Live Earth Farm Newsletter, Week 31 2007

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sheaf of cornstalks and pumpkins

With the Fall Harvest Celebration behind us and Halloween being celebrated this week, the left-over corn stalks and pumpkins foretell the dormant period ahead. Sometimes my non-farming friends ask me what I'll be doing with all my free time after the CSA program stops (as if the winter season will leave us with little to do except curl up and hibernate!). Although with the change of season the hectic pace of fieldwork will slow down -- dictated primarily by shorter, colder and wetter days -- my mind is already focused on both next year and the long-term needs of the farm. Even though weekly farmer's markets and the popular Winter CSA program will keep us in touch with the outdoor elements, winter is an important time for evaluation and reflection, a time to decide how to invest in the future of the farm. Already we are making preparations for next year's crop rotations: our old peach orchard is being replaced, and land is being prepared to plant 150 new Warren pear trees in early spring. Typically I decide 5 to 6 months ahead of time where, what type, and what amount of a particular crop I want to plant. Besides the annual planting of next year's strawberry crop (which will be our largest planting, with more than 60,000 plants), we are also busy planting over 2 acres of garlic and onions, 2 acres of fava beans and preparing the soil to replant approximately one acre of yellow and red raspberries.

The end of the season is also the best time to assess the farm's needs for equipment upgrades, replacements and repairs, since many other local farms are doing the same thing. Equipment that may be obsolete or of no use for one farmer, is a golden opportunity and the perfect fit to upgrade and improve the tools and equipment of another. Yesterday I got a call from a farmer who wanted to know if I wanted to buy 200 units of 30 ft. aluminum irrigation pipe, an opportunity which, if I acted soon, I could use to replace all the irrigation pipe we are currently renting every year. Another farmer wanted to know if I was in need of a 10 ft. disc plow and a seed drill, and I am on the lookout for a used forklift. It is always important to know one's budget and assess the true value of a tool on the farm rather than buying a piece of equipment and creating an imposed need which didn't exist in the first place.

Although equipment is always on my mind (since our day-to-day operation depends on it), the most important factor in any farm's long-term viability always has to do with land. Being a small farm, our existence is to a large extent determined by whether the land we rent is available on a long-term basis. In the last few years, the demand for organic farmland has increased dramatically and the lease rates have gone up accordingly. The higher cost and uncertainty of land ownership in an area where an acre of land is not based on it's agricultural value, but rather upon its speculative value (which in turn is based on development interests) leaves the long-term viability of a small farm like ours at risk. As we are entering our 13th growing season, the question of land ownership and a long-term strategy in order to sustain and continue building upon the vision of this farm is becoming increasingly important, and one in which I hope we can eventually involve the entire CSA community.

In an ideal world, I like to see myself as steward rather than owner of the land. In truth we don't own any of it; the crops we grow are but a gift for us to enjoy. Most traditional cultures' rituals and belief systems consider land and nature to be sacred. Although we get all caught up in buying and selling things we consider to be our property and thinking that ownership is progress and economic growth is the ultimate indicator of well being, it would seem less stressful and less violent to view ourselves as the ones who belong to the land, instead of living under the delusion that the land belongs to us. - Tom