Veggies, WP Migration

We are excited that most of our fall transplants are still alive!

Posted on by mhoadmin
We are thankful that although we continue to have rain showers nearly each day, each storm is bringing less rain, allowing us to transplant and direct seed a few crops for fall. With our current crop rotation, it just so happens that our fall crops are growing in our sandiest (meaning driest) field. We are thankful to have built a deer fence around that field as it just might pay for itself this fall alone if we are able to harvest tasty greens.
Just a couple weeks ago we transplanted our fall crops, then covered these crops with floating row cover, all this work done to simply prevent them from being devoured by flea beetles and harlequin bugs. Over the years we have accumulated an assortment of row cover each with a different weight and weave, only because as we phase out old sheets replacing them with new, our suppliers keep changing the brand and weight they sell. It seems the best type that has worked so far, with the longest usage,  was one made by DuPont that we last purchased around 6 years ago. We are using this type for our baby boc choi and have noticed a lot of flea beetle damage so we will need to phase this type completely out of production. Our fall crops must be transplanted mid July through August so they mature before it gets too cold for them to grow. While the row cover prevents bugs from destroying our crops, it also raises the temperature of the plants a few degrees, which is great for our Spring season. However, with the fall crops that are transplanted during the peak heat of summer, this protection creates the risk of loosing these crops to overheating. We estimate that we have lost half our fall broccoli crop to overheating as we try to figure out which row cover works best for our summer season. The row cover that we used for our broccoli is a tighter weave, and heavier in weight, so it seems to not allow as much airflow, meaning that we will not be using this type during the summer anymore. The lighter weight row cover worked well but it seems to tear fairly easy, which to us doesn’t seem very sustainable, since it only lasts a couple seasons. It would be nice if all row cover was created equal, with some kind of rating, just so the farmer can figure out which should be used each season as new brands and types become available while others are discontinued. Floating row covers do have a rating but the rating doesn’t seem that helpful from a sustainability aspect. Perhaps that is too difficult with so many different climates and conditions around the country.
We normally leave our crops covered for a couple weeks after transplanting. It is always a surprise to see what has survived being covered for a couple weeks. We were pleasantly surprised to see that most of our fall crops seem to be doing well.
We normally leave our crops covered for a couple weeks after transplanting. It is always a surprise to see what has survived being covered for a couple weeks. We were pleasantly surprised to see that most of our fall crops seem to be doing well.
The weeds really do LOVE THE HEAT under floating row cover. The weeds grew so much faster than our crops these past couple weeks that our cultivating tractor couldn't do it's job in removing the weeds.
The weeds really do LOVE THE HEAT under floating row cover. The weeds grew so much faster than our crops these past couple weeks that our cultivating tractor couldn't do it's job in removing the weeds.
Here Chris is removing the floating row cover from our fall crops. We leave a few of the crops, like baby boc choi, covered for nearly their entire life. Chris is super efficient using the wheel hoe when weeding our crops.
Here Chris is removing floating row cover from our fall crops. We leave a few of the crops, like baby boc choi, covered for nearly their entire life. Chris is super efficient using the wheel hoe when weeding our crops.
George rolling up floating row cover. He is GREAT at unrolling the fabric because he is tall with a large arm span so can straddle the bed with the roll while the rest of us put rocks to hold down the cover. George has BEEN AMAZING this season in writing our newsletters and helping to care for Sassy. Carl and I have so much enjoyed having the year off of writing the newsletters each week and hope that when George is off running his own Farm To Table business that Carl and I can continue producing his quality of newsletters.
George rolling up floating row cover. He is GREAT at unrolling the fabric because he is tall with a large arm span so can straddle the bed with the roll while the rest of us put rocks to hold down the cover. George has BEEN AMAZING this season in writing our newsletters and helping to care for Sassy. Carl and I have so much enjoyed having the year off of writing the newsletters each week and hope that when George is off running his own Farm To Table business that Carl and I can continue producing his quality of newsletters.
Slyvestre hand weeding. He is among the most efficient of us at pulling weeds by hand. Because the soil is so wet, and the weeds so big, the farm crew hand weeded nearly all the fall crops. It beets spraying herbicides so that we can keep the biological life in our soil healthy.
Slyvestre hand weeding. He is among the most efficient of us at pulling weeds by hand. Because the soil is so wet, and the weeds so big, the farm crew hand weeded nearly all the fall crops. It beets spraying herbicides so that we can keep the biological life in our soil healthy.
pic – crops weeded
YEAH FARM CREW for working so hard at a first pass in weeding the first succession of our fall transplants. Mostly likely we will be weeding most of these crops once again and we have more to plants to set out so this will be an ongoing job for the next month.
YEAH FARM CREW for working so hard at a first pass in weeding the first succession of our fall transplants. Mostly likely we will be weeding most of these crops once again and we have more to plants to set out so this will be an ongoing job for the next month.
We are beginning to harvest eggplant but our yield is VERY LOW. We think this may be due to the blossoms falling off, rather being pollinated and setting fruit, because the bees don't come out and play in the rain!
We are beginning to harvest eggplant but our yield is VERY LOW. We think this may be due to the blossoms falling off, rather being pollinated and setting fruit, because the bees don't come out and play in the rain!
We are thankful to be harvesting greenhouse peppers that are incredibly sweet. We have a lot of culls we think because our greenhouse irrigation system is delivering too much water. We fixed our well pump and forgot to adjust our watering system to compensate for icreased water pressure.
We are thankful to be harvesting greenhouse peppers that are incredibly sweet. We have a lot of culls we think because our greenhouse irrigation system is delivering too much water. We fixed our well pump and forgot to adjust our watering system to compensate for icreased water pressure.
We direct seeded arugula, beets, carrots, turnips and beans. Direct seeding is placing seeds directly into the soil rather than transplanting. Here I am using the our earthway seeder to seed french filet beans.
We direct seeded arugula, beets, carrots, turnips and beans. Direct seeding is placing seeds directly into the soil rather than transplanting. Here I am using the our earthway seeder to seed french filet beans.
mhoadmin

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