Seeding this week. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer's Perspective: Practice Makes Progress

After the farm saw historic flooding last week and yet another rainy weekend, I have never been happier to see the sun! It’s amazing what you can get done in 5 days without rain and boy, we really needed it. We’ve spent the week cleaning up fields, harvesting new crops, and learning a lot about how to handle moisture on the farm. The fields that were unaffected last week are really thriving from the deep watering, and this week felt like a big step up.

The JBG crews have been hard at work harvesting loads and loads of root crops this week. The ground is still very muddy, so those containers are coming in heavy! Our weekly farm cartoon has felt pretty accurate for the week. It’s a lot of hard work, but it sure is exciting to see such a great variety of root crops coming from the fields! This weekend, our farmers markets will be ripe with sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, three kinds of turnips, and lots of radishes - expect to see favorites like our black Spanish, watermelon, and daikon storage radishes, french breakfast and red radishes, and a new variety we grew this year called an icicle radish! It looks a little bit like a daikon radish, but is a shorter day crop with a crisp flavor, a bit milder than daikon.

Doug washing carrots in the barn. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Working in wet soil is a challenge for farmers everywhere, but this week the field crew made huge steps in learning how to deal with this challenging situation. Since we had around 15 inches of rain the previous week, even with this week’s sunshine only the top 1 to 2 inches of soil have dried out in our fields. So, Angel and Montana began using a new technique that I first heard about from Boggy Creek Farm years ago. I’ve heard Carol Ann talk about “tickle tilling,” which is a shallow bed preparation that Boggy Creek uses on their permanent beds. This week, we tried our hand at “tickle tilling,” since we would have a muddy, cloddy mess from the wetter soils if we tried to till the soil any deeper. It worked! We were able to get back to seeding this week with dry, smooth seedbeds.

Another advantage of this technique is that we keep permanent beds, where our tractor tires always travel in the exact same paths in the field. This way, the area where the vegetables are grown are never driven on and the soil isn’t compacted and can provide better structure for healthy plants. As farmers, we are continually trying new methods and learning from these experiments, and while practice can't always make perfect, it certainly makes progress. I think that this new technique is going to really help the farm in the future and I am grateful the crew was able to solve the problem of seeding into wetter soils this week - this shallow tillage has been an invaluable tool this week. Thanks for the tip, Carol Ann!

Montana gives the thumbs up on our new tillage technique. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Although we still have a long rebuilding process ahead of us after the floods, this week was hopeful and full of progress. I know it seems a long ways off, but another notable event is that this week Assistant Farm Manager Jason and I sat down to begin planning our spring season at JBG! We’ll be balancing the workload of our peak harvest season with the long process of crop planning for the next few months, but as a farmer you always have to be looking forward even when things are busy or difficult. We’ll be seeding tomatoes again before you know it!

Green fields and some much-needed sunshine. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Potluck and 5k Harvest Hustle is this Weekend!

This Saturday, November 14th, we hope to see you at our much anticipated fall hoedown! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate local farming and food with the JBG community than to invite all of you out to see the JBG Garfield Farm. Rogue Running is putting on our 5k Harvest Hustle, where you can tour the farm on a beautiful run (or walk) through the fields (don’t forget - there’s also a 1-mile Kids’ Fun Run!).

Bring your favorite dish to share in our community Potluck and see what other folks in the JBG community have been making with their veggies too! Children get in free to the event, and we hope to see the whole family enjoying the live music, cooler weather, and fall festivities the farm has to offer this time of year.

Buy your ticket at jbgorganic.com/hoedown. The Harvest Hustle starts at 3pm - I’ll see you at the starting line!

We'll see you on Saturday! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Going out of town for the holidays? Donate your share!

If your family is headed out of town for the holidays, we hope you will consider donating your Thanksgiving or Christmas share to The Settlement Home. Through JBG’s long-standing relationship with this organization, your CSA box can help feed children, young adults, and families with histories or trauma, abuse and neglect in our community. Learn more about how The Settlement Home serves Austin on their website. Donating your share is easy - just email the farm to let us know you want to participate and we’ll do the rest!

If donating your holiday share isn’t an option, we hope you’ll consider joining our Sponsored Share Program. You can donate CSA shares directly to The Settlement Home. or donate vegetables directly to Central Texas flood victims. Your participation will not help our farm begin its rebuilding efforts, but will also send fresh, local vegetables to those in need in our community.

Holiday Gifts - Market Bucks and CSA Gift Subscriptions

When thinking about the holidays, keep JBG in mind for your foodie friends! We have gift certificates available for your farmers market-shoppers, busy families, new parents, or anyone who would enjoy eating locally. Gifts are available as Market Bucks or as CSA subscriptions - find these at jbgorganic.com/gifts. If you're trying to find a unique local gift for the friend who has it all, consider donating a CSA subscription on their behalf - email us for more details on this special gift arrangement.