Summer is in full swing and we are finally seeing the normal crops of the season come into their own. Tomatoes have just come on in a sustainable quanitity that we can rely on a solid weekly harvest. peppers are starting to come on and we just began harvesting cucmberes. The squash has been on big time for a few weeks now. Things are just a little later than what we would normally expect. This has been a weired year. Weather conditions have been all over the board. Wet, cold, hot, rainy, hot and normal. We've had to be light on our feet and very flexible. We have a lot of spce dedicated to tomatoes this year so it's good to see them coming on strong. So far we have just been harvesting greenhouse toms but the outdoor ones will be on soon. It's the true meaning of summer to me. Nothing beats fresh tomatoes and basil.
Along with the summer harvest we have been busy sowing seeds for our fall and overwintering crops. We have more flats sown this year than ever before. There coming along nicely and soon we will begin transplanting. So for right now there is lots of field work to do. tilling and bed prep mainly. We've experienced some heavy weed pressure this year so as I am prepping beds we are irrigating to get the weeds to sprout and then eliminating by flame or light tilling just prior to set out in order to get a jump on the weeds. We are sowing new seeds both direct and in flats about every ten days just to keep up with demand. This is the hardest time of year to grow consistently nice greens. Water, water, water. Harvesting takes the majority of time so it's hard to keep up on a solid schedule. Some how we seem to be doing it. We have some ground tomake up as far as sales go so I am hoping for a solid fall and winter season.
Even though this has been a more difficult growing year than others, life seems to be on a more normal pattern. I'm not working so hard and it's been nice to be on auto pilot for awhile. I can't believe it's already into August! Time does fly when you're having fun.
Saturday markets have been picking up and it's really great to see all of the different crops the farmers are bringing in. We are blessed withsome great growers here. Come visit and see for yourself.
Keep well.
Farmer John
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It's hot out there folks. Its 4:00 Am and its 71 degrees. No big deal for most places in the world but for here it's hot. Siesta weather. We change our schedule here. Work in the morning while it's cool and knock off in the heat of the day and then come back out in the evening when it's starting to cool down a bit. We transplanted three beds of lettuce yesterday. Not an ideal day but that's when I had my crew scheduled and it's better to get the delicate starts in the ground as opposed to keeping them alive in the flat trays in the hot sun. We have to water them about four times a day. They really don't like conditions at all. This is the most challenging time of year for us to grow salad greens. We seem to be doing it.
We had just a bit of a dirth last week. Many things are coming to a close and the generally cooler conditions we've had have held back some of the more traditional summer crops like squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. They are all just starting to come on. We actually skipped the farmers market on Saturday and took the opportunity to get caught up on some field work. We just finished planting potatoes. We're only about two months late! That seems to be the schedule we've been on all season. We never have really caught up from the later than normal start this year. I feel like I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel though. I'm treating this time to be the start of the second part of our growing season. Back to the basics. We are busy sowing our fall and overwintering crops along with all of our regular sowings of main crops like greens. We pretty much plant on a weekly basis in order to keep up with having a consistent supply. Earlier this year I made the deciscion to go heavy on the salad greens and forgo some of our old standards. This appears to have been a mikstake. The greens market was saturated and we wound up feeding lots of product to the chickens. Bummer. It's safe ton say I overestimated consumer demand. It's all such a guessing game. It is what it is.
This season has been a struggle from the get go. Hopefully we'll see a strong fall season and be able to make up lost ground in sales. I have to be honest, I,ve considered throwing in the towel more than a few times this year. Ahh the romantic life of a market farmer. It aint so romantic folks. It's a lot of hard work for a short return. I have to laugh. There's so much talk of the importance of sustainable agriculture in our culture. We are soo not sustainable! It's a whole other subject. Bottom line for me though is I'm not quitter. Even though my accountant and practicle side are telling me I should be. I believe in what I do. I believe that my community will support me and my fellow farmers. I believe the people have a desire in quality, healthy food and knowing their food source. I believe in myself and my ability to work through the tough times. I believe, I believe. I believe...... I'll go sow some seed.
Keep well
Farmer John
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Yesterday we opened up the farm to the public for the annual Orcas in bloom garden tour sponsored by the garden club. The event was a huge success. We had about 250 visitors throughout the day. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first to have that many visitors. One the event got under way though everything ran smoothly.
