Season updates 2009
 Boone rolls apples onto the converyor. |
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 Next they are brushed and washed. |
 Rotating sponges (77 of them) absorb the water. |
 Whoever mans the first watch station pulls out the apples that are going for juicers because of unsightly stings, those places where the worm tried to take a bite. |
 Christina and Sophie volunteered for a day and used their keen eyes to further sort apples that don't meet our specs. The rotating table and boxes above make it easy. |
Poised before harvest
All our farmer friends are exhausted, they’re dreaming about how to plant, grow, and harvest less next year and still survive. Of course, by spring of next year they will have forgotten the fatigue, the work, the disappointments of farming and invest in their dreams of irrational bounty once again.
I remember when we first started farming 4 years ago, Wink and I sat on the bridge over Fire Mountain Canal and dreamed this berry patch, this vineyard, this orchard. We had no idea of course, of the challenges and extraordinarily hard work – we’d no illusions that the work would be hard, but we had no gauge to measure by – yet this late afternoon glistened with a poise that arrested my reverie. It was the poise of a ballerina at the height of her partner’s lift, the deceptive motionlessness of a lazy stream at the edge of a waterfall, the deep breath and pause before a weight lifter’s bench press – that moment before the last exertion and downslide to completion and chaos.
Soon we’ll lose all sight of ourselves in frenetic motion to keep pace with abundant harvest. We will be picking, delivering, marketing and traveling to markets. Right now, everything is a quiet perfection, a pause, a sweet satisfaction – the pest and weed pressures are behind the curve of harvest; weather forecasts are stable; mowing, trellising, watering are under control – and so I see only the beauty, not the work to come. We are one with nature, the ephemeral balance point, before we slide over the cusp into fall bounty.
August
With bountiful harvests coming in the North Fork, now's the time to pump up for all those cooking and canning opportunities. "It has been easier for us to give up cooking than it has been to give up talking about it — and watching it." — excerpt from Michael Pollan's NY Times article: Out of the kitchen, Onto the Couch.
July, Paper Barn and visit our Paper Barn page >>
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Wink has been planning a barn for 3 years. In July, we started our "paper" barn (and fruit-packing shed) closed-in. See papercrete blocks made on nearby Redlands Mesa. Our crew of block-layers is comprised of three brothers and a farm helper. This is Boone, Luke and Tanner's second papercrete building. These young men are excited to be using innovative and environmentally sound materials.
We are pleased to give jobs to local workers at this time of downturn in the North Fork Valley A Delta County job offer these days turns out about 700 applicants according to one local woman (who fortunately found employment). So when we received the promise of our reimbursement from USDA for completing the farm's micro-irrigation project (EQIP grant) we answered Obama's call: Don't wait to put your money back into the economy!
We could hoard it in a self-fulfilling expectation of more hard time ahead but we would rather take the risk, support our President, and trust that, with our help, the recovery is taking hold in the North Fork, Colorado, and the nation. Plus, we'll get the barn we've been dreaming of and have made new friends in the process.
May-June
 The lushness was joyful! Matt and Aaron clown around while taking care of the farm garden. The busiest time of the year is from May until harvests are finished. We are finishing the irrigation which adds more work to the mix. It was touch and go whether the irrigation worked before we actually needed the water. Although early summer rains help, we furrow irrigated a time or two. The extra moisture and cooler temperatures beautify our valley, the Old Timers say they've never seen it greener. Many of our plants are bigger and better too, although powdery mildew is a bigger problem than years past. By July that problem will be gone with arrival heat and dryness. |
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April windsThe usual spring time winds blew in, scattering a smattering of cardboard mulch from asparagus to orchard. We believe cardboard mulch (soy ink, organically approved) will work if we can make it stay down — we'll try that or straw on the blackberries too. We can only imagine the 2 rows of blackberries we just planted and will pick next summer, but we're sure to have some raspberries in the middle row this year. A mini-tornado blew through the beeyard lifting a cover 7 or so feet and knocking over a hive! The bees were quickly set upright though. Bring May flowers |
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March
 The willow sap was flowing and weavers supple, so Annie and Cec came to the farm for a long weekend to teach us how to make beautiful willow baskets. After picking out the VM (vegetable matter, not BM), fleece got a good wash in super hot water and Dawn, then was draped to dry on wooden clothes rack. We hosted 9 students from CC and CSU over Spring Break. They did plenty of great work for us, and thanked us for good farm foods. The last weekend of March, Wink, Aaron and myself headed over to Desert Weyr to help shear 132 Black Mountain Welsh sheep. Was this a life changing event? Aaron and I both bought raw fleece, something we had never dreamed of doing. We are having a bit of sheep mania after this experience! – M |
Karla and Wink examine the field where we've removed orchard brush piles. There's lots to be done before seeding in March.
Triticale field
Max researched Triticale several weeks ago. It's a high protein cross between wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) first bred in laboratories during the late 19th century. It has lower water requirements, good disease resistance and most important to Karla, the grain is good for chicken feed.
One of our problems was finding a source of seed that is "public" as opposed to "licensed." Patented seed goes against the grain, so to speak, of many area farmers. They prefer to develop their own seed which will adapt to local conditions. There's the added problem that licensed seed creates a fertile ground for seed company law suits, even when the farmer hasn't intentionally violated proprietary laws. Pollen is profligate! What's a farmer to do? Especially with gene markers proving the seed's being "stolen."
Max searched for days to find the right kind of triticale, plus one that wasn't patented. We were able to find a local source with Karla's help, and in return for that we will sell her the harvest for her poultry. We'll also be adding organic matter to our soil for future crops. Wink has written a blog on the subject of organic matter in the soils.
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FebruaryAlpine glow on the West Elks – There's a very slight hint of spring in the air. We're excited! Wink's improving the hoop house so we can plant early spring greens and the snow's melting...refreezing...snowing again. |
Any ideas what this is? Big January ice crystals, sparkling like diamonds, glittered up the farm for days!
January
Our fourth season at Mesa Winds Farm, 2009, is a year for completion of many of the infrastructure tasks we've been working on including the efficient micro-irrigation system and multi-purpose barn (packing house, winery, cooler, shop, and more). We are focusing on farming better. We also want to do a better job of getting our delicious, healthful, organic fruit directly to folks who appreciate tree-ripened goodness.
One necessity on which we are holding the line is healthy food. We still regard eating well as an investment in our future, good health, vitality, and longevity. This is a positive trade-off between present food costs and future doctor bills with the added benefit of palate-pleasing flavor and delectability.
I've read that fast food sales are up and so's the demand for healthcare services, including mental health. We can afford to eat healthy homecooked food, even in hard times. Our bodies and minds depend on it. – W
January News
Secretary of Ag Vilsack Lays Out Priorities
Organic Green Revolution can feed the world better than industrial model.
"A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat." — Obama’s ‘Secretary of Food’?
