We are moving 🚚
Howdy ya’ll!
I feel like the past couple newsletters I have been writing about how things are slowing down and we are getting to the end of the season. I’m beginning to think that I am just trying to manifest some kind of relaxation in my life because we are still going at the farm. We still harvest and deliver twice a week and the farmer’s market goes until the end of October.
There has been a lot of clean up like pulling out trellising, landscape fabric and dead tomato plants. We still have lovely arugula, radishes, turnips and salad greens coming in. Though we have been saying the salad greens are coming for awhile now but this time it's true. The lettuce has been covered with Agribon fabric at night since it’s been getting quite cold. As far as I can tell, there hasn’t been a real frost on the farm yet. Some chilly nights for sure, but everything is still looking fine! Even the late planting of summer squash we put in is looking fine. Their time will come though. It always does.
Us with jack o’ lantern heads at the Ypsi Market.
One of the major tasks we’ve been working on (that I have neglected to mention so far) is all the packing up we have been doing for a big move. It has been an extremely difficult decision for Magda and I but, ultimately; we have decided to move the farm. It’s been a great growing season on our current plot but not having a proper agricultural well left us pretty limited in how much we could grow. Not to mention all the undue strain we were putting on our generous landlords home well just to irrigate this summer. So, any spare time is put to packing things up in the truck and moving it off the farm to our new spot. We aren’t moving far just a bit north to a place some of ya’ll might be familiar with: Slow Farm! Kim Bayer has generously allowed us to take on a lease for some of her growing space and we could not be happier! Looking forward to having more updates and details about the move soon so stay tuned.
Magda with the tiny kitten!
In other farm news, Magda and I found a kitten on the farm! Well, Magda found it. While washing green onions, for a wholesale order to Argus, she heard the sad cries of something coming from under our water storage tanks. At first she thought it was just a leak but when the cries became more insistent she crawled under the tanks and took a look. And it was there she found the kitten! Antonio (which is what we named her before we knew she was a girl) was very small, less than a third of pound in weight and her eyes were still closed. It was cold that morning so we immediately wrapped her in a sweater. Throughout the season we’ve spotted a very illusive feral cat walking around so we assumed it was one of her kittens but we had no luck finding her or any other kittens from the litter. We ended up bringing Antonio to the Huron Valley Humane Society (where we adopted our cat: Cheese) and she is now with a foster until she reaches an adoptable size. Finding her definitely brought some excitement to our harvest day and we are glad to report she is safe and sound.
Magda and her giant zucchini for seed saving.
It is a direct cross of Green Machine (which is a prolific producer and has very nice orderly plants) with Costada Romanesca (an heirloom from Italy with delicious fruits but messy flower-ends and plants).
Next year we will grow out the seeds we saved and select plants that have good fruit production, well mannered plants and cool patterning.
As always we are looking forward to seeing you at the Ypsi Farmer’s Market this weekend as always 9am – 1pm. We will have tomatoes (slowing dramatically!), peppers, eggplant, arugula, napa cabbage, green onions, beets, radishes, turnips, chard, summer squash, herbs, and flowers.
Looking forward to seeing you all at market!
Zach and Magda
Bonus Cheese picture.
