Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sparkly things found while picking peas in the quiet autumn morning.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The zinnias aren't pretty anymore, but they are still functional.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
A quick update...
This summer our family has taken more vacations than ever before. Last year we managed to escape for an afternoon to Little Buffalo park. This summer we took 4 long weekends, a few evening concerts, and even hosted a party! It has been a fun whirlwind. However, I keep forgetting to take my laptop with me when I go away, so I can stick to my usual Sunday morning blog post schedule that got messed up in early July and has stayed that way since then. For that I certainly apologize.
To bring you up to speed: our three plantings of sweet corn all failed. The first one was the most promising as far as germination rates go The second and third plantings barely germinated because it was so hot and dry. We used our sprinkler to try to help negate the lack of rain, but it was not enough. the ground kept drying out as fast as we were watering. We focused our efforts on green and yellow beans. Hopeflly by now you are all tired of beans. We are. I hope many of you have a little stash of them in your freezer. They taste wonderful in January and February. We have been amazed at our cucumber plants. They just keep trying and trying. The fruits they have been producing for the last three months will never win a beauty contest, but they do taste pretty good. We thought for sure they would die months ago, but they have hung on all summer. Summer squash is officially finished. Yay! We didn't expect so many for so long. I hope you all found ways to get them out of your refrigerator. (This winter I must research new and exciting ways to use up summer squash. I just don't seem to find the time in the summer.) Our peppers and eggplants are still going gangbusters, though our eggplants are getting smaller and smaller. We will probably have them for a few more weeks. Our tomatoes have really slowed down. I can't predict how many more weeks we will be able to give them out. Our leeks are getting sizable, and we will begin to harvest them soon. The fall cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower has struggled and struggled with the hot dry weeks we have just come out of. We were fighting to keep it alive. I can not guarantee that we will get any worth harvesting. We have several weeks of lettuce planted in the field and covered to keep the groundhogs from eating it. As the season progresses the lettuce will get sweeter and better. The dry heat that we had made it tough and not so sweet. Kale and Chard will be making a comeback also. Our potatoes have all been dug, and we yeilded just shy of a ton. I think it is safe to expect them every week in your share.
We have been limited in what we give out on pickup days by the amount of time we have to harvest. We have been missing herbs regularly. If there is an herb you particularly wanted to have in your share, please remind us. It might be that you can pick your own as you drive out. It is our goal to establish a pick your own herbs and flowers before winter sets in. More to come later...
To bring you up to speed: our three plantings of sweet corn all failed. The first one was the most promising as far as germination rates go The second and third plantings barely germinated because it was so hot and dry. We used our sprinkler to try to help negate the lack of rain, but it was not enough. the ground kept drying out as fast as we were watering. We focused our efforts on green and yellow beans. Hopeflly by now you are all tired of beans. We are. I hope many of you have a little stash of them in your freezer. They taste wonderful in January and February. We have been amazed at our cucumber plants. They just keep trying and trying. The fruits they have been producing for the last three months will never win a beauty contest, but they do taste pretty good. We thought for sure they would die months ago, but they have hung on all summer. Summer squash is officially finished. Yay! We didn't expect so many for so long. I hope you all found ways to get them out of your refrigerator. (This winter I must research new and exciting ways to use up summer squash. I just don't seem to find the time in the summer.) Our peppers and eggplants are still going gangbusters, though our eggplants are getting smaller and smaller. We will probably have them for a few more weeks. Our tomatoes have really slowed down. I can't predict how many more weeks we will be able to give them out. Our leeks are getting sizable, and we will begin to harvest them soon. The fall cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower has struggled and struggled with the hot dry weeks we have just come out of. We were fighting to keep it alive. I can not guarantee that we will get any worth harvesting. We have several weeks of lettuce planted in the field and covered to keep the groundhogs from eating it. As the season progresses the lettuce will get sweeter and better. The dry heat that we had made it tough and not so sweet. Kale and Chard will be making a comeback also. Our potatoes have all been dug, and we yeilded just shy of a ton. I think it is safe to expect them every week in your share.
We have been limited in what we give out on pickup days by the amount of time we have to harvest. We have been missing herbs regularly. If there is an herb you particularly wanted to have in your share, please remind us. It might be that you can pick your own as you drive out. It is our goal to establish a pick your own herbs and flowers before winter sets in. More to come later...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Change to pick up hours for September and October
It is September already! Please remember our Friday pick up time will end at 7:30 pm for the month of September. During October, the Friday pickup time will end at 7pm. It gets too dark to see the scales to measure out your gazillion pounds of green beans.
So much has been happening here at our farm in the past few weeks, that I haven't posted as much as I suppose I should have. We are working on digging out the potato crop. It is a nice one, and will probably last many of you through part of the winter. Our watermelons did well, and we are giving out most of them this week. Cantaloupes are still ripening, so they will be along later. Our fall lettuce is doing pretty well. We are watering it to try to keep the bitter taste from sneaking in during these HOT days. Hopefully it will work. The groundhogs havent found it yet, thank goodness.
I hope to post a bit more this weekend. Enjoy!
