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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Dog Days

I know I say this all the time but how in the world did it get to be September?!? Time flies when you're... farming. August has been very kind to the farm this year. We haven't had very many hot days. In fact fall has already hinted at us with some crisp mornings and cool breezes. It's not here yet though, we have several 90+ degree days forecast for this week.

Harvest

Summer crops have been coming in strong and some are already done. I did several successions of Cucurbits (Cucumbers, Squash, Zucchini, and Melons) and they all got sick and died around the same time. I do have some more cucumbers coming in the hoop house and a little more zucchini coming on but the melons are done. I also grew some cute little pumpkins called Teddy Bear and they ripened a lot faster than I expected. Luckily they store well and will be ready to eat when people are ready for pumpkin.
Teddy Bear Pumkin

Our Cantaloupe did great this year and are delicious




Cantaloupe and Seedless Watermelon



Assorted Peppers

Heirloom Tomatoes, Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes

Some of our Pepper varieties

We harvested 200lb of Carrots in one day, that was a good day!

Easter Egg and D'Avignon Radishes

Colorful Cherry Tomatoes


Jimmy Nardello Peppers

Slicing Tomatoes, Peppers and Cherries
Heirloom Tomatoes

First Grape Harvest, Concords. These little guys are absolutely Bursting with flavor!

Mustard Greens

D'Avignon Radishes





First Eggplant and Tomatillos



Production and Cultivation

The leaning and lowering of the Heirloom Tomatoes has been going great. We have already more than doubled production from last year. By this time last year the heirlooms had already succumbed to multiple diseases and most of the fruit had bad spots and rot. This year most of the fruits are big and full and beautiful. The only real damage has been from the groundhog who snacked on them for about a week before we caught him. 

Here are a few pics of the progression of leaning and lowering...



You can see below how all of the leaves and shoots have been pruned off the bottom of the plants up to where the fruit is currently ripening. Also notice the angle is more severe as the top of the plant gets moved down the line. I am in love with this technique. I have to feed these guys every week since they are making so much food. I have been fertigating (running fertilizer through the drip irrigation) with a mixture of compost tea, a small amount of 4-3-3 fish emulsion and some 0-0-6 because they need a lot of potassium to make healthy fruit. 



Pepper flower


Concords

Concord Grapes- It was hard to tell when they were ripe but about 2 weeks after this picture they were all dark purple and a robin was eating them. That's when I knew. Sometimes you just have to wait for a sign.

There are a few of these skinks that hang out in the stables
and watch me when I wash veggies

Delivery sample

Happy Arugula growing

Our wild turkey nursery is in full swing again this year




We had a visit this month from Chef Ben and some folks from Commissary. They helped harvest 200# of carrots and did some major weeding. It was great to have such a helpful visit. 

Washing the carrot haul

Harvesting


Weeding the herb garden

Pretty Choi coming in


Full truck on a Friday delivery. When it's hot I pack
as much into the air conditioned cab as possible

Delivery at The Pig

The aforementioned Groundhog who was helping himself to our Heirloom Tomatoes, not anymore...


Puddy thinks they are fascinating

The bottoms of these carrots were "missing" when we harvested them. A mole had a well placed tunnel
under the bed and had been eating very well. 

This field is particularly pretty right now, fall Brassicas

Praying Mantis in the pole beans, sorry it's not a great pic

Mantis

Edible Marigolds, they smell and taste
like oranges!



Eating Well

A lovely salad at The Pig featuring our
Mexican Sour Gherkins, a new favorite
Heirloom Tomato Salad and Logan Tavern

Beets and Arugula at The Pig

Pig Head with garnish from the farm, Mexican Sour Gherkins
and Nastrutium

Our Squash and Zucchini

Tasting Menu at The Pig with our greens and Nastrutium

Commissary made a juice of the Carrots they harvested
with Ginger and Pear

Lavender Fields at Commissary

Shishito pepper plate at Commissary


Puddy Time