This is a fun time of year. The CSA has rounded out to 30 members, and I like it there. We have 14 weeks left, so not quite halfway, but close. The tomatoes are producing well, and the heirlooms are making there way into the public scene.
As for tomatoes, we are growing “early girl”, of course, but we also have green zebra, black zebra, pruden’s purple, cherokee purple, black from tula and striped german. They all produce fairly well, at least at the farm, even though their soil didn’t start out so great.
With our last heat wave, last week, at temperatures between 105-110 for four days, we had a lot of harvesting to do. Ryan was living it up in Yosemite, along with Christin and Steph, two of our great volunteers. So, Zoe, Andrea and I had a lot of picking. Andrea and I were harvesting at the farm until 10pm on friday night, mainly picking tomatoes in the early evening. It was sweet. A little bit rushed, but, nevertheless, sweet.
Now the melons are ripening also. The first couple of rows, with charantais, two cantaloupe varieties, and an ananas variety, are producing such sweetness. I forgot about the melons for a while, but now I remember exactly what is in that patch. We should have melons ripening through mid-september.
All in all, I am truly pleased right now to see the farm.
And, as a contrasting viewpoint, I still wonder what the CSA boxes will have at the end of september. Will the tomatoes hold up and keep producing through then? Will our last cucumber plantings be producing then? Will the squash hold out?
Stay tuned.
Andrew
We’ve been picking tomatoes heavy for a few weeks now. The Early Girls were the first the come, then an open pollinated (not Monsanto) version of Big Beef. Now the heirlooms are rolling in: Pruden’s Purple, Cherokee Purple, Black From Tula, Striped German, and Green Zebra (not technically an heirloom, or so they say…whoever they are).
There are tons of fruit, quite literally, on the 650 or so tomato plants. And a lot are ripening really well. The total growth of the plants has been a little smaller than expected, so I have been out early in the mornings giving them a foliar feed of brix mix. I think they really like the attention even more than the fertilizer.
Today it was 106 at the farm. It’s surprising to me that it was that hot because it didn’t feel like it to me. On days like this I eat very little (less calories = less internal heat production…try it sometime this summer) and drink a lot of water. I end up working all day and feeling great - I wouldn’t have thought it over 90 if I didn’t look at the thermometer.
We just cut out our first patch of corn. It was really, really good. It was a small patch, but very productive, for corn (which, by the way, has got to be the least economically efficient crop available to the small farmer). The next few are bigger and I think they’ll be nice.
enjoy the heat,
andrew
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |