Little Wing Farm
It's been a while, once again, since I've posted anything. However, this past hiatus, in an attempt to keep furthering my agricultural skills, I've been helping out over at Little Wing Farm. For almost a year now, I've been going once a week to do whatever is needed over at this sweet, two-acre farm in Pt. Reyes Station, nestled at the base of Black Mountain.
Since its inception in 2016, the farm has been largely a one-woman show, run by Molly Myerson, but this past year she's been expanding, and it has since evolved into a three-women show (my weekly appearances making it four). I wanted to get some more hands-on experience farming at this scale, support local sustainable agriculture, and spend a year getting a sense of all the different moving parts that go into the annual farm cycle.
It's been wonderful and challenging. As any farmer will tell you, growing food is back breaking, knee joint-crushing work, so it's a little surprising how everyone who does it seems unwilling to stop. But even after hours of bending and crouching, it just feels good to grow food and put in the labor. Every time.
Here's a sampling of what I've been up to over there for the past four seasons.
Prepping food for the farm stand, where it's sold down the road on the honor system.
Harvesting the beautiful rainbow chard, fava beans, and lettuce
Pinching off tomato flowers, so they don't fruit too early.
Protecting Dalias from just about everything that loves to eat them.
Making keyhole beds for the flowers
Harvesting edible flowers (Pansies and Calendula) for salad mix
Planting winter squash and beans in the new field
Harvesting the garlic scapes
Harvesting beans and summer squash
Watching the farm come into full summertime glory!
Curing onions in the field
Making bouquets of Coreopsis
Packing the Padrones
Savoring summer's bounty
Picking beans and dodging deer invasions
Ripping up what was left of the watermelons after the raccoons ate them all. All of them.
Prepping the onions
Rounding up the endless tomatoes
Planting onions
Celosia flowers in full bloom
Saving seeds
Squash season
Harvesting and prepping the beets!
All the winter greens
That winter morning light...
I found this gal hiding in a row.
Beauties
Looking back at all these pictures, it's amazing to see the seasonal ebbs and flows of the various plants, the hills turning from green to brown to green again, the slow and steady progress really adding up. Molly and her crew have thrown so much hard work and love at this growing farm. I'm so glad I've been watching it take shape and helping out along the way!
Little Wing Farm |
It's been wonderful and challenging. As any farmer will tell you, growing food is back breaking, knee joint-crushing work, so it's a little surprising how everyone who does it seems unwilling to stop. But even after hours of bending and crouching, it just feels good to grow food and put in the labor. Every time.
Here's a sampling of what I've been up to over there for the past four seasons.
Spring:
Lots and lots of planting.Amaranth flowers |
Lettuce |
Time to go in the ground! |
Spacing for flowers |
Prepping food for the farm stand, where it's sold down the road on the honor system.
The farm stand |
Harvesting the beautiful rainbow chard, fava beans, and lettuce
Pinching off tomato flowers, so they don't fruit too early.
Protecting Dalias from just about everything that loves to eat them.
Making keyhole beds for the flowers
Harvesting edible flowers (Pansies and Calendula) for salad mix
Planting winter squash and beans in the new field
Poking the seeds into the ground, one by one |
Summer:
Lunches at the lakeHarvesting the garlic scapes
Harvesting beans and summer squash
The Dragon Tongues |
Watching the farm come into full summertime glory!
This is the same Amaranth that I planted in the spring (see above) |
Curing onions in the field
Making bouquets of Coreopsis
Savoring summer's bounty
Picking beans and dodging deer invasions
Ripping up what was left of the watermelons after the raccoons ate them all. All of them.
Rounding up the endless tomatoes
Planting onions
Celosia flowers in full bloom
Fall:
Still working hard to save the Dalias!Saving seeds
Squash season
Harvesting and prepping the beets!
Planting garlic
Winter:
Rainbow seasonAll the winter greens
Cutest cabbages you ever did see
I found this gal hiding in a row.
Beauties
Looking back at all these pictures, it's amazing to see the seasonal ebbs and flows of the various plants, the hills turning from green to brown to green again, the slow and steady progress really adding up. Molly and her crew have thrown so much hard work and love at this growing farm. I'm so glad I've been watching it take shape and helping out along the way!
Great pics and captions. We grow a lot of food, but for us, not for sale. Your photos are an inspiration. Going to forward to market gardeners here in NW Arkansas.
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