Clagett Farm Notes

U-bar!

Thank you to all for the wonderful potluck party last Saturday at the wash station. I was blown away by a huge surprise gift: a u-bar!

Here I am trying to explain what this weird looking thing is. The u-bar is an excellent hand tool for tilling soil, and it's much easier to use than it looks because it works on gravity: a person steps on it and the long tines go in. It's similar to a broadfork, but heavier and with longer tines. It is often used in biointensive farms and gardens. Where can you buy it? You can't. It has to be made by a good welder. That's what makes this gift so special.  Without me knowing anything about it, volunteer Sean O'Harra was approached by Clagett Farm colleagues and asked whether he can weld such a thing. He said, sure. And Sean not only made one, but two! One I'll take to Vermont, the other stays here at Clagett Farm.

The man behind Tricia McCauley is Sean. Roshani is on the right. Wonderful volunteers and good friends of the farm.

Gleaning--what's available

It's that time of year when our members, worksharers, and friends can glean whatever remains from our fields.  Beginning tomorrow (Friday, 11/18) through Sunday afternoon, you can come to the farm anytime and harvest.  At the washing station we will have a map telling you where to find everything, and around the farm we will post signs to help guide you to the fields.   If you would like to come when we are there to help you, we will be around 9am-5pm Friday, 10am-2pm Saturday, and noon-3pm Sunday.  A small volunteer group will come Sunday afternoon to help us glean what's left for a soup kitchen. 

Here is a list of what is available to pick right now:

lettuce
spinach (very small; requires patience and good knees to harvest)
arugula (plenty)
spicy mix (plenty)
mizuna
red mustard
green mustard
turnip greens
collards
kale
small heads broccoli
tiny heads cauliflower
many immature heads cabbage
about 10 pounds small, slightly-soft sweet potatoes
about 20 pounds garlic bulbs
hakurei turnips
purple-top turnips
watermelon radishes
regular radishes ("cherry belle" and "easter egg")
jimmy nardello peppers (sweet, frying)
padron chiles (hot when larger than a golf ball)
lots of assorted, dried chiles scattering the ground where they were growing
dill
cilantro
garlic chives
oregano
mint
nasturtiums (peppery, edible flowers and leaves--some frost damage)
basil (doesn't win any prizes for appearance--frost damage)
anise hyssop (licorice flavored herb--great for hot tea! Some frost damage  )

Please be warned that many of the above items are scattered in distant fields.  These are items that were not harvested before because there was not enough to serve our hundreds of members, or it was so small or scattered it was not worth the time.  By it's nature gleaning requires some patience and a keen eye for what might be hidden in a field that looks cleaned out.  Please bring bags, and a knife will be helpful to harvest the small greens.  If you're hoping for a couple pounds of salad greens, expect to squat or crouch for 15 minutes or more.  Also, it's been cold and windy at times, so please dress appropriately for the weather, and wear comfortable shoes that you can get dirty.  The frost on the grass will get your feet cold and wet until mid-morning.

If you would like to surprise someone with a Thanksgiving or Christmas wreath, we will have some for sale.  Many include garlic, popcorn and chiles, so they are useful even after the holidays have passed. 

If we don't see you this weekend, have a terrific winter!

Festival plans in case of rain

We've heard there's a good chance of scattered showers on Saturday.  It's likely that it won't rain between noon and 3pm, but in case it does, we still plan to enjoy ourselves, although perhaps in a more intimate atmosphere.  If it's actively raining, the band, auction, and all the food will be moved into the Education barn.  We'll have kid's activities in the barn, as well.  And if anyone is interested, we'll be separating garlic cloves so they can be planted next week.  If it stops raining, we'll head back outside for the hayrides, bike tour, and games, as planned.  See you then!

Festival date set for October 22nd

Mark you calenders, folks!  We've set a date for our fall festival on the farm.  The steel drum band is booked to join us on Saturday October 22, 2005.  We'll have hay rides and a pot luck and who knows what else.  Everyone is invited!  If you have any ideas for fun things we should do this year, let us know.

Picnic

Yesterday we had a wonderful picnic at the beach in appreciation of our volunteers and worksharers. It was a beautiful day, there was plenty of food (the grill stayed busy), swimming, bacce ball playing, badminton, and good conversation. It was fun to get together with volunteers and worksharers in a relaxing setting, since usually we get to see them under very different circumstances.

Kudos to Lance Baldwin and Kathleen Davis for instigating and organizing this event.

Fall Festival at Clagett Farm

It was a glorious autumn day last Saturday--perfect for a farm fall festival. It was great to see so many shareholders, worksharers and friends enjoying themselves. It was very nice to see several shareholders (from Anacostia and Dupont) who had never been to the farm before. We all had a good time.

Steel drum band in action (Jeff Crespi's photo):

Michael Heller pulling out with hayriders:

Shareholder Lorig Charkoudian and daughter (thanks for the photo, Jeff):

Harvesting the potluck (once again, Jeff's photo):

Carrie and her grandma (the farmer on the right side of the picture is Rob Vaughn):

Fall Festival!

With some encouragement from our members and co-workers, we've decided to schedule a fall festival. Mark your calendars for Saturday October 23, 2004. For those of you who cannot make it on Saturday, we will also offer a hayride the following Tuesday afternoon.

Saturday:
The first half of the day will follow our regular schedule. We'll harvest from 7:30am to 1:00pm, and we always welcome volunteers and work shares!
The pick-up for shareholders will run from 1:00-4:00pm, same as ever.
Bring lunch! We'll have a pot-luck meal at 1pm, and while you're eating, we'll entertain you with a pie auction. Not restricted to pies, we'll auction off just about anything you have to offer.
At 2:30pm we'll have a hayride.
We'll also have some games (a scavenger hunt? apple bobbing?).
Let us know if you have any other ideas for activities, or something you would like to share with our group.
Everyone is invited. Bring your friends!