cold fingers

Well, fall is here officially. And it sure is cold at 7am now. Last week we had a frost, but luckily just in isolated areas. In a low part behind the back barn, we found ice crystals on the lawn. We had decided not to protect any of the crops, because it was going to be "on the edge" and Dave made the call. Nothing was damaged, luckily. But the basil looked a little worse for the wear and tear.
Most mornings now mean harvesting greens at 7am. We walk out into the field and take a look at what is ready, and then we dig in.
The rows of lettuce, arugula, tat soi, turnips, radishes, spinach, and herbs, absolutely glow as the sun rises over the hill. We urge it to warm us faster.
Harvesting Tat Soi:
This crop can be harvested small to put in a salad mix or as "baby greens", but we thin it out and then harvest "heads" of it. The stems are crunchy and refreshing, and the greens are succulent like spinach.
We harvested Daikon Radish, a long spicy asian vegetable. We often snack on slices of this-- it clears your sinuses (and warms you up?)!
And one of my favorite foods-- Watermelon Radishes. This variety "Red Meat" is bright red inside and a sweet-spicy combination that looks like mini-watermelon slices when you cut it up right. These are supposed to get green on the outside (to complete the watermelon rind look), but looks like they chose to stay pink/white this time.
My "baby chicks" are now very grown up now. This rooster was the first to start crowing, and has claimed the older hens as his "harem"... he proudly proclaims this many times a morning.
And I may not be posting so regularly any more. I have started the serious search for land to farm next year, and all the complications of starting a farm business next year in Rochester. If anyone has leads, please let me know-- anything! I need to aquire access to 2-3 acres of good soil in the eastern parts of Rochester, as well as tractors, tools, a greenhouse, a walk-in cooler, and probably a delivery van or truck. Wow. I'm pretty overwhelmed. But very excited.

Last weekend I was out there looking at one possibility. There could be a lot of vegetables here next year: