We've been going full throttle this week. SOME TIME the cold WILL be here (...right??...) and we're hustling to get the winter carrots dug and the new microgreen room finished here at the farm.
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Thursday, we roped in a few more folks to help get carrots dug and washed. Many hands make light work as the old saying goes, and we sure appreciated the help! In total we got over 1200 pounds of carrots dug and washed on Thursday. While the weather is a lot warmer than usual, working outside in 50 degrees with a stiff breeze all day takes it outta ya. Huge kudos to all of these hearty folks who came out to help with the harvest!
As you can see by the big carrot Farmer Alex is holding up on the far left, they really sized up this year. I was talking to another farmer in the region, and he said his carrots were huge this season too. In fact, he just mowed the tops of their carrots to try to keep them to a more manageable size before they are able to finish harvesting them.
I think that the warm weather we have had this fall has let the carrots continue to grow long after the cold weather typically stops them in their tracks. So, as you can see, there are some whoppers in there. We taste tested some and they taste great - not getting woody or over-mature, just big. Easy peelin', great eatin', and perfect for roasting and soups to warm up the house on these cool fall days.
Sheesh, it's ALWAYS something when it comes to growing fresh produce. Some years, things are too small. Some years, I guess they are bigger than we had anticipated. When we were complaining about how big they got, Bailey (one of the Thursday carrot crew) summed it up with, "Looks like you all are getting TOO good at growing carrots now!" These carrots are so good, even our fearless farm dog Buster likes 'em.
Our root cellar is still too warm for storing carrots yet this fall, so we'll be moving them into one of the coolers at our Bayfield Foods aggregation center for short term holding until the temps come down in our cellar. With these warm temps, the carrots would all be rotten in a few weeks if we had to store them in our root cellar. And if we wait until the cellar is cold enough, the ground might be frozen before we can get the crop harvested - November is coming up quickly, and we always plan to have all of our carrots out of the ground by November.
I can't say enough how much being a member of our farmer Cooperative means to me, to our farm. Without access to this bigger cooler that our Bayfield Foods Cooperative uses for storage of our winter crops, we'd really be in trouble this fall. As we farmers continue to weather the challenges that climate change throws at us, knowing that we can rely on other farmers and our Cooperative when the times get tough is worth SO much.
Teamwork makes the dream work, that's for sure.
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Meanwhile, the new micro room is coming along nicely. We got the walls all framed up and insulated, ceiling joists in, and the door installed this week. Hopefully by the time you are reading this, we'll have most of the ceiling up too. The only hiccup we've encountered so far is when I ordered the window this week, they said it would be 10-12 weeks until delivery! It might be too cold to put in a window then (in January for crying out loud!), so we're going to have to frame the wall out to include the window, and then temporarily frame the window back in so we can button things up for winter. As nice as it would be to finish the whole room before November, that window might turn out to be a spring installation project. Adapt and overcome, that's how we roll.
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The brussels sprouts are still in their full fall glory, and we expect to have them for several more weeks. Tomatoes continue to ripen despite the cool days and longer nights, but our harvests are dropping down steadily each week. The broccoli is done now, but we'll have the last handful of cauliflower heads for your boxes this week from our farm, and Farmer Brian's cauliflower is on the way soon. We'll also have a few more of those warty decorative squash available this week, pictured below.
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Making their debut this week will be mustard greens. Mustard greens are packed with vitamins and minerals, and really love the low light and cooler weather of spring and fall. These mustards are surprisingly not spicy, and even have a nice sweetness to them right now. They are great for eating fresh, either as on their own or mixed in a salad for more tastes and textures!
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Last weekend, our family finally got away for the weekend for a canoeing trip to the Boundary Waters. We had planned to go up in August, but our permit was cancelled due to the fires. This time, we paddled through Lakes 1, 2, 3, and 4 near Ely, and got to see firsthand some of the "non-farm" effects of the ongoing drought we have been in this season. We drove through woodlands burned clean by wildfire on our way up, and paddled through lakes sometimes 4 feet below their normal levels. One portage we did should have been a paddle-through access, and it was striking how low the water levels were!
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Nonetheless, despite a rainy weekend, we had an incredible time. There is magic in those lakes if you can slow down enough to find it.
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Until next week, be well and take good care of each other!
In community,
Farmer Chris
Great Oak Farm
