OK so I don't normally post twice in one day however I wanted to relay some interesting weather history I heard today on Kuow. This came from Cliff Mass, atmospheric scientist at the University Of Washingington. He referred to this as the bbq factor as most people are less inclined to bbq in temps lower than 60 degrees.
Since March 11th we have had only 23 days that have reached 60 degreees. Normal would be somewhere around 45 days. In addition, this has been the coldest June on record since 1917. That's the year my mother was born. She's 91. Anyway slight warming trend by the end of the week and yes by the beginning of the week another trough settling in from the gulf of Alaska bringing more rain and cooler temps. Hell yeah!.... just kidding. Gimmie da ting dat da doctor ordered and dats da sun dammit.
John
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Unbelievable
OK its cold. I'm still building fires to keep the house warm. I don't recall such cool temps this late in the eight years I've been on Orcas. Snow level for the cascades last night was at 2500 ft and they were expexting up to a foot of new snow. Enough already! Poor little tomatoes are just geting hammered. They don't look so bad. If it does warm up they will recover I'm sure. They'll be some tough damn plants. I'd say this is going to be a tough year to get a decsent crop.
We do have about 150 plants in the greenhouses that look fine. Some of them actually have toms on them already. Yea.
Just getting around to the field prep for our main crop of potatoes. Mowed the cover crop on Sunday and plowed last night. I'll hit it with the rotovator this evening after work and let it set for a few days. One final pass with the tiller, set the furrows, fertilize, install the drip tapes, sow and cover. It's a little late but earlier than last year and we had a bumber crop. Putting in Yukon Golds, German Butterballs, Chieftan Reds, Austrian Crescent, Rose Fern Apple and Red thumbs.
Re-Thinking/evaluating where we are at and anticipating weather scenarios. I'm thinking/hoping we are in for a long late summer and Fall season. It very well could be the determining factor in our success or failure this year. Right now is the time to be ramping up for fall production. We have several indoor markets planned that go all the way into November. So I'm thinking about what crops we can market successfully into the holiday season. Also thinking about the over-wintering things. Good planning now puts us ahead in the spring when early crops are hard to produce.
Thankfully with all of this rain, allergies have been tolerable! The crops are loving it too! Theres no water like a good ol' soaking rain. The timing was perfect for things like beets and turnips and our newly sown crops of carrots, turnips, greens, and more. Great germination with the consistent moisture levels. Especially helpful on our drier/sandier plot. It's easy weeding right now too. Some of those big uglies like dock and thistle just pop right out.
Big news for this week will be the strawberry harvest. The forecast is for warming temps and clearing skies later in the week. Friday should see the first berries of the season!
It's time to get going. Off farm work day. Boo hoo.
Keep well,
John
We do have about 150 plants in the greenhouses that look fine. Some of them actually have toms on them already. Yea.
Just getting around to the field prep for our main crop of potatoes. Mowed the cover crop on Sunday and plowed last night. I'll hit it with the rotovator this evening after work and let it set for a few days. One final pass with the tiller, set the furrows, fertilize, install the drip tapes, sow and cover. It's a little late but earlier than last year and we had a bumber crop. Putting in Yukon Golds, German Butterballs, Chieftan Reds, Austrian Crescent, Rose Fern Apple and Red thumbs.
Re-Thinking/evaluating where we are at and anticipating weather scenarios. I'm thinking/hoping we are in for a long late summer and Fall season. It very well could be the determining factor in our success or failure this year. Right now is the time to be ramping up for fall production. We have several indoor markets planned that go all the way into November. So I'm thinking about what crops we can market successfully into the holiday season. Also thinking about the over-wintering things. Good planning now puts us ahead in the spring when early crops are hard to produce.
Thankfully with all of this rain, allergies have been tolerable! The crops are loving it too! Theres no water like a good ol' soaking rain. The timing was perfect for things like beets and turnips and our newly sown crops of carrots, turnips, greens, and more. Great germination with the consistent moisture levels. Especially helpful on our drier/sandier plot. It's easy weeding right now too. Some of those big uglies like dock and thistle just pop right out.
Big news for this week will be the strawberry harvest. The forecast is for warming temps and clearing skies later in the week. Friday should see the first berries of the season!
It's time to get going. Off farm work day. Boo hoo.
Keep well,
John
Monday, June 2, 2008
Juneunary
It's still a bit on the cool side. I like it but the heat loving crops like tomatoes, cukes, peppers, squash and basil are not so impressed. Forecast is for cool temps all week.
