This week was our last market of the season. Normally we would continue until the market closes in December but as we are moving properties mid-season that is just not going to be possible. We started moving plants and working on the new property months ago but the transition is still affecting our productivity. Saturday was as wonderful a market as we could have asked for. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm but not hot. The people were happy, not as common an occurrence as one would think. We got to talk to many of our CSAers, which was fantastic. We got to be near our Olympic Provision friends and our dear friend Alyssa at Divine Pie. (You may have noticed Aby selling vegan pie at the Saturday Market, she tends to wander off and watch the stand while Alyssa is away.)The market music was good and loud enough to hear. We ate the to die for caprese sandwich from the wonderful cooks at Love Joy and some delicious cookies from Two Tarts. We traded for some mouthwatering vegan pie from Divine Pie. Almost all of our favorite regulars came by to see us and we finished the day talking with some new friends. It was perfection. We will miss all of our market friends and working with the amazing market staff but it’s better to end on a high note rather than limp through the end of the season.

What more can you ask for?

Sunchokes, the best of the root fruits…

This season we went a little nuts growing Sunchokes.They are the most interesting crop. We tried out two different varieties. I tried to find purple ones but they were more trouble to track down then they were worth. Besides they looked brown not purple and as you know Aby and I don’t do brown we specialize in purple. So for those of you who were wondering about Helianthus tuberosus  also know as Sunchokes, or Jerusalem Artichokes, or Girasole, or  Sunroots, or Earth Apples or Topinambours… or whatever you know them as. Essentially Sunchokes are the rhizomous roots of a plant in the sunflower family. They are native to North America and are good for you too! They have 650 mg potassium per 1 cup (150g) serving. They are also high in iron, and contain 10-12% of the US RDA of fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper.

       So you take a cutting from the tuber and plant it in the ground. Up grows a sunflower stalk and eventually a small yellow, chocolate scented flower appears at the top. At this point you can start harvesting but your yield will be low. It’s best to let the stalks die back in the Fall and harvest the tubers over the winter and spring. The biggest problem is that if even the smallest piece of sunchoke is left in the ground then the plant will come back and spread. Each year that it is grown in the same spot the soil is depleted and the nutritive value decreases. So they really need to be moved from year to year.

      We like to eat them grated fresh on a fresh garden salad. They also cook up really well with other root crops. So they are yummy, look beautiful in the garden, bees love them, they can be used as animal feed and are a nice starch free substitute for potatoes.

                They really are the most interesting of the root fruits!

Sacred Tree Circles

       Last summer Aby and I were taking a permaculture class with Tom Ward from Siskiyou Permaculture. One of the things Tom talked about sacred tree circles and how they are found all over the world. If was a fascinating lecture on creating sacred spaces, building community and the importance of seasonal festivals.  Now that we are moving to a new home it seems only right that we plant our own sacred tree circle at the farm. We already have many amazing trees there so we may try and incorporate some of them if possible. The one thing that was really missing from the last farm, besides any sort of soil fertility was the inclusion of any sacred space. We have several amazing willows and oaks that would incorporate well into a sacred space and with 40+ acres to play on it should be fun choosing a space.

Here are some of our tree choices and their meanings…

Birch Beginning, Renewal, Youth

Alder Endurance, Strength, Passion

Willow Imagination, Intuition, Vision

Ash Connection, Wisdom, Surrender

Hawthorn Contradiction, Consequence, Relationships

Oak Strength, Stability, Nobility

Holly Action, Assertion, Objectivity

Hazel Creativity, Purity, Honesty

Apple Beauty, Love, Generosity

Blackthorn Discipline, Control, Perspective

Elder Transition, Evolution, Continuation

 Fir Clarity, Achievement, Energy

Poplar/Aspen Victory, Transformation, Vision

Yew Transference, Passage, Illusion

Potatoes and the mole

      The seasonal potato harvest is almost done here at Siren Song Farm. We have been frantically digging up blue, purple, red and even yellow potatoes all week. It turns out that the soil here kind of sucks so the potatoes are not what they could have been but they taste great. It seems like my horseradish spray may have helped somewhat with the potato scab but it’s hard to really tell. Next season I look forward to incorporating horseradish, comfrey leaves and leaf mulch into our potato growing practices.

      We are also discovering that we have shared quite a bit of the harvest with our new friend the mole, who kindly took one bite out of many of the potatoes and then moved on. At first we saw his intrusion as a war on the crops but now we are realizing that actually it was a trade. Mr. Mole or that little sh** head, as he is sometimes called, is eating our potatoes but in exchange he is also eating the slugs and honestly the slugs eek me out way more than a nibbled on potato. The potato trials are also yielding interesting results. It seems that the higher yielding potatoes are not the ones with the most compost amendments or the biggest container but the ones most true to their south American origins. I am rather excited that nature seems to be yielding stronger results than us just messing around with the potato genome.