it’s overcast.
As Paul wanders through, he can’t help but scan every flat, pulling tiny weeds spotted among the peppers or lettuces, or thinning where needed.
