you're running a farm!

Since our last post, we've harvested over 2,000 lbs of produce, sold much of it, donated over 240 lbs of it, and are in the cycle of farming: plant, weed, harvest, till.  It feels good to move through this cycle seamlessly -- already tilling some of our first planted beds and putting them to rest in cover crop.  

Farming in the rain forest has it's quirks.  While we (set in our ways) spent a bit of our budget on drip and micro irrigation, we tend to bring on big storms every time we turn it on.  Most recently we had 5 inches over the course of two days (much of the precipitation falling at our last Saturday market).   And since we are farming in a floodplain, our fingers are always crossed that the soil can absorb the rain.  So far, so good, only a few wet spots and standing water at the edges of our fields.  Fortunately many of the fields have just a hint of a slope so they don't capture the water.  

Despite the rain, we are able to work uninterrupted managing the 2 acres with just the two of us.  It's a lot of work, especially with the bounty of weed seeds in the soil, but we are amazingly still finding time to play in the forests and surrounding mountains and have plenty of time for rest.  

When the soil is fertile and crops are happy, the work is less and harvests are more.  

Squash, cucumbers, and beans cannot be stopped.  In fact, we have donated so much of these items that we have most recently decided to abandon our first plantings and concentrate on picking our second successions.  This actually works out well because the second successions are gorgeous!  

We have just published information about our Fall CSA -- we are so excited to have the CSA component on this farm.  Can't wait to spoil our members!  The shares will begin in late August and continue until mid-November.

And life on the farm continues, and it's time to pick our first good harvest of okra.  I see a yummy dinner in my future!!

See you all at market this Saturday, it's supposed to be a warm and beautiful day!

It's been a busy three weeks since we've written anything about our progress.  The more we cram into our schedule the quicker the days go by.
A lot can happen in three weeks.
Our first radish planting was harvested -- totaling a full bin that I am now pickling and sharing with friends since we don't yet have enough stuff to take to market.
We've picked our first lettuce mix and are enjoying a nice salad with every meal.
Our winter squash and summer squash have about 4 true leaves now and we'll soon be uncovering them to let the pollinators work their magic.
Beets and carrots emerged with a full blanket of weeds -- many of which rival our evil bermuda grass of Serenbe.  So Justin and I have successfully done the first time consuming weeding and thinning of these tiny and slower growing crops.
Flea beetles prove to be a concern and we've learned that growing brassicas without covering them won't happen.  So little lessons are guiding our decisions.
Okra and beans are shooting upwards and liking this soil as their home.
First round of sweet potatoes went in the ground yesterday so now time for lots of water to help their roots spread out.
Our one block of sunflower cover crop is germinated nicely and about ankle high and growing every day.  

Weather has been very cooperative and relatively dry for the region.  Nice days in the low to mid 80s and cool nights make for happy farmers.  And of course the bike trails are pristine.  

Now that we're feeling settled we're finding our routine balancing all the things we love.

In the whirlwind that is starting a farm in mid-May (without any tools to our name, mind you), we have come a very, very long way.  From signing our lease at the end of April, racing a 100 mile mountain bike race, and boogeying back to WNC to get the ball rolling it's been nonstop action.  And if you know us, action generally means we're having a superb time.  

Some of our biggest accomplishments include finding a beauty of a used tractor down in South Carolina, building our best ever row marker to ensure we have proper spacing across and down our beds.  Working on this stellar website and ordering everything that we need from row fabric to radish seed.  

First seeds are in the ground and we await greenhouse trays for getting out transplant production going.  (Late is better than never!)  Next up is figuring out how to get water from our beautiful creek onto our fertile soil.  

Business license is applied for, insurance shopping is underway, and all those things that are done behind the scenes occupy our evenings.

Of course being in this incredibly wonderful area, we have to take some time every now and again to enjoy the trails, mountains, waterfalls that are just outside of our door.  Luckily proximity is on our side and it's not too hard to sneak away for a couple of hours to climb thousands of feet on awesome singletrack on our mountain bikes.

Life is good and things are growing.