The time of building compost piles

Even though last week was sunny and hot - dare I say - the cool nights and a whole day of rain a fortnight ago have signalled the shift from Summer to Autumn.

Autumn Brassicas

You can see how dry it still is by the pasture in the background. The tomato plants got pulled out making way for Winter green manure crops.

The colours of Autumn at CSA farm pick up

Bringing in the pumpkins - This is an Italian Heirloom ‘Marina di Chioggia’

Applying Biodynamic prep “combined 500” to a green manure crop. This preparation helps to proliferate soil life, building the relationships between the diverse world beneath the soil and the plant roots.

The compost piles steaming as Peter turns them. Autumn is our main season for building compost piles as the earth is still warm and the moisture levels in the piles is easier to maintain.

Autumn is our season for renewal - sowing green manure crops and building compost piles as we remove summer crops. With most of this growing seasons crops in the ground, there is more time in the week for weeding in the orchard and preparing whole areas for winter green manure crops. Our harvesting continues with the broccoli taking over for cucumbers and cauliflowers for tomatoes. The carrots and parsnips sweeten with the cool nights. And English spinach has returned!

A randomly selected CSA box from week 20 of our CSA season - week 3 of our late Summer/Early Autumn share.

This year, we broke our CSA program into smaller seasons - on the request of our members. And it has been successful with each season quickly selling out! The Late Autumn/Early Winter share is now available for purchase in our on-line farm store. You can view weekly photos of the shares in this facebook album, have an idea of what food we are growing each month here, and/or read more about our CSA program here. This is the last six weeks of our CSA for this growing season.

For those of you wondering about the differences between biodynamic and organic farm management and the impact conventionally grown food is having on our planet, this is an excellent article!! It highlights the superior quality of biodynamic food, how soils on biodynamically managed farms contain higher carbon contents to even those managed organically, the myriad of harmful ways conventional agriculture is impacting our earth and small steps you can make in your own gardens to join the regenerative agriculture movement!

And with more rain falling, and heavy dew at night, Autumn is a wonderful time to plant more trees!! With the dry season we have had, we have lost many established trees in the native corridors and bush land surrounding our vegetable fields and orchard. We will be replanting in the weeks to come, continuing to increase the biodiversity of our farm.

Scientist can use your help too! They are questioning and recording Australian trees dying during times of drought. Please read this article to see if you can help - As they state, “Many scientists, including ourselves, are now trying to identify the circumstances under which we may see trees die from climate stress. “ They are putting out a call for more eyes and observations.

Lettuce seed - Cleaned (left) and still to be cleaned (Right)

Our first year of actively saving seeds has been a success! And while we have a lot to learn about more time efficient systems for cleaning the seed, we are excited to be securing our food crops with localised seed that has the genetics to thrive in our heightened organic growing conditions. Each season we are being challenged with new insects and more extreme weather conditions. Localising our seed and building its genetics to include how to network in order to boost its own immunity and resilience are powerful tools for food security.

Our pace has slowed but our list of things to do before Winter is long- with that said, we love Autumn as it feels like she is the beginning of our soil building for the following growing season.

Hope you are feeling this rejuvenating energy too!