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On March 25 this account (@footprintfarm) got hacked. I lost all access, the name was taken, and my posts deleted. Within hours this account turned nasty and started scamming farmers and friends who followed me. I tried not to let it bother me, and for a while I was open to the idea of a fresh start. But under the "I'm so chill" surface I was mad. This account has been my link to so many innovative, compassionate, witty and endearing people all over the world. It contained photos and memories from my 13 years of farming. It served as a marketing outlet that has brought us closer to our customers and linked us to new employees. And more than anything, it was MINE. I know we don't pay for this service, and that once I let the data out into the world I relinquished some hold I had over it, but this account has kept me connected during a number of years in which I've felt stuck, either physically underneath a baby, emotionally during a pandemic, or professionally as I spend less time farming and more time momming. And someone took it. And then used it to scam others. It felt gross, and the fact that someone else was wearing my clothes, using me to ruin others' accounts, would not leave a corner of my conscience. So I sent the emails. I proved and reclaimed my online identity. I lost my content, and I can't figure out how to change the language back to English (from Turkish), but that nasty little feeling is waning. It feels good to be back.

And lesson learned: don't click on anything weird when you're sleep deprived.

If you lost your account via mine and need help recovering it, contact your state Consumer Protection office. 🤍

We often sneak irrigation lines in after plants are established. This process can be a nightmare if you don't squiggle the line down underneath the plants' leaves as you lay it down, so we use step-in posts (just what we have on hand) to keep the lines at soil level and our backs up straight.

Why not put irrigation down at planting? For crops like garlic, that are planted then mulched all winter, the lines would get chewed by rodents if left in place so long. Instead we remove the mulch, weed, then lay lines in May. In crops like lettuce we like to get them established with sprinklers (better soil coverage especially for our sandy, quickly draining soils), and we add drip later if needed (drip is more efficient at putting water where needed and doesn't evaporate quickly like sprinkler water).

Today I did a thing that I thought I'd do regularly as a farm mom but in truth I've only done twice (one of which was successful) in almost four years: hoe a bed while wearing a baby. (This might actually be the first whole bed I've been able to hoe in parenthood regardless of wearing a baby.)

Today Hank obliged me long enough (with a break for nursing in the middle) to run through this bed of peas and cilantro so that I could prepare to train the crew on hoe usage (best practices, ergonomics, what to do when the bed is as full of cover crop residue as this one) later in the day. Both activities filled my dang cup, and based on the weed pressure in our fields (blame a year of so much rain that we were virtually unable to cultivate and so will be battling weeds for years to come), I don't think this will be my last.

Also check out how tall the peas are. 🤩

Today I did a thing that I thought I'd do regularly as a farm mom but in truth I've only done twice (one of which was successful) in almost four years: hoe a bed while wearing a baby. (This might actually be the first whole bed I've been able to hoe in parenthood regardless of wearing a baby.)

Today Hank obliged me long enough (with a break for nursing in the middle) to run through this bed of peas and cilantro so that I could prepare to train the crew on hoe usage (best practices, ergonomics, what to do when the bed is as full of cover crop residue as this one) later in the day. Both activities filled my dang cup, and based on the weed pressure in our fields (blame a year of so much rain that we were virtually unable to cultivate and so will be battling weeds for years to come), I don't think this will be my last.

Also check out how tall the peas are. 🤩

Today I did a thing that I thought I'd do regularly as a farm mom but in truth I've only done twice (one of which was successful) in almost four years: hoe a bed while wearing a baby. (This might actually be the first whole bed I've been able to hoe in parenthood regardless of wearing a baby.)

Today Hank obliged me long enough (with a break for nursing in the middle) to run through this bed of peas and cilantro so that I could prepare to train the crew on hoe usage (best practices, ergonomics, what to do when the bed is as full of cover crop residue as this one) later in the day. Both activities filled my dang cup, and based on the weed pressure in our fields (blame a year of so much rain that we were virtually unable to cultivate and so will be battling weeds for years to come), I don't think this will be my last.

Also check out how tall the peas are. 🤩

We only get one chance to nail this carrot/tomato combo each year, and a whole lot of pieces need to fall into place to make it happen. Up until this point we will have needed to have:

🥕 Paid attention to what happened last year, made notes, not lost the notes, and used them to adjust for this year.

🍅 Seeded both carrots and tomatoes on the correct days.

🥕 Cleared the beds of their winter crops and gotten them ready so that the carrots could be transplanted exactly five days after seeding.

