Pavel’s Garden
Pavel and Katie Ovechkin and their daughter, Billie (5) work together on their small family farm. Their foresight into the challenges COVID-19 would bring have helped them come into 2021 with very successful online purchasing options for a Louisville and Cincinnati Farmer’s Market.
The work is never done in a garden and even in the middle of January, Pavel happily notes how interesting gardening is because the task list is constantly changing and he’s never doing the same thing over and over. A day might begin with checking on seedlings and progress to harvesting, opening up the caterpillar tunnels, or packing for the CSA deliveries.
Katie takes a few moments at the beginning of their day to show me around the garden plots and point out their future plans.
Pavel harvests small beets for their CSA subscribers. He quickly removes any unsightly leaves, bundles up a bunch and works his way down the row in the high tunnel.
Pavel harvests beets in the high tunnel. Most of what’s remaining will soon be rotated out to make way for new seedlings.
Pavel has extensive knowledge about pests and is currently combatting voles that like to eat the beets. He quickly tosses all nibbled beets aside as he makes his way down the row.
Billie wanders freely between her the two different locations her parents are working.
Katie weighs carrots to bundle them and pack them for CSAs.
Pavel is well known amongst the community that supports farmers markets for the high quality of his carrots.
Pavel has a two-bath system for washing his lettuces. The cold water also helps the lettuce retain freshness longer.
Pavel transfers the lettuces from the cold water bath to this spinning machine, which acts as a giant salad spinner, removing as much water as possible from the leaves.
Billie listens to stories through a speaker while her parents work around her.
Once it’s warm enough outside, Pavel opens up the caterpillar tunnels.
Pavel has a unique tool for efficiently harvesting spinach which was designed by a teenager who looked at a large scale piece of farm machinery and scaled it down for handheld use.
Pavel carries totes of spinach to the packhouse to be cleaned and packed for CSA orders.
Pavel heads home to lunch first and Katie and Billie tidy up the packhouse, pack up their things, and head home as well.
Snow Day at Pavel’s Garden
Pavel, Katie, and Billie arrive to their garden in late January to find the first snow of the year, and rabbit tracks are everywhere.
