Celebrations and dried flower creations

Thank you to our amazing Market Share members for coming out to the farm to celebrate with us in October! We invited our shareholders to the property in celebration of a successful 2022 season. It turned out to be a very rainy Sunday; nevertheless, we carried on with a delicious potluck in the greenhouse and an extra adventurous farm tour through the wet fields.

Our shareholders are such an important part of the business, and we were excited to offer them an opportunity to see where the magic happens. We plan to host the event again in the fall of 2023 - hopefully with better weather!  If you’re not already a shareholder and would like to participate in our Market Share or Flower Share program next year, you can learn more here. Then, send us an email (fourrootfarm@gmail.com) to get on the list for notification when our 2023 programs are open for sign-up!

Even though we chose to pause for celebration, our 2022 season continues! We have sweet potatoes curing, radicchio to harvest, and still more onions to be cleaned and brought to market. The tulip bed is being prepared and planted for the spring 2023 harvest, and the flower team is busy making dried flower creations.

The dried flower process began back in June when Elise started harvesting the first flowers for drying. These flowers are bunched and hung from their stems in Rachel’s attic. (Rachel’s attic happens to be a great place to dry flowers. It’s dry, dark, and protected from the elements.) In the peak of summer, the flowers can dry in as quick as 2 days. In the shoulder seasons, the process may take closer to 2-3 weeks. 

Many of the flowers used in fresh bouquets throughout the summer also work well for drying. Ammobium, sunflowers, amaranth, gomphrena, celosia, broom corn, rudbeckia, – the list goes on and on. Elise is always experimenting with drying different flowers as well. Last year, she even tried drying dahlias. They shrunk to about the size of a quarter. It was crazy. The best varieties retain their color and do not become too brittle after the drying process.

Now, with fall upon us, the office has turned into a dried flower studio. Elise, Caley, and Isa are spending their time bunching and wrapping single varieties for sale at the CT Flower Collective and markets, and they’re making stunning, everlasting dried bouquets and mini bouquets. They’re also getting their creative juices flowing for the dried flower wreath-making that is yet to come this year! Each year, I’m continually amazed by the creations that they design. My apartment keeps collecting more and more of them. I can’t resist. 

If displayed out of direct sunlight (and out of reach of curious pets and/or small children), dried flowers can retain their color and appearance for a year or more! 

You’ll see dried flower bouquets and wreaths at the Madison and New Haven farmers’ markets. Elise will also be attending the Westport market (Thursdays, 10am-2pm) every other week starting on 11/17 until the dried flowers are sold out for the season. 

-Kiersten

Welcoming Beets & Blooms Farm to the community of CT Farms!

Entering September always feels like a cause for celebration - we’ve reached the peak of our season! Rachel recently seeded the last of the 2022 vegetable crops; Elise is beginning to think about where to plant the overwintered flowers; Aaron is harvesting from the final succession of Chinese broccoli for this year. Despite the fact that there is still a good chunk of the season to come and an unrealistic amount to accomplish each day, the second half of the season feels easier each day rather than more demanding. Plus, it’s just much more pleasant to walk out into the field now that the morning temperature is 58 degrees rather than 85. 

And, we’re reaping the rewards from the first half of the season now! This is when the harvests are the largest and most diverse. September is a special time of year when summer crops like tomatoes and peppers are still thriving while the longer season crops like ginger and onions finally arrive. While cooler mornings, long afternoon shadows, and earlier sunsets offer us a sneak peak of more restful days ahead, the truth is that there is still plenty this season has to offer! 

BUT WAIT! THAT IS NOT THE REAL REASON FOR THIS BLOG POST!

Just as it’s starting to feel like life might begin to slow down on Four Root Farm, things are ramping up for longtime members of the FRF team, Brittany and Caley…

THEY BOUGHT A FARM!!!!

These two are now the proud owners of Beets & Blooms Farm, a queer-owned farm located in East Hampton, CT.  They purchased their property earlier this year after a 3-year long search to find affordable, farmable land amidst an absolutely insane real estate market.  They’ve been making strides all summer long to get their business off the ground (or rather, in the ground). Back in June, they planted a variety of winter squashes as well as sunflowers, zinnias, and amaranth.  And now, they’re starting to realize their first harvests.

Brittany and Caley are badass, intelligent, joyful, hard-working farmers and overall amazing people. They’ve played an important part in the success of Four Root Farm over the past 5 and 4 seasons, respectively, that they’ve worked here, and I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we’re incredibly excited for them. 