🍅 Kept the tomatoes warm with negative temps outside.

🥕 Potted the tomatoes up...twice.

🍅 Kept the carrots watered and covered with remay.

🥕 Transplanted tomatoes in between the rows of carrots.

🍅 Kept the cut worms from destroying either crop.

🥕 Trellised and pruned the tomatoes weekly.

*Takes deep breath*

And hopefully the carrots will be ready for harvest just in time for the tomatoes to want a big leaf pruning, weeding, and to have their beds covered with landscape fabric.

This complexity is repeated over dozens of successions of dozens of different types of vegetables, and plays out against the backdrop of weather, weeds, markets, and wild turkeys (I just saw one out my window... probably eating recently seeded cover crop). It's enough to make your head spin, or if you run a farm...keep coming back for more.

We only get one chance to nail this carrot/tomato combo each year, and a whole lot of pieces need to fall into place to make it happen. Up until this point we will have needed to have:

🥕 Paid attention to what happened last year, made notes, not lost the notes, and used them to adjust for this year.

🍅 Seeded both carrots and tomatoes on the correct days.

🥕 Cleared the beds of their winter crops and gotten them ready so that the carrots could be transplanted exactly five days after seeding.

🍅 Kept the tomatoes warm with negative temps outside.

🥕 Potted the tomatoes up...twice.

🍅 Kept the carrots watered and covered with remay.

🥕 Transplanted tomatoes in between the rows of carrots.

🍅 Kept the cut worms from destroying either crop.

🥕 Trellised and pruned the tomatoes weekly.

*Takes deep breath*

And hopefully the carrots will be ready for harvest just in time for the tomatoes to want a big leaf pruning, weeding, and to have their beds covered with landscape fabric.

This complexity is repeated over dozens of successions of dozens of different types of vegetables, and plays out against the backdrop of weather, weeds, markets, and wild turkeys (I just saw one out my window... probably eating recently seeded cover crop). It's enough to make your head spin, or if you run a farm...keep coming back for more.

We only get one chance to nail this carrot/tomato combo each year, and a whole lot of pieces need to fall into place to make it happen. Up until this point we will have needed to have:

🥕 Paid attention to what happened last year, made notes, not lost the notes, and used them to adjust for this year.

🍅 Seeded both carrots and tomatoes on the correct days.

🥕 Cleared the beds of their winter crops and gotten them ready so that the carrots could be transplanted exactly five days after seeding.

🍅 Kept the tomatoes warm with negative temps outside.

🥕 Potted the tomatoes up...twice.

🍅 Kept the carrots watered and covered with remay.

🥕 Transplanted tomatoes in between the rows of carrots.

🍅 Kept the cut worms from destroying either crop.

🥕 Trellised and pruned the tomatoes weekly.

*Takes deep breath*

And hopefully the carrots will be ready for harvest just in time for the tomatoes to want a big leaf pruning, weeding, and to have their beds covered with landscape fabric.

This complexity is repeated over dozens of successions of dozens of different types of vegetables, and plays out against the backdrop of weather, weeds, markets, and wild turkeys (I just saw one out my window... probably eating recently seeded cover crop). It's enough to make your head spin, or if you run a farm...keep coming back for more.

We only get one chance to nail this carrot/tomato combo each year, and a whole lot of pieces need to fall into place to make it happen. Up until this point we will have needed to have:

🥕 Paid attention to what happened last year, made notes, not lost the notes, and used them to adjust for this year.

🍅 Seeded both carrots and tomatoes on the correct days.

🥕 Cleared the beds of their winter crops and gotten them ready so that the carrots could be transplanted exactly five days after seeding.

🍅 Kept the tomatoes warm with negative temps outside.

🥕 Potted the tomatoes up...twice.

🍅 Kept the carrots watered and covered with remay.

🥕 Transplanted tomatoes in between the rows of carrots.

🍅 Kept the cut worms from destroying either crop.

🥕 Trellised and pruned the tomatoes weekly.

*Takes deep breath*

And hopefully the carrots will be ready for harvest just in time for the tomatoes to want a big leaf pruning, weeding, and to have their beds covered with landscape fabric.

This complexity is repeated over dozens of successions of dozens of different types of vegetables, and plays out against the backdrop of weather, weeds, markets, and wild turkeys (I just saw one out my window... probably eating recently seeded cover crop). It's enough to make your head spin, or if you run a farm...keep coming back for more.

We always take bets on what day we're going to say, "holy sh*t it's so green", usually over/under May 16. Today was the day. Jake won.

