The alarm went off at 4:45 Friday morning…harvest day!

We loaded the coolers and baskets into the quad trailer and zipped on down to the field.

First item: Kale. This was our last kale cutting. It’s been a long greens season due to the rainy spring and it isn’t selling very well at the market anymore. Time to dig it up, feed the stalks to the hogs and plant a quick summer buckwheat cover. We load our greens into coolers right in the field so that the heat is removed as quickly as possible. We try to cut them before the sun hits to avoid bitterness and get them in the icy water fast.

Next up was green beans. We had heard from other small farmers that harvesting green beans can be a time consuming process (read: not worth it) but I enjoy the hunt for the slender tender beans. We are growing french rolande, tendergreen and yellow wax varieties. Not enough plants to really sell at the market, however, we are eating them with most meals. I am hoping the yield will increase with the season. Either way, We will need to increase bean production dramatically to make it worth growing next year.

Then came squash. Squash is our biggest producer at the moment and is flowering like crazy. Everyone who has ever grown squash knows how quickly they grow. One minute you are sure you have harvested all of them and the next time you walk by the plants, there are five 2lb zucchinis laughing at you! I am really loving the summer squash. My favorite is a patty pan variety, called “Green Bennings Tint”. Super delicious and a beautiful pale green.

Raspberries are starting to come in strong with about 3lbs a week. We are selling some of them wholesale, making jam, and saving *some* for market. They line the fence as you enter our main field and it sure is hard not to sneak a few *every time* we walk by.

Salad Greens this time of year are hit or miss. Last week, we had a decent harvest and this week they barely grew back so we are waiting a week in hopes for some 3” leaves. We also direct seeded and shade clothed a few more beds of lettuces. We would really like to grow salad greens year round. They are our best seller and a good niche market. They are also the crop we have received the most positive feedback about.

Then we stared at the tomato plants for bit. We even found ONE almost ripe Stupice to eat with breakfast. I know, I know…once tomato season starts we will be up to our ears in bushels. I am just so excited for tomatoes! (I prefer to not eat tomatoes out of season and every summer I am so ready for big juicy treats.) I think I was a bit zealous and planted close to 800 plants (18 different varieties). Tomatoes grow well here. I also hope they sell well. Eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and more strawberries are not far behind.

Our biggest project lately has been cold storage. We wanted to build a 6x8 “cool” room in our garage that we could keep at about 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit. However, this provide to be out of budget. We were hoping to be able to keep the room cool with a regular window air conditioner. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t work. A/C units aren’t built to go that low. There is a coolbot converter unit but that pushed the project into the $1500 range. If you have a couple of grand lying around and are expecting 1000’s of pounds of produce every week- check out this study done by the University of Kentucky, “Low Cost Cold Storage Room for Market Growers.” So instead we will be trying out some various evaporative cooling techniques involving wicking, fans, and burlap. We will keep you posted! In the mean time, good ol’ fashioned refrigerators  are doing the job just fine.