Photography during a snowfall. How many Jack O’ Lanterns could we grow?
The snow finally came late this morning in big wet flakes. The crew knocked off early. Snow changes the way you see things in the landscape. Some things are hidden, some stand out. I took some photos in the raspberry plot that I think do better at showing the results of pruning than most of my earlier photos.
Newly pruned raspberry plants in the snow. These are the Chilliwack variety. Note the V-wire trellis. Canes are tied to one side one year, the other side the next year. Note also the irrigation drip line attached to one of the lower wires in each row. Suspending the drip line is a bit less efficient than laying it on or in the mulch, but avoids making those annoying nicks in the waterline when weeding. Repairing waterline leaks can take up considerable time, not repairing them wastes water.
I’ve been hoping for some time now to take a decent photo of the blue heron that has been hanging around the farm. Thus far I’ve just tried whipping out the camera and taking photos as I approach the bird. It flies off long before I get anywhere close and my little digital camera has only a 3x telephoto, so in my photos the bird shows up a small blob or blur. I don’t try to approach the heron again in the same day. I saw it today and was hoping that the fresh snow would provide contrast and make the heron show up better in the photo. No luck this time either. The big snowflakes falling blurred objects in the distance.
I spent a chunk of time yesterday thinking over our 2005 Jack O’ Lantern production and sales, and what to do next year. We’ll grow more, but how much more? We start most of our pumpkins as transplants, which leads to some critical questions: How can we fit even more trays into the already over-filled starts greenhouse? Do we have space in the fields where pumpkins & squash weren’t grown this year? Can we physically do all the transplanting in the short window of planting time? What else could we be doing instead?
Which leads to another set of considerations; Claire Thomas of the Root Connection Farm has asked if we would consider growing winter squash for her CSA sales next year. (Click here for an explanation of CSA’s) Her daughter Jenny was growing squash for Claire at her own farm, but the CSA she started this year did so well that Jenny wants to expand it and give up growing for Claire. Claire is putting together some numbers on plants started, desired yield, and the like.
The November 2005 issue of the Vegetable Growers News, has an article about South 47 Farm that gives some of our history and experiences. Unfortunately they didn’t see fit to post the article on their website. I don’t suppose most readers have access to this publication; I get it as a benefit of our membership in the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association.
What’s playing in the Jeep CD player today? Kronos Quartet – Pieces of Africa