Farm Report: August 2008
by Kelle Carter

Summer is full on at the Farm! The temperatures are high, but the afternoon rains and overcast skies keep the crew cool—swimming in the Rio Grande helps out too! The crops look good thanks to the hard work of the farm crew. We are keeping ahead of the weeds and beginning to harvest the fruits of our labor. Cucumbers and summer squash are plentiful, as well as greens and fresh herbs. The first ripe tomatoes of the season delight the senses.

In mid-July we hosted the second class offered in our three-part Permaculture Designers Course. Scott Pittman, of the Permaculture Institute, and Brad Lancaster, a self-proclaimed water harvester and author of the two volume Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, taught the course, which focused on water catchment and reuse techniques, edible forests, and water management on the landscape. Brad led the class in creating a graywater system for the effluent from the farmhouse washing machine and we planted perennial flowers in the shallow basins dug to collect the water. We also assessed the farmhouse for water catchment and run-off and dug berms to catch the rainwater falling from the “canales” off the roof. Other class work included rearranging a flagstone patio and fire pit to reduce erosion caused by rainwater on the driveway, while utilizing the water for shade trees to cool the area. The class worked hard, had fun and ate well—there is a lot to say about the way people bond when they create something together! We look forward to the last class offered in late August.

In other good news, we have had a mild year for crop pests. Squash bugs have been spotted in the cucumbers and summer squash, but they are not nearly as bad as years past. We’ve confirmed that it really helps to cover young cucurbit plants with floating row cover (you actually have to dig the row cover into the soil around the plant so the bugs cannot get inside) and then remove it once they begin to flower. This is the only organic control that we have found to work effectively, given the intense squash bug pressure in this valley. We had such problems with this pest in the past that we are actually growing our winter squash in an isolation tent (meant for open-pollinated seed production) and releasing houseflies to act as the pollinators. Hopefully we will have an abundant winter squash crop to harvest this year—so far they look good.

One of the unique aspects of our Research farm is that we do not sell any of our produce. That means that our farm crew eats very well; however, we can only eat so much. In the past we have donated produce to a local homeless shelter as well as a food bank, which distributes throughout northern New Mexico. This season we have teamed up with a community development program in the mountain town of Penasco. Our food distribution plan will work like a CSA for 30 families. We will provide them with produce on a weekly basis and the families within the program will distribute the food amongst themselves. We are also planning a Farm Day so that the people can see where their food is coming from and make that connection. Other plans include canning and cooking classes and basic how-to gardening education.

I hope your gardens are flourishing and you are able to share your bounty with your neighbors and community.

Best regards,

Kelle Carter
Farm Field Coordinator

Photo Captions: (1) Water harvester Brad Lancaster addresses an attentive crowd at the second of our three permaculture workshops. (2) Our crops are flourishing, thanks to low pest pressure and the hard work of our farm crew. (3) Our new graywater system utilizes "waste" water from our washing machine, diverting it into newly dug basins.