So, the 2009 growing season worked out. I thought it probably would. We avoided large hail storms although they were within sight several times. The rain was good although it almost got dry a couple of times-- just enough to put us to thinking, especially when the water commissioner put an end to irrigating. We did see a few aphids on some lettuce, but it was always just a few and the ladybugs were always around enough to put us at rest. The fence held up and the deer and elk stayed out. We did have a real freeze on August 8 which hurt the Buckwheat, but the full-on killing frosts held off till the end and allowed us to harvest all we could-- albeit a little hurriedly that last day or two. Yes, it all worked out well. So now, it's time to start worrying about 2010.

We're pretty comfortable saying that we can grow as much stuff as we can deal with. We have about 3 acres behind the crucial 7' fence and could actually probably grow 4 times more stuff if we were so inclined. Of course that would mean there would be little room for cover crops and Lin and I would be working about 140 hours/week. So, thinking it through, we could realistically grow about twice what we have in the past while maintaining our rotation scheme and not having to work more than "a lot"..............if we had more hands in the dirt and on the plants.

So, why would we want to grow more? Two reasons come to mind. First, we'd like to get produce to people in our area who don't otherwise get to experience or consume good, nutrient dense, tasty vegetables. If we can grow it, it seems to be the right thing to do to do so and get it to people who want and need it. And secondly-- economy of scale. This economic term often associated with big industrial ag in our case has nothing to do with controlling the market place but everything to do with our own financial sustainability. Part of our mission is to learn about growing things the right way at high altitude and then passing along what we learn to others who can duplicate it. We think we're on the right track on growing and we've been sharing a lot of information the past few years and we've even reached the point where the whole operation can sustain itself financially. That is, if everyone works basically for free. Fun and rewarding as it is to watch things grow, the missing piece of our puzzle is the market and financial side of things.

The "growing" part is interesting, but amazingly-- it's all been done before. The reality is that people were growing potatoes at high altitude in South America back during the days when "the developed world" was debating whether or not the world was flat. But growing it, getting it to market and reaping some return for our time has some true challenges that just aren't seen very often. Short growing season, remote location, specific crop selection, and lack of local labor all combine to make this last part tricky. It is forcing us to think and work outside the box. So for now, that's where our thoughts are. We know there is an answer and we're now pursuing it head-on even as we take the occasional break to ponder our seed list, soil tests and long range weather forecasts as planting time heads our way.

Growing stuff shouldn't be this easy. Good moisture, no predator bugs, weeds are under control, the seeds germinated well and the rows are full, the horrendous mosquito season never has materialized (at least at the farm), there hasn't been any hail, it hasn't been too windy, the nights have been relatively warm and the days mostly sunny. To top it all off, we were more careful hand seeding this year and there has been only manageable thinning to do. I would like to think that this trend will continue and the monsoon will begin soon with a nice gentle shower every other afternoon, no killing frosts till October, droves of folks at the farm each weekend consuming our bumper crop, etc., etc.........and we make a reasonable return on our invested time and money (and good fortune).

It is a great summer to be farming in the mountains and I would like to leave it at that...............but the skepticism that pervades the thoughts of people who rely on the whims of mother nature for their livelihood cannot quite be erradicated from my thoughts and I find myself worrying about whether or not to remove the row covers-- leaving them on can keep the Ladybugs and other good bugs from protecting the plants and keeping them off can subject the whole crop to the pillage of the ever-looming hail storm. At this elevation I know we can get a real freeze just about any time and it was just a year ago about this time that a herd of butterflies passed through one day and laid eggs all over our lettuce which led to hungry caterpillars of course. And what about the rain-- it hasn't really rained now for several days and there's no law that says the monsoon has to develop or that July and August have to be wet months. And then there's potato blight, rust on the carrots and all those maladies which lurk in the soil waiting for an opportunity to rear their ugly heads.

All is good right now-- I just hope it's not too good.

Instinctively I knew that as soon as I began getting our solar irrigation system up and running it would begin to rain. And it did. I'm not complaining. We had 5 hours of slow steady rain yesterday and abundant warm sunshine today with a light afternoon shower.........it's a good time to be farming.

The Tarryall area is typically pretty darned dry although the real oldtimers always talk about the good ole days when the summers were green and cool and there was real snow in the winter. Seems like the recent past has been more like cold desolate winters followed by a dry spring that eventually gave way to a nice late summer monsoon-- just enough moisture at just the right time to make things grown just enough.........to create some good fuel and kindling for wildfires the next year.

I like our most recent pattern-- starting with late April when we got some nice wet snows that gave way to a true rainy spell in late May that seems to continue on and will hopefully take us to a bountiful year of production. All signs look good. The soil temperature is a bit above normal, the seeds are germinating well, there are ladybugs everywhere and our biennials from last year are starting to thrive. This just may be the year when we start taking things to market in mid July, rather that the end of July----we shall see.

Now that all the seed (or let's say the vast majority of the seed) is in the ground, our thoughts turn to growing and water is obviously an important part of the growing equation. We've been having relatively cool temperatures and only sporadic horrendous winds and we've had ongoing threats of rain, but no real moisture to speak of during the last 10 days.........so it is time to fall back on our irrigation system which is a little bit easier said than done at this point.

We disassemble the farm for the most part at the end of the season in September to allow the elk and deer to roam freely through the meadows during the winter. That means that we have to roll up the drip lines and then roll them back out in the summer, pull out the solar pump and then reinstall it, clean out the filters, roll out the main lines, etc, etc. Another day or two and all should be operational and we can begin watering. Of course it is likely that after we get it all ready we'll get a nice rain-- but so be it. We prefer rain over irrigating partly because it is easier and partly because the irrigation water seems to contain a hefty amount of sodium which has a rightful place in the soil scheme, but not in excess.

Anyway, even without recent rain there is still nice moisture in some of our dirt and things are beginning to pop out including radishes, mustard, turnips and chard. We are using row covers once again which among other things helps to keep what moisture we have in the ground as well as helping to warm the soil and control the weeds and bugs. The row covers are most easily installed after the drip lines are laid out along each row. There is a system to all of this to make things most efficient, but it doesn't always work out in the order we'd prefer. There are days that are just not good row cover installation days-- aka very windy days.

Now that I'm rambling, it must be time to stop. With a little luck we hope to have the drip lines down and operating and the row covers down and secured in the next couple of days and then we really can sit back a bit and wait for things to grow........

It's been a busy week, but "pretty much" everything is now planted. Now we can just sit back and watch it all grow. Or we can lay out the drip tape, re-install the solar irrigation pump, fill up the row cover bags, layout the row covers, etc. etc. The work never does really stop, especially when the growing season happens all at once. Here at 8700 feet plus, our growing season gets underway in June and will wrap up in September. We've found that we have to be as efficient and timely as possible to take advantage of every good day. Sowing the seed is certainly the most important step and it is always good to get that done. We've tried planting earlier, but it seems like things do germinate, but then just kind of convalesce waiting for the soil to warm up-- all the while getting hammered by our persistent winds, frosty nights and occasional torrential downpours and hailstorms. It makes sense that plants want to germinate and then take off growing and we just want to do our best to facilitate that. So, off to a good night's sleep with only slight thoughts of "what if it doesn't rain?.........