Notes from the Field: June 10, 2013

Good morning farmies!  I have some exciting news as of Friday afternoon on the farm…the summer squash and cucumbers are beginning to size up!  Josh and I harvested six yellow zephyr summer squash, which we just enjoyed last night stuffed with rice and sausage.  I surprised myself with my excitement level during the first summer squash harvest of the season; it’s actually my least favorite vegetable to harvest.  Perhaps I’m turning over a new leaf this year.  We can’t wait to include them in upcoming CSA shares!

Lots of things happened this past week on the farm including seeding, mulching, weeding, planting, seeding, and loads of harvesting.

Greenhouse Update
Seeded in the shade structure this week were the winter squash that will be planted out within the month.  It’s pretty crazy to think that we are seeding winter squash at the beginning of June!

  • Winter Squash: Sugar Baby, Metro PMR, Sweet Dumpling

We’ve had a few issues with mice eating seeds in the shade structure.  Josh and I covered the newly planted winter squash with row cover to deter the mice.  It seems like mice love those protein packed winter squash seeds; we’ve experienced issues with mice eating those seeds in particular at every farm we’ve worked.

Field Update
Monday’s crew weeded the most recent succession of turnips in hopes that they will size up quickly an upcoming CSA share.  We also spent some time weeding the bush beans, which are also beginning to flower.  Some folks from the Monday shift got the initial T posts pounded in the first succession of tomatoes so that we could begin installing the trellising system later in the week.

Tuesday’s crew spent the first part of the day weeding the first succession of cucumbers and summer squash (I attribute this stellar weeding to our first harvest later in the week!).   We followed up the weeding by spraying Surround on all the cucurbits after noticing a heavy number of cucumber beetles on the plants.

On Tuesday we were also able to plant another succession of lettuce (Jericho and Buttercrunch – 100 bed feet), parsley (Giant of Italy – 100 bed feet), and basil (Aroma, Lemon, and Lime – 100 bed feet).

Friday’s crew spent the morning harvesting for CSA and Ferguson Farmers Market.  We then moved on to weeding the most recent succession of scallions that were on the verge of being overtaken by grass.  Finally, we mulched about half of the 2nd succession of tomatoes as well as finished pounding posts for the trellis system into the 1st succession of tomatoes.

Saturday’s crew also spent the morning harvesting for CSA shares as well as weeding a portion of the cilantro and dill herb bed (not a bad job if you’re a fan of those two herbs; it’s smells so good!).  Saturday’s afternoon crew planted fennel (Zefa Fino – 100 bed feet), the next succession of slicing tomatoes (Moskovich, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, and Tropic VFN – 230 bed feet), and the 3rd succession of beets (Red Ace, Golden, Cylindrical – 150 bed feet).  This most recent succession of beets was started in the greenhouse in order to better monitor germination.

It seems as though many of you are curious what the farm plans to do about the ant situation we’ve been experiencing (aside from the ant traps we’ve made and have been putting out). Unfortunately there is no easy and short answer to this question.  Knocking on wood, it seems as though the ants are doing less damage to the crops as the weather has warmed up and dried out, and new things are being planted in the field.  Josh and I have been in contact with individuals from Lincoln University in hopes of coming up with some more long term solutions, but as of right now we’re hoping they stay away from the crops they aren’t currently bothering.

Looking at the week ahead we’ll be finishing up mulching the most recent tomato succession, installing a trellis system for the pole beans, weeding a few select crops, and starting in harvesting summer squash and zucchini.  See you all this week!

Stephanie and Josh