Weeds

Weeds are the bane of a farmers' existence. That and flea beetles. But mostly weeds. No matter how vigilant you are, weeds grow everywhere.

I once heard someone say that a weed is just a plant growing where you don't want it. The meaning being, I think, is that weeds are plants just like your lettuce or peppers, only you didn't plant them so they are unwanted but should be preserved. I take a more hardline approach. Weeds are squatters, robbing water, root space and nutrients from the rightful inhabitants of the soil and should be removed.

Being an organic farmer, that means removing them without herbicides and toxic chemicals. There are many organic methods for weed control. Vinegar is supposed to kill off weeds, but I haven't had any success with it. Some people use portable flamers (really) to burn the weeds. I'm sure this will work, but since we have pine bark mulch and wooden raised beds, this is not a smart option for One Love Farm.

That leaves us with two real options. Manually pulling the weeds (and hoeing them) and smothering them with mulch. We like to use the plastic weed block that breathes and allows air and water circulation. This works well in paths and between beds. However, it is not very attractive for ornamental beds. For those we use pine mulch. We weed the area first as weeds will easily grow through the mulch and then pile it high. This will smother most weeds, but you have to be careful to keep the areas around the bed weed free as weeds will creep into the bed over time.

Yesterday was over 90 degrees with oppressive humidity. But it was the only day we could do our weeding chores. Above shows the before and after picture. You can surely see why it took two people working hard five hours to clear this one patch. We've only got about twenty more areas that same size to go!

Garlic

I know I sound like a broken record (do people under 30 even know what that expression means>) but I am amazed at the early harvest we are getting this season. Tomatoes in mid July! Lavender three weeks early! And now, garlic in mid July! Normally, garlic is harvested in late summer or early fall, but not this year.

I bought some garlic from Kenyon Mills last fall. As you can see from the picture above, it is a purple hardneck variety. People sometimes ask me why I don't braid the garlic like they see in country stores and out west in California. The reason is that there are two varieties or garlic. Hardneck and Softneck. As the name implies, hardneck garlic has a hard stem, which prevents braiding. However, it keeps well and tastes great!

I still have quite a bit of garlic in the same bed that I planted this spring. The bulbs are getting big but have not formed cloves yet, so they are staying in the ground until later in the fall. In the end, I may get to harvest some garlic in the fall after all!

Tomatoes!

I've been talking all season about how early all the crops are this year. Hot, dry weather has allowed everyting mature very quickly this year. And, there was no late frost to kill off early plantings. Normally, we do not start harvesting tomatoes until mid August. Last year's cool temps kept us from harvesting tomatoes until Sept. That means this years crop is almost two months ahead of last year's late harvest!

Over the next couple of weeks I will post entries about each of the different varieties of tomatoes we grow at One Love Farm. We have several new heirloom varieties this year. Above is a picture of three of them, Black Cherry, Oxheart and Orange Blossom.

Deer

More elusive than Bigfoot

One of the most common questions we get at Farmers' Markets is "How do you keep the deer out of your plants?" The truth is, we don't. The deer keep themselves out. Only once or twice a year do we see deer near One Love Farm and then only for a fleeting second. As you can see from the picture above, they don't hang around long enough to have their picture taken.

Karen and I have a few theories as to why they stay away from us. Most revolve around where we live. One Love Farm backs up to Arcadia Management area which is protected open space and forest in Rhode Island. We think that the deer must have plenty of food to feast on in the forest so they don't come near us.

Second, we are in the sticks of Rhode Island. There are lots of hunters here. During deer season it sounds like a firing range outside our house. Deer must have come to fear humans and open space which is why they are reluctant to come near us where they are out in the open.

Finally, when we first moved to Hope Valley, lots of people told us we would have big problems with deer. Karen researched how to keep deer away organically and found that they do not like Irish Spring Soap. So we hang Irish Spring at the end of planting rows. So, one or two or all of these factors are why we don't have problems with deer. Then again, maybe they just don't like organic veggies.

Eggplant

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, but it wasn't always that way. Eggplant, when not prepared properly, can be tough, chewy and stringy. It seems I never had well prepared eggplant which is why I didn't think I liked it. But, when I started growing my own veggies I wanted to try new things that I had not tried before. When I first grew eggplant, I had the same problem. But then Karen and I discovered how to prepare eggplant correctly and it has been one of our favorites ever since. We use eggplant in Eggplant Parm, ground up in Eggplant Balls, grilled or roasted.

With apologies to Karen's Italian heritage, our favorite variety of eggplant is Asian Eggplant. The long, skinny fruit are easier to peel and taste better because they have fewer seeds and therefore, get less bitter than their Italian cousins. As you can see from the pictures above, we grow several varieties of eggplant, including Italian.

Last year was a lost year for eggplant. The weather was cool and wet and Eggplant likes it hot and dry. In addition, flea beetles completely devoured the plants and we had to rip out every last one. Not a single Eggplant at One Love Farm in 2009. This year has been the polar opposite. Warm and dry weather has ruled the summer and the eggplant has thrived! In additon, the flea beetles were not as invasive this year and we have a bumper crop of eggplant. In fact, we usually don't harvest eggplant until early August(note the date of this post from 2008), but right now we've got tons of fruit on the plants ready to pick!

Elderberries

If you grew up in the 70's like me, you probably remember the Elton John song "Elderberry Wine." Check out the song on YouTube with video from the Carey Grant movie "Arsenic and Old Lace."

I planted elderberries at One Love Farm a few years ago. The plants are fairly prolific and, like raspberries, send up new canes each year. Because of this it is important to prune back old canes to keep the plant in check. But, you don't want to cut back all the canes as the elderberry plant produces fruit on one, two and three year old canes. I've used elderberries to makes jams and jellies and as a garnish in cocktails. You can also make pies from elderberries and, as Elton John suggested, make wine.

My favorite use for the plant, however, is to use the flowers. The blossom heads are huge (eight inches or more across) and can cover the entire plant in late June and early July. If you take a dozen of these blossoms and put them in a mason jar with two cups of simple syrup and the zest of a whole lemon and let it sit for a few days you will make a nice elderberry infused syrup. Then, add two cups of water and the juice of two lemons (more to taste) and you will have a wonderful Elderberry Lemonade!