Garlic, Egglplant, Zucchini, Sweet Peppers and Melons

The frost has finally come! Last night we had our weekly potluck outside around a campfire, while we used the wood burning stove to make a number of home-made pizzas, and talked about what still needed to be done on the farm. Apparently, until the frost arrived, it would be hard to gauge the timelines. So today, was like day one. Today the real clean up could commence.

First we removed all the rest of the melons out of their field, then pulled up the last of the plastic mulch, landscape cloth and drip lines. I am unsure how good the melons will be since most of them had visible frost damage, but we put them in the shop nonetheless to be dealt with later in the weekLater in the day we moved to the zucchini, eggplant and sweet pepper field. We had already cleaned most of the plants the previous week in fear of an imminent frost which did not come, and since then, the plants had been producing very slowly. We were able to salvage six more bins of eggplant before ripping the plants and mulch out of the ground. It is amazing how long it takes to set everything up in the spring and how quickly it can be destroyed.

The eggplant and peppers were harvested twice a week for market. We usually would decide on how many bins of a certain product could sell at the market and then take that amount. Toward the middle of September, we started harvesting everything that was ready to go. For both the eggplant and peppers that depends on size and/or colour. The other main job that we are doing right now is planting garlic for next season. After the garlic was hung to dry in the shop for six weeks, we then spent many hours cleaning the garlic. This means cleaning off the soiled outer shell and pruning the roots and top of the bulb. Much of this garlic is stored for the winter markets, but some of it was taken one step further and split. We split 1000 lbs of garlic (our garlic sells for 12$/lb at market fyi), which is now being planted in the ground to be harvested again next summer.

We still don't know what will happen with the tomatoes. I look forward to letting you know.

Beans

Kidney beans - the one on the left is not dehydrated yet, the one on the right was dried out by the sun.

On Friday we pulled up all of the bean plants at the farm. As you may recall, at their peak we were harvesting bins of green, yellow, purple and dragon beans for market every Monday and Thursday. And in July, because of poor germination, we replanted a number of bean plats to supplement our harvest six weeks later, starting in September.

Well the plants had seen there day and during our last harvest we literally ripped the plants out of the ground and stripped them of all there beans. Since we also grow these plants in a plastic mulch with a drip line underneath for irrigation (by the way we stopped irrigating the farm about 2-3 weeks ago), this too had to be cleaned up and sorted for the dump. That same day, Kevin mowed and tilled the front field to get it ready for winter. The only crops that remain in the front field that used to be filled with garlic, corn, cauliflower, beans, cabbage, broccoli and kohlrabi are some chard, collard and kale plants.

The more exciting bean harvest however was from the 'my field'. In the field that was assigned to me we have been growing drying beans all summer long. We planted the beans from seed in June, and then let the plants grow and dry out until now - no maintenance, other than a bit of weeding, was needed. Here too we ripped the plants out of the ground and stripped them of their beans. You had to be more careful with the harvest though because the pods were so dry that bean would be flying everywhere. Also, not all of the bean pods did dry out. Those that 'beaned out' but were still green were ok to take, because the beans can be air dried for storage. Those that had not 'beaned out' were left on the plant.

We grew four types of drying beans, and this year was the first attempt at growing these crops - kidney beans, black turtle beans, pinto beans and cowpeas.

Carrots

The season is quickly winding down. As I write this we are sitting inside eagerly anticipating the big frost. Will it come tomorrow? Who knows. I hope so because there is so much to do and so little time left, so if we can stop harvesting our ground crops, that would be a big time saver.

Last week was our last Wednesday (Main St) and Thursday (Granville Island) markets. Nadja, who does the drive everyweek, was happy to learn that she would not have to go back mid-week again for the season. We have two more weekend markets, and then the summer season is over.

So how does the farm maintain its cashflow in the winter? Luckily Vancouver has a winter farmers' market every Saturday and Klippers Organics is a major presence at this market. After one week break, the winter market will start up the first weekend in November.

Though we have been harvesting carrots all summer long, these will be one of the main winter crops for sale. The carrots will remain in the ground and we will cover them to protect from frost damage. The cool weather will also sweeten up the crop.

I really enjoy harvesting carrots, because you never kow what you are going to pull out of the ground. Will they be orange, white, red or purple carrots? Will they be small or large? Will they have any parculiar growth formations because of other elements in the soil?

It has been particularly apparent that our rainbow carrots have thrived in our soil. They are significantly larger than the orange carrots, so much so that it seems challenging to even sell the massive carrots.

