On the Ground
Fall Harvest Report
By Myles Gaines, Former Farm Manager
We are so happy to announce that Myles has purchased his own farm and moved to Georgia where he will continue his work growing organically. We will miss him but are so excited for his next chapter!
The first days of the month continued the lineage of sweltering heat that had been ongoing since June. Thankfully, we were surprised with a few cool mornings, which signaled that even Louisiana's hottest summers do not last forever.
Last fall was my second season growing our Black Joy rice and that time around, I fell in love. I was moved by the resilience of this rice and in awe of its allure. Once the panicles (the grain-bearing branches of the rice plant) emerged at the beginning of September, they started with a healthy green and suddenly transitioned to a head of jet black with sprinkles of shimmering silver. Imagine a field of green plants with a cloud of black magical glitter floating at the head. When the panicles filled out and matured, the black hues were nearly eclipsed by bold blushes of gold on the grains. The sight reminded me of a quote that says, "the time is now, there's nothing left for me to do but nourish you."
Harvesting was done by our Iseki grain combine which smoothly cuts and sweeps through all the rice plants in the field, leaving behind chopped rice straw and stubble that bled a dark purple.
The October harvest of the Black Joy rice, preceded by the harvest of our Jasmine rice, marked the end of the rice season this year.
This year, we managed three acres of rice, which was our largest since we began farming in Alexandria. Unfortunately, we did not harvest the yields that we expected due to the extreme heat and seemingly unending drought. Maps that forecast how climate change will affect crop yields and living conditions, predict that central Louisiana, and many places throughout the south, will continue to experience climatic conditions that will threaten crop survival. We experienced this firsthand during our harvest season. The lingering questions that emerge from this season are how do we become resilient in this new chapter of climatic change, and what agrarian examples of resilience around the world can we look to? Who else has been stewarding land in conditions of extreme heat and drought?
Photo: Erika Styger
As one season ends another one begins. Elsewhere on the farm we began preparing other fields to plant soft red winter wheat (with an understory of clover), spelt, and a diverse mix of cover crops. Our test plot of Moringa has grown taller than Konda and is catching up to me. We transplanted familiar brassicas like Lacinato Kale, and the local favorite strawberries that this land is well known for.
Before I drove the Iseki out to harvest the Black Joy rice, I stepped out in the field to scout out the most robust plants and sections that would be the best to collect seeds from for replanting. Any crop that can thrive in a record summer in the deep south is a crop whose lineage must continue.