2021 CSA Farm Update: Week 13

Hello everyone and welcome to week 13 of the Katchkie Farm CSA! Fall has unofficially begun here on the farm. Some measure the beginning of fall by Labor Day, others the Autumnal Equinox, here on the farm it is measured when the delicata squash are ready. They were picked last Thursday, so here we are.

Here on Katchkie Farm we have tile drains to facilitate removal of excess water from the crop fields. They have done an excellent job at keeping us above water this year. One particular field however, seemed to be holding water in an unusual way. Is this how the drainage system works in a year with above average rainfall or is there a problem? I grabbed a shovel and my rain boots and set out for the fields. One by one each drainpipe was checked for flowing water. The first one was good, so were the second and the third, but where is the fourth one? The map says it is here, but was not. This is when the digging commences. All I could find was mud and roots, but no pipe. I move more to the right, more to the left, but still nothing. Then out of the corner of my eye, though golden rod and purple loosestrife as tall as me, I see a faint sparkle.

That sparkle was water coming from further up the hill. I slowly follow the ever so tiny stream through the overgrowth and mud, walking gingerly so as not to disrupt the gentle flow. Then it stops. I grab the shovel and start poking around in the mud. Squelch, squelch, squelch, thud. The thud was the shovel hitting the pipe. I followed the pipe to the end and there was a mass of roots blocking most of the exit for the water. Little by little the roots were dug out and the water started flowing! The land could breathe again, the plants could breathe again, the farmer could breathe again. Sometimes solutions go right to the core of the problem, this was one of those.


Until next time,
Farmer Jon