Week 12, Fall’21
Monday marked the first day of the second to last week for our lively band of farmers. We are really a family now and will be so sad when we leave at the end of next week. This week we focussed on preparing the farm for winter and spring, embodying the Jewish concept of l’dor vador, from generation to generation, on the micro level of cohort to cohort. However, we still found time for a fun field trip. In the morning on Monday we all packed together for market delivery oh so speedily so we could promptly hit the road for a two part field trip to Spence Farms and Refuge Food Forest. At Spence Farms we met up with Will Travis who runs Down at the Farms with his father, Marty Travis. DAF is an entirely sustainably sourced delivery service who we distribute our produce through so it was really great to meet up with the Travis family and see their operations. Refuge Food Forest was an agroforester’s dream. The entirely edible forest is located on public lands for anyone to pick from. Tree varieties include apple, pear, hazelnut, chestnut, red and black currants, raspberries, blackberries, and so many more. Because it was the end of the season we didn’t get to eat any of the fruits, but we learned so much from our guide, Bill Davison. When we got home after a long day of driving Maya and Julia cooked up some yummy roasted sweet potatoes, pesto roasted carrots, and tofu served with rice and a creamy avocado sauce.
On Tuesday everyone finished packing produce for delivery and then Maya set out to drop off the goods. Marya, Maranda, and Lexi weighed, sorted, and prepared sweet potatoes for curing while Joey started building a mini greenhouse connected to the toolshed. Julia harvested sage and mint and then hopped on greenhouse building with Joey. All the while Eric logged harvest data and researched deer control. In the afternoon Joey and Maya continued building the greenhouse while everyone else built conifer cages to protect our evergreens from pesky deer. In the evening, Maranda and Lexi made a red lentil soup with mint served with roasted acorn and sweet dumpling squash and couscous.
Wednesday was another busy outdoor day at ZA. In the morning Maranda went to the food pantry to offer up green bell peppers, potatoes, and a variety of squashes. Everyone else mulched ATR and split wood to make...drumroll please...biochar! In the afternoon Marya, Lexi, and JR kept a steady biochar burn going and took the kiln temperature every five (5!) minutes. Everyone else continued mulching ATR, pulled up the drip irrigation lines, took down tomato trellises in Goat Garden, and cut down dead eggplants and peppers plants in Miracle Garden. It was a successful day of preparing for the winter and creating a fresh start for the spring. In the evening Maya and Eric made a rice noodle stir fry with a hearty salad consisting of lettuce, roasted sweet potatoes, cherry belle radishes, and sourdough croutons in a tahini based dressing.
On a rainy Thursday morning, Joey and Eric ambitiously set out to finish the big mulch of ATR. After they gave it the ol’ college try and got properly drenched, they came back inside to organize harvest data. All the while the communications team of Maya, Julia and Maranda, came up with a comprehensive winter media plan. Fear not, dear readers, the ZA instagram will be poppin’ all winter long! And let’s not forget about our biochar. Lexi spent the morning weighing it all out and recording data. Thanks, Lexi! In the afternoon Joey, Eric, Maya, Maranda and Julia banded together to build cages for the conifers in the eastern shelterbelt. It was a difficult task involving all hands on deck, but it was also very satisfying to protect all of our baby pines. Marya, Lexi and JR met with an agroforestry specialist from the Savannah Institute to plan the spring sapling order and brainstorm agroforestry plans for the future. In the evening Marya and Maranda made spinach soup with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn served alongside a gorgeous challah made by Julia.
Friday was another busy day (like every day) here at the farm. It was also Maya’s last day which was very very sad. In the morning Joey, Marya, and Julia mulched ATR while Lexi and Eric harvested radishes, cleaned and sorted squash, and planted herbs in Bayit Garden. Maranda and Maya drove Frankie the truck to the eastern shelterbelt while blasting Red (Taylor’s Version) which dropped that morning. We’d like to go on the record saying that the Fall cohort stans T-Swift! Anyway, Maranda Maya arrived at the shelterbelt to fasten the conifer cages into place. It was very windy which made the job a bit tricky, but we’re building a shelterbelt as a windbreak so it made sense! In the afternoon Lexi led everyone in a spirituality session where we brainstormed a plan to make a comprehensive almanac of all the crops, weeds, and native species on our farm. Stay tuned, folks! After the almanac talk everyone broke off to watch video recordings sponsored by the Jewish Farmer Network about the shmita year. We learned even more about shmita and how it connects to our mission here at Zumwalt Acres. We look forward to continuing our conversations about the exciting concepts of shmita and other ancient Jewish agrarian practices. For Shabbat dinner, Marya and Maranda made roasted potatoes, green beans, and special seasoned tofu served with more of Julia’s delicious challah. We concluded another exciting week and look forward to accomplishing all our goals and wrapping up loose ends in the final upcoming week. We miss Maya already, wish her all the best back in California, and are grateful for all she’s done for the farm. Bon Voyage!