Vehicle woes continue. Tranny went out on one of our eurvans. This one just came out of the shop on Friday. The other one is still in the shop with an unknown diagnosis. Ughhh.
The best thing this week is our new tractor. Mid 40's Farmall A. Nice! I will use it as a cultivating tractor.
This is going to be a big plant out week. More toms, winter and summer squash, cukes and more. More space we'll be available in the greenhouses in a couple of days as we pull the tables out. Melons and peppers will take their place.
Critical time. This is when I get hit with allergies. I'm taking prescriptions meds this year. So far I'm operating as normal. Most years I function at a minimum. Hopefully I can stay on schedule for a change. There's always so much to do this time of year it's easy to fall behind. We seem to be doing better this year.
Markets: Commercial sales are way off normal. A direct reaction to the slower economy. Less visitors to the island means less people frequenting the restaurants which means they are not consuming as much product. We've been making the difference up at the farmers market until this past week. Sales were substantially off. My vehicle woes didn't help us out either. We were limited on the amount of starts we were able to transport to market. Plus start sales are waning in general and we are in a lull for fresh veg More stuff will be coming on soon.
So there you have the dirt. Yes, it was a rough week. We'll see if we cant turn that around.
Keep well,
John
Vehicle woes continue. Tranny went out on one of our eurvans. This one just came out of the shop on Friday. The other one is still in the shop with an unknown diagnosis. Ughhh.
The best thing this week is our new tractor. Mid 40's Farmall A. Nice! I will use it as a cultivating tractor.
This is going to be a big plant out week. More toms, winter and summer squash, cukes and more. More space we'll be available in the greenhouses in a couple of days as we pull the tables out. Melons and peppers will take their place.
Critical time. This is when I get hit with allergies. I'm taking prescriptions meds this year. So far I'm operating as normal. Most years I function at a minimum. Hopefully I can stay on schedule for a change. There's always so much to do this time of year it's easy to fall behind. We seem to be doing better this year.
Markets: Commercial sales are way off normal. A direct reaction to the slower economy. Less visitors to the island means less people frequenting the restaurants which means they are not consuming as much product. We've been making the difference up at the farmers market until this past week. Sales were substantially off. My vehicle woes didn't help us out either. We were limited on the amount of starts we were able to transport to market. Plus start sales are waning in general and we are in a lull for fresh veg More stuff will be coming on soon.
So there you have the dirt. Yes, it was a rough week. We'll see if we cant turn that around.
Keep well,
John
Thursday, May 29, 2008
As The Season Turns
Welcome to the MRF blog. The season is beginning to pivot out of having just green leafies to having a more varied appeal. This week for market we'll be having a couple of new items on the table. Broccoli! It is absolutely gorgeous and we have good volume. It's as nice as I've ever seen anywhere. We'll also have the first peas of the season. Thease are English shelling peas. We grew them in the big greenhouse starting in February. They're pretty much a one timer harvest wise. They look and taste great. Outdoor peas won't be far behind. I'ts possible we'll have some baby beets and turnips as well this week.
Field wise, it's all about getting things in the ground right now. We are well on the way to getting tomatoes in. We've bee spacing them out further than normal so we are not putting in as many but hopefully the extra space we'll give them a larger yield. We're trying celery this year for the first time. We just transplanted that yesterday, looks great. Basil is in, first round of corn is in, second round is germinating. Melons are just about ready to transplant and we have squash starts of all kinds ready to to get in now.
Potatoes! Today is field trip day. 2nd and thrird graders from Ann Ford Mcgraths class are coming out to help us plant. Last year they harvested so I thought they should see the otherside of the deal. Not as fun as digging, but still a fun job.
Really hoping the UPS truck comes today with our new water pump. The old one went out a week ago. Sears says its on the way but they are always slow. We need water! Thankfully it's rained a little and it's been cool.
Having van woes too:( One in the shop with a $2,000 repair and the second one unexpectedly went down yesterday and is being towed to the shop today. Hopefully one of those makes it back on island by Saturday so we can go to market.
Oh well. I'm no stranger to this. Just get it fixed and forget about it.
Gotta roll,
John
All in all, things are going great
Field wise, it's all about getting things in the ground right now. We are well on the way to getting tomatoes in. We've bee spacing them out further than normal so we are not putting in as many but hopefully the extra space we'll give them a larger yield. We're trying celery this year for the first time. We just transplanted that yesterday, looks great. Basil is in, first round of corn is in, second round is germinating. Melons are just about ready to transplant and we have squash starts of all kinds ready to to get in now.
