Oak Slough Farm

5.24.24

Mowing and Mulching

We have been battling invasive starthistle the last few years and last fall we decided to try planting various seed mixes hoping to outcompete the thistle.  This week, we mowed some of those mixes and did some mulching.  First, we mowed a little field we planted last fall with irrigated pasture grass seed.  It was about 90% starthistle and 10% grass (on one edge).  We let the grass/starthistle dry, and then baled it as hay.  Then we moved the hay bales to the garden area and used them for mulch on some of the summer crops.  We tried to cut the grass and starthistle before it formed any viable seed, but I am nervous we may have just imported a ton of weed seed into the garden.  Time will tell.

We also mowed a larger field we planted with a cover crop mix of wheat, barley, and oats.  It was about 80% starthistle and 20% cover crop.  So, kind of a failure, however, the cover crop did cover that bare ground over the winter.  We also started mowing one field we didn’t get planted last fall.  It was about 97% starthistle and 3% vetch.  While the vetch is exciting for being a legume and fixing nitrogen in the soil, and for not being starthistle, it also clogged up the mower.

Staking and Stringing

Another task we accomplished this week was staking and stringing the tomatoes.  We trellis most of the tomatoes, so their fruit doesn’t grow on the ground and rot.  Asa pounded in all the T-posts; one every five tomatoes.  I think he did over 100 posts.

Watering and Weeding 

Even with the lovely cooler weather we still had to water.  The wind really dries things out, especially the lettuce and other tender crops.  Then the watering brings weeds.  We are trying to keep up with them, but we are willing to lose a bit of the battle on areas where we won’t be harvesting much longer, like lettuce beds that are getting old.

Pradish and Presto

On Sunday evening we all take a walk around the farm and try to evaluate what’s going on with everything.  We thought our radishes were pretty much done and that the ones there were going to be too spicy for people to eat.  So, they didn’t get included in this week’s order form.  But on Monday or Tuesday we harvested some for our own salad and they were still pretty good.  Hopefully, you also find them okay because we included a complimentary bunch with each order.

We are so excited to have basil because one of our favorite summer foods is pesto.  We eat it spread on bread (like a nice sourdough) with balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and cucumbers.  Since the tomatoes and cucumbers aren’t ready, this week we ate it with radish, carrots, and some of Jess’s canned pears.  Our farm is an abandoned walnut orchard, and we still have a few trees.  So, we make a walnut pesto.  In a food processor we put a roughly chopped head of garlic, and fill the processor half full of walnuts.  We blend this with enough olive oil to make the nuts and garlic into a paste, like chunky peanut butter.  Then we add in the basil, as much as possible to turn the mixture a nice green.  Then we use sharp cheddar cheese.  We love cheese, so we put in a good amount.  To make the pesto creamier, we add in some milk.  Lastly, to give it a pinch of salt we put in a dab of Bragg’s amino’s (soy sauce) but not too much, just a dab!

Bouquets

The flower bouquets stand alone, like my daughter, Sadie, who designed them and Kat who helped her make them.  She hopes to sell flowers in the near future.  We hope you enjoy the sample.  Be well. – Josh