Happy early 4th of July! I’m continuously amazed at the difference between this growing season and the last. As of today, we’ve had 12 more inches of rain compared to this day last year. Despite the increased rain and cooler temperatures, our summer crops are chugging along; I ate my first Sungold cherry tomato of the season this past weekend, and the pepper and eggplant are coming on strong.
Greenhouse Update
We seeded all of the fall brassicas this past week, including broccoli, kale, collard greens, and cabbage. It’s always strange to be seeding end of season crops in the middle of summer when the season is in full swing. Additionally, we seeded a fall planting of fennel. We’re certainly in no risk of a fennel shortage this year!
Field Update
Monday’s crew transplanted head lettuce and direct seeded salad mix, which was then covered with a shade structure. The shade structure was erected using pipe hoops found on the farm along with the same black netting that was used for the shade structure housing the seedlings. Monday’s farm shift also weeded the 3rd succession of green beans (which are being harvested this week), and hula hoed 600 bed feet of the newly planted sweet potatoes.
Tuesday’s shift began by completing the sweet potato weeding (about 500 bed feet). We then harvested for a Local Harvest wholesale order including green cabbage and cilantro. The rest of the morning and into early afternoon was spent transplanting another succession of summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and winter squash. We were able to get two final rows out of the biodegradable black plastic that was donated to us at the beginning of the season. Finally, Tuesday’s crew weeded the corn (about 300 bed feet) as well as the leeks (about 400 bed feet).
Transplanted:
Friday’s morning crew completed a large harvest for CSA and Saturday’s Tower Grove farmer’s market. Malabar spinach and okra were new to the harvest list and seemed to sell well at the farmer’s market Saturday. Friday afternoon crew weeded the herb beds in the side field, including parsley, basil, cilantro and dill. We also began taking down the sugar snap pea trellis. After the past few week’s hot temperatures the sugar snap pea production slowed down considerably and most of the plants were beginning to die.
Saturday’s morning crew began the day by harvesting for CSA shares. The rest of the morning was spent completing the taking down of the sugar snap pea trellis as well as adding additional trellis rows to the tomatoes. We spent the rest of the day tackling some much needed weeding projects including all of the pathways of the tomatoes as well as the transplanted beets in the side field.
Considering there are no large seeding or transplanting tasks coming up it should be a fairly easy going week on the farm. We look forward to seeing everyone this week!