First week back - things sure are different

It has been one week since I left the classroom of children and entered the classroom of nature. One had I control of, the other has the control of me. Either way, it is a learning experience.

We have just left June with over 13 inches of rain to our credit. Great if you are a mushroom, although I must say that I have seen few mushrooms growing despite the water and the heat that is present. Lesson one, water and heat don't necessarily mean great growing conditions. You need a balance of both. At one point last week, there was that balance and most of the crops looked good despite the amount of water they were facing. It would be wet over night but a southwest wind and good drying conditions would prevail to keep the balance of the two in check. The last few days here not so much. It has been overcast and wet along with humid and that spells danger for the growth of fungal diseases. I have been diligent in my treatment of that condition and so far I cannot see a difference.

Lesson two has been the potatoes. We have grown those fingerling potatoes for about five or six years, maybe longer. Yet I learned more yesterday in talking to the gentleman at Ronaningers in Colorado in 15 minutes than I did in my experience in the field. 

It started with our concern that the excessive amount of water would damage the crop. Should we harvest the potatoes and put them in storage now or wait and see what happens? Well, I don't have a storage shed that cools to 45-50 degrees and is dark, so that option is out. But what if they are left in the ground with this heat and moisture? Won't they want to sprout and grow new tubers? I found out that a potato goes dormant for up to six weeks once it is done growing and by then I should have them all harvested and sold. 

On top of that information I learned that we have been harvesting them "green". I noticed that the skins have been easy to peel. That's what is known as green. It's OK to harvest and sell but the potato doesn't have time to toughen its skin and so it will not store for very long. I don't know; for dinner last night I ate potatoes that have been sitting in my crisper for about a week and they were fine. However, to store for months, that potato skin needs to be thicker and ours definitely is not at that stage, which means that the plant has to be dead which they are not at this time. If I do wait that long, because of all of the water, I run the risk of phytophra (sorry spelling is wrong but it is an airborne disease that can sit in the soil for a long time). As I have harvested the potatoes I have noticed that small white nodules have appeared. This is a condition in which the plant's pores have opened and it is now exposed to the dangers of soil and airborne diseases including my dear friend late blight. What to do? Harvest as soon as possible. Which brings me back to my first problem which is no adequate storage for potatoes  that are still green! Now you know why farming is not a top five occupation.

So for next year we have to decide if it is worth investing in a storage place and extend the selling season of the potatoes or continue to harvest them at this stage and sell them. My thought now is to stay the course because if you can move them as you harvest them it is going to be better than chancing them sitting around and possibly rotting which leaves you with nothing.

Gentle Rain

The rain we had yesterday can be the farmer's best friend in the spring. The timing was also perfect. We were planting lettuce transplants and got the first row in just before it rained. We had to break for Easter dinner otherwise we would have finished the block.
Also got the radishes, beets and carrots planted although I am skeptical of the job that the Jung Cleaner seeder did with the pelletized seed. It did a lot of grinding off of the cover. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
Except for the remaining lettuce, broccoli and spinach transplants, we are as caught up as we need to be at this point.

Bout time to be busy

I spent the good part of today in the field. I ended up doing three rows of peas. I actually had more seed than I needed which I hope is not a portend of things to come. In addition, I planted some potatoes and shallots. Yesterday I planted the scallions.
The soil temperature fluctuated between 50 and 60 degrees for most of the day. The overcast afternoon was a bummer.
I had to go to Roork's Farm Supply in Elmer to get some seed and inoculate. What a place! They have every thing there you need and the ride is nice. Sure beats paying shipping and waiting a few days for it to come in the mail.
Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer. We will probably try out the plastic mulch and drip lines. I'm not sure if the lettuce, spinach and broccoli are ready for this weather as they are still small.

First post of 2013 - is anybody out there?

This is my first blog of 2013. It has been almost a year since I wrote the last one. It's a long story not worth going into.
We are preparing things on the farm liking getting the ground ready, liming and fertilizing. The garlic is up and growing nicely. The first set of onions is in the ground but not by choice. I left them in the house too long and they started to grow because of the warmth. So I had no other choice but to plant them or let them rot. I took the lesser of two evils. It was nice out last week and I put them in the ground. They have the frost covering on them so we'll see what comes up. I bought another three pounds of Super Sweets and put them in the shed so I don't make the same mistake twice.
Normally, it is time to plant the peas. But it has been very cool and it is supposed to rain today and tomorrow. I am erring on the side of caution and waiting a bit until the weather is dry and warm for a longer stretch. I don't need rotting seed in the ground at this point if I can help it.
We have purchased some equipment to help in our downsizing of the farm. Downsizing is normally a bad word in business but we have been getting smaller and more efficient. We don't have to grow as many things as we did five years ago because we no longer cater to restaurants.

