When I look back over the 2024 season here on the farm, there are many things that stand out. I generally categorize those things in terms of crops, weather, people, and “other”. Somehow all these categories come together on this 60-acre parcel of land to make a wealth of memories, learning opportunities, and tasty, wholesome food.
In most years, the “other” category is quite minimal. The majority of the time spent on the farm is on crops, weather, or people with the occasional week when all the machines seem to need attention. This year we added a building project to the mix. After many years of barely finding seasonal housing, we decided to add on-farm accommodation for some of the farm employees.
I have to say that when starting a completely new project, ignorance is bliss. Little did I know back in January that it would take over 8 months of paperwork, inspections, engineering plans, a new septic system, and several hundred yards of soil to make on-farm housing a reality. Now that everything is in place, it seems like it has been there forever. As available housing remains an issue for the agricultural workforce, it is such an asset to be able to have this as a resource.
For me, the most dynamic part of the farm is the crops. It is this intersection where weather, people, and soil meet to create something unique. Luckily, the people aspect of the farm has been very steady. For as long as I have been at Katchkie, the core group of workers has remained the same. The farm crew is always ready to do what is needed and that is indispensable!
The weather, however, is not so steady. This year’s spring and part of the summer seemed a bit rainy, but then we had the driest fall that I can remember. The dry weather generally helps us to get our work done, but the only reason we have work to be done is because we have had rain beforehand. We have an amazing irrigation source on the farm that we can lean into during the dry weather. There are also enough rainy times throughout the year when the local water table as well as our irrigation source are replenished. Were this farm in a more brittle environment, a dry stretch would put us in a very different situation.
The dry weather taught me a great deal about fertility management on the farm. For many years I thought of plant nutrition in terms of the root hairs exchanging ions from soil particles. I also still had the idea that nitrogen was the main driver in terms of plant growth. At some point this year I discovered Dr. James White’s work on endophytes and microbial digestion in plants. Plants engulf and digest microbes in order to obtain the minerals they need. The more diverse the microbial population is that lives in the soil, the more there is for the plant and in turn the plant will give even more back to the soil. It is quite a picture both in terms of living nutrition as well as the fact that we do not have to view plants in a parasitic way if we understand how to create healthy growing conditions.
I also became aware of how excess nitrogen (N), even in the form of compost or even cover crops can be detrimental for plant health. Firstly, too much N will cause an imbalance in the auxin and cytokinin hormonal balance in plants which disproportionately sends available photosynthetic sugars to the growing tips and the fruit at the expense of the roots. This will produce a weak, leggy plant. Excess N also creates higher metabolic demands on the plant which in turn will cause an increased need for water. Moving our fertility system away from N dominance and into a more balanced system really shined with healthy fall crops this year that needed much less water. There were many crops that had a completely different expression in their growth. One great example was our fall purple broccoli. We usually have to wait until we cut off the first head for the side shoots to start to grow.
Using a more balanced fertility with minimal N created a plant that was more reproductively dominant which gave abundant side shoots right from the first cutting. As a farmer, the implications of minimizing N usage, focusing plant nutrition in a balanced way through the use of diverse cover crops, and soil stimulating minerals has so much potential. I have to say that as the days were waning this year and the season was slowing down, I was a bit saddened that the season was coming to an end. There was so much more food that I wanted to grow!
For that, I will have a few more months to wait. For the time being I will enjoy searching the seed catalogues and talking to fellow growers for ever more interesting and tasty varieties that will bring new color or depth to the CSA for 2025. I am very much looking forward to the next growing season and hope you will join us!
Winter Reflections from Katchkie Farm
By Jon Ronsani
If I could give a picture of a farming season it would be akin to a voyage out to sea. Once we set sail, there is no turning back. To quote the old English poem “The Seafarer”
True is the tale that I tell of my travels
Sing of my seafaring sorrow and woes
Hunger and hardship’s heaviest burdens
Tempest and terrible toil of the deep
Daily I’ve born on the deck of my boat”
Then one day “land ho.”
Winter is here and we get to dock our metaphorical boat. The rains, droughts, and long days are but distant memories. At that point, they seem more like wise teachers than “hardship’s heaviest burdens.”
The main work on the farm during the shorter days is spent creating the plan for the upcoming growing season which is no small task. The crop plan and outcome of the previous season is reviewed. Changes and improvements are noted and will be put into the upcoming growing season. Then, the big question of what the farm is growing and for whom has to be answered. The answer to this question drives the whole shape of the farm for the upcoming year. If we were growing tomatoes for canning and U pick pumpkins, the plan would be very different than it would if we were growing 50 different crops harvested over 22 weeks for a CSA. In general, the more diverse the range of crops, the more nuanced the management must be. Answering all questions from the number of plants needed, projected yield, crop revenue, needed yield, seeding dates, nutrient needs, field preparation, harvest dates, crop rotations, distribution and labor needs for each crop is what creates the plan. The aforementioned plan is essential, but this is one part of the farmer’s work in winter.
I tend to think that some of the most important work of the farmer happens in the longer nights of winter. This is the time that the farmer can rekindle their love with farming and the farm. For me this happens in many ways. One is while spending more time with the family. Children have such a unique way of doing any task. This can be eating dinner, drawing, painting, playing board games, and building, among other things. They are not so concerned with the “rules” as they are with fully immersing themselves in what they are doing. This really reminds me not to connect with solely the plan of the farm, but to also connect with why I made the plan. Children also have such an innate sense of wonder that is very inspiring as well.
Farming is full of natural processes that I could chemically explain, but if you asked me with that knowledge to make a leaf of lettuce, I would be completely at a loss. I would still need a lettuce seed to make that leaf of lettuce. Reconnecting with that sense of wonder is so essential for me. Experiencing that sense in my children also inspires me to look at the farm in a different way during the day.
While I walk around the fields in the winter, I cannot help but wonder what is slumbering under the soils and what shape the fields will take as they start to grow our food. Looking at the snow-covered fields is really like looking at a blank canvas. Crop by crop, the fields will become full again creating a new composition unique to each season. Those long winter nights are also the perfect time to study agriculture. I had recently come across what the farmers of the ancient Persian empire studied. They studied mathematics, art, music, astronomy, and medicine. I have to admit that my depth of knowledge does not go that far, but delving into some of the great works of literature or study of the stars is something that can only be savored in the winter nights.
After about two months of this kind of this nourishment, it is time to set sail for another voyage and start the season again. I do have to say that with each voyage the breadth of vision is a little wider and the ups and downs of the farming season are easier to navigate.