Another favourite are kissing carrots - these are when tow carrots, for whatever reason, intertwine themselves and look like they are in an intense embrace. This one was particularly unusual.

Onions

Walla walla onions cured in burlap sacks on pallets for storage.


Rotting walla wall onions that had to be discarded.


Cleaning and sorting walla walla onions on a Saturday morning.


White onions that have turned green from too much sun exposure and damaged by a pink mould.


The size of one of our larger walla walla onions - in short, huge!

Cleaning onions that have been curing in the field for storage.

We had a very successful onion harvest this year. At market, most people cannot believe the size of our onions in fact. I was not around when the onions were transplanted into the ground, which was over about a three week period in April, but I understand at that time there was some concern that not enough onions were being planted. This concern was misdirected because now we aren't even able to sell them fast enough before they spoil.

On the farm we grow five varieties of onions - walla walla, torpedo, red, white and yellow storage onions. In July and August, we were spot picking the first four varities for market. Then in late August we had to start pulling the walla walla onions, which are the sweetest onions we have, to prevent them from over ripening in the ground. To do this, we would literally pull the onions out of the plastic mulch and lay them in nice rows for a couple of days so that they could be dried out and cured by the sun. Once they were partially cured, we would then return and cut off the tops to store them in burlap sacks in the field so they could continue to cure. This would prevent them from having too much sun damage while they lay in the field. We then layed the sacks on pallets and put them in the shop to store.

Unfortunately walla walla onions are not good storage onions. They have a very high water content, and especially since our got so large, they contained even more water. A week ago, we had to go through four pallets that remained of the sacked walla wall onions to remove all those that were rotten, rotting or bruised because it was making the gathering of onions for market a very drawn out ordeal. At the end of the exercise, we had two big wood bins full of onions that were to be discarded. It was hard to see so much go to waste.

For the torpedo, red and storage onions, the process was similar, except that we first harvested the torpedo and red onions, because they do not store as well as the yellow storage (or cooking) onions. These we also let cure in the field under the sun for many more days. Once they were cured, we would dump them directl into wooden crates from the field, so they could be transported and put into storage with the tractor. With all onions, it was important to make sure that you were handeling them gently, because any bumping will cause bruising and subsequent rotting while they store if you are not careful.

One of the biggest concerns while the onions are laying in the field is rain. One weekend I was at the farm in September, it was forecasted to rain, so we were assigned to get the storage onions cleaned up and out of the field. It was a last minute forecast, and so we did not have the man power or foresight to get the job done in a timely way. As a result, myself and three of my colleagues were pruning and collecting storage onions in the light of the moon (as well as the light of our on farm kawasaki utility vehicles) until we were able to cover the rest with giant tarps to prevent them from being rained on. It was in these weeks that I really felt that you have to pull up your socks and get the work done which needs to get done - somehow.

Our white onions have been a bit of a failure. When we went to prune and collect the cured white onions for storage, we all noticed that the onions had developed bright pink patches on them. We are still unsure what it is and what caused it, but were unwilling to put the work into storing the onions if they are just going to go bad on us. We did collect one bin worth, but the onions had sat in the field for so long before the decision was made to save some of the crop, that the white onions turned green because of the light exposure. The remaining onions are still laying in the field, and we are told that gleaners might be called to come and salvage whatever they can from the field, but that we are not going to spend any more time on the white onions. I am still curioust o find out what the pink discoloration is on the outer shells of these onions.

In terms of perservation for the winter, storage onions can be eaten fresh almost all winter long. I have also taken the time to dehydrate a bag of onions and have even tried pickling some of the smaller walla wallas to eat as a condiment. The dehydrated onions are great for making salsa, because they absorb some of the extra liquid that is released when the tomatoes break down.

One more thing, apparently snakes, spiders and mice like to hang out in the onion patches. I am afraid of two of the stated creatures, so there was always an element of fear lurking in my mind while cleaning the onions. Here is a picture of one of the black widow spiders found while cleaning the onions.

Squash Harvest

Kirsten holding our largest banana squash.

Oranghetti squash with frost damage.

Annamarie teaching the apprentices about frost damage and what to look for when we are harvesting.
Whitney taking a break in the squash bin.

Me harvesting carnival squash!

Fall is here. We have harvested 95% of the squash we planted in the spring, and have even cleaned up one of the fields. The end is near and it is both sad and exciting. I still can't believe that my job consists of harvesting pumpkins, for example, something that I used to pay money to go and do in my spare time.

