My theory on planting squash later in the season to be able to offer the freshest product late into the season has appeared to have failed. It's the first week of fall and we are still harvesting some lovely squash. The only problem here is that zuchinni does not appear to hold alot of sex appeal. Even though we are having a lovely indian summer, people's minds are more set on the fall crops and the coming of winter. Of everything we have produced on the farm this year, squash remains as the only vegetable that we have had too much of and have had to discard. Even the chickens don't care for it. Oh well at least it's easy to grow. Squash just may be one of the products I discontinue next year to make more room for more salad greens.
When will I ever learn? Our reputation was built on growing the best greens on the island. I can never seem to have enough. Sometimes I think we could just exclusively grow greens and still not be able to supply the demand. I just may do that next year. It's the product we make the most money on too. It is very labor intensive but I must say I have it down to a near science. people ask me "would'nt you get bored just growing greens?" No way, I love growing greens. There are so many differnt and seasonal items that can be included in the mix. I find it very captivating to experiment with differnt things that grow well at differnt times of the year. From season to season our salad mix changes and I am always finding new items that compliment each other. The only thing that would stop me from growing just greens would be that I love offering such a wide variety of specialty crops.
I'm just starting to think about next year. I am anticipating a labor shortage again so I'm thinking of things that I can grow and harvest with less labor while still turning a profit and keep up on all of the chores and maintenance and still have some faction of a life. I can't keep up with growing on so many different plots next year so I will be cutting back a little. I just commited to supplying salad greens to Rosario Resort next season. They go through about a hundred pounds a week in the summer so I will need to drop some things to be able to meet that demand. The obvious things to drop would be corn, squash and beans. I love all of those things though! Sometimes farming can seem so brutal. Just like when you are thinning. It feels like you are playing God when you are ripping out the tiny seedlings. You just have to remember there would be no harvest if you did not tend to the needs of the plants. You can't grow everything. Narrow the product and go deep in what you decide you will specialize in. right? brutal!
Things are starting to slow down quite a bit. just two more Farmers' Markets. Come on folks, step right up and get your zuchinni!
bye bye
Your farmer
John
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I love the early days of fall. There is still so much to harvest in the field yet things are winding down at the same time. It gives us some time to think about things a little more than usual and catch our breath. The crowds of summer are gone and the island is returning to a slower daily pace; Sort of. (what did happen to that kick back island pace anyway?)
Right now I'm thinking about fire wood. I have a mountain of logs, several dump truck loads, that are waiting to be bucked, split and stacked. It's a bit ominous feeling. There is enough wood there for several seasons if I could keep it from rotting. The autumnal feel in the air creates somewhat of a rushed feeling to get the wood in for the season. I feel like a rich man when I look out and see several cords of dried, seasoned wood neatly stacked and ready to burn. I am slowly getting to it. It does'nt help when your chainsaw blows up on you right in the middle of the job. Doh!, there's
another $400.00. $400 dollars that was to go torwards another project like siding for the barn or getting one of several of my broken down vehicles repaired. That's the way it seems to go. Just when you think you're good to go something breaks or an unexpected bill comes in. Could be the theme for the year. It's been impossible to get ahead. It seems like I've just been scrambling all season putting out little fires like that. Being in the middle of a divorce has'nt helped either. Sorry, don't mean to get off on a woe me tangent here, not my style. My life is great and I'm having the best time ever.
So what's happening on the farm these day's besides harvesting? We've been busy starting greens in flats. These will soon be transplanted into the greenhouses for winter production. There's a timing issue here. There are still things growing in the hoop house's now. So we want things to go as long as possible in there but we must also have a quick turn around. Once current production is over we will pull out the old plants, reset and ammend beds and immediately transplant greens. They have to get good growth on to be able to withstand the winter and allow us to get a continual harvest through fall and into winter. It's not rocket science but there is a very short window to pull it off. We are also still direct sowing outside and cover cropping and cleaning up in general. Pulling all of the drip tape and irrigation lines out of the field is another project we'll be on soon. Ther's a never ending list.
I'm also thinking about next year. What will we grow? Who will we sell to? What new equipment do we need? I would like to buy a vacuum seeder for starting flats. It's a simple device that could really cut out a lot of time. They cost about $700.00. It would pay for it's self in one season. I would also like to fine tune some tractor cultivation equipment and pick up a device called a sub soiler which is basically a shank mounted on a tool bar that hooks up to the three point hitch on a tractor. The shank penetrates deep into the soil to break up hard pan and plow bottom. This gives the roots of plants the opportunity to grow deeper and also aids in drainage and allows nutrients and minerals that are locked up in the sub soil to become available for the roots to feed on. I feel it's important to re invest in equipment for the farm each year. Anything that can increase effiency and production is money well spent in my book.
Sometimes, just being able to take a step back, breath and think is worth it's weight in gold. Coming up with even one small change, tool or idea can change the bottom line for the seasons to follow. Time spent reflecting, planning and implementing ideas can be priceless.
Keep well,
Farmer John
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The weather is finally cooling down and we have been blessed with a little rain. Albeit not much but enough to moisten the soil enough to get in a last direct sowing of fall and overwintering greens. It's been so hot and dry here that I was not too hopeful about getting germination without some rain. So When i saw the forecast i jumped at the opportunity. I don't get too many chances to experiment with seeds since we are always under time considerations. However this time of year I feel like anything goes.