Today's crew training: Field Maps and Soil Health Plan with a convenient bird's eye (ish) view of our fields from our neighbor's pond.

We've been putting more effort into whole crew, behind the scenes training this year and I'm excited to see where it takes us all. Also note to self: never re-name your field blocks unless absolutely necessary. It's a real brain buster.

Our field walk might be the most important part of our week, but has been the most difficult to prioritize. In the past Jake and I have done it on Saturdays, mugs of coffee in one hand and clipboard in the other. We'd identify the next week's priorities, set goals, and decide what would go into the CSA share. Then we had a toddler. I don't know about you, but I find it next to impossible to have a conversation longer than half a sentence these days, so the field walk has been going by the wayside. This year we've decided to move the walk to Friday (which is a daycare day) and to include our field manager. I think the move will be beneficial, mostly because Noah will have a deeper understanding of our decision making process (much discussion happens during these walks), but also because it's one less thing to try to cram into our already too busy weekends. It also means that I am more likely to be able to participate in the field walk, which should help me feel more involved and up to speed with what's going on while I'm running around on mom and office duties. 🤞

On this day last year I was at a folding table on our lawn, sewing two gigantic pieces of insect netting together to form what we now call "The Fortress". It did a fabulous job of keeping Swede midge off of our brassicas l, so I'd call the four hours with my old sewing machine time well spent. While I was off the farm today Jake kept me updated, including some very nice handiwork on some of the smaller bug net. Reduce, reuse, hold onto the sewing kit long after you have time for crafting.

On this day last year I was at a folding table on our lawn, sewing two gigantic pieces of insect netting together to form what we now call "The Fortress". It did a fabulous job of keeping Swede midge off of our brassicas l, so I'd call the four hours with my old sewing machine time well spent. While I was off the farm today Jake kept me updated, including some very nice handiwork on some of the smaller bug net. Reduce, reuse, hold onto the sewing kit long after you have time for crafting.

On this day last year I was at a folding table on our lawn, sewing two gigantic pieces of insect netting together to form what we now call "The Fortress". It did a fabulous job of keeping Swede midge off of our brassicas l, so I'd call the four hours with my old sewing machine time well spent. While I was off the farm today Jake kept me updated, including some very nice handiwork on some of the smaller bug net. Reduce, reuse, hold onto the sewing kit long after you have time for crafting.

On this day last year I was at a folding table on our lawn, sewing two gigantic pieces of insect netting together to form what we now call "The Fortress". It did a fabulous job of keeping Swede midge off of our brassicas l, so I'd call the four hours with my old sewing machine time well spent. While I was off the farm today Jake kept me updated, including some very nice handiwork on some of the smaller bug net. Reduce, reuse, hold onto the sewing kit long after you have time for crafting.

One of the biggest bummers of losing my old IG account is the loss of relationships made. I know I'll find most of them again, but I'm a picture person and can only remember the profile photo of some of the connections I've made in this space. Your account and farm names, I hate to admit, go through my mind like a sieve, which makes it tough to reconnect. I was scrolling through Jake's photos and found this one from probably 2016. It's seared into my mind as the (only) time we took a week off of CSA and all our broccoli was ready that week. This photo connected me to @evenpullfarm, who taught me how to pack it tight and cold to store for the following week. Though I've never met them in person, I now consider them friends and resources. 🧡 Thanks, IG.

So I guess the posts are gone, but the skills shared and relationships made are still out there...I just have to find them again.

Scallions along sugar snap peas in our heated tunnel. Weeds in the pathways that I'm temporarily ignoring because as soon as the peas are out this whole thing is getting landscape fabric. Call it negligence. I call it work life balance.

Today I achieved a farm mom dream of mine: do a little greenhouse work while the baby naps in a pack n play. This never happened with my first, but today I'm over the moon to report that I potted up tomatoes and talked cover crop with Jake while Hank snoozed under the onions.

Today I achieved a farm mom dream of mine: do a little greenhouse work while the baby naps in a pack n play. This never happened with my first, but today I'm over the moon to report that I potted up tomatoes and talked cover crop with Jake while Hank snoozed under the onions.

We have a CSA member who bribes her kids to leave the house by offering them these turnips to snack on in the car. I tried it yesterday with Theo and it worked like a dream, except I used gummy bears because in our house vegetables are "yuck". Go figure. Oh well, to the rest of you, turnips are BACK and they're incredibly mild and delicious. How about your household...are Hakurei Turnips in or out?