Happy Halloween from LFP!

Check out the pumpkins we entered in the Airlie staff pumpkin carving contest.

Zinnias

Yesterday we harvested more than 45 pounds of lush fall greens.

Ahh...Arugula.

Pac Choi with no pest damage! Incredible.

Assorted sweet peppers, peach habaneros, el jefe jalapenos, zuchinni, patty pan squash, eggplant, sungold cherry tomatoes, and regular tomatoes. These remaining summer crop harvests are low yield yet high quality-- not bad for Mid-October.

Our second planting of fall greens were slow to germinate but they are finally coming in now that the rains have slowed down and the sun has reappeared.

Tim shows off our crops to one of the Airlie cooks before she places an order.

Fall is here. The abundance of summer crops has passed and we are embracing the change of seasons as our fall plants grow and we prepare for winter.

Pablo tills in our summer buckwheat to plant winter rye as a cover crop.

The okra is officially taller than Tim! He's 6'3."

Fall greens-- kale, collards, lettuce, pac choi, beets and radishes.

The tomato harvest is slowing down, but there are still some tomato plants hanging in there--especially in the hoophouse.

Winter Squash are starting to come in but aren't near ready for harvest.

Brussels sprouts are growing steadily since transplanting.

We've been harvesting lots of green beans.

Watermelon update: some will be ready to sample before too long...

Green beans are plentiful.

Our cucumbers are struggling.

This is the biggest strawberry we've seen all season!

We transplanted basil in the hoopohouse so we can continue to harvest one of our favorite herbs through the fall.

Hoophouse eggplant.

We planted 10 more beds of fall crops that have already germinated, including: kale, collards, lettuce mix, radishes, beets, pac choi and arugula.

Our peppers are thriving in the passive solar hoophouse. These are El Jefe Jalapenos and Peach Habaneros.

Buckwheat is lush after the weekend's rainfall.

Remember the watermelon you saw in last week's blog? This is the same one-- it's grown!

A critter is nibbling at our soybeans.

Irene- The Morning After

These photos were taken on Sunday, August 28th after the storm passed through Warrenton. We are fortunate that our garden is essentially undamaged. Look at the plants and you can see which way the wind blew!

Bunching Onions and Zinnias

Airlie Apple Tree

Okra

The Corn Maze

We added compost to our struggling squash plants and they blossommed, truly, overnight.

Little baby watermelons are coming in! These are smaller than a tennis ball.

Looking out the door of the hoophouse for a view of our organic corn maze. The corn is more than seven feet tall now and ready for scavenger hunts, teambuilding activities, and "cornferences."

Shirofumi Soybeans growing tall in the backfield:

Our harvest is in full swing and we are happy to deliver loads of tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, okra, swiss chard, leeks, bunching onions, red and yellow onions, eggplant, potatoes, beets, herbs and flowers to Airlie's fantastic chefs. On August 8th we harvested nearly 300 pounds of garden fresh goodies for the LFP Harvest Dinner held as part of the 5th Annual Local Food Project at Airlie Conference. Here's our garden crew after enjoying the delicious meal:

You can't even tell that we're usually covered in dirt! The theme of this year's conference was "The Role of Institutions in the Future of Local Food" and featured keynote speakers from the USDA's National Program for Small Farms and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York, and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The day's workshops were a hit-- my personal favorite breakout sessions discussed local food in hospitals, and social justice in sustainable food systems. More conference photos to come...

Volunteers helping with the harvest in hundred degree weather, sporting new LFP t-shirts. Check out our new shade structure and harvest station!

Breaking for water and enjoying the bright yellow shade of the Coolero!

July 20th, 2011

"Double-digging" to prepare a small Biointensive garden plot.

Buckwheat-- a favorite summer cover crop.

Beets--we harvest their greens.

Covering our squash plants to protect them from groundhogs and other hungry critters.

July 13th, 2011

Hill Country Red Okra is looking ready to harvest!

We set up tomato trellisses with volunteers from the Piedmont Environmental Council Fellowship.

Last Friday's harvested included more than 40 lbs. of Cabbage, 70 lbs of Swiss Chard, 5 lbs. of Lettuce mix and 7 lbs. of assorted Basil.

June 18th, 2011

Here's what we've been up to:

Ooh la la, look at all this swiss chard...

Our large back field is rapidly filling with crops. From left to right: beets, carrots, eggplant, peppers, okra and tomatoes.

Huge Onions! Red Tropea, Big Daddy, and Candy Onions plus Lancelot Leeks.




















Raised beds are the newest addition to the LFP garden, planted with flowers and herbs including: Zinnias, Curry, Echinacea, Roman Chamomile, Valerian, Stevia, Rosemary and Tarragon.





















Our Pac Choi suffered with the heat blasts in the last couple of weeks, but has still provided a solid harvest.

In the distance you see bunching onions, swiss chard, and tomatoes. The pretty purple is Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage, and next to that Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil and classic Genovese Basil.

"Basil Enliveneth the Soul."

- Unknown

Freshly hilled potatoes: Yukon Gold, Mountain Rose, Purple Peruvian, German Butterball, and Russian Banana Fingerling.