Freshman Farmer | New Organic Farms Set Roots

Posts Tagged ‘corn’

After the Market

July 11th, 2009
Four Frog Farm | Blog

After the market on saturdays. It’s like after-hours for me, except it’s at the farm.

We had three markets this morning and they were nice and busy - just as I like it. I had a board meeting for the market I sell at. then I went to the farm and got busy irrigating, sidedressing our (already dwindling) basil with blood meal, and harvesting squash.

It was just me this afternoon and, with the overcast weather, I really got into being there. Even though I harvested from all the squash (not a small area), I found it enjoyable. It was a pleasure to work without the sun blazing down on me - mid-westerners: don’t take your clouds for granted, and we won’t take our dry weather for granted either!!!

Anyway, it looks like the temps are going into the upper 90s in a couple of days, which is fine by me. We’re poised to ripen up our first planting of melons, corn, and the tomatoes will come full on!!! It’s time to pay some bills!!!

Andrew

Tags: basil, corn, melons, squash, overcast, saturday

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Melons and Corn

August 7th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

The honeydew melons are just beginning to ripen. It is delicious to have a fresh, well-grown honeydew. The sweet corn takes too much water. I wonder if it’s worth it?

The days haven’t been too hot here. That means slower ripening, but still a good amount. The tomatoes are still going strong, and I hope they do all the way through October. We’ll see about that.

I am planning and planting all of our stuff for late september/october. That includes Kale, Chard, lots of lettuce mix, beets, radishes, sugar snap peas, arugula, pac choi and turnips. It should be a good end of the year for the CSA and the markets.

I might be farming on a much bigger piece of land next year (in addition to this beautiful one acre). Stay tuned.

Andrew

Tags: arugula, beets, chard, corn, honeydew, kale, melons, october, radishes, sugar snap peas, tomatoes

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Almost Halfway

July 21st, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Week 11 is finished. Week 12 is in progress. This is the halfway point of the CSA season. It will run for 24 weeks total, ending a little less than three months from now. Another round of corn is ready this week. It is a white corn, delicious, takes up a lot of space on the farm relative to its return rate. Andrea won’t be at the farm full time anymore. She got herself a job. She’s going to start teaching k-1 at a new school in the area. I… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: andrea, corn, CSA, white corn

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July 8th

July 8th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

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… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: and Green Zebra, big beef, Black From Tula, brix mix, Cherokee Purple, corn, early girls, pruden's purple, Striped German, tomatoes

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Inspiration

July 3rd, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

The seeds have been planted. The “Antonio” bean is in the ground, courtesy of Bluebird Farm, courtesy of Riverhill Farm, courtesy of Antonio. I am plunging into the world of dried grains and beans. I don’t know how this fits in with Wildgrace Farm and the CSA and the Farmers’ Markets and everything like that, but, we’ll see. I am devoting a little space to beans like “Antonio”, ‘hutterite soup bean”, “Jacob’s cattle bean”,… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: beans, CSA, dent corn, farmer's markets, grains, quinoa, wildgrace

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Farm Update

July 3rd, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Now we have completed week nine of the CSA. This week we offered: tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, squash, carrots, lettuce mix, turnips, garlic, sweet corn!, kale and bulbing fennel. It was a good week, and next week is looking great also, with potatoes and leeks on the menu. It seems a little out of season to have potatoes and leeks, because I love potato-leek soup a lot, but, hey, those will be ready. Out at the farm, the tomatoes are really productive, yet could be looking better. … Read the rest of this article »

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Help!!!

June 26th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

So Andrew and I were on the farm mostly by ourselves for the past two months, except for the weekend visits by Andrea. I was working about 50 hours a week and Drew was working much more. And than all of a sudden in one week we have four more people on the farm. Andrea is back for good with our good friend Zoe, and our other good friend Cristen is working on the farm for a good portion of the summer. It is amazing how quickly things can change. The farm is now filled with the vibrant energy of four… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: corn, cucumber, farm, friends, river, ryan, squash, tomatoes, work, zucchini

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First CSA Boxes!

May 11th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Whew. That was a busy week. I harvested, packed and delivered for 18 families this week, in addition to the madness that is May. This is prime planting season right now, because the soil has warmed to a suitable 70-75 degrees. So, now we can direct seed corn, cucumbers, melons, watermelons, basil, squash, winter squash, and a great many other vegetables. So, throw the CSA into Monday and Wednesday, and planting, and maintenance, and that makes me a busy boy. We are getting nice, huge heads… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: basil, broccoli, corn, CSA, cucumber, cutworms, may, melons, squash, vegetables, watermelons, winter squash

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Freeze

April 21st, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Andrew labels varieties of tomatoes I haven’t been to the farm yet this morn. It got cold last night, even colder than Saturday night. We lost a few tomatoes to the frost on Saturday night, but not many. We had them covered with Agribon, and last night we put a double layer over every row. It seems like that was prudent. I don’t know the temp, but it feels like it got below 32 degrees. I have a couple of friends with me this week, so that eases the work load. … Read the rest of this article »

Tags: agribon, cold weather, corn, eggplant, freeze, peppers, squash, tomatoes, weather

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Three farms are starting from scratch.

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.

The Farm Blogs

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