I would like to thank the garden club for putting us on the tour and a special thanks to Diane Jordan and Ken Wood. They made it easy and comfortable. Thanks guys! Also a special thanks to Brad for cooking up the great pizzas in our wood oven. Everyone loved it.
The one consistent comment throughout the day was "you guys should open a restaurant!". Who knows, we may just do that. I've always dreamed of having farm dinners that feature seasonal farm produce fresh from the field. The pizza's are a great medium for that and they truly are out of this world. So we'll see what happens.
Anyway, It's now July. Time flys. We have some ground to make up recovering from our wet spring which has seemed to put us a consistent three weeks behind our normal schedule. Allergy season is over for me and I can begin returning to my normal pace.
Soon we'll be harvesting tomatoes and the other bounties of summer. We are still working on getting main crops in the ground. It's also time to get going on our fall crops. The dance never stops.
Happy fourth of July to you all. See you at the fireworks!
Keep well,
Farmer John
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The days are just whipping by here. It's hard to even think about taking time to write an update. I'm off to an early start today though. There are many things to accomplish. Things are drying out enough in some of our wetter areas to finally be able to do some ground prep. Never have I seen the soil stay this wet this far into the spring. It's good and bad. The good thing is that the cover crop is flourishing and will provide a great benefit to the overall fertility of our sites. Another benefit has been that it has somewhat equalized my work load. Normally I'm scrambling to get everything tilled. This year it's been coming in stages, just concentrating on what can be done when it can be done. Although we have struggled with space and timing issues we are for the most part on schedule with demand. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed as we begin to dry out. Lots of ground work needs to happen but the bigger necessity is irrigation AKA (irritation). Man it would be great if we didn't have to water. It's a daunting task. Setting up and maintaing four seperate water systems can just be flat out to much to comprehend sometimes. As wet as it has been, everything that is planted out right now is screaming to be watered. We'll be running drip tapes and setting up systems starting today and running through the rest of the season. Yes, I'm behind.
There has been one other advantage. Since it's been wet, we have been sowing hundreds of flat trays in the greenhouse and transplanting into the field as space becomes available. This buys us a good thirty days but also adds hours and hours of additional labor to our schedule but the end result is stunning. When we transplant, we get a leg up on the weeding and the beds are consistently filled with plants that are easy to maintain and more importantly (especially for greens) easy to harvest. It makes all the difference in the world. On a good day when It's all working we can do greens at about a pound per minute.
We've had some tremendous harvest's so far. We took a hundred pounds of greens to market on Saturday. Unfortunately the buyers have not been there and the market has been way off from last year. We brought home 80 lbs. I have to admit it makes me wonder why I'm doing what I do. It's hard enough as it is and to bring home that much product is a motivation sinker for sure. Fortunately, we have a walk in cooler for proper storage and the greater portion of our business is to the restauraunts. I'll have that overage sold and deliverd by mid week. I am an optimist. You'll see me at the market again next Saturday with another hundred pounds. I know I might bring a bunch back, but sure as hell if I don't bring it we'll sell out. Most farmers are proud of selling out. I think it means you didn't bring enough product:) It's green leafy season folks! come and get em.
Happy Mothers Day!
Farmer John aka "the willow" Me bends but me does not break.
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Sometimes I wake up early, way early. Today 2:00 AM It can be a hard call. Coffee and stay up for the rest of the day or perhaps an early morning night cap and back to bed?
Coffee prevails today. I've been off the farm for the last week visiting my mom who just turned 90! Happy birthday mom.
There's alot to think about and alot to do. Of course there is no end of on farm projects and just tons of equipment to service and maintain. It appears that everything is fickle and likes to break right when you need it the most. So along with being a farmer you've gotta wear a few different hats when the need arises's. Today I'm a farmer, mechanic, painter, dad, boyfriend, I T tech, writer, cook, chaufer, band leader, counselor, garbage man, parts man and pyro technician. I love my jobs.
Needless to say it's busy. No way will I complete more than a few things on my multi-page list. Just pick a few of the more important items and try and move forward. Don't get stuck on a project that is a lost cause. If it aint workin move on to something else.
Hmmm. Maybe I oughtta re consider the beverage deciscion.
Keep em' rollin.
Farmer John
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