February planting

It was 70 degrees today! What a day for planting. It's been nothing if not mild, so hopefully our January planting will give us an earlier start. We went out in the field today to plant another seeding of radishes, turnips, greens, arugula, spinach... We started off spreading one load of  compost on the beds and as we returned for the second load, the tractor quit. It had been belching some black smoke earlier... IT took almost an hour of clearing the gas line of diesel junk to get going again. G spent some time sucking on the lines trying to clear it, but we had to disconnect hoses and thread wire through the hoses to get blockage out. Lesson: don't run the diesel down to empty..... we knew better...
All ended well, the girls helped on the tractor as Carmella chanted for me as I ran the seeder down the bed. The smell of soil and hot sun on the back felt great! Onward to Spring!!

New season 2012

Wow, we haven't added anything since the crush of August. That can happen after August. It felt like a marathon.. September and October mellowed out somewhat but not enough to blog I guess!!
Well, 2012 is upon us already. We luckily ordered all our seeds right after Christmas and had a big package waiting for us on our return from Puerto Rico (our January getaway!).
It has hardly been a winter here and most places. So, ala global warming, we decided to plant some seeds outside a month ahead of when we normally do. Although it feels good, in a way, it also feels really weird. It's warm, the sun is shining birds are chirping but it's January (or was). We sowed spinach, turnips, radishes, lettuces, greens, fava beans, beet and carrots (all outside under remay cover). If it stays mild they should actually grow. We also started our onions in the greenhouse as normal.
Somehow even though it's warm, my body is still hibernating. I don't have Spring fever yet to be out and active entirely, at least in a farm work sense. I still feel the need for rest and reflection. The markets and serious busyness will be upon us before we know it and then I will lament the hours I can't spend reading by the fire.
I read Jane Austen's "Persuasion" in two days over the weekend. I hadn't read her since high school  probably and while I"m not going to go on a Jane Austen spree, I enjoyed it. The writing is so subtle and the lifestyle expressed SOOO different from mine, that is in interesting.
I am also reading Galileo's daughter- mostly a book about Galileo and his life and work, but also about his relationship with his daughter reconstructed from letters she wrote him. Very compelling.
So, that's kind of where I am. Contemplating the busyness to come, the season is certainly spiraling our way. Intern references to check, market meetings to attend, seeds to plant, but also books to be read by the fire still!
Nicole

Harvest week 14

Hey Everyone!

It's official, we have started the long slow slide from high summer to fall.  Nights are now dipping into the high forties and the air has that crisp pungency to it. Swims in the river are quicker , lying in the sun has never felt so good. What a summer it has been, back torquing, mind bending, hand cracking river swimming, fruit harvesting.  Literally thousands of pounds of fruits have been plucked by our fingers,  f eeling for ripeness, twisting the stubborn stem until you hear the satisfying snap of fruit released from vine. Our hands are connected to your bellies in quite a visceral way.  Priorities and color schemes change now, I find myself dreaming of lush greens and zesty root crops.  Can't really say I would turn my nose up at a roated lipstick pepper though. The farm seems almost barren, the lush bushyness of squash, beans and tomatoes all but gone.A nimals are shifting in their attitudes, less needy, more calm. Lambs and hogs put the pounds on and I can detect a faint thickening to the cows coat. Still recovering from team Knife and Fork's win in the WNC Chef's Challenge. I was a team member under the genuis guidance of my friend, culinary mentor and brilliant chef Nathan Allen. We went through four rounds of competition to get to the final, matched up against the Biltmore. There is something so poetic about real food turning people's palates and hearts ,showing folks, that through the food we grow and then cook, we can create a revolution,or revelation. Maybe both. I cherish my relationships and my quasi membership in that exalted world of cookery. Honored to call someone like Nate my friend.

Anywho, you should expect a shift in veggies,tomatoes fazing out, potatoes in .Here's the list for this week.

taters

tomatoes

cherry toms

peppers

garlic

basil

eggplant

celery

Enjoy the season's change!

peace

gaelan

Harvest week 13

Howdy All!!

Sorry for not being in touch last week, but we were at the beach, leaving the farm in the capable hands of Nick and Grace for the week. They greeted us on our return with dazed looks on their faces and wild eyes, the farm it seems almost driving them over the edge. What would we do without them !  The farm has started to shift again, as cukes and squash fall away and you can almost hear the rustle of fall in the air and see it in the leaves, changing hues ever so gently.  Nights are cool and the air is crystalline,l  eaving every spruce tree on the ridge in clear view. Hasn't rained in a good while,but that good ole south toe river keeps the plants roots happy and wet. Winter squash lie naked outside, their lush vines dead and gone, the yellow squash gradually turning that smooth butternut color. Tomato vines are slowly dying, but the fruit cascades , leaving all of us in tomato bliss-land.  Eggplant and peppers are filling up our boxes, almost leaping in of their own accord.  It's time to think and imagine, whereas in June and July there was no time for daydreaming, imagining what next season will bring.  Kale, broccoli, cauliflower, chard and many other fall greenage are growing well and looking good. So wonderful to merely tip the potatoes into the baskets, no more painful days of spud harvesting. The summer has seemed so full, bountiful, the way I dream of in the deep of winter,when all these wonderful veggies are mere figments of my fevered imagination.  Hope you all are busy grilling, boiling, chopping and slicing,' cause I know I am! Here are the hitters for this weeks line up.

tomatoes

peppers

eggplant

garlic

cherry toms

basil

carrots

celery

Be well

peace

gaelan

Harvest week 11:the midpoint!

