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May Farm Tour Photos / Farm Work Day Info

Aug 16 , 2006

Hopping Roadblock - Thaddeus

Any crop we grow turns into a mini ecosystem that supports an amazing array of different living organisms. Our tomato plantings are about five feet tall now, we stake and tie them as they grow up towards the sun and create a home for many different things. The shade and moisture at the base of the tomato forests are just the right combination for mushrooms to grow. Walking between the rows the tomato plants reach out and brush my arms and shirt as I pass – painting me with the tomato smell that will accompany me the rest of the day. Insects are everywhere.

A roadblock stops me in my tracks. Suspended in the middle of the row is a grasshopper flickering for its life in an effort to escape the spider that has webbed a trap between the two towering rows of tomatoes. The insect toils to fly, I can see the markings of the insects wings as if it were flying – but it moves only as far as the spider web lets it. The grasshopper stops and swings back and forth from the web, settling where gravity and the web agree. If it is any consolation, the grasshopper has completely ruined the neat geometric pattern of the web – but the web is still serving its purpose. Where the web meets the tomato plant the dark brown spider is posed and beginning to make the journey to the source of the web's vibration. It occurs to me that the grasshopper is much larger that the spider – it also occurs to me that the spider is in a much better situation that the grasshopper. I stop and watch for a few moments – glad I am not the grasshopper. My left and right are blocked by walls of tomatoes – there is only forward and backward and to walk down this row I would have to pass through the web. Not wanting to change the natural course of events, I turn around and backtrack to the end of the row and wonder what the outcome was.

In the next field a crew of men and women slowly move along hoeing and bending over to remove weeds that are too close to the little leek plants to be taken out by the hoe. In front of the crew are two lush green lines of grass with a faint line of baby leek plants. Where the crew has been are only leek transplants standing up on a background of dirt and green weeds that are lying on the ground waiting for the sun to dry them up.

Behind that field Ricardo is driving the tractor seeding our fall crops. Carrots, bok choy, spinach and radishes are on the list for today. The next tractor job is to make beds where the first planting of summer squash was earlier this year. This will now be the home of kale, broccoli and gold chard. In the background sprinklers can be seen watering the winter squash. The sun has been up long enough to remove the cool night air. I wonder…just how hot will it get today?

Thaddeus

Farm Tour Update
Date: Saturday, August 19th
Saturday, August 19th we will be opening the farm up for a tour. Mark your calendars, tell your friends and be ready for the heat. This event is exclusively for our Farm Fresh to You customers, their family and friends. A tour of the farm will start at 9:30am. Bring a sack lunch and enjoy the shade of our yard in the afternoon. We will provide fresh tomatoes to add to your sandwiches and salads, drinks and fresh fruit snacks.
We look forward to seeing you!

Please contact: Georgette at Georgette@farmfreshtoyou.com or call 800.796.6009 to
reserve space for you, family and friends.

Plan on arriving at the farm early in the morning, as close to 8am as possible. There will be actvities and walks planned for the whole family.

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