Potatoes! Today is field trip day. 2nd and thrird graders from Ann Ford Mcgraths class are coming out to help us plant. Last year they harvested so I thought they should see the otherside of the deal. Not as fun as digging, but still a fun job.
Really hoping the UPS truck comes today with our new water pump. The old one went out a week ago. Sears says its on the way but they are always slow. We need water! Thankfully it's rained a little and it's been cool.
Having van woes too:( One in the shop with a $2,000 repair and the second one unexpectedly went down yesterday and is being towed to the shop today. Hopefully one of those makes it back on island by Saturday so we can go to market.
Oh well. I'm no stranger to this. Just get it fixed and forget about it.
Gotta roll,
John
All in all, things are going great
Friday, May 23, 2008
It's bean awhile
Busy, busy, Just trying to stay ahead of the weeds. It's pretty much a non-ending task. Things are looking good. Some of the early crops like boc choi and raab ae starting to wane and some of the newer things like turnips, broccoli, peas and kohlrabi are coming on within the next week. Hoping that we dont have much of a product gap this week. I always think we are short but by the end of the day we have a bounty.
Market has been good. Last week was a little slow for produce but we sold a good deal of starts. We'll have more this week. We are just getting ready to put out tomates so you're not too late. In fact we still may need another week or so. I just can't wait. Ours are going in on Monday come hell or high water. We'll pop in a few rows of fingerling potatoes that are all greened out and ready to plant as well. Soil temps are still off by a few degrees but I suspect we'll hit 55 o in the next couple of weeks. Great weather for growing lettuce. Ours is looking lovely. We did get hit with a little downey mildew, not enough to worry about. Typical for cool/wet conditions. We also lost our cauliflower to a couple of persistent critters. First slugs and then cabbage root maggots. Oh well, pest damage has been minimal to us this year and no deer invasions!
Strawberries are all up and growing like crazy. Our old patch has tons of berries on. Should see the first ripe ones in a couple of weeks! Still sowing indoor but as beds become availble we are going direct as much as we can. We even started beans inside. We don't normally go this route and franklyI have not had good luck doing it. We'll give it a try again. We'll sow some direct at the same time. We did get the first corn in and it looks awesome. We have a econd succession that was jut planted in flats yesterday.
Alright, I have to get going here folks, It's a busy day. Take care and eat well,
John
Market has been good. Last week was a little slow for produce but we sold a good deal of starts. We'll have more this week. We are just getting ready to put out tomates so you're not too late. In fact we still may need another week or so. I just can't wait. Ours are going in on Monday come hell or high water. We'll pop in a few rows of fingerling potatoes that are all greened out and ready to plant as well. Soil temps are still off by a few degrees but I suspect we'll hit 55 o in the next couple of weeks. Great weather for growing lettuce. Ours is looking lovely. We did get hit with a little downey mildew, not enough to worry about. Typical for cool/wet conditions. We also lost our cauliflower to a couple of persistent critters. First slugs and then cabbage root maggots. Oh well, pest damage has been minimal to us this year and no deer invasions!
Strawberries are all up and growing like crazy. Our old patch has tons of berries on. Should see the first ripe ones in a couple of weeks! Still sowing indoor but as beds become availble we are going direct as much as we can. We even started beans inside. We don't normally go this route and franklyI have not had good luck doing it. We'll give it a try again. We'll sow some direct at the same time. We did get the first corn in and it looks awesome. We have a econd succession that was jut planted in flats yesterday.
Alright, I have to get going here folks, It's a busy day. Take care and eat well,
John
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Where to start
Uhh, there's alot to do right now. It's generally an overwhelming sense. Basically about three days worth of tractor work staring me down. Tilling, bed prep, cultivating, mowing, etc. etc. We had a nice couple of days of rain. I'm thankful although it did interupt my busy schedule. The weather is supposed to get real warm for a couple of days and then switch back into a cool and wet period (oh really) Not exactly what we are hoping for but hell, we'll take anything over 60 degrees right now with a big smile. We need some sun for our crops to grow. It's all growing soo slow. we're looking at a gap unless it kicks in her real quick. Anyway, I'm tractor guy today.
Weeds have been a big obsatcle for us this year. We lost a couple of beds of carrots because we simply can't devote that much time to weeding/thinning 150ft rows that are smothered in weeds. Till em' up and do it again. That said we've been on the weeds better than most years. It's just those small things like carrots that are especially challenging. We are getting the to the point where we are having to devote so much time to harvesting that it is hard to keep up on everything.
