The Vermiculture Digest

Greetings CSA Family and Friends!

Today I will say something about “healthy addictions.” Really, this is an important topic. Our brain likes happy chemicals and we tend to find ways to release them. Trouble is, we become quickly habituated to stimulation and then seek novelty to get that same old feeling. Our modern society gives us so many opportunities to be rewarded, but many people can’t handle it. They become addicted to unhealthy things. Of course product developers and marketers exist to get you addicted to buying stuff.

If you are really keen on the topic, see this old radio show I did: http://globalpublicmedia.com/reality_report_evolution_addiction_and_economic_demand

A key point discussed in that show is that we can’t keep from becoming addicted to something. Once we accept this fact of life, the question becomes whether we can work on controlling what we are addicted to and make it healthy and inexpensive rather than destructive and costly.

Why I am writing about this in a farm newsletter?

Because cultivation of plants is a healthy addiction. When I am working on the farm or garden I get to do all sorts of addictive activities. First, I make plans. This sets up the expectation of a reward. But the reward is in the future and the exact timing and quality of the reward is not perfectly known. This is important from a neurological perspective. We want to have expectations fulfilled, but they can’t be totally predictable because fulfillment requires the establishment of tension.

Okay, so the garden plan sets up a potential reward. Then I invest. This raises the stakes. I really don’t want the plants to die. I tend them. Watching them grow feeds mini rewards. “Oh look! The seeds are germinating!” Getting the odd positive reinforcement along the way keeps me hooked. It’s like having a flirtatious conversation.

I really don’t know why, but the plants are beautiful too. I like to gaze upon a thriving bed of rainbow-colored chard. The colors of lettuce are astounding. I grow a light green variety called Salad Bowl and a dark red one called Red Oak Leaf. Seeing them side-by-side is a treat.

I look forward to these experiences each year. In the winter I start to miss them. Seasonality is crucial because it re-establishes novelty. I don’t eat fresh tomatoes out of season, which means I enjoy them all the more when they come off those vines. And the winter provides its own rewards. Tree collards are best in the winter. The occasional snow or hard frost events are fun. An inch of snow on dark green-blue Dino kale is a twice-yearly spectacle.


Exiting Happenings at the Farm. Potatoes will be planted this Friday. Trenches will be dug and the spuds placed about a foot apart. Soil will be tossed over them and they will be periodically hilled. I can’t wait to see them spread their leaves across the whole bed-row and then flower.

While I am obviously having fun, I am a bit anxious right now too. A lot of area has been seeded in beets, carrots and onions. But few seeds have germinated. I go through this every year. Wondering if the seeds are viable, if the soil is alright, if I am giving the beds enough water….on and on. Usually, it turns out fine. Plants have a will to live. But sometimes bad things happen, and I start making back-up plans. I’ve sown a whole flat of onions, for example, and I will probably test the germination rate of those beet seeds in my greenhouse. I don’t want you all to worry, just letting you know what kind of swings I go through mentally. “Talking” about it makes me feel a little better.

The greenhouse has some new occupants that will excite your salivary glands: tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos. No germination to report yet since they just went in this weekend, but they are in beautiful flat soil and on a temperature sensitive heating pad (thanks to David Drell). Amazing to ponder that they will be 2 feet tall in one gallon pots by the end of May…more anticipation.


Probably the Most Exciting News You Will Hear in a While. Antonia Partridge has been working with me at Brookside Farm for a couple of weeks and we are seriously planning to place chickens on site, both egg and meat types. Details to follow, but the idea is that we improve the soil fertility while adding value to the whole operation. Using chicken tractors I think we can do wonderful things to the troubled area that had symphylans last year.

Your baskets this month are not huge. Start thinking about what to do with leeks, tree collards, chard, kale, and green onions. They might be great together in a frittata. I am still partial to cooking greens in broth for about 10 minutes with some salt and pepper.

I am hoping to have another harvest in mid May and be going weekly around then. Just so you understand the harvest cycle, the produce will really pick up in volume by mid June and baskets are hefty each week though October. Then we close out the year with a couple of monthly deliveries in Nov. and Dec.

Horticulturally Yours,

Jason