Fall, Fennel and Weeding Mulched Paths

Fall has brought its own bounty to the farm these past few weeks.  We’ve been swimming in radishes, turnips, carrots, beets and beans—it almost feels like August all over again.

We’ll also begin harvesting fennel soon, for the first time in months.  It’s been one of our most popular crops of the season, and one of the crew’s favorite to grow as well.  Rows of fennel look beautiful in the field, and haven’t fallen victim to any pests or diseases all season long.

We typically mulch with straw as opposed to hay because straw is supposed to be “seed-free,” but the rye-straw we brought in this season certainly wasn’t.  Many of the walkways that we mulched with the straw are now sprouting healthy, vigorous plantings of rye--just not in the places we wanted them to be.  Looks like more weeding is in our future.

—Robin Hackett, Farm Manager