Despite the difficulties, we are off to a stellar start. The first two markets have been great. Sales are brisk, inventory has been strong and we have sold through practically everything we have taken. Plant sales have been fair. Lots of competition and a limited market. We have a great selection if you need starts, espescially tomatoes. Commercial sales are coming around. The economic slow down can be seen and felt directly.
In the field. Stawberries are in. Tomatoes are going out next week. New greens are just about ready. Old greens in the greenhouse are just about done. They'll be out next week and something will replace them. Melons or toms? hmm maybe peppers. Potatoes are chitting and I'll be working on the field they will go in today. We arte planting them with AnneFords second and third grade class on the 29th. So much more to list. Where's it all going to go?
Keep well,
John
Weeds have been a big obsatcle for us this year. We lost a couple of beds of carrots because we simply can't devote that much time to weeding/thinning 150ft rows that are smothered in weeds. Till em' up and do it again. That said we've been on the weeds better than most years. It's just those small things like carrots that are especially challenging. We are getting the to the point where we are having to devote so much time to harvesting that it is hard to keep up on everything.
Despite the difficulties, we are off to a stellar start. The first two markets have been great. Sales are brisk, inventory has been strong and we have sold through practically everything we have taken. Plant sales have been fair. Lots of competition and a limited market. We have a great selection if you need starts, espescially tomatoes. Commercial sales are coming around. The economic slow down can be seen and felt directly.
In the field. Stawberries are in. Tomatoes are going out next week. New greens are just about ready. Old greens in the greenhouse are just about done. They'll be out next week and something will replace them. Melons or toms? hmm maybe peppers. Potatoes are chitting and I'll be working on the field they will go in today. We arte planting them with AnneFords second and third grade class on the 29th. So much more to list. Where's it all going to go?
Keep well,
John
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Farmers Market
It's been a busy week around the "Rock". Farmers market started last Saturday. We had a great selection of produce and starts and despite the rain we had a steady flow of customers clamoring for the first greens of spring. We are shooting for another big day this Saturday. We'll be taking salad greens, braising greens, spinach, kale tops, broccoli, kale tops, pea shoots, arugula, bok choi, raab, radishes, parsley, potatoes and lots of plant starts.
In the field, we are extremly busy right now. Transplanting continues to be an almost daily task. The weather continues to be cool so most of our sowing is taking place inside. We just started sumer and winter squash in the last few days, cucmbers too. They'll be ready for transplant in 3 or 4 weeks. The basil is looking good and we just began potting it up from cell trays into 4"pots. It's still a little early to get it out. We've been transplanting tomatoes into the greenhouse as space comes up. I have some planned for outdoors as well as oon as it warms up. This may well be a difficult year for toms. I'm only putting the hardiest and small fruited varieties out and reserving the larger and more fickle ones for the greenhouse's.
Any spare time I have right now is spent on setting up irrigation. We're getting there. We did get a little rain last weekend so that gave me a break for a few days. It sure dries out fast though. It's time for everything to get water again. I' ll spend a good part of my day geting tapes set.
Oh! strawberry starts are here! There's a project. We have to lay the drip, plastic mulch the beds and get em' in. Five 125ft beds, hopefully Monday?
Oh and one more thing... Don't forgret to mow.
Take care,
John
In the field, we are extremly busy right now. Transplanting continues to be an almost daily task. The weather continues to be cool so most of our sowing is taking place inside. We just started sumer and winter squash in the last few days, cucmbers too. They'll be ready for transplant in 3 or 4 weeks. The basil is looking good and we just began potting it up from cell trays into 4"pots. It's still a little early to get it out. We've been transplanting tomatoes into the greenhouse as space comes up. I have some planned for outdoors as well as oon as it warms up. This may well be a difficult year for toms. I'm only putting the hardiest and small fruited varieties out and reserving the larger and more fickle ones for the greenhouse's.
Any spare time I have right now is spent on setting up irrigation. We're getting there. We did get a little rain last weekend so that gave me a break for a few days. It sure dries out fast though. It's time for everything to get water again. I' ll spend a good part of my day geting tapes set.
Oh! strawberry starts are here! There's a project. We have to lay the drip, plastic mulch the beds and get em' in. Five 125ft beds, hopefully Monday?
Oh and one more thing... Don't forgret to mow.
Take care,
John
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