Bareroot strawberries are planted by hand.

This week we are all nervously looking at the weather forecast since both strawberry transplants and rain are scheduled to arrive at the same time. Muddy conditions always make for a miserable planting experience. Our goal is to try to get as many of the 80,000 strawberry transplants into their prepared beds as we can before the anticipated storm system is to arrive next week. Now is the time we try to get the farm winter-ready. Much of our cover crops are sown, and so are the garlic and fava beans. Compost and soil amendments are applied to fields which will be planted again in the spring, and drainage ditches for diverting excess water need to be put in place in and around fields and farm roads. Besides the strawberry plants, there are still more seedlings of cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and lettuce waiting in the greenhouse to be planted in the next few weeks. With more unpredictable weather conditions ahead they will grow much slower, but we still hope they will mature and be harvestable by the end of winter, 3-4 months from now. As we approach the end of another growing season we may slow down to take a deserved breather, yet life on the farm never really stops. Farming is continuous and represents more of a dance, where nature takes the lead and we surrender to follow her sometimes unpredictable rhythm. We are tied into Earth's numerous relationships - the sun, the wind, the rain, the fog, the temperature and the infinite web of living organisms. As a farmer I live for the magic moment when these relationships harmonize and manifest as a bountiful and nourishing harvest to be shared as food in our community.