The squash were one of the few crops that we grew from seed. Back in the spring we were racing to get the squash in the ground fast enough because there was a worry we were too late to beat the frost. Turns out that fear was partially correct. When harvesting, especially the spaghetti squash which aren't as hardy as some of the other varieties, it was apparent which ones had been hit by the frost - you could see dark spotted discoloration on the top of the vegetables.

The squash are still good to eat, they just won't keep as long as the others into the spring, so we had to make sure to separate them into their own bin to be sold or eaten first.

From memory, these are the variety of squash that we have on the farm: butternut, oranghetti, spaghetti, turban, carnival, delicata, sugar loaf, sweet meat, sugar pumpkin, acorn, blue hubbard, golden hubbard, banana, and red curry. Admittedly I have not prepared many of these varieties, but I look forward to doing so in the next few weeks.

We had our squash planted on three different fields. The field that was supposed to be the most productive, unfortunately was the least productive. The reason being that we tried to use landscaping cloth to discourage the bindweed from growing and inhibiting the squash from successful growth. In the end, the landscaping cloth, which is a black, permeable, nylon-like material prevented the squash from flourishing because it got so hot in the summer that it not only partially burned the plants but also allowed for all the water meant to hydrate the plants to evaporate. Long story short, the landscaping cloth will not be used again for the squash.

First frost!

Almost two months to the day of my last successful blog post. Earlier in the season the owners of the farm on which I work were skeptical if I would be able to keep up with my blog once the harvest months hit - it turns out they were right. But today was the first frost, which means the summer is coming to an end and I will soon have time to write detailed updates on how each product has matured in the last two months.

I had mixed feelings about the frost this morning. Though we have been joking and looking forward to the day when we can stop harvesting tomatoes, I was not ready for that day to be today. I was sad at the prospect of everything dying. Everything I have worked so hard to grow and maintain. I will admit I was a little teary when I thought of all our ground crops being dead. But then I picked almost frozen cherry tomatoes for an hour-and-a-half while barely being able to feel my fingers and I decided I was in fact ready for the tomatoes to be dead after all.

Luckily the frost was a spot frost which means it only damaged some of the plants. I still have a few days or maybe even a couple of weeks to harvest and preseve some more of the healthy and clean food I have worked so hard to help grow this summer.

I feel I must accept that summer is gone.

Adventure: Skaha Bluffs

I often find myself sad when I am not adventuring. I believe everyone has an image of who they would like to be and how they would like to live their life, even if it is sometimes (or often) far from the reality of their lives. My imaginary self is definitely a woman who can be considered a great adventurer- she likes to conquer her fears, push her physical and mental limits, and is a highly skilled and capable person outdoors. I also think this is why I dream of travelling to far off places, of climbing mountains, skiing great traverses, kitesurfing high into the air and scuba diving deep into the ocean - all things which I also do whenever I get the chance.

This weekend, I took a top rope anchors course at the Skaha Bluffs just off of Skaha Lake near Penticton. The course was nine hours long in which I learned what gear I need and how to set up fail-proof anchors outdoors for top rope climbing. (I have not yet done any lead climbing but hope to by the end of the summer.) We also spent a fair amount of time trouble shooting different set-ups that contained obstacles, sharp ledges, anchors over the edge of the rock face or no bolts in the wall. I am always very keen to learn new skills and to test out my knowledge too. At the end of the day I was climing on routes where I had set up the anchor - it is a little nerve-racking to have your life hanging on by a system you only learned how to build a few hours prior.

Regardless, the climbing was fabulous and I can't wait to get back out. You see I have a fear of heights and especially cliffs. Climbing has certainly helped me start to overcome this fear, and the fact that I am still always afraid I think is what attracts me that much more to the sport; every route I need to not only puzzle-piece my way up a rock face, using technical moves and my strength to accomplish the summit, but I also need to deal with the fact that I am so high in the air. The challenge of climbing is so involved, that you get such a rush and sense of accomplishment from doing the activity whether you get to the top of the route you are attempting or not. Also, the fear, or respect of heights as my instructor called it, does ensure that I am that much more cautious with my set-ups and partner selection.

I have been toying with two possibilities for my future in recent months: 1) become an organic farmer or 2) pursue a career in the outdoor adventure industry as a guide, tour operator or in gear retail. After talking with my course instructor this weekend, I have been convinced that agriculture is the route for me. Without going into depth about the reasons, it appears that most individuals who go down the outdoor adventure route for life, end up living in their vans for a good number of years while pursuing this lifestyle. Well, living in a van and the lifestyle that entails, no matter how happy I will be outside, is not appealing. It seems, that the best route is to make your money elsewhere so that you have money to spend on 'playing' while not at work. Now to make some money farming!