So much has been happening here at our farm in the past few weeks, that I haven't posted as much as I suppose I should have. We are working on digging out the potato crop. It is a nice one, and will probably last many of you through part of the winter. Our watermelons did well, and we are giving out most of them this week. Cantaloupes are still ripening, so they will be along later. Our fall lettuce is doing pretty well. We are watering it to try to keep the bitter taste from sneaking in during these HOT days. Hopefully it will work. The groundhogs havent found it yet, thank goodness.
I hope to post a bit more this weekend. Enjoy!
Monday, August 30, 2010
We cover your growing watermelons with a nylon stocking to keep the bugs from eating them. They sure look wierd, but they taste wonderful.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
A Buckeye came to visit us while we were getting ready for tonight's pickup.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Our volunteers disposed of some rotten tomatoes with our super duper slingshot...
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Week 8 Update
We are all hot. Yesterday afternoon it was so hot, we convinced Shiela to stop working in the fields and go for a swim. That is unusual for her. She is typically here working for you every day, all day no mattter what the conditions. A typical work week for her is about 60-70 hours.
In our planning for next year, we have decided to reduce our size again, in a effort to be able to do our laundry and be able to eat some of what we grow. Now there is not enough time for us to cook the things we grow in most instances. For 2011 we will accept only returning members, and reduce our production accordingly. We will not be opening our enrollment to the public. We may, if time permits, supplement our income with part time jobs to cover the loss of income from not farming. We will need to know this fall if you would like us to count on your support for 2011. Our planning for next season is underway, so as soon as you know if you would like to return next year, please let us know.
Bug Report: We still have the usual cucumber beetles, and have been spraying them to try to manage the problem. Last week we sprayed the eggplant to eliminate the potato bugs that were beginning to do damage there. Our squash bug eggs are hatching some more nymphs each day. Every few nights we don a tyvek suit (which is like weearing a hooded trash bag) and spray them with Pyganic, a super expensive pesticide that may or may not kill them. Sometimes I just want to be a conventional farmer, who can kill the squash bugs with no problems. We are so far staying ahead of the problem, but I don't know how long we will be able to keep ahead.
Disease report: Disease season is upon us. Our potatoes were killed by early blight. It shouldn't hurt the potatoes, but the plants are dead and so in the next few weeks we will need to dig out our potatoes. Our tomatoes are stricken with their usual septoria leaf spot. It is a soil borne disease, and we get it every year. Unfortunately there is not much research yet as to how to mitigate the problem. We still should get a nice harvest of tomatoes - we have over a thousand row feet of plants. Our tomatoes also have curly leaf virus. There is no known cure for this ailment either. Our cabbages started to get black rot, and so we harvested them all early. Our kohlrabis are also getting it. You will get those in your share next week.
Wildlife report: The groundhogs continue to sample things from our fields. The have taken bites from cucumbers and summer squash. They mow off lettuce as fast as we can plant it. We are working on reducing their numbers and installing barriers so we can have lettuce again in the fall.
This week we will be planting cabbages, cauliflower, collards, snow peas, and maybe some lettuce. We have some weeding to do also. If you would like to help us any day between 9 am and 5 pm, please let us know. Saturdays and Sundays are usually an option also.
In our planning for next year, we have decided to reduce our size again, in a effort to be able to do our laundry and be able to eat some of what we grow. Now there is not enough time for us to cook the things we grow in most instances. For 2011 we will accept only returning members, and reduce our production accordingly. We will not be opening our enrollment to the public. We may, if time permits, supplement our income with part time jobs to cover the loss of income from not farming. We will need to know this fall if you would like us to count on your support for 2011. Our planning for next season is underway, so as soon as you know if you would like to return next year, please let us know.
Bug Report: We still have the usual cucumber beetles, and have been spraying them to try to manage the problem. Last week we sprayed the eggplant to eliminate the potato bugs that were beginning to do damage there. Our squash bug eggs are hatching some more nymphs each day. Every few nights we don a tyvek suit (which is like weearing a hooded trash bag) and spray them with Pyganic, a super expensive pesticide that may or may not kill them. Sometimes I just want to be a conventional farmer, who can kill the squash bugs with no problems. We are so far staying ahead of the problem, but I don't know how long we will be able to keep ahead.
Disease report: Disease season is upon us. Our potatoes were killed by early blight. It shouldn't hurt the potatoes, but the plants are dead and so in the next few weeks we will need to dig out our potatoes. Our tomatoes are stricken with their usual septoria leaf spot. It is a soil borne disease, and we get it every year. Unfortunately there is not much research yet as to how to mitigate the problem. We still should get a nice harvest of tomatoes - we have over a thousand row feet of plants. Our tomatoes also have curly leaf virus. There is no known cure for this ailment either. Our cabbages started to get black rot, and so we harvested them all early. Our kohlrabis are also getting it. You will get those in your share next week.
Wildlife report: The groundhogs continue to sample things from our fields. The have taken bites from cucumbers and summer squash. They mow off lettuce as fast as we can plant it. We are working on reducing their numbers and installing barriers so we can have lettuce again in the fall.
This week we will be planting cabbages, cauliflower, collards, snow peas, and maybe some lettuce. We have some weeding to do also. If you would like to help us any day between 9 am and 5 pm, please let us know. Saturdays and Sundays are usually an option also.
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