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~ In the Box ~
Week 30 ~ Monday, Nov 5 
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Lacinato Kale
 
 
 



~ Crop Notes ~
  
Broccoli. The cold weather got the best of the broccoli in the field. Lots of lush, leafy plants won't be able to generate the flowery heads, so that's it for the season.

KaleThis lacinato (dinosaur) kale is the last from the field and has been beaten up a bit, but the cold actually gives its flavor a boost, so we hope you'll overlook the shaggy leaves.
 
Beets. The generous portion of topped beets you're receiving this week might be the last of the season. Another three beds failed to size up due to the cold weather. For those who crave more, they might be available a la carte.  Stay tuned.

~ Recipes ~
beet & squash soup  
The stars have aligned to bring you butternut squash and beets in the same box, which can only mean one thing: Roasted Beet & Butternut Squash Soup! It's a beautiful lipstick red and easy too. 

You could serve it crusty bread and a side of Kale Chips, made with this week's lacinato (dinosaur) kale--or crush the chips and sprinkle them on top.
 

Questions? 
 
 Email us or call
 
Robin (in Chicago)
708-370-8017
or
Chris (farmer/owner)
608-712-1585 
 
   
 
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It's down to crunch time as far as getting crops out of the field. We're expecting a lot of rain after this week with all forecasts indicating a warm and wet period for the middle of the month. On top of the need to harvest all the carrots, turnips, and radishes, we are determined to apply compost this fall rather than wait for spring. Hopefully, by the time the last CSA boxes of the week are delivered on Thursday night, we'll have the field cleared of all root crops, and maybe even the leeks we're saving for the Thanksgiving box. No big deal if we don't get to the leeks as they're on the edge of the

worms in soil
Soil rich with worms

field where the compost spreading trucks won't need to drive, and the compost only goes on about � of an inch deep, so they would only be dusted by, rather than buried under, the compost. 


By Thursday afternoon we hope to be ready for the BIG compost project which will involve applying 40 tons (80,000 pounds) per acre to our field. This past spring we applied 30 tons/acre with fantastic results. Soil life, which drives the system in organic agriculture, eats organic matter, and works with the same soil minerals plants need to do so. More food of a particular kind will grow soil life of a particular kind, so adding a variety of organic matter sources will encourage a variety of fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes. The byproducts of all this microbial action are the nutrients plants need, and in a very available form. Ultimately, worms are on the top of this food chain and multiply rapidly if given enough food, and if we don't kill too many when we till the soil. We try to be careful and work the soil only when it's dry enough that most worms are at a depth that keeps them safe from our tillage equipment.

To be able to achieve high yields in an organic system one needs to feed the soil large volumes of food that digest slowly over time and provide enough nutrition for the highly concentrated plantings we do. When soil organic matter content (food) is high enough and destructive tilling minimal enough, worm populations multiply rapidly. Worm castings--basically worm crap--are the most balanced and available plant food on earth. Additionally, the physical work worms do, burrowing through the soil opening it up to air/oxygen, allowing rain to infiltrate the soil, and mixing their nutrient-laden castings in the soil, are priceless and a prerequisite for best organic agriculture. Worms are, more or less, the top of the food chain in the soil. Their high numbers indicate a healthy soil with lots of food and the ability to produce high yields.

Over the last few years the organic matter levels in our fields dropped due to heavy cropping and frequent tilling. Worm populations dropped to the point we would seldom see them in cultivated areas save the edges of the field where they creep in from the grassy edges that don't get tilled and cropped. After last spring's compost application we saw a massive increase in worm activity and population even though we had a very hot year with very little rain. Surely, all the irrigating we did helped keep them happy, hydrated, and active in the face of the hot drought we experienced, but it was not the kind of year one would expect to see a huge increase in their numbers.

Finally, compost/organic matter in general hold lots of water and air, both of which are critical for plants. While the water part is obvious, most people don't realize the importance of oxygen in the soil, but it's critically important as roots need oxygen just like animals do. Finally, soil with oxygen and pore spaces is loose and presents little resistance to growth for root crops. Take a look at some of the carrots we're putting in the boxes these days, and it's easy to see what I mean. Compost is the best way to drive the system from the ground up by providing slow and steady nutrition of the highest quality, and by imparting a better physical structure on soil giving it more water and air holding capacity.

All the talk we hear these days about local, organic and sustainable as if they're new baffles me. Over 150 years ago, before it was called organic, Paris fed its one million people with a system driven by composted horse manure and straw bedding. Being grown on the edge of the city, the food was very local, and it was also organic with as much as 400 tons/acre of compost being applied. Really, what we're doing is going back to a system that worked great, before the modern world and economy became global.  

Chris Covelli
and the Tomato Mountain Farm Team 
 
Tomato Mountain Farm  |  N7720 Sandy Hook Rd  |  Brooklyn, WI  53521