Week of July 25 2011 : Market

Here is a photo of our new location at the Lake Metroparks Farmers Market. Wow. This photo was taken towards the close of market. We sold out of everything except cucumbers and summer squash.

The market is still located at the Farm Park, however, has moved from the gravel parking lot to the paved entrance to the main building. The transportation and unloading logistics are a bit more complicated since there is no room for trucks or trailers. But that is a good trade for increased foot traffic and pleasant landscaping.

Notice the green umbrella. My beloved pop up canopy fell victim to high winds. Last weekend we set the canopy to practice our setup. We should have practiced our breakdown too. Later that afternoon, I noticed dark clouds and high winds rolling in. After I removed the anchor weights but before I could collapse the canopy, the wind gusted.

The good news is I was able to hold on. The bad news is I landed 50' feet away. The rest of the bad news was the tent collapsed itself. Permanently.

With three days to market it was time to scramble. And scramble we did. Now notice the cinder block counter weights. Those were deposited in the river courtesy of the spring time floods. This incident was an example of translating nothing into the solution of a major problem.

Week of July 18 2011 : Squash

Here is a photo of winter squash. Blue Ballet mini hubbards are on the right and Vegetable Spaghetti are on the left. For perspective, the sweet corn on the right is 7' tall. These are some monster plants. And the New England Hubbards (not picare even larger.

Growing large plants are very different than small plants. Seeds and rows are spaced much further apart. Large vining squash seeds are spaced as much as 3' apart and rows are spaced 6' apart. It's hard on the mind's eye to see one seed growing into a plant consuming so much space. But it does in a shockingly short amount of time too.

Another difference is tolerance to insects and weeds. It seems insects, particularly cucumber beetles, are attracted to squash more so than any other crop. In fact hubbards are grown as trap crops for more profitable cash crops. Control is necessary particularly while establishing the field. Fortunately many organic insecticides are available. The catch though is these controls require direct contact with the target pest and cucumber beetles are active at night.

Weed control is necessary but less urgent than with smaller seeded crops. After primary tillage in the spring, the first flush of weeds quickly invades the field. Squash are planted later in the season, after these eager weeds are destroyed with light cultivation. Once the squash are established, they easily shade out any later emerging weeds.

Week of July 11 2011 : Sweet

Here is a photo of a frog on tasseling sweet corn. I am still amazed at the little creatures that congregate around the micro ecosystems of the farm. Some are good, some are bad but interactions between the plants and creatures are complex and fascinating.

Experienced growers can understand soil profiles by monitoring weeds. Growers can also learn a lot by looking for clues offered by the bug populations. I understand how to interpret the various beetles and caterpillars but still not sure how to interpret frogs' presence. At least its evidence the fields are nasty-cide free.

The sweet corn is really growing well this year. Planting was late but emergence was nearly 100%. There is sufficient mid summer moisture to minimize plant stress and ensure good kernel set. The night time temperatures have been consistently over 70 degrees so the ears are maturing very quickly.

The first stand is past the silking phase; pollen shed is complete and the silks are browning. The second stand is beginning pollen shed. The remainder of the stands appear to be exactly one week behind each other. Looks like maturity schedule was perfectly planned. OK, I admit, luck has a little influence too.

Week of July 4 2011 : Victory (?)

Here is a photo I am particularly proud to share. It is a few rows of peppers. For me though it represents several victories.

First, I accepted that I need to trellis peppers. Pepper plants are brittle and stalks will snap under average fruit load. Late summer thunderstorms hasten the destruction. Here the stakes are set every third plant and sandwiched between two strands of twine. I think this is called the San Diego string type trellis.

Next, I accepted that black plastic mulch is not sufficient weed control. Holes need to be cut in the mulch to set the transplants. I am not a surgeon ... so the holes are larger than necessary which promotes weed growth. This year I mulched the plants with leaf humus to prevent the opportunistic weeds.

Finally, I am actually using the irrigation / fertigation system. Rather than turning on irrigation when the plants begin to droop, I planned out an irrigation and nutrition strategy. The result is the plants have a lot more vegetative growth and almost no fruit lost to blossom end rot. Green plants look nicer in the field, sure, but the benefit is the leaves shade the fruits and reduce sun scald.

I wont declare victory yet but the peppers are poised for their best finish ever.

Week of June 27 2011 : Scouts (plural)

Here is a photo of Nathaniel and Frances scouting the green beans. On this day last year, we had one scout. The next day our second scout was born. To celebrate her first birthday, she put on her best crawl and scooted out to the fields.

Nathaniel planted his very own green beans. Each night when I get home from work, he is waiting in the drive way for me. Then we walk to his beans and work the patch together.

Now that Frances is mobile, she too shares in the fun. This is special for many reasons ... one of which is this is the only thing he shares with her.

Week of June 20 2011 : No Vacancy

Here is a photo of the nest boxes, two rows of winter squash, and the edge of the sweet corn field.

The nest boxes have been busy all spring. The Peterson box in the foreground has already fledged 5 Eastern blue birds. While the parents raise the young in the refuge of the apple trees another pair is building a second nest.

The NABS box is the background contains a tree swallow nest with 7 hatchlings. Blue birds are very charming but tree swallows have personality too. They are such acrobatic flyers. They really put on an air show as they pluck bugs from mid air to feed 7 hungry beaks.

Obviously the winter squash still have some growing to do. Now that all the seeds are sown all we need to do is give them plenty of space and time to do their thing. As the summer grows on we will show you just how exciting winter squash really are.

The sweet corn is all planted too. Since the first stand was delayed a few weeks we had to rapidly adjust our production schedule. Usually we plant eight stands and harvest late July through mid September. This year we consolidated three stands; two early stands and one late stand were rolled into mid season stands. As a result we will have only five stands but each harvest will be larger.

The added bonus is we wont have to fight late season earworm pressure. Organic control techniques just cant quite keep up with the intense pressure of the last few seasons.

Week of June 13 2011 :

After the main season transplants were set in the field, we focused on direct seeding the cucumbers, summer and winter squash, and sweet corn.

The cucumbers and summer squash were planted nearly two weeks later than scheduled. Although the warmer days of June and July will help compensate for some of the cooler days of May, the delayed planting means the initial harvest will still be delayed at least one week.

The winter squash was planted nearly on schedule. Since these are late season, storage type vegetables there is less of an emphasis on early harvest. The concern is these squash typically have such long maturities (110 days is common) and these maturities have to be reached before the first hard frost. If the first hard frost occurs prior to full maturity then the long term storage qualities are compromised.

Over the past few years I have developed a huge interest in winter squash. It is such the uncool, nerdy vegetable on the farm. But during those cold winter months, long after all the flashy summer vegetables have disappeared, there is always a hip-to-be-square squash ready to provide you with a warm and hearty meal.

This year we boosted our winter squash production for the Geauga Fresh Farmer's Market. And recently we received a call from the market manager asking if we would provide blue hubbards for a sustainability initiative dinner that will be hosted at Lakeland College this fall. We are so excited someone shares our interest in winter squash!

We are growing three varieties of hubbards. Of course, we grow the classic New England strain which weighs in at 20+ lbs. Too often we sell these as alternatives to Halloween pumpkins rather than as food.

We also grow more marketable baby strains which weigh in around 4 - 6 lbs. We have always had positive reviews of the Blue Ballet variety. It is unusually sweet for a squash. Now we are trialing the Blue Magic variety too.

And we grow Honey Bear acorn, Metro butternut and Vegetable spaghetti squash to round out the classical offerings.

Trust me, I am not eager for the arrival of fall. But I was thinking of recipes as I planted these seeds!