Carol Ann Sayle's farmstead musings. Weekly I get a gift of writing from this lady. I love her style and approach. Best of all, she's basically in our area so anything she's offering now, I can backtrack on and know when I should have put it in the ground. (so, next year, no excuses, right?) She's a certified Organic Grower in Austin Tx. She just gets out there and does it. Sometimes the neighbor's pit bulls get all her hens and we mourn. sometimes tornados rip 100 yr old pecan trees out and pummel her house with their limbs and we mourn. sometimes we celebrate as new life emerges, always we remain optimistic. I have at least 2 seasons of her collective writings and I treasure each one. ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 13:04:22 -0600
Subject: Under Cover December 9, 2002 Under Cover Greetings Friends of the Farm, It looks like a winter encampment of George Washington's troops around here. Frosty white pup tents line the beds alongside the driveway. Inside them gangly sugar snap peas and fava beans bear their snowy blooms, like combat medals. A heavy frost, such as we had last week, would have terminated the promise inherent in those flowers. The row cover, stretched over baling twine tied to stakes, in tent fashion, protects them from the freezing dew on cold mornings, and raises the ambient temperature by a few degrees. It's just perfect, except that there are holes in this fleecy fabric. Prior to the cold weather, we had ordered a fresh new roll of the spun polyester. We joked that it wouldn't come until after we needed it. And, of course that's what happened. The weathermen threatened us with hard freezes and heavy frosts, so prudently, we headed for the big crate tucked in at the edge of the monte (our woods). There, wadded into huge balls was our resident, aged, row cover. Most of it was no longer very white as it encounters dirt you know. Mud too. It is so delicate (think of a single layer of baby diaper stuff) that unruly handling, snagging it on tools and sticks, even stretching it too vigorously, will rip it to shreds. And then you have the occasional broccoli plant poking through, offering itself up to certain annihilation in the frigid air, while all its sisters sleep securely protected. And you don't know about the holes until you roll it all out. Nor how long each piece is. Most of our beds are two-hundred feet long. The pieces of row cover never seem to match that. Maybe in their off-season, they fight and tear each other apart out of jealousy. At any rate, applying their saving grace to delicate crops is a frustrating venture. Larry and I have done enough of that to qualify for advanced degrees in winter crop protection. Usually we earn our credits on Sundays, while no one is around to help us. We always learn about the impending weather disasters after quitting time on Fridays. But this past week's timing was different. So Larry anointed Don Jesus as the row coverer for the day. Except that three o'clock came, Don Jesus left, and still the baby celery was at risk. Larry was in Gause, so you know who got to diaper up those infants. Yes, there was a brisk wind. There is always a brisk wind before the final punishment of frost. So, using up the last of my common sense, I started at the north end of the field, from whence the wind was coming, anchored the end of the cover there, and then stretched it along the beds, depositing bricks to hold the cover down as I moved south. (Moving south seems like a good idea, come to think of it.) So the wind actually helped in floating the fabric over the crops, instead of into my face, had I started at the other end. I felt like I'd won the jack pot as the piece of fabric was long enough. No trudging trip to the monte to sort through the odd pieces trying to patch it all together. I was elated! Experience. It helps. Luck is even better. That evening, after even I had quit work, the new row cover arrived. An entire roll of spot-less, hole-less, life-saving fabric. The delivery man said, noticing the soiled, pocked tents as he came in, I tried to get it to you earlier. That's ok, I replied, we're resourceful. And, miffed. Today, after twenty-four hours of cold rain, I took pity on the hens and let them all out. Anything they'd be interested in eating is under this miracle cover, so I'm not risking the crops to their voracious appetites. Looking out to the front field, I see some of the hens cavorting over the white expanses. They may be disappointed that the lettuces are hidden, but they are so glad to be out of the muck in the Hen House, that they are not griping. For once. * * * * * * * * * * And for the farm stand this week, Wednesday and Saturday, 9-2, we'll be lifting the covers and harvesting: Succulent Spinach; Butterhead Lettuce Salad Mix; Tender Fall Greens Salad Mix; Baby Chard Salad; Baby Bok Choi; Chinese Cabbage; Really Long Radishes; Greenhouse Tasty Jade Cucumbers; Fresh Red and White Onions; Baby Dandelion Greens; for sure, the first of the Broccoli; Green Bell Peppers; Arugula; Rapini; and Hen House Eggs. Also Texas Coffee Trader's Organic "Morning Blend" coffee (by the cup, or you can buy beans and grind them at home, or in our TCT grinder); Pure Luck Organic's specialty chevres and feta; Rain Water; Larry's Smoke-dried Tomatoes and condiments; Gause Farm Honey; White Mountain organic Tofu; Sweetish Hill Bakery's Fresh Bread on Saturday; Wild Wood Bakery's Organic Spelt Bread and Spelt Cinnamon Rolls; Holiday Treats (Miles of Chocolate; Home on the Range home-made Toffee); the Farm Books (Eating in Season & Stories from the Hen House), available here at the farm, and at The Natural Gardener, Whole Foods/6th, and BookPeople. So, as you come down the driveway on market days, a salute to the suffering troops in the field would be appreciated. Instead of darning socks for them, we may have to darn up the holes. At any rate, your reward will come later! Carol Ann PS: Asti Trattoria (43rd/Duval) is hosting the Early Winter Farm to Table dinner, this Tuesday, December 10th, at 7 pm. Appetizers plus four courses, featuring the produce of winter, expertly prepared by the Asti chefs. With wine ($55+t/t) or without wine ($35+t/t). Call 451-1218 for reservations. It's a lot of fun. Larry will talk about farming in the winter, but he may not mention row cover! -- Boggy Creek Farm Larry Butler & Carol Ann Sayle 3414 Lyons Road Austin TX 78702 512/926-4650 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.boggycreekfarm.com The Farm Stand Is Open Wednesdays & Saturdays, 9-2
