Well it is that time once again for the always informative but never comformative CSA newsletter. October has welcomed us with a return of the oh so cool weather that makes me want to stand up tall and take a big swig of fresh air. I hope everyone is excited with the new tastes this week´s share has to offer, especially the mixed Asian greens and hakurei turnips. The beginning of this season's harvest brought to the forefront what it means to be an organic farmer. With a whole host of pests and an indecisive climate, our new plantings had much to compete with. And where these problems could easily be solved with chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides, the organic grower is left to work with only sheer ingenuity and determination, and perhaps a whole lot of luck.

From a biodynamic perspective, the cause of these ill fortunes stems from one thing − unhealthy soil. Without good tilth and proper nutrients, the plant does not have the capacity to ward off such pests as aphids and cutworms. As you have read many times, good composting is the key to rich, healthy soil. But when all the amendments in the world still leave you with topsoil that only a black belt in karate could penetrate, where then do our plants find hope? It is with a keen eye and good imagination that the organic grower must step in and take the situation into his or her own hands. Take for example our tango with the ill−gotten cutworm. Every animal plays its part in nature, but some play a part that is both superfluous and destructive. The cutworms´ ability to destroy a whole plant in one fell swoop would be impressive if it actually took something beneficial from its havoc. Instead, these little worms, who have so far remained unseen, caress the very bottom of a plant's stem and squeeze so tightly around it, that the plant ends up looking like a tree that has been left in the wake of Pacific Lumber. Lying there on the ground, unconsumed, the plant has been completely destroyed for seemingly no reason. Such was the fate of an entire bed of collards. And this catastrophe took place over the course of just one evening.

But where there is a will there is a way, and Paige certainly showed that she had both. Foregoing the day´s plan, the farm crew, accompanied by our long time volunteer and close friend Stephanie and our newest friend and volunteer, Javier, took to dressing each collard, kale, cabbage and broccoli plant with a one inch collar cut from the remnants of our irrigation mainline. Wrapping these collars around the base of each stem, even the ones who were barely an inch tall, proved a brilliant strategy. The cutworm´s onslaught appears to have been brought to a halt.

While all this was taking place, Matthew was attending to every plant on the farm, dousing them with a nutritious foliar spray. Unlike fertilizers that are absorbed through the roots from the soil, the foliar feed is taken up by the plants´ foliage. This can call for a bit of acrobatic movement, since the spray often needs to be applied to the underside of the leaves. Matthew has been our foliar guru since day one and has taught us that 30 is indeed the new 20, maybe even the new 16. With a mix of some basic elements like boron and calcium, a brix mix (which enhances a plant´s sweetness), seaweed and sea salts (providing necessary trace minerals) and what is basically the most elemental remains of decomposed plants, the spray´s effects are seen within a day or two. It is truly impressive to see the change in health from one day to the next, once a crop has received some natural, loving attention.

The organic grower has much to contend with and often, as with our Pac Choy during the spring and now some of our collards here in the fall, the grower can only throw her hands up and smile at how uncontrollable Mother Nature can be. With each crop lost, the reasoning behind agriculture´s trend towards chemical sprays and fertilizers seems all the more apparent. That elusive goal of having complete control over one´s farm, despite the unpredictability of nature, becomes almost attainable in the mind of such agriculturalists. But the truth is that no one has control, neither the one with the most potent pesticide or the most properly proportioned compost. Nature is chaotic and things are always changing in the field. It is the grower who is most willing to observe these changes and adapt accordingly with them who will successfully grow a healthy and nutritious crop. It is the farmer, willing to throw her whole game plan right out the proverbial window and snuggle up with each and every plant in a field, even if it takes a whole day, who will end up with the most bountiful harvest.

And finally, a great deal of gratitude must be given to Stephanie and Javier who worked alongside us the whole day, making sure that the health of our crops remained intact so that we all can enjoy them in these upcoming weeks. So on behalf of the farm crew, thank you Stephanie and Javier. Until next time...

-r.j.