Clagett Farm Notes

A summer Thursday

Yesterday morning a volunteer named Ryan spent a few hours weeding the watermelon field with Kenji. Pigweed, Jimson weed, morning glory and foxtail were the most common plants that were pulled out. It was hot and very humid, so soon both, Ryan and Kenji, were drenched in sweat. Good practice for Ryan, who in September will start his agriculture-related Peace Corps stint in a Francophone African country (he does not yet know which one). While Ryan and Kenji were weeding, Michael Heller and Keith Hudson, a young volunteer who loves farms, were stacking hundreds and hundreds of bales of hay. Hard work.

During lunch we were sitting at the wash station when Kenji saw a large bird. "An eagle!" Kenji exclaimed. Sure enough. A bald eagle! By the time I took a picture the eagle was high up in the air, so please excuse its fuzziness.

Rob quipped that as national symbols are concerned Clagett Farm has it covered. We have wild turkeys, which Benjamin Franklin wanted to designate as the national symbol, and now the bald eagle, the actual winner of this honor, shows up at the farm.

After lunch Janie, a dedicated volunteer, helped Kenji to mix soil for our second seeding of fall brassicas.

The dogs, Tuzeek and Cassie, pretty much took it easy and stayed out of the sun. They know what to do when it's hot.

Twining tomatoes

Our tomato crop promises to be a good one. Shareholders already got some, but most of it is still to come. The plants are laden with green fruit, so August, once again, will be a great tomato month. To keep up with the growing plants, though, we have to twine them between the stakes. Twining facilitates and increases the tomato harvest. It's quite a chore, though--especially when it's hot and humid.

Below we see Kenji and Patti Wawzyniecki working as a team of twiners. Patti is a leader of a Young Neighbors in Action group that volunteered at Clagett Farm during this week of challenging weather.

And here is Stefan Wawzyniecki, the other leader of this hard working group, young members of St. Bartholomew's Parish in Vermont, Connecticut. They came to the DC area for a week of service work. Not exactly a relaxing vacation for them, but we were certainly impressed and grateful for all their good help.

Joe and Gail after several hours in the tomato field.

After much sweating, pulling and straining Kenji and Patti stop work to get a well deserved lunch break.

Code Red Harvesting

The radio and the papers urged folks to stay indoors on Tuesday, a Code Red day. But Tuesdays are our busiest harvest days and there is no choice for us. We were very impressed, though, by those who did have a choice and still came to the farm to pitch in. Connecticut volunteers from Young Neighbors in Action harvested close to 500 lbs of tomatoes. Other volunteers and worksharers helped us harvest over 700 lbs of summer squash and cucumbers. And that's not all they did, but I'll stop here to show some photos.

Harvesting summer squash. Susan Minor, shareholder and volunteer, is in the foreground.

Worksharer Laurie Martin between the summer squash and the sunflowers.

Tricia McCauley, a veteran worksharer, carrying a bin of cucumbers she just harvested.

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.

Cabbages under the rain

Yesterday a hard working group of volunteers from Massachusetts harvested over 1,400 lbs of cabbages. Despite the rain and the mud the Young Neighbors in Action volunteers worked hard weeding, harvesting and twining tomatoes. And today they were back at the farm for more of the same!

Last week of May

Among other things during the last week of May, we transplanted sweet potatoes, u-pickers hit our two strawberry fields hard, and we started to harvest garlic scapes. The appearance of garlic scapes usually indicates that garlic bulbs themselves will be harvested about a month later. As Carrie noticed, the garlic plants are drying somewhat earlier than usual. We are not exactly sure what this means. The drier than usual spring is certainly a factor. Perhaps we will start harvesting garlic sooner than expected and perhaps our bulbs will be smaller than in previous years.    

May turned out to be a fairly dry month. The farm probably got less than half the usual precipitation. All in all this has been a dry spring: in terms of rain, April was a good month, but it was sandwiched  between a March with virtually no precipitation and a fairly dry May.

Last Saturday we were surprised by the number of worksharers that came to the farm--almost forty individuals. In August we can keep such a crowd busy harvesting, but there is simply less to harvest in May. Nonetheless, once the harvest was done we kept everyone fairly busy with weeding some of our beds as well as raking recently mowed rye grass and hairy vetch (cover crop) and then piling it all up on a compost heap.

We appreciate our volunteers and worksharers, and we understand that most of them are unable to come to the farm during the regular work week. But let me lobby for Tuesday as the day of the week to come. If you want to work for a share or simply volunteer at the farm, you will be especially welcomed on Tuesday, which is our most intense harvest day.

And now a few photos.

Above we see Dave clearing a heap of just-mowed cover crop that was in his way. Dave was using the tractor to prepare a couple of beds with a mechanical spader. (Photo by Sarah Tooley.)

Worksharers and Gail (foreground) weeding one of our beds.

Kenji engaging in close combat with new green stuff on his compost pile.

Volunteers and Worksharers

One of the nice things of spring and early summer is to once again see the faces of volunteers from previous years back at the farm.  Several veterans from previous seasons have come back and we are sure to see more of them as the growing season progresses. We are always happy to see old friends willing to labor and sweat alongside us. And not only old friends. New volunteers willing to experience some farm work are always welcome. This spring we already met several eager volunteers who have managed to come to the farm more than once. Keep in mind that when vegetables are available for harvest you can work for your share. For four hours of labor "worksharers" get the equivalent of what our paying shareholders get in that week's share. A few of our hardcore shareholders sometimes also work for a share. In those weeks they get two shares--one paid for and the other worked for.

