And in the end...

six months has never been filled with so much joy, compost, laughter, and growth. I will remember how I fell in love with fruit (and the art of pruning fruit trees), the perfect flickering light in the late afternoon Chadwick Garden, making capes out of remay, the mystery of the Le Creuset pot, and looking at the night stars while trying not to fall in a hole on the walk back to my tent. I am so appreciative of my fellow Apprentices who shared in this journey. With out them, and of course our beloved Site Managers and Second-Year Apprentices, I never could have learned what I did, forty times over.

I don't know exactly where this new knowledge will take me. But, there certainly are adventures in agriculture to come for Farmer Leah. So stay tuned. At my mother's request, and I hope not to the dismay of other readers, I'll do my best to keep the blog going. Up next: growing flowers for a wedding.

Mom Visits the Farm!

My Mom came out the Farm last weekend and spent Friday working with me. A day in the life of an Apprentice. We woke at 6:30am, had breakfast, prepared water buckets for harvesting flowers. As one of 5 "Cart" Managers, I led my fellow Apprentices through harvest: cutting flowers, harvesting produce, and making flower bouquets. Mom and I harvested Calendula, Nigella Exotica, Cloud Larkspur, Cerinthe, and Radicchio together. She made a couple beautiful bouquets and then we were off to help set up the farmstand. We sold produce and flowers at the farmstand from noon until 1:30pm, had lunch and then went back to the Down Garden to work. We pulled out flowers from an old bed, and prepared the bed for a new planting. Then, at 5:30pm, we stopped by the CSA pick-up to say hello and went back to Cart to pick up signs and clean up the farmstand. We finished cleaning up and bringing all our supplies to the Farm around  7pm. What a day! It was wonderful to have my Mom join me - she was such a hard worker. A nice glass of zinfandel and dinner at sunset was well deserved at the end of the day. Thanks Mom for a fabulous weekend!

Some images from the Field

Local Harvest

Fridays are big harvest days on the Farm. We run both a CSA and a Farm Stand "Cart" on the edge of campus. Today we harvested: broccoli, strawberries, kale, chard, basil, lettuce, blueberries, spinach, beets, and onions.

Such delicious food! Think about all the meals you can make with these foods! And, what else would you need to prepare the meals? On the Farm, we try to eat as local as possible, eating produce just from our farm. Where does your food come from and how long does it take to get to your kitchen? What foods can you source right from your garden or neighborhood?

Fruit Trees

Did you know that peaches and nectarines are of the same variety? Nectarines just lack the gene for "fuzz." A neat fact! Thinning peaches, plums, and apples kept me busy this week. The photograph above is from a peach tree in the Up Garden. Orin Martin (the Up Garden Manager) says to thin between fruits: 5-6" for peaches/nectarines, 3-4" for plums, 5-6" for apples, and 3" for apricots. Thinning the fruits will reduce damage to the fruit skin, reduce weight on the branches, eliminate habitat between fruit for pests, and help the tree to produce yummy fruit.

Happy Mother's Day!

Compost in the Chadwick Garden

I've been spending the past two weeks in the Chadwick Garden (also known as the "Up Garden" because it's up on main campus, removed from the rest of the Farm). This garden was first created by Alan Chadwick in 1967 as a student garden project at the University of California at Santa Cruz (then a new university and campus). At the time, the soil was a heavy clay, capable of supporting little vegetation. Today, after years of integrating compost and cover crops, the soil is the texture and color of a dark chocolate cake! The lesson is: compost, compost, compost. As our first project in the garden, we built our own compost piles. Layering straw, bell beans and other greens, coffee grounds, horse manure, and lots of water. The pile has been hot - which is a good thing for compost - it's temperature has been around 145 degrees F since it was built.  

Moving to the Farm!

Photos from the big day:

(1)My tent, with futon bed and nightstand inside.

(2)The view from my front door - the road to the Farm Center.

(3)Me, outside the Farm Center - where we cook, eat, and hang out.

(4)The view from the "Down Garden" - favas in the foreground, ocean in the background.

Who are farmers/gardeners?

Farmers and gardeners are people who grow food, flowers, other crops, and animals, cultivating the land for profit and pleasure. My Dad, my grandmothers, my Great Uncle Jim...many of my family members are great gardeners. My Uncle Joe specializes in juicy tomatoes and fragrant basil; my Grandma Kase grew a backyard of beautiful flowers. They have shared the beauty and bounty of the gardens with me, summer after summer. Do you know anyone who farms or gardens? What special things have they shared with you?