We’re quickly approaching the start of the 16th P&C Summer CSA season! After wrapping up the Winter CSA at the end of April we shifted all focus to the Summer CSA countdown. That means it’s time to do all the things other than harvesting (ie. planting, trellising, irrigating, propagating, mowing, tilling) on repeat. And this time around we had the added bonus of tractor buying and repair too.

As many of you past farm members know, we take the month of May off from harvesting to focus on planting. Of course there’s also the pre-planting work that goes into prepping ground for planting, growing up the transplants, and then keeping everything watered and weeded after we plant them. We’re thankful for your support as we take the time to focus on getting things in the ground and growing to ensure another successful CSA season.

The last few weeks have been a planting blur for us. Beans, corn, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, lettuce, kohlrabi, kale, beets, fennel, spinach, dill, cilantro, zucchini, bok choy, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, melons and more were all transplanted into the field. Next up are leeks, celeriac, the second round of sweet corn and green beans and the third rounds of broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. We’ve also planted the potatoes and direct sown carrots, radishes, and salad turnips. That’s all to say that in May, we plant.

In the midst of doing all the things to keep us on schedule we also dealt with some tractor hiccups this spring. Those of you with us through the Winter CSA may recall that we worked out a plan to send our main tractor to the mechanic in January. It had symptoms of needing a new PTO clutch (the PTO is needed to run implements like the tiller and mower) and also seemed to need some new gearing to help the PTO stay engaged as it would pop out in the middle of tasks randomly but often. This tractor is a fairly rare model (partly why we could afford it back in 2014) but thankfully we found a guy who had just done this work on another McCormick. So off it went at the beginning of January with hopes it would be back in March ready for the work of the season. Unfortunately our plan didn’t work out and it came back mid-April and neither issue had been fixed. We were back to square one but behind schedule on field prep and planting.

We buckled down and worked through the by-now familiar but still troubling tractor problems to get the first plants in the field for the season and wrapped up the Winter CSA harvests. In the evenings we researched updated tractor models and narrowed down our criteria, did a deep dive into the availability of new and used tractors that fit our needs in our price range, evaluated our financing options, and swung by the various local dealers. We’ve come to appreciate the availability of a reliable local shop when issues arise that we can’t deal with ourselves and we definitely prioritized that this time around. Let’s just say it was a learning experience at each step of this process.

That’s how on our 22nd wedding anniversary we found ourselves in Cottage Grove looking at a used 2018 Kubota M7060 tractor we found on Craigslist. And we bought it. And the seller happily delivered it the next day. Jeff got to prepping ground and things were going well until halfway through the first day when it began shutting down in the field. Back to research mode to discover we had a clogged fuel line, likely due to the tractor sitting all winter. Jeff located the clog and was back in action. Then it was time to use the McCormick for pulling the disk. But suddenly the McCormick wouldn’t start. Insert research on Italian tractor ignition switches and the starter motor, a visit to the local tractor starter guy, and Jeff getting skilled at hot wiring the starter. Now the McCormick has a new ignition switch and back-up starter and we’re set. We’ll be looking for a new McCormick mechanic later this season and hopefully we can get the original issues addressed eventually.

So of course today we’re picking up the Kubota from the shop where it’s been for a week. Wait, what? Yep, we sent it in to have a creeper gear installed to be able do all the things but at slower speeds. Hopefully we’ve front-loaded all the repairs and purchases and it’s just smooth farming from here on this season. Ha!

Soon enough we’ll make the first harvest lists of the season, get back into the swing of harvesting, and before we know it we’ll be ready to bring you the first share of the 2025 Summer CSA season!

Until then we hope you’ve been getting our recent member emails. If you’ve signed up to join us for the Summer CSA and haven’t heard from us in your email inbox recently, try checking your spam or promotions folders for emails from us. If you don’t see them there let us know by dropping us a line at farmers@pitchforkandcrow.com.

On that note, let’s wrap up this update. Summer CSA members, keep an eye out for more emails from us as we continue the countdown to the start of the Summer CSA season!

All our thanks!

Your farmers – Carri & Jeff