Over the Fence Urban Farm

Cooperatively farming small patches of Earth in Columbus, OH


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What’s in your basket? (Vol. 1, No. 1)

Katie and Melissa helped with this morning’s harvest of greens. So much more fun with friends…

DSC_0228Here was the bounty we found in the field when we pulled up the insect nettings.

DSC_0215And what we brought in.

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I wish I were doing a better job of weighing things, but greens are tough. They come in in bits and pieces, and they don’t weigh a whole lot. So looking at the scale isn’t all that gratifying. I need to learn more about how the professionals bring so much to the farmers’ market each week.

For those of you eating with us at home, here’s a leaf by leaf guide to what’s in your basket this week.

MIZUNA

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SPINACH

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DINO KALE (LACINATO)

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BLUE CURLY KALE

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RED RUSSIAN KALE

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#overthefenceurbanfarm

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It’s exciting to be feeding people from the farm. Even better is hearing how much they are enjoying what they’re getting. And then, getting see what they do with the fruits of our labor.

A few CSA members shared pictures (and recipes) this week so it seems time to officially adopt a hashtag. You can use #overthefenceurbanfarm on any platform you use – Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. (Just be sure you spell it right! It is a pretty long tag…) Then, jump to Tagboard and search across platforms for images tagged with our sign.

Hope to see everyone contribute before the season is over!

 


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On Radishes

When we were planning and ordering seeds this winter, radishes weren’t in the picture. Danny likes them but I’m not a huge fan and, frankly, we hadn’t had great luck growing them in the past. But, when one of our biggest supporters asked if we’d be growing any, French Breakfast specifically, I made a beeline for City Folks Farm Shop and picked up a nice pack of seeds.

I was overeager and sprouted some in a container on the windowsill. They looked great; in perfect rows, evenly spaced. True to their Greek name, raphanus, meaning quick to sprout, they appeared as if overnight. After transplanting and a few weeks in one of our old garden beds that wasn’t too well-ammended, we had some decent sized roots, but they were mangled and spotty. Still, I was hopeful. When we pulled the first ones from our new, extra-long rows, I was amazed. They were beautiful. (See previous posts for pictures). Shout out to Milan at Peace, Love, and Freedom Farm for his great advice on fertilizing! The fish juice, ample seedling thinning, and lots of space did their magic and we had enough radishes for all our CSA members this week.

Of course, some folks, including me, took convincing that these humble shoots were worth our time. Research and education were in order. Here’s some of what we’ve learned so far and been sharing with our people as we share our wealth.

While the roots are pretty and tend to get most of the attention, it turns out radish greens are a superfood. They are packed with Beta carotene, Vitamin C and Calcium (surprise!).

 

They make a great addition to salad mixes. They are dense and flavorful, if a bit scratchy when allowed to grow large.

 

But, not to worry because, like most any leafy green, you can use the greens to make pesto. And now that you know how healthy they are, why wouldn’t you?

Radishes are so satisfying to grow and took only 5 weeks to mature in our early spring garden. They are satisfying to harvest too. The kids had a blast with that task. I was kind of jealous…

We’ve already got more in the ground and will be ordering seeds in bulk next season.

 

 

 


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Who Could Ask for Anything More?

 

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Well, this day turned out to be pretty freakin’ amazing.

When we woke up at 7am, it was all of 36 or 39 degrees out, depending on which app we were consulting. It was cold and wet and not feeling like it was gonna be a good day for much of anything.

By 9am when our CSA members rolled in, it was 50°. The sun was making a grand entrance. Catherine Murray of PhotoKitchen, a photographer freelancing for Edible Columbus, followed and we before we knew it we were working our tails off, sharing stories with Catherine, and feeling beautiful.

Once again, I’m too tired to do more than share glimpses with you via photo annotations.

Wish you were here.

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Not pictured:

Planting flowers, pole beans, more radishes, chard, and arugula.


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What We’re Growing: 2014

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Nancy McKibben, who is writing about us for Edible Columbus‘s summer issue requested a list of what we’re growing this year. We thought our CSA members and others might also be interested.

Since we are treating this like a community kitchen garden, you’ll notice that we have a pretty wide range of things. In the future, we might limit this somewhat depending on what does best and to build on market demand. We made selections based on descriptions of taste and color, pest and disease resistance, and our research on varieties that do well in vertical growing situations.

Here’s what’s coming up in 2014!

Kale: Red Russian and Lacinato “Dinosaur”

Lettuces: Mizuna, Apollo Arugula, Red Sails (heat tolerant), Fresh Heart Romaine

Chard: Rainbow, Silverado

Beet (We’ll selectively harvest greens for salad mix and bulbs later on): Bull’s Blood, Rhonda

Garlic: Chesnok Red

Onion: Red Zeppelin

Sweet Potato: Beauregard

Radish: French Breakfast, Easter Egg

Carrot: Necora

Tomatoes: Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, Toronjina, Sweetie, Large Red Cherry, Sakura, Annelise, Gilberte Paste, Juane Flame

Serrano Peppers

Tomatillos

Beans: Blue Lake Pole, Christmas Lima

Peas: Oregon Sugar Pod, Green Arrow Shell

Squash: Green and Yellow Zucchini, Red Kuri Winter Squash, Delicata

Flowers: Zinnia, Cosmos, Coneflower, Goldenrod, Dahlia, Sunflower, Daisy, Asters, Bee Balm

Herbs: Borage, Parsley, Cilantro, Sage, Rosemary, Chives

 


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(CSA) Update

This message was sent to our CSA member this past weekend.
Greetings!
We were taking it (sort of) easy this weekend though those of you following us on Facebook know that doesn’t mean we haven’t been out back working. We got the insect netting up over the greens, radishes, and beets, and planted out about 60 Red Zeppelin onion plants. Rock on!
We had a big week in other ways as well. Wednesday evening, Dan and I were interviewed by a writer from Edible Columbus for an article in the Summer issue due out in June. She’d love to have a chance to chat with some of you to know how and why you got involved in this little venture. She plans to drop by one of our next work days. (See below for more on that).
We also learned that our service learning grant at OSU was approved. This means we’ll be working Kerry Ard and her students in “People, Place, and Environment” on various projects next spring. The grant comes with $1,500 for the farm and we are thrilled about the prospects!
Knowing that Edible Columbus will be sending a photographer soon, we are eager to get a few more big things done around the property next weekend – build our compost system, move some of the sod piles around and out of site, dig a great big hole for an underground cistern, complete laying out and tilling the new beds, install some of our trellising. Join us next Saturday (between 10 and 5) and/or Sunday (noon-6) to help make it happen. Please let us know in advance if you plan to attend and when we might see you. This helps us plan and match activities best with those who’ll be showing up.
Namaste,
jodiK