Hi everyone!

As planting and weeding tasks wind down on the farm, our attention turns toward next year. This year, our farm is about half an acre in vegetable crops, nestled within more than 60 acres of pasture that is grazed by Two Coves Farm’s cows and sheep. While we had planned to open up more acreage for vegetables this year, the wet spring made soil preparation challenging, particularly in areas that were previously pasture. Looking ahead to next year, we aim to use these sod areas, and have been using the tractor to prepare the ground well in advance of the growing season. To do this, we mow the grass and then do several passes with the tiller over many weeks, in order to break down the thick sod layer, which will add a lot of organic material to the soil. However, because the property was historically the site of a chicken breeding operation, there are pipes buried beneath many of the fields. In order to find these and remove them before tilling, we do several passes with a subsoiler (essentially a shank that can cut deeper into the soil) across the field until we come across pipe, and then use the tractor, chains, and a saw to remove the pipe bit by bit. It’s a lot of work to get these fields ready for growing vegetables, but knowing about the lands’ long history of agriculture makes us excited to continue prepping and using the land to produce food!

This week we will have:

Kale, Chard, Collards, Sassy Greens, Lettuce, Arugula, Lettuce, Leeks, Slicer Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Zucchini, Sweet Peppers, Shishito Peppers, Poblano Peppers, and Radishes!

See you soon!

Alessia and Virginia