It's getting close to that time

Technically, we have been farming since February. But come this week, I switch into farming as my full-time occupation.
School ends on Thursday. That is also the opening of the market in Margate. Dad and Donna will be going to sell what we have to this point. Considering that we went from no winter into summer, it's a miracle that you can count on anything for long.
Strawberries and asparagus are memories. Both came in early and both went out early. The string beans we have are looking fantastic but they are also earlier than usual. The good thing about early stuff is that it satisfies your customers who long for the fresh fruits and vegetables of the season. You would think that would make me happy but to be honest, I would rather see everything come in at its time and last awhile.
Anyway, it is about this time of the year when I use my pet phrase, "School is getting in the way of my farmwork." I'm usually ready to kick this crop of students out of the nest and welcome the new ones in two months. But I have grown fond of this group and will miss them. So I want to savor every moment that we have left together. They all want me to move up a grade to fourth but that won't be possible.
So come Friday morning, I will turn into Farmer Ed Fulltime. It seems like the summer is already half over and I will be just jumping in the fray.
The hardneck garlic got hit with a fungus that is affecting garlic all over the Northeast. The softneck seems OK but it is a bummer realizing that our garlic will not be as plentiful and as beautiful as last year's crop.
The second planting of beets is shaping up nicely. As are the second planting of carrots. Squash is fair but I am not worried about that; everybody and his grandmother has squash. Corn will be ready before the 4th of July. I can't ever remember that happening before.

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog. But in juggling my teaching job with our farm and my family things tend to be hectic this time of year.
We started the market on Saturday at Moorestown. We had a good day but sales were off compared to past markets. I attribute this to the ecomony, novelty of farmer's markets wearing off for most so that only the people who have committed are coming and an oversaturation of farmers markets in the area.
Luckily, our sales are now generated by return business. I saw very few new shoppers at our table on Saturday. This is good and not good. The good part is that we are strong enough to continue every week to do well. The bad part is that opportunities for new customers has shrinken to the point that could hurt us in the future. Just looking at the demographics of our customer base there it is older people who are settled and look forward to shopping at the market every week. The younger families are not showing up like they did in the past and this will be problem if it continues in the future.
Our CSA also kicked off last week. It was nice to see our returning customers and to meet new people who are trying us for the first time. Our building has been spruced up and we continue to update it so that when people come to pick up their stuff it is fresh and convenient for their perusal. It was nice to see Deb and Bob back from their European jaunt. Looking forward to hearing Deb's food tales every week.
We did have a bump in the road but we were able to overcome it. Virtua Hospital System had agreed to let us use their facility in Voorhees for a market and CSA pickup. But with a week to go before opening, I was told by administration that they have a no solicitation policy that their legal department wanted them to enforce. It was unfortunate and I think politics paid a part in their decision but we moved on. Due to the decision, however, we almost lost CSA customers. Some adjustments had to be made to the program to keep them on board and we were able to do that.
Things are growing well in the fields. The warm weather continues to push things along at a rapid pace. Our spinach is winding down for the spring because of this. Rain, which did not appear until recently, has become almost a weekly event. No problem here with that for now but come August I would love to see it dry so I can irrigate and stop cutting my grass every week!

Opening week thoughts

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog. But in juggling my teaching job with our farm and my family things tend to be hectic this time of year.
We started the market on Saturday at Moorestown. We had a good day but sales were off compared to past markets. I attribute this to the ecomony, novelty of farmer's markets wearing off for most so that only the people who have committed are coming and an oversaturation of farmers markets in the area.
Luckily, our sales are now generated by return business. I saw very few new shoppers at our table on Saturday. This is good and not good. The good part is that we are strong enough to continue every week to do well. The bad part is that opportunities for new customers has shrinken to the point that could hurt us in the future. Just looking at the demographics of our customer base there it is older people who are settled and look forward to shopping at the market every week. The younger families are not showing up like they did in the past and this will be problem if it continues in the future.
Our CSA also kicked off last week. It was nice to see our returning customers and to meet new people who are trying us for the first time. Our building has been spruced up and we continue to update it so that when people come to pick up their stuff it is fresh and convenient for their perusal. It was nice to see Deb and Bob back from their European jaunt. Looking forward to hearing Deb's food tales every week.
We did have a bump in the road but we were able to overcome it. Virtua Hospital System had agreed to let us use their facility in Voorhees for a market and CSA pickup. But with a week to go before opening, I was told by administration that they have a no solicitation policy that their legal department wanted them to enforce. It was unfortunate and I think politics paid a part in their decision but we moved on. Due to the decision, however, we almost lost CSA customers. Some adjustments had to be made to the program to keep them on board and we were able to do that.
Things are growing well in the fields. The warm weather continues to push things along at a rapid pace. Our spinach is winding down for the spring because of this. Rain, which did not appear until recently, has become almost a weekly event. No problem here with that for now but come August I would love to see it dry so I can irrigate and stop cutting my grass every week!