Farmer Kurt’s Field Notes July 5, 2025

Hey everyone,
I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend! As usual, the farm kept us plenty busy, but we still managed to squeeze in some family time too.

🚜 The Garlic Harvest

The big event this week was our garlic harvest. Believe it or not, my crew worked on the 4th to get it done — that’s dedication. I could tell it was time because I started seeing a few of the garlic scapes beginning to straighten up. That’s always the signal I look for — when the scapes start to uncurl, it means the bulbs are ready underground.

The process starts with me driving over the beds with a chopper to cut off the tops of the stalks. Then I hook up our plastic lifter to the back of the tractor — that’s what we use to slice just below the garlic roots and loosen the bed. My guys follow behind, pulling the plants out and gathering them into crates. It went fast this year, and I have to say, the bulbs look beautiful — nice size, good quality. Now they’re curing in the greenhouse for the next few weeks.

💦 Irrigation Set Up

With all this heat, one of my top priorities has been getting the irrigation set up. This used to be a huge job that ate up so much of my time, but thanks to some smart investments in equipment (and a seasoned crew that knows what they’re doing), it’s gone a lot smoother.

We’re fortunate to have a 300-foot well on my parents’ property next door that we can tap into. Big aluminum pipes screw into that well and carry the water across their field to ours. From there, I hook up lay-flat hose, and when we need to shift the setup, it’s like moving around giant puzzle pieces. The hoses have small holes where we can attach connectors to get water right where it’s needed. I can’t stress enough — having a reliable water source is what makes or breaks a farm these days. We’re lucky, and I’m grateful for it.

🚚 Truck Woes (and Hope for a Fix)

You might’ve noticed the Penske rental truck at some of the larger CSA pickups. That’s because, of course, our box truck had some mechanical issues right before the season started. Parts took longer than expected (don’t they always?), but I’m hopeful we’ll get our truck back from the mechanic on Monday. Fingers crossed!

Sunrise at SLFarms

🌽 The Fields + Family

I’m throwing water on the sweet corn, hoping to speed up the tasseling. If all goes well, we’ll have corn for you in a few weeks. We did a fair amount of weeding in between CSA harvest days.

The boys and I also fit in some fun after a long workday on the 4th. My crew helped harvest garlic until about 2 PM, then we headed over to my cousin’s for the annual Turno family reunion. They’ve got a pond, so the boys were in heaven. Good potluck, good people — always a highlight.

Oh, and Josiah (with a little help from Jed) bought an old mower off Facebook Marketplace. They spent their birthday money on it, took it apart, and rebuilt it into a souped-up version. It does this farmer dad’s heart good to see them getting their hands dirty like that.

Thanks for being part of our farm community. Every week is an adventure out here — and we couldn’t do it without your support. A happy (belated) Fourth to all of you.

God is good.

-Farmer Kurt

The crew pulls garlic from the ground.