Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you’d like to write your own column for The Mendocino Voice, send your idea to info@mendovoice.com.
August is a time of contradictions, struggling with the heat, reveling in the abundance. It has been a season of struggle with incursions from hungry wildlife; we had a wet winter but virtually no spring rains, and the landscape is parched and thirsty. The deer have been testing my fences more than I have ever experienced, and we’ve had to chase one doe out several times after mistakes with gates and her persistence.
The deer population has rebounded after crashing from a wasting disease that caused massive hemorrhages a few years back. The does with babies are especially aggressive because of the added nutritional needs of milk production. Inside the fences is a vast salad bar of different plants to nibble, so I’m not surprised or even resentful, but I’m looking forward to the arrival of our new puppy who will replace Emma and learn to guard the farm.
Foxes and skunks have also been making nighttime raids to enjoy the farm’s abundance, harvesting the rabbits I keep for meat and fertilizer production. Several years ago we moved away from caging the rabbits to a pallet and wire pen that gave them space to move and into which I could dump veggie waste and crop detritus. The system works amazingly for making rich compost, and the rabbits love the constant supplementation of fresh greens. Without a dog, though, the fox has found his way in a number of times, so the remaining rabbits are now back in cages until we have a dog that can protect them.
One of the hardest things about farming are the unwelcome morning surprises: dead rabbit, deer in the garden, wilting crops caused by clogged filters because the algae level in the pond is higher than usual. I’ve been cleaning the filters every other day instead of the usual once a week, adding to the already heavy summer workload. Up here on the ridgeline, it doesn’t cool off much at night during the hot spells, so crops use much more water on these 75 degree nights. Lots of hand-watering and extra timer-running keeps me scampering around, coordinating all the pieces to keep plants and animals as comfortable as possible during the heat.
Despite the challenges, there are many bright points. Greenhouse tomatoes and squash are especially productive this year, and new plantings of salad mix promise an abundant harvest this coming week. Overhead watering in addition to drip irrigation, along with 30% shadecloth for the life of the crop are my methods for producing quality salad mix even during the heat. It takes extra effort, but the results are worth it, though I find myself dreaming of the easier production cycles of cooler weather.
As the years slip by, I become more and more aware of the shifting of seasons, the incremental changes that happen each day. The light comes later in the mornings and darkness falls earlier as we move through August. There is still so much to do that it feels like I rush from one thing to the next, yet with the shortening days I get more sleep than during the frenetic days of summer solstice and planting season.
Each week we clear spent beds, feeding the detritus to rabbits, pigs, sheep, chickens and turkeys. The pasture is brown and dry, so the animals love the greens, and it adds value to what would otherwise be a waste product. As the beds are cleared, we add compost, broadfork and run either the tilther, a cordless drill-powered micro tiller that makes a smooth planting surface, or the BCS with the power harrow for beds that have more plant material or compacted soils. Using the Paperpot Transplanter requires as perfectly smooth and soft of a bed surface as possible, so we take the extra time to rake and smooth the bed before planting.
If we prep and plant three to five beds each week, there is always a fresh stream of produce available for harvest, and we avoid stagnation and the waste of blown-out crops building pest populations. The consistency of the work avoids the heavy lifts of the massive bed prep days we used to do in my younger days. This method means that the work is never done, but it’s never so heavy that we can’t accomplish it. Biting off what we can chew each week has become the key to avoiding burnout and overwork, so I try to budget my workplan accordingly.
During the weekend I focus on cleaning, organizing, assessing and planning. I make notes of what jobs need to be done in the week to come, along with the harvest list for market, farmstands, CSA, and what crops and volumes I can offer for wholesale through the MendoLake Food Hub. When I use the weekends for this type of organizational work, I feel less stressed and overwhelmed during the week, although it’s tough with so many fun things happening on summer weekends. Balance is key, because all work and no play doesn’t help either. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!
Casey O’Neill owns and runs HappyDay Farms, a small vegetable and cannabis farm north of Laytonville. He is a long time cannabis policy advocate, and was born and raised in the Bell Springs area. The preceding has been an editorial column. The Mendocino Voice has not necessarily fact-checked or copyedited this work, and it should be interpreted as the words of the author, not necessarily reflecting the opinions of The Mendocino Voice.
Plant an area outside the garden fence with chicory, durana, clovers, burgundy bean blends, soybeans, cowpeas, lablab, jointvetch, sunn hemp or any other high protein forage for the deer and they will most likely leave the garden for easier pickings.