Whew!!! There is so much dirt stuffed up underneath my nails as I write this, that it hurts.Just finished the mad potato dash,three hours of sunbaked madness,as tuber upon tuber emerged gold and purple from the crumbly earth.Some people employ all manner of gadgetry to harvest their solanum tuberosum,but I like to take it back to their Andean heritage,using the fork and the biceps in solidarity with the old ones.Also, I just do'nt like to spend money.Carmella staunchly refused to go swim with Asha,saying she had to finish working,after two hours of full sun and dirt,she finally relented.The yield so far has been fantastic,about 1.5 pounds per foot,that translates to about 900 lbs.harvested and about 1000 more to go.Needless to say,I can barely recall ripping my shirt off and sliding under the river,staying on the bottom 'til my lungs were screaming.Days now are heat induced hallucinations, polka dotted with melons and tomatoes.The pigs do what we all secretly wish we could do, lie blissfully in a soupy cool mud morass,grunting ecstatically whenever we approach.I love the heat,because the mornings and evenings are so cool and gentle,giving me time to make myself ready for the blast furnace.I am sorry I did'nt get to this before the Ashevegas folks received their bounty,but there are now 900 lbs. of Satina and Purple Vikings, neatly packed in boxes,waiting for your bellies.On that note!!!!! tomatoes cherry toms. celery lettuce melon cukes squash carrots beans garlic basil eggplant If that does'nt say MID-SUMMER I do'nt know what would.Anyway,enjoy it all!!! peace gaelan Nicole DelCogliano Gaelan Corozine Green Toe Ground Farm, Celo, NC www.greentoegroundnc.

harvest week ten!!!

Hello Folks,

Been a wild and wooly one here on the farm,seesawing from cloud cover and high 60's, to blast furnace.This past week, we tilled under all the spring greens and cabbage, sowing summer oats to hold the soil down and to add some organic matter later on. Full, brazen summer is here, tomatoes blush, not out of modesty though, melons turn red on the inside and the beans are starting their annual pain parade, from back to belly and other B words you can imagine. Squash and cukes keep up the fusillade,accruing by the 100lbs. in the walk in. Winter squash inflate irrepressably on the vine and at the end of every day I open my eyes under the cool of the river and thank the Big One for my life, my hand glued to a cold beer.

As always though, there was something a little bit special about the week. Namely that I caught a bee swarm .Have'nt done that in maybe eight years. I wondered as I was improvising pants out of Nicole's raincoat, whether I still had the magic. My philosophy in farming is to leave parts of the day free in my mind, for those random occurances that make what we do worthwhile. Catching an early morning swarm was one such occurance. Maybe 20 thousand bees,clustered on a flower stalk, as I donned the veil and gloves, warning Nick and Grace to a safe distance. I wondered if it would be a teachable moment, or a disaster with me running for my life. Back in my cowboy years, when it seemed I was untouchable I used to handle bees half naked and barefoot all the time. Many stings later, I like the veil just fine. After a half our of wetting their wings and slowly scooping and shaking, those beautiful winged geniuses were ensconced in a closed hive body. As I was marvelling at the sound of thousands of beating wings, I realized that all the fruits you enjoy every week are due to our friends the bees.So thank a farmer, but treasure our bees.

Your bounty for the week.
 squash

cukes

beets

carrots

eggplant

cabbage

garlic

beans

cherry tomatoes

Man ,that's some happy bellies!Enjoy!!!!!!!

peace

gaelan

Nicole DelCogliano
Gaelan Corozine
Green Toe Ground Farm, Celo, NC
www.greentoegroundnc.com
www.greentoeground.blogspot.com

harvest week nine

Hi All!!!

Whoee!!It's been hot, wet, in short, summer is hitting us with its best shot. I can tell how hard I work, by how early my eyelids rebel against gravity or obey it. Afternoons are a series of sweat soaked hours,cooled by frequent riverine submersions.Yesterday I cut open the first watermelon, one I had been keeping an eye on. It was'nt all the way ripe, but I could of sworn I was transported to some farmers nirvana, as the sweet juice rolled down my chin and under my shirt, soaking my shorts.And it wasn't even ripe yet!!!

The beans are beginning their green cascade, I  got a good case of Bean Belly yesterday, as we picked the first 60 lbs. Sweet taters are spreading out, battling the creeping winter squash, which if current trends hold, will bury us in delicate butternuts and zesty delicata's.My mind is like a calculator stuck on the multiplication button, constantly reviewing , planning and fretting as the farm is threatening to bury me with its bounty .We've had moments of panic recently when packing the truck for market. Stuff literally will not all  fit! It's like a geometric jigsaw puzzle. Last Wednesday when I left for market and looked out the window en route, my table was hanging out the window! Luckily we fixed it before it fell out.

 Last week we got rained on so much I was freaking out over the possibility of late blight on the tomatoes.So far so good though, as they remain startlingly green and the fruit set looks superb.The sheep love the cooler wet weather, not greeting me with a cacophony of baaing when I see them, but contentedly munching on the lush grass.Gerda our cow is producing enough milk for an army,a full three gallons a day.Such a great way to start your day, leaning against her warm flank, listening to the milk streams hiss into the bucket, getting whipped in the face with her wet poopy tail....

.Hope you all are enjoying this years bounty, we feel it has been a great one so far. On that note.

lettuce

cukes

squash

eggplant

cabbage

beans

carrots

Enjoy this while it lasts, fall will be here before you know it!With a bit of melon and tomato thrown in isoon enough .Happy eating!

peace

gaelan and nicole