Beets & Blooms Farm will be at the New Haven Pride Festival on September 17th with flowers (fresh and dried), winter squash, and some of the most punny merchandise you’ve ever seen. They plan to start a small CSA in 2022 and potentially become a vendor at farmers’ markets in the Middletown and New Haven area. You can find updates about where to buy their products on their website: https://www.beetsandbloomsfarm.com/. And you can follow them on social media: @beetsandbloomsfarm.

Here’s to September, to Beets & Blooms, and to Brittany and Caley! <3

-Kiersten

In the thick of it

And just like that, we’re in the thick of it! Harvesting 1000+ pounds of tomatoes each week and 110 pounds of fairy tale eggplants in a single day. Meanwhile, the rows and rows of sweet peppers appear increasingly colorful, and the okra plants grow taller right before your eyes. I’m cherishing any day the temperature stays below 90 degrees.

The lisianthus are on the scene in a big way. (You’ll be seeing the “lizzies” at the market for the next few weeks. These stems have a long vase life, up to 14 days!) Buckets and buckets of gomphrena and celosia stems continue appearing in the cooler as well. Between wedding floral arrangements, a stint at the Westport market selling bouquets, and a summer flower conference in Massachusetts, the flower team has been, to put it lightly, busy.

Needless to say, it’s a hectic time of year. During a recent team lunch, Elise posed the question, “What are you most looking forward to in August?” At least half of us responded, “September.” 

I’m not typically one to wish the time away. Admittedly, the idea of a crisp, fall breeze sounds delightful during these hot and humid days. There’s plenty to appreciate right now though.

Including, but not limited to…

Hot peppers! We’ve had jalapenos and cayennes for the last few weeks, and now some of the more niche varieties are ready to harvest. There are new varieties this year, some lower on the Scoville scale. The Aji Sugar Rush Peach and Aji Rojo are Peruvian hot peppers that are just slightly hotter than a jalapeno. The Numex Suave Orange has the the flavor of a habanero but little-to-none of the heat.* I’ve been thoroughly enjoying taste-testing hot peppers and trying new recipes with them this year. If you have a go-to salsa recipe, please share. Oh, and for those who like heat, don’t worry. The Death Spirals and Ghost Peppers are on their way, too.

Your friendly neighborhood spider!

Aphid-chomping lacewing eggs!

Helpful bugs! This time of year typically includes the task of hunting for the destructive hornworm caterpillars in the cherry tomato plants. This year, we’ve had a lot of help from a friendly, little wasp. The braconid wasp is teeny-tiny with clear wings, and it lays its eggs on the hornworm caterpillars. When the eggs hatch, it doesn’t go great for the caterpillar. We’ve found lots of hornworms that the wasps have gotten to first. Elsewhere on the farm, Caley discovered the eggs of aphid-eating lacewings by the scallion plants, and I stumbled onto a contingent of (I’m told) friendly spiders in the eggplant high tunnel. It’s nice to have some extra friends on your side.

Market days! It’s exciting to have so much food (and more tomatoes than ever before) and flowers to share at the markets. It truly is a highlight of my week to see the excitement of our customers as their favorite summer crops arrive to the market. It definitely makes this time of year special. 

-Kiersten

*Results may vary. Every once in a while, a pepper plant does something crazy and produces fruit waaaaay hotter than it’s supposed to produce. Just a friendly note to proceed with caution if spice isn’t your thing!

July, July!

The cutest of eggplants

Well, following spring’s halting beginnings, the farm suddenly feels like it’s on the cusp of a food and flower avalanche! Tiny eggplants are appearing on the fairy tale plants, Rachel harvested the first okra last week, zinnias are popping up, and the rudbeckia are blooming in full force. The harvest lists get longer every week, and I’m actually looking forward to harvesting tomatoes. When we’re harvesting hundreds of pounds of them in August I’ll probably be eating those words - but only between bites of delicious tomato sandwiches.

In other exciting news, the farm has a new well! The well that was put in at the very start of the farm’s first season sadly never lived up to its promise, and ended up hindering operations for years. Lack of water slowed crop growth and created inefficiencies day-to-day. When the old well pump kicked the (increasingly empty) bucket early this spring, it jump-started the process of getting an already planned new well in place quickly!

Pictured below: a six-year-old’s method for digging a trench from the well into the greenhouse (involving adorable child sized carhartts, an old tupperware for scooping dirt, and a Rachel to dangle one by one’s belt).

