Since Spring, Now it's (Almost) Summer

Escribiendo desde el comienzo de junio, pero se siente que unos momentos atrás, era Abril. No se como paso el tiempo tan rápido, pero la huerta se ve muy diferente desde cuando empezamos formar camas y plantar ensaladas y brassicas. Now we have potato leaf growth, 15 rows of strawberries interplanted with lupines, y espinaca, cebollitas, orach, remolachas y zanahorias, y cilantro. Tomatoes, basil, dry farmed Oaxacan Green corn and Tepary and Whipple Beans, and cucurbits are in the ground and growing. Flowers are beginning to bloom, y muchas mas se van a plantar en las semanas que vienen. Estamos contentxs, watching all the plants successfully doing what they’re supposed to do.

In the photo above, you can see our tomato field, next to the strawberries, followed by the potatoes and behind those, are the blueberries. We have interplanted basil, lettuce, zinnias, parsley, amaranth, beets and carrots along the sides of our tomato rows, making them more productive and diverse spaces for growing. Not pictured is the enormous bald eagle who greeted us this morning and watched us for several hours, sitting on a treetop. I found their presence comforting, and I hope it eludes to a sign that the surrounding environments are welcoming and conducive to wildlife survival—also it wouldn’t hurt if it hunted moles once and a while. Below you’ll see photos of one of the first berries to ripen on the goumi berry bush, herbs flank the trees and shrubs left and right; salad and spinach beds with pathways built up of burlap sacks (Thanks Donyel and Stumptown for the donations!) and woodchips; and a spiraling garlic scape, a seasonal specialty.

Gracias por leer un poco about what we’ve been up to ~ keep an eye out for information about our upcoming screening of Camila Freitas’ film Chão/Landless on June 25, 2021.

Announcing our first agroecology documentary series!

This year we’re screening a series of three documentaries! We’ll bring a projector out to the field and show important films on the topic of the struggle agroecology in different parts of the world. The films will be followed by bilingual discussions of how these struggles tie in to the state of agriculture and society worldwide and locally. These events are the beginning of CAMPO’s free/sliding scale donation based educational events which will promote solidarity between farmworkers and eaters who want to build a movement towards agroecology here! We’ll learn about and practice ways to improve the way we treat the land and those who care for it as well as the food we grow and eat.

Early Spring Meditations

The Portland Metro has been layered in a blanket of plush snow. While it seems as though folks here are typically keen to lament winter and it’s seemingly endless damp, grey days, this weekend is different. The snow has given the winter and COVID weary an excuse to romp outside, and instead of cars the streets are full of cross-country skiers, children are sledding in the park and neighbors grateful for a reason to interact with others in the community. It is uplifting to see the community find joy in the gifts of winter, since it is a season that many farmers deeply appreciate. It is a time for reflection for the past year, and planning for the upcoming season. It is the time for building infrastructure, acquiring supplies, designing crop rotations. Since this is our first year farming as the collective CAMPO, much time has been spent on the organizational logistics of the collective and trying to balance our hopes and dreams with what is realistic and achievable in the first year of farming. 

Winter for farmers is also all about seeds. In some communities and cultures winter is spent cleaning seeds that had been gathered during the previous growing season, organizing and storing them for future years. Since we are beginning farmers in a society that has mostly lost the art of saving seeds, we spent the beginning of winter sifting through seed company catalogs and websites. We selected crops and varieties with which we had previous experience (and therefore confidence), as well as varieties that we are excited to try for the first time. While some of our seeds are from the bigger organic seed companies such as Johnnys, we have made an effort to also source from local seed companies such as Adaptive Seeds. However, it is definitely a goal of CAMPO to invest the time and energy into saving seeds and selecting for our desired traits and adaptations to no-till cultivation methods. Since 94% of commercial seed varieties have disappeared in the last century, we recognize the importance of preserving genetic diversity in our food system. Seeds are the love letters of food sovereignty, little packets of genes holding the unique traits that indigenous and agricultural peasant communities have cultivated for a millennia in order to satisfy unique cultural and geographic needs. By focusing on local, heirloom seeds and learning how to save seeds ourselves, we are preserving the sacred foods and wisdom passed down from our communities and from the indigenous people that feed the world. 

Anatomy of a seed (From Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States Handbook 450, Forest Service, USDA)

While this polar vortex storm makes it seem as though we are in the depths of winter, at CAMPO we are already deep in spring activities. Or first seeding occurred in the third week January, and was kicked off with seeding onions and perennial medicinal and culinary herbs. We were excited to try out a new (to us) method for starting seeds - soil blocking. Rather than using plastic trays with cells for each seed, soil blocking uses a tool that grabs the soil and compresses it into individual soil-blocks, that retain their structure without a plastic tray. Not only does this method cut down on a lot of plastic trays (which are only reusable for a few years), this method also keeps the seedings happier and healthier, since instead of the roots of the seedlings getting jumbled in the plastic trays (root bound), with soil blocks the roots are “air pruned”. Basically, when the roots hit the edge of the block, the root dries out slightly and stops growing. This creates stronger seedlings that are less traumatized when they are transplanted into the field, since they don’t have to expend energy untangling their roots. 

Experimenting with soil blocking

Jesse and Margarita spent a lot of time that first seeding trying to figure out the right soil mix for the soil blocking. For soil blocking, the texture of the soil is a lot more important than simply filling trays. This is because the soil needs to be cohesive enough to stick together when they are first formed, yet provide enough space for the roots to develop. We tried many different ratios of the typical ingredients, which include peat moss, perlite compost, potting soil, soil fungi inoculants and water. It is a time consuming process, and we were worried that the blocks always seemed to crumble apart. Eventually we figured out a good ratio, and the blocks started looking great! We plan to spend the next few seedings really dialing in the ratios and methods for the soil blocking. We also seeded onions into open flats as we usually do, so that we can compare and contrast the methods. 

While Jesse and Margarita played with soil, Jade and I seeded the trays and admired their different shapes and delicate beauty. 

After a few weeks, the soil block seedlings are looking happy and healthy. We are hopeful that the soil blocking can become our standard seeding method, since it will greatly reduce the amount of plastic used on the farm.

While we have a mid February seeding that wanted to happen yesterday (edible flowers! Dandelion greens! Spring kale!) We are mostly snowed in and appreciating a cozy weekend to sled, write letters, spend time with loved ones, rest, and prepare for an exciting spring ahead.