Hard work in the grove at the farm, pruning and collecting the twigs that grow around the base of all the olive trees, which we will mulch and compost to create the organic fertilizer for the gardens. We’ve finished cleaning out and converting the old chicken coop as a little garden storage shed, repaired the irrigation and electricity pipes, and turned the topsoil throughout the whole grove in preparation for planting the cover crop right after harvest season.

The cover crop is an important first step in our plans for the grove; it will improve the health, fertility, and richness of the soil before planting season in early spring next year. Harvest is in a few weeks, and before then we want to have the greenhouses finished, which requires some inventive thinking about an affordable way to build the shelves and tables we need in them for the new nursery we’re making there.