Unity Farm Journal - Second Week of June 2016

This week we completed our organic inspection, which was very much like a Joint Commission visit.   The “commissioners” arrived for a suprise inspection on a Monday morning.  They covered hundreds of criteria from water purity to seed use to composting techniques.  They reviewed documentation and checked every package of supplies for appropriate OMRI compliance.   Recordkeeping in organic farming is key such as daily compost temperature measurements that ensure a pathogen free product.     I learned an immense amount during the inspection and will be enhancing a number of processes and controls on the farm.   We should hear back from the certification organization soon.   The scope of our certification includes fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, compost, and seedlings.

Our baby geese are growing up and now free range with their parents a few hours a day.   We ensure they are kept safe during the middle of the day when hawk predation is at a peak.     They are maturing fast and we’ll be keeping all three as a permanent part of the Unity Farm community.

Our community includes numerous native animals that make Unity Farm their permanent home.     A beautiful woodchuck (a kind of marmot) has decided to make a home in our winter paddock.   Many would consider a woodchuck to be a pest, destroying produce and disrupting the ground toplogy.   All our orchard trees are caged and our vegetables are in the hoop house, so at the moment we’re not losing any produce to “Chuckette”.  

A fawn was born this week and within a few minutes she was running around the farm driveway with her mother.

We continue our weekly harvests of mushrooms and vegetables.   Here’s what the growing areas look like this week.

Finally, Kathy is very busy managing bees.   She’ll have 28 hives and more than 250,000 bees under management this Summer.

This weekend, all the families are gathering for the first time since my daughter’s wedding.   Should be a great opportunity to check in on post married life!