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How exciting, it's raining again...
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By the time you read this newsletter we'll be in the middle of the season's first powerful storm. Forecasts are predicting more than 3 inches of rain in the next 48 hours. Last time this much rain (3.15 in.) was recorded in Santa Cruz in the month of October was in 1899. The soil is dry, so most of the land will absorb the first couple of inches like a sponge. We always wish for summer to last... at least a little longer, and postpone winter preparations as long as we can. Generally, rain in California throws people off; we are surprised when it happens, worried when it doesn't. Transitioning the farm into winter mode takes time, it's a little bit like turning an ocean liner around.
 
Monday was hectic and we all worked late to take care of the most pressing needs.   Highest priority was of course the weekly CSA harvest, and in order of importance  the most perishable crops came in first. Monday morning we started with Strawberries, moved on to Raspberries, Tomatoes, and just as we thought we were doing good on time, I looked at our "almost" mature green beans and knew all my well planned intentions to get everything harvested before the rain was down the drain. The green beans - one of the most time consuming crops to pick - had to come off the plants; nobody wants to pick them when it's muddy and wet. The beans were so beautiful and abundant it was hard to stop picking, but darkness prevented us from completing the task; half the field was left.
 
Also Kale, Cabbage and Lettuce were scheduled to be transplanted, the field beds were ready and this was our last chance to get them in the ground before the rain. The next  planting window would at least be two weeks away, and by then the seedlings would be too old. Molly, Maggie and Taylor, who had just finished getting the popcorn all harvested (big job), came to the rescue, joined by Ruben (one of our tractor drivers who had just finished moving the winter squash into storage) and the farm's three irrigators Clemente, Angel and Jonathan (who suddenly found themselves with time on their hands, since mother nature was turning on its own irrigation by day's end). Together with the aid of a mechanical transplanter, over 10,000 seedlings got transplanted just before dusk. Meanwhile, Juan was busy making sure ditches were dug to divert runoff and avoid any erosion or flooding in the fields, and Juanillo didn't stop hauling bins into storage all day, filled with freshly picked Fuji apples and Newton Pippins. As the day came to an end we were all tired but ready to welcome the rain.
 
When you open your share this week you may want to pause just for a moment to realize the seasonal transition, the rain, the land, the plants, and us, the community of people, all forming part in a connected and continuing nourishing cycle.
 
Just like you know where these crops in your share were grown, when they were picked, how the land where they were being grown is cared for, so our awareness and responsibility as farmers is heightened knowing where our food will go and who will prepare and eat it.  Being connected to food in this way I like to believe that the act of eating then becomes an act of caring, for our bodies, those of our families, and the body of the earth of which we partake.

- Tom
 

Packing the shares
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In all his crazy running-around, Tom managed to snap some pictures on his i-phone and send them to me of today's share-packing. Quite the efficient operation in our beautiful new barn! At one end of the roller-tables, the flat, empty boxes (the ones you leave at your pick-up site after you take out your veggies) are re-assembled, lined with a fresh bag, then rolled down the line. Workers on either side load produce from crates behind them as the boxes roll by. That's Gloria loading apples, and below is Pedro, who offloads the finished boxes from the roller tables and stacks them nice and orderly in our walk-in cooler.

October Canning workshop at farm still has space
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The October 17 canning workshop by Jordan Champagne of Happy Girl Kitchen, held here at the farm, still has a few spaces left! If you missed this and want to know more, click here for the scoop on their website and to register. This workshop will be on learning to preserve fall fruits (apples, pears, quince).

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