It just never ceases to amaze me that a little tiny seed can do what it does. Simply amazing! Seeds have their own source of nutrient pre packaged to allow themselves to germinate and establish a root system. Past that, they appreciate a little help with weeding and perhaps some organic fertilization and then they reward you with their bounty. They want to grow. That is their sole purpose. Sometimes I think we should take a few lessons from the seeds.
It also amazes me that the little buggers will actually germinate at all. After all these years I'm still surpised when I actually see the rows of new starts peeking through the soil. Hmmh! I must be living right or something.
Anyway. I'm thinking as I'm sowing about edible cover crops. I know there has been experimentation with mustards as cover crops and their ability to act as a soil purifier and bio fumigant. We often sow mustards in our greenhouse's in the winter. We harvest the greens for salad all season and then let the plants go wild and mow them down just prior to them going to seed. This creates a large amounts of bio mass and supposedly helps with controlling blight. So I'm thinking "why not just sow edible mustards outdoors as well in lieu of other types of more traditional cover crops like vetch, and rye?" The most obvious answer I suppose is mustards are not nitrogen fixing. But they do protect the soil from the weather, create good insect and wildlife habitat and they are one of the earliest plants to bloom in the spring and the bees just love them. You can never have too many bees around right. Oh yeah, and i get to eat and use them in my winter salads. It all seems to make sense to me. please, someone, tell me I'm off my rocker.
It's dawn. I must go now. i have mustard greens to harvest.
Farmer John
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As fall approaches and the busy days of summer are winding down it's a good time to slow down and take a look back at the season. It's been a crazy one. We just about doubled our growing area this year by adding a couple of off site locations. It took alot of extra time out of an already hectic schedule. It mostly worked out but production was not quite as high as I had hoped, especially in the one acre potato field which has all but failed. It's hard not to be a little dissapointed in that but oh well. I think it's the first time that I have ever lost money on a crop. At this point it is doubtful that we will recoup the seed cost let alone all of the time spent in preparation. What to do? Walk away from it now or keep working it to make it a viable production site for the future which would include spending alot more time and money. It mostly will come down to the owners descion. If they are willing to pay for fencing materials I would be willing to continue. I cannot justify spending the money for fencing on my own for a site that may not work out. We'll see. It's one of those deals that will work if it was meant to be. I am fully commited to the other sites. It's been a blessing to have them. It will give me a good opportunity to let a good portion of the home farm to go fallow and into cover crop. Cover cropping is an important aspect of sustainable farming, protecting the soil over the winter and also fixing nitrogen and creating large amounts of bio mass for increased organic matter in the soil.
Yesterday was a picture perfect day here. A slight hint of fall in the air. Sunny, clear and warm. I wish every day were like that. I ate lunch at the school cafeteria. We have been making deliveries for the last couple of weeks. It's so exciting to see the farm to cafeteria program coming into fruition. Hopefully we will be able to keep the momentum going and keep increasing the amounts of locally grown produce going to the school. I feel the more we can do the better. Hopefully with time, the students will begin recognizing and appreciating more what is happening. I would love to see some kind of involvement from them. Any way, it's a great program and I am thrilled to be a part of it. Having lunch with the kids gave me a much needed shot in the arm. I'll take the motivation wherever I can get it. There is alot to be done right now and the window of opportunity is closing. We are rapidly approaching the last sowing dates for salad greens to get off to a good start for winter. It's hard to fit everything in on schedule. Weare continually sowing greens in flats to be able to fill in whenever and wherever possible. Hopefully that will help keep us on schedule. It's important to have greens in flats available for transplant as we clear out the greenhouses such as we are this week where we will be pulling out the old melon plants, tilling, shaping and amending new beds for winter greens.
Overall it has been a good year and hopefully we will carry our momentun into the fall and winter. As always, we had some trying and learning experiences but many successes as well. The biggest lesson being that I need to expand the the farm but need to have a large contiguous piece of flat arable land to do so. i simply spend too much time traveling and hauling equipment around to the various sites. It makes it harder to focus in general. I have a couple of plans in the works but it will take awhile for them to come to fruition. Regardless I am excited about the seasonal change and once again am looking forward to the beginning ouf a new season.
Keep it real friends.
John Steward
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Yesterday, when I was making restaurant deliveries I noticed something I have not seen before. As I was stocking orders into the coolers and speaking with chefs I was made aware of the fact that just about everything in stock was from a local producer. This is a good thing. Our local chefs are in tune with seasonal availability and hold a distinct advantage over thier off island counterparts in the city who are mostly on able to get fresh produce and other goods from a larger warehouse type disributer. There is no face to face contact with the grower or any specifics on where the product came from. Most of the chefs we deal with are buying direct from the farmer. We share a relationship with each other. The chef benefits by being able to connect the prduct directly with the grower. It is a much more intimate scenario. All of rhe chefs we deal with have been to the farm and can place that product directly with a vision. They share our enthusiasm and are thrilled to be getting the diverse offerings of the freshest locally grown goods. It is truly food with a face. We each share an interest in the others business. We as growers are proud to see our products going to the best restaurants and being featured and appreciated in a unique and creative fashion. The chefs are happy because they are able to capitalize on an opportunity that simply does not exist in most places. It's a very complimentary and symbiotic relationship.
This is an amazing and bountiful time of year. Here are some of the products being offered right now. Salad greens, beans, beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples, pears, plums fresh fish and shell fish as well as pork, lamb and beef.
Enjoy the bounty friends and eat well. You could not be in a better place.
Farmer john
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