November Beans and Other Good Things

Way back in 2010...

Ok, that's not really 'way back' in the grand scheme of things.  But, 2010 - in terms of our farm seems like a very long time ago.

That was the year we came within a whisker of pulling the plug on the Genuine Faux Farm.  In fact, this post titled "Whupped" pretty much summed up how we were both feeling for much of that season.  It was more than difficult - it was completely demoralizing.

But, in that same season, some very important events occurred to counter the negative things.

We built a high tunnel.
And we learned the value of meeting with valued peers in farming.

Of course, the 2010 story is even more complex than I'm making it sound.  Clearly, we survived.  But, more importantly, some of the struggles of that season led us to doing some things that bring us to this.

Green beans and tomatoes on November 11

The struggles during the main part of the growing season in 2010 encouraged us to push the Fall season as deep as we were able at the time.  The high tunnel provided us with another tool in our arsenal and it gave us the motivation we needed to see if we could still make things work.

Here we are in 2016 and we harvested a tote full of green beans on November 11.  The green beans were NOT grown in a high tunnel, but we did use a remay cover to keep them going until we had a harvest.  The great thing about this?  Green beans are one of our favorite veggies.  We didn't really have enough to share with our Fall CSA members.  But, sometimes, keeping the farmers happy with a veggie treat is going to actually result in more good things for the CSA.

Speaking of good things - how about some tasty Black Krim and Italian Heirloom tomatoes on November 11?  These ARE courtesy of our high tunnels and it is a wonderful treat to be able to offer fresh, quality tomatoes this late in the season.

There is no way we could have known in 2010 how some of these things would have progressed, we could only guess that our perseverance would pay off.  And this is why I share this particular post.  It is a reminder to me and to others that some struggles actually help us to become better at what we do.  I am certainly not anxious to repeat 2010 ever again.  But, I can sincerely say that we wouldn't have advanced to where we are now without those struggles.