Life on an organic farm is…. All about keeping the pests away....

With our second CSA drop off tomorrow (Monday) in St. Albans, the Maplewood crew went to work this morning harvesting, washing and bagging our vegetables. Most of what we provided in our shares last week is again, what we will provide this week, but with some additions. Black Seeded Simpson and Red Fire heads of lettuce were ready for harvesting in the field! Such big and beauteous creations aid in the weeks harvest, which will only continuously grow in its bountifulness throughout the season.

When we prepare for the CSA pickup (Community Supported Agriculture for those of you just logging on), the washing and bagging of the vegetables takes place in the milk room of the old dairy barn. It’s a break from the sun, or sometimes rain, the fields, flies and more, and to all our listening pleasure, allows us to crank up the radio to some classic hits on local radio stations, where Elton John is played at least twice... It’s vital that the harvesting be done in the morning, so that the vegetables don’t wilt in the hot sun towards the middle of the day. Weeding can’t be done right before harvesting, or you’d stir up unwanted extra dirt on your vegetables; and there’s already enough dirt, grass, hay and more to remove off the vegetables (lettuce especially) before bagging them!

Between the almost instant spurts of sunshine and down pour in the field of Maplewood this afternoon, we weeded celery, eggplant and peppers. The last task of the day was searching through the many rows of potatoes for Colorado Potato Beetles! These little pests will eat at the potato leaves and lay their yellow eggs on the underside of the leaf. Three generations of this beetle can be produced in one summer, so they have the potential to be extremely damaging! Being an utmost importance that we squash them and their eggs when we spot them on the plant, I mashed one freeloader between my fingers, leaving its yellow mushy insides to lightly coat the tips of my fingers.