Autumn is a pretty amazing time of year on the farm. For starters, it's so beautiful! T he contrast of the deep blue skies with the brilliant leaves invites a sense of awe and appreciation for these mountains that we call home. The shorter days usually usher a lighter work load for farmers and crew, which also invites a sense of awe and appreciation! A slower pace leaves room for the farm to reflect on the growing season; to celebrate the successes and take stock of lessons learned. It's also a time to begin to look forward toward next year and plan ahead for infrastructure upgrades and repairs. In addition to the new high tunnel that's currently in the works, ATG is also building a four-seasons shower so that the ATG crew can get clean in comfort, no matter the temperature outside!
This week, we also began to prepare for the farm's annual garlic planting. Planting the garlic crop is the last big vegetable project that the farm completes before Thanksgiving turkeys are harvested and the crew stops working full time. Garlic is a unique crop at ATG for several reasons. To begin with, it's one of the few crops for which the farm generates its own seed stock (sorghum is another). Holly traded some goat cheese for the original batch of seed garlic back in 2008, and the farm has been able to save enough garlic each year since to expand the garlic planting to one of the farm's 13-1/8th acre blocks. Additionally, garlic is also the only crop that grows outside through the winter solstice without any covering but the soil and some straw mulch. (The farm also grows lettuces, kale and some other greens during that time, but all under artificial cover.) What happens around the winter solstice that makes that time unique? We all know the solstice to be the shortest day of the year, so it's a time when not much grows on the farm. It's also a time when the Earth is beginning is exhalation after the long inhalation that began back at the summer solstice. It's an opportunity for reflection and a unique time of transition.
Garlic is also crop that integrates well with livestock on the farm. Each fall, we plant buckwheat in the block where the garlic will be planted and then we drag the turkey tractors over the field in order to work in the cover crop and fertilize the soil. The garlic won't be harvested until the following June, which gives plenty of time for the manure to work itself into the soil. For all of these reasons and more, garlic is a crop that really captures the essence of the farm and its place within the cosmos.