To read Pat Burke's last year's piece on her own experience as a volunteer, click on On Volunteering at Clagett Farm. You can also read Tina Shane's 2004 post, Musings of a Worksharer.

If you are thinking about it, give it a try! Bring a water bottle and comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting dirty--clothes with which you would not hesitate to sit or kneel on the ground. We are quite flexible, but if this is your first time it's better if you arrive sometime between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM. If you want directions or other info, send an email to "Clagett at cbf.org" or call 301.627.4662.

Transplanting Tomatoes

We transplanted tomatoes this past Friday, April 28. It was a glorious spring day, just perfect to work outside. Farm workers and volunteers enjoyed a day with few glitches. Here are a few photos to show you what we did. First, we see Rob Vaughn disking the cover crop.

Next, Megan Caine, a dear Clagett Farm veteran who now often volunteers, is pulling out tomato seedlings from their trays to place them in the transplanter container. Tuz Boy is the dog checking out the operation.

And in the last picture, Kenji Warren is driving the tractor and volunteers Sean O'Harra and Terry Victor are sitting on the transplanter working as tomato seedlings setters.

Our transplanter is very old and was originally used for tobacco. It's a very ingenious device. For a quick explanation of how it works, click here to read one of our posts from last year. 

Becoming a 2006 member or worksharer

Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in joining our farm for the 2006 season as a member, volunteer or worksharer.
  We will probably begin signing up members in March.  We will post a message here as soon as we do, so if you would like to be one of the first to hear that we've begun taking orders, then click on the <RSSFWD:> link at the upper left of this page.  Then submit your email address, and you will be notified any time we post news on this site.  At any time if you wish to stop getting this notification, it is easy to be removed from the list.  Our deliveries and other details about the share for 2006 should be the same as 2005, although we might raise the price by $20.  You can read about those details at www.clagettfarm.org.  We will include any new information and a new order form on this page as soon as we begin taking orders. 
   Volunteer opportunities include office work (starting now, although we prefer a commitment of more than one day), greenhouse work (starting in February), and field work (starting in March).  Before May, our schedule is irregular, so it is best to call us to let us know you're coming (301-627-4662).
  After May, we are happy to offer a share of vegetables to any adult who works 4 hours or more. This "workshare" begins in May as soon as we start distributing vegetables (we are aiming for May 9).  There is no commitment, and you do not need to sign up in advance.  Simply show up to work any weekday between 8am and 4pm, or Saturday between 8:30am and 1pm.  There are more details on our website (clagettfarm.org) and of course, we will post any changes on this weblog, should they arise.

Last CSA harvest of 2005

This past Tuesday, November 8, we had our last harvest day of the 2005 season. A bittersweet day. Everyone was cheerful and our team's customary wry and irreverent humor was in good form. And yet there was a tinge of sadness, too. After all, we will not be doing this again in a while and when we resume some of us will not be around. But that's what happens every year. There is continuity even in this end of season dispersion.

 

Here we are harvesting mixed baby lettuce for our CSA shareholders. In the foreground, on the left we see Carrie being productive as always and to the right a smiling Andrea Humm is being her usual gracious self, but Dave Vernon, in the middle, is showing obvious signs of work-induced derangement (the size of the image may not show that clearly, so readers will have to trust me on that).

A view from the other side: Gail Taylor and Megan Caine with the baby lettuce. It took a comically long time to harvest this tiny lettuce. Why? Because when we seeded them we didn't expect that we would be cutting them that small--otherwise we would have them closer together for a quicker and more efficient harvest. Incidentally, cutting baby lettuce is not the only exciting experience lived by Gail and Megan. Gail recently returned from a visit to Europe. Right before Europe she had some interesting adventures in Guatemala. Megan, after studying Spanish in Ecuador, hitchhiked through several South American countries. Every once in a while during her travels the farm would receive Megan's fascinating emails. Her traveling companion was Farah Fosse, another friend of the farm who frequently volunteers here. Before we knew her, Megan also traveled to China and South East Asia.

Back to the baby lettuce. Here is a batch of it being rinsed to get it ready for the shareholders.

Dave, Andrea and Megan working on the lettuce at the wash station. Dave is new to the DC area. Shortly after his arrival this summer he found out about Clagett Farm and has been a consistent volunteer ever since. He has worked on farms in his native Wales, and lived in South Africa and Canada. As to Andrea, all season she was a Tuesday volunteer whose dedication went above and beyond the call of duty. Neither cold rain nor oppressive heat ever managed to dent her gracious and gentle humor.

During Tuesday's lunch break Kathleen Davis came by to say hello and goodbye to us--her former farm teammates. We were happy to see her! Next week she is flying to her home in Hawaii. We wish Kathleen the very best, but for selfish reasons hope to see her back. Many of you know Kathleen, especially if you were a Saturday shareholder or worksharer in 04 and 05. Few people know, however, how much the CSA benefited from Kathleen's friendly and unassuming but very capable presence.

So here we are in mid-November. There are still plenty of things to do at the farm. But the dynamics of the work are quite different and fewer hands are needed.