We use the well and irrigation systems to supply water to plants covered in high tunnels, to supplement water to field crops during periods of drought, and to fertigate, a process that combines fertilization and irrigation. The four farm founders have spent years building soil health on the land with methods like cover cropping, compost application, and crop rotation. However, because our crops are harvested, consumed, and, um, disposed of off the farm, much of the organic matter created by the plants does not decompose back into the soil and return nutrients. In order to re-introduce important nutrients, we regularly add nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium into the irrigation water for crops that require a lot of nutrition, such as tomatoes, peppers, and dahlias. Fertigation allows for precise application of nutrients to the plants’ roots through lines of drip tape. We waste less water and less fertilizer, and the plants are happier and more fruitful - literally! The tomato plants especially have been measurably more productive with fertigation. Rachel, our lead vegetable grower, hopes that through continued refinement of this technique we can reduce the amount of bed-feet used for tomatoes while continuing to harvest the same amount of fruit. 

Even though we’re about to enter the thick of summer, preparations for the fall are happening now. Fall successions of vegetables will continue to be seeded for the next few weeks. Elise has even begun the process of drying flowers for everlasting bouquets and wreaths. 

The farm produced more dried flowers than ever last year, and we loved sharing their brightness with our customers throughout the winter. Each year, Elise forecasts the number of stems she will need for fresh bouquets versus dried bouquets and wreaths, and she balances a mix of focal flowers, filler flowers, and greenery. Most of the flower varieties that she uses for drying are harvested in the summer and early fall.  Bunches of delphinium and ammobium are already drying in the attic, and many more varieties will follow!

Bunches of flowers hanging to dry

Despite all the autumn preparations, I’ve been enjoying what July has to offer. Not so much the hotter and hotter weather. But the kale, escarole, and summer squash have been delightful. I’m eating different varieties of kale salad basically every day and devouring escarole and white bean pastas for dinner. Last week, Brittany whipped up amazing, vegan, bibimbap-style bowls full of sautéed squash and carrots for our team lunch. So. good. 

Come and visit us at the Madison and Wooster Square markets to grab some of these July goodies for yourself!

-Kiersten

A Slow Start to Spring

Summer is just around the corner, but you may not have realized it by looking at our vegetable offerings these past couple of months. In truth, it’s been somewhat frustrating and disappointing to have so little food available for our customers recently. The dearth of harvestable crops originated from April and early May, which - if you remember - was cold.  We direct-seeded and transplanted crops into the fields according to our usual schedule diligently planned each winter, and we waited for the weather to warm. However, instead of gradual warming, there was persistent cold and wind, punctuated by short bursts of unseasonable heat. This dramatic weather pattern stunted germination and growth. For instance, the direct seeded broccoli raab, which can germinate in as quickly as 5 days, took almost two weeks before their first leaves began to appear out of the ground. And we continued to peek at the kale under its protective insect netting, checking if this would finally be the week to harvest it.

Most of the vegetables brought to market during April and May were grown in our high tunnels (also known as hoop houses). In a typical spring at Four Root Farm, as we finish harvesting the tunnel plantings of bok choi, hakurei turnips, and radishes, the outside field successions of those crops are ready for their first harvest. We can transition seamlessly from harvesting in the tunnels to harvesting in the field without any disruption to the products brought to market. This year, we finished harvesting in the tunnels and have been anxiously waiting as the field crops continue their stubbornly slow pace of growth. 

The farm has seven high tunnels on the property of varying sizes and one tunnel even has the ability to roll between two different plots. Crops grown in the tunnels are planted into the ground just like the field crops, but they enjoy the benefit of warmer, more protected conditions and thus, can be planted earlier in the year.

We believe that high tunnels are an indispensable tool for farming in New England and for improving regional food sovereignty. Season extension - growing earlier in the spring and later into the fall - allows our community to access locally-produced vegetables for a greater portion of the year rather than relying on products shipped here from California. High tunnels will also help farmers to be more resilient in the face of climate change. As severe weather events become more frequent, tunnels help to protect crops from damaging rains, wind, and hail.  

Thank you to all of you, our lovely customers, for diligently stopping by our market stand and checking the website each week. Conditions the last few weeks have been much better, and I promise the food is coming, albeit slowly! We will continue to have lettuce, chinese broccoli, bok choi and turnips - with kale, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, squash, scallions, carrots and garlic scapes just starting. And fan-favorites like fairy tale eggplants, shishito peppers, and tomatoes growing happily in their beds. 

I’ll have more to share on tomatoes and all of the TLC they require in next month’s blog post. Until then, I will see you at the markets - hopefully with more and more food to offer throughout June!

-Kiersten