Fresh leaves are back this week. We have small, but beautiful, lettuce heads to pull from the field today. I decided to wait one more week on the spinach though, it is as dainty and baby sweet as the earliest spring spinach, but so small that I doubt I can wring a full box out the many row feet. I’ll give it one more week to size up as best it can so we can all enjoy a share.

Some men-friends spend their weekends bonding over a round of golf or watching a ball game with some beers. James gets his biggest grin and warmest heart however over getting together with the guys and doing field work. On Saturday we had two teams of horses working side by side, plowing the soil that the pigs have been flipping so diligently for us during the last two years. It was awe inspiring as a still beginning farm and a promise of many good things to come. Nathan and another teamster friend Chad came over, bringing his team, Fern and Arch, and we finally broke in our two plows. One a shiny, freshly painted riding plow, and the other a more gristly, challenging walk-behind. With a walk-behind plow you need two hands (and some bodily force) to steer the plow, side-to-side and up-and down, as well as two hands to steer the horses. Most of the time four hands adds up to two people. Chad, however, ties the reins together and loops them across his back, controlling the horses mostly by voice and keeping his two hands on the plow handles, plowing as straight and even a furrow as you can dream of.

Beyond the sheer delight of watching two teams, this act of turning over new land is still as romantic as any pioneering settler could write of. We are of course starting with land that was cleared up until 20 years ago, and still free of trees. And the pigs did help out by knocking back the heavy sod, allowing the plows to glide right through the soil, with few roots and snags to catch on. But the creation of tillable fields is still a thing of wonder and a huge step forward for us. The land that we plow this fall will be tilled in the spring to create a nice seed bed, ready for our first small grains to be planted in, providing feed for the animals, and hopefully some for ourselves as well.

In the veggie share this week: lettuce, kale, chard, cabbage, leeks, carrots, beets, winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, white beans, and kraut. Still in the ground: Brussel sprouts and parsnips.

In the meat share: pork, beef and chicken. Lard, organ meats and beef broth are in the freezer.

See you all tonight between 4 and 6,
Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm

***Please remember to bring back your winter share forms and a deposit tonight. We’ll have pork, chicken, beef and eggs all winter, and full line of root veggies including many you haven’t yet seen this fall. Plus special goodies like kimchee, maple syrup and lavender soap. Complete with a Thursday night bonfire and hot cocoa.