Despite our high production, Jeff and I actually possess minimal farming equipment. Jeff has use of a 1948 Case tractor and a disk that goes with it, we have a lawn mower (the motorized kind that you still have to push), a
weedwacker, and, well, until now, that was it. We used to have a hand-me-down riding rototiller, but it wasn't much of a rock breaker and it finally gave in and died earlier this season. Fortunately, we were able to work with Bacchus
Vineyard management on our Kick Ranch veggie block and they used their tractor and their super fancy
spader (think
high tech double digging machine) to do our groundwork. We finally reached the point, though, where we knew we needed a new rototiller to complement our other equipment. I'm a good shoveler, but I'm not good enough to make a strong, commercial quality rototiller unnecessary. Thanks to the major increase in the number of small farms and highly motivated backyard gardeners, the kind of rototiller we were looking for was sold out everywhere in California. And we consider ourselves to be one of the agricultural seats of the country...shameful! Finally, I found a place in Kentucky that carries walk behind tractors and rototiller implements and they were able to ship us exactly what we needed in less than a week. Our new tiller is a beautiful, obnoxiously colored
Grillo and it's a beast. Look out now, world, we're about to get all kinds of high tech!
Traditional carving pumpkins are fun, but wouldn't you rather have a pumpkin that is a beautiful decoration and can be eaten too? Yes, I am suggesting something radical - eating real pumpkin. Believe it or not, you can cook with pumpkin that doesn't come from a can. I think you'll actually find that the finished result is far superior. 
