Eatwell Farm News

Harvesting Lavender Until Mexico Plays France

We started at 6am and the game starts at 11am so we hope to cut and bunch as many bunches as we can. This lavender will be set to dry in our drying room. It will be sold over the winter. The variety is Grosso.

Celery and Celeriac

We have the young plants organically grown for us by Headstart Nursery in Gilroy. They do a superb job. With this hot weather we have to keep them very wet. Soon we will install hoops over the beds with a light shade cloth to protect them from the extreme heat of July and August. These will be ready to harvest for our Thanksgiving Eatwell Boxes.

This year we have planted the celery much closer together to encourage a more upright plant. We will also push up soil against the plant to help with this.

The celeriac will be ready for our Festivus Box.

Fields of Lavender

It is that time of the year again, the lavender fields are in bloom. We will be harvesting on Thursday to dry bunches to sell during the winter. On Friday we harvest to take to the market this Saturday. The variety in this picture is Grosso. It is the best for drying as it holds it color and its flowers the best of all.

Andrew and Eric were asked by their father to stand in the field. They will be thirteen in a couple of weeks and seem to be growing by the day.

Farmers Working Together… Hostage Exchange

Several years ago we got together with other CSA farms on our block (farm block being described a 50 + mile area) to order plastic crates. We each were able to have our name printed on to them. As we ordered a truck load we got a good price.

As there is always an exchange of produce between farm and our crates do tend to accumulate on other farms. Last week we took Riverdog Crates to exchange with Brian for ours that they had. The exchange went peacefully with no incidents.

Amazing Basil

In spite of the cold spring we are harvesting basil this week. The planting is patchy after losing some plants but there will still be enough for your boxes. We have three varieties... A large curly variety,  Genovese. Narrow leaved Lemon Basil and a regular Italian basil.
The hoops are there to hold up the fabric cover. Unfortunately the wind has blown it off. The cover plays many vital roles. It keeps bugs away, protects the plants from the windy, shades the plants and keeps them a little warmer on cool days. The result is the best basil we have ever grown. We did this last year and were amazed at the results.

PTO Drive Line?

Roberto is greasing up the bearings of the new PTO (power take off) drive line he installed on our flail mower. The PTO transfers power from the tractor to the mower to drive the flails which chop the crop residue. The last one was the original that came with the mower in 1994 so it had lasted well. These drive lines have to be very safe as they carry a great deal of power and can be dangerous if they come loose. Roberto is a very safe driver and he maintains the equipment he works on well. If he sees anything amiss he fixes it or gets it fixed right away. Having a safe work environment is something we all have a right to and strive for. We have almost weekly safety meetings here on the farm to keep everyone as safe as we possibly can... Nigel

Production Heats Up with the Weather.

Everyone had two baskets of strawberries in their box last week as production increased. We have as our main variety Albion which likes the heat. It has not done well with the cool weather this spring. Now it is in heaven.

We pick early in the morning, around 8 am, after we have the lettuce and the spinach in the cooler. The strawberries need time to cool before we place paper bags around the baskets to protect them.

The shade cloth with protect the plants from the intense rays of the sun.

Getting Ready to Waterproof the House

As our farmhouse will be buried under 2,000 cubic yards of soil we have to make sure that it does not leak. The first action is to place a drain around the perimeter. This consisted of a 3" drain pipe with a sock around it covered in 3/4" rock. Any water that flows off the waterproofing will be carried away in this drain.

Next week we will start applying the water proof material. It should take us about ten days. We have to have it all ready for July 4th weekend when the earth moving equipment arrive to bury the house.

Everything Stops for Football

At 7 am this morning all work stopped on the farm. We work through the blistering summer heat and winter storms but not when Mexico are playing in the world cup. We have my laptop and projector set up in an empty sea container.

Saying Good-bye . . . and Hello (in the Eatwell office)

After over two years of amazingly efficient work and an incredibly upbeat attitude, Yvette Bonneau is leaving our CSA Assistant Manager position. She will be dearly missed by all of us here at the farm. We wish her well in whatever she does next (for the meantime, devoting much of her time to her six-month old boy Leo, who is truly adorable).

While saying good-bye to Yvette, we welcome Frances Aportela as my new CSA Assistant Manager. She started working two weeks ago and has already proved herself extremely capable and a wonderful co-worker. She's picked up on everything quickly and is excited to be working at Eatwell! She will also be moving into Morgan's delivery driver position when he leaves in July. Yes, she'll be working both in the office and out on the road. Don't worry – she can handle it!  Thanks so much for all your work, you two! --Molly Bloom, CSA Manager