Garlic Harvest

My goodness, look at that garlic. It is huge. I swear some of the bulbs had a four inch diameter. So to anyone who says organic doesn't work, take note. My favorite varieties are Susanville and Shangtung Purple because they are the biggest. The Shangtung Purple is especially beautiful. The garlic is now all harvested and has been put into a shaded, well-ventilated drying shed to complete the ripening process.

Shovel Cultivator

Hooked up to the Yanmar tractor is the shovel cultivator. It is used in the space between the raised beds - aka the aisle between the rows. Its purpose is to break up compacted soil and destroy weeds. The working end is called a shoe. It is a piece of sharpened metal shaped like an arrowhead. Those metal shoes can be found at the bottom of each 's-curve' piece of metal (which are bolted to the white toolbar).

Rotary Cultivator

Here is another of the farm-made tools. It has a unique and specialized role. Its purpose is to weed and side dress the edge of the black plastic raised beds. It goes where a shovel cultivator or a roto-tiller can't go. Farmer Jim calls this tool a rotary cultivator. He made it from a larger cultivator. The tool bar was shortened. All but two of the cultivator arms were removed and the space between them was widened so that the tool would straddle the raised bed. The tractor in this picture is shown in the tomato field. The raised beds are being cultivated before the t-posts go in.

Rotary Cultivator Up Close

Seen in closer detail are the 'octopus-like' wheels of the rotary cultivator. They are ground driven. This means that as the tractor moves forward, the wheels turn. This causes the wheels to spin and cut into the soil, thereby lifting out any weed seedlings. At the same time, soil is tossed onto the edges of the black plastic bed, helping to keep wind from lifting any uncovered edges.

Broccoli Harvest Begins

The hot weather of summer has arrived. Suddenly, the broccoli is ready. Really, it is perfect timing. The lettuce harvest is pretty much done. So to have broccoli to sell is great. Thankfully, Whole Foods loves broccoli and they bought all we had. Just yesterday I delivered a load of 600 pounds to there two main stores in Kansas City.

Grafting Bands Removed

On June 1st, I removed all the grafting rubber bands in the fruit tree nursery. They are needed early in the spring to hold the graft together. But then they need to be removed six to eight weeks later, or they will start to restrict the new growth. When I have time I'll do an inventory to see what percentage of the trees grafted successfully.

Fire Blight

For all of those folks I met in Oregon, let me say how lucky you are not to have this disease to deal with. This is a pear tree on a downward death spiral from fire blight. What began a month ago as shoot tip die back, has progressed rapidly into whole limb death. Because of this disease the only pear varieties that I choose to work with are those with a natural resistance to fire blight.

The Lettuce Harvest

This is the view from the packing shed looking out at the East Lot. In the cart and the large black tub, is a fraction of the romaine lettuce harvest. What I love about head lettuce is how easy it is to grow. It also is a good source of early income. Though after weeks of getting it ready for market, I do have a case of 'Lettuce-itis'. The fact that it is now all gone and sold makes me happy. Zucchini is now planted where the lettuce was grown.

The End Result

Here is the sad news to report. My initial attempt to use paper (instead of plastic) as a raised bed cover has failed. In less than two weeks, violent storms and gusting winds have caused parts of the paper row to become ruined. Despite these set backs, I hold out hope that paper can replace the plastic.