Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Week of August 1 2011 : Oops.


Here is a photo of the first wave of broccoli and cabbage. I field set the third and final wave transplants this week ... the temperatures were in the upper 80s and humidity even higher. So it seemed ironic to be working cool weather crops.

The cabbage is mostly heat resistant. Well formed heads will set and the flavor is not affected. However, let's just say, the outer leaves dont present the best appearance. The broccoli is not heat resistant. The plants look fantastic but well formed heads are not possible. The florets are very sparse then immediate shoot up to seed.

Hopefully the intense heat subsides and we can bring the perfect crop to market.

The beets and carrots are a very different story. We make no effort to get to early spring market; we focus on summer and fall market. So I planted the beets and carrots later in the season to time harvest beginning in September. Unfortunately the planting coincided with dry and hot weather. In my attempts to thwart these forces I covered the soil with white row covers.

The theory is good however I neglected to leave an air cushion between the soil and row covers. Instead of shading and cooling the soil I inadvertently warmed it. Cooked is a better term. I measured the soil temperature at 125*

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