Our final harvests of row crops happened this week, namely the end of the peppers. We traded 10# of Apple sweet peppers with Marissa of Casalegno Family Farm for a 20# box of real apples of assorted varieties. Our Chile de Arbol (Mexico) and Sha Ema (Bhutan) hot peppers will go to Rolando and Jennifer of Uncle Ro's Take & Bake Pizzas as a trade for a 50# bag of Giusto's Organic "00" Unbleached Pizza Flour. 27# of Jalapenos (Mexico) went to Leon at Everett Family Farm for his CSA in a trade for a case of hachiya persimmons, as well as winter squash and sugar pumpkins. While we were at it, a dozen duck eggs went to Farmer Kiki for two 4oz heart-shaped pieces of her delicious farmyard goat cheese.
With our annuals out, the last of our bell bean and oat cover crop went in. It went in just in time too, because as I was out making swaps on Friday morning, the skies opened up. We've had 2.87" of rain since, bringing our yearly total to 6.93" according to the Vantage Pro2, and the rain continues to fall. The hardest rainfall on Saturday night (a rain rate of 6.62"/hr) was accompanied by thunder, lightning and small pockets of hail. Needless to say, our cover crop seeds should be well on their way to being imbibed by the time the sun comes out next. We are also very lucky to have a neighbor so dedicated to native plants that he had 10 extra gallons of hand-picked California Brome grass seed on hand to trade for bell beans and used T-tape for his planter boxes. We will sow the grass seed on our avocado slope in the areas in which the tar plants currently dominate.
In anticipation of Thanksgiving, we made our first pumpkin pie yesterday morning and have a pair of Tofurkys on hand for the big day. We give thanks for the many successes we had this season and for our wonderful community of friends.
