We were at the Potsdam Farmers market today. 5/11, cold and windy!!! Yet so well received by the community!. I never expected so many folks would come out when it was just nasty and bitter. Thank you all who came out in support of your market!! The music was great, the samples were great, the people and the venders were great!!
I got to sleep the last two nights. There is no need to get up every two hours with the green house every night.
All the soil has been plowed and tilled. Cold weather crops have been planted. I planted another set of blueberry bushes yesterday. The asparagus is popping hard and fast. I think we’ll have our first serving for tonight’s meal! Last night we had mustard greens, and we’ve been having kale and spinach for some time. The raspberries are coming hard, I had been so concerned about one section that had been so stressed from the drought last year. The new shoots are coming fast and furious.
It’s been a long cloudy break out of the cold winter months. So far the damp, the cold and the clouds have slowed the growth of our plantings. We need some sunny days, to help the seedlings grow to their potential. I’m still up every two hours checking on the greenhouse every night. The cold weather seedlings wouldn’t need this attention, but our flowers and early jump on the warm weather crops has necessitated it. It’s wearing thin, so I’m looking forward to getting back into a normal sleep pattern. Come on warm weather. : )
The temp outside got down to 21, with a forecast of 16 F tonight. I get up every few hours and check on the temp within the greenhouse. Most of the plants and all of the plantings are cold hardy. I had intended to transfer many of the warm weather seedlings and plants out to the greenhouse, but I will wait a few more days to get past this cold snap. Everything planted in the soil is doing very well!
The new berry bushes and rhubarb are shipped, they are expected any day. The fields are drying up and I will begin the process of prepping the soil for plantings and cover crops. The expansion and improvement of the prep and storage room has begun.
The Spring CSA ( which had limited enrollment) is filled, we are now filling our summer and fall trimester enrollment.
The Spring CSA program starts May 12th, the cost is $120.00. We have lettuce, greens, broccoli, cabbage, radicchio, kohlrabi, onions, berries, asparagus, spring peas….and if everything goes according to plan, some TOMATOES. There are other weather dependent plantings that may also be available in the Spring CSA share boxes. I had to vent the greenhouse today, it got up to 90 degrees.
Seedlings for the greenhouse and the spring CSA program have all popped up. It’s so nice to see some green growing again! Most of the seed we ordered has been received. We got our new plow and our 55 gallon drum of organic fish emulsion. I’m getting the paperwork ready for the CSA season. Debby and I will be attending the Cornell Cooperative session on food safety again. It’s important so we go each year.
It’s 49 degrees today, a far cry from the 63 degree day that was heard on the morning forecast. However the snow is melting and the fields are starting to show again.
Our hoop house plants are started and have sprouted already. It may still be cold and snowy outside but it’s a pleasure to see green again, even if it’s under the grow lights. Each year we make adjustments to both the soil and the methods that we grow, so that we adapt to the changing weather patterns. This year we have added many methods of drip irrigation and we are so very excited about the amendments and gains made with our cover crops from last year. We will rest our original planting area this year, cycling many plantings of cover crops to restore the nutrients and condition the soil. We had such wonderful results with our Green Bean plantings in that original planting area, so the area we restored last year should be equal to the task! I expect to cycle some cherry tomatoes and green beans, in addition to our normal plantings.
Heritage Homestead will participate in the Martins Internet Market. More information to follow. If anyone has any questions we will monitor the email: SafeFarmFresh@gmail.com
We closed out the 2012 growing season with a whole lot of attention to the fruit trees and prepping the soil for this upcoming season. Our cover crops still have a luscious green look to them as the snow melted off. Yesterday, we checked on the bees and their still hunkered down for the winter. Our crop plan is taking shape and the seeds are starting to be shipped. We’re looking forward to the farmers markets this year, as we will have an abundance of products.
Mother Nature was as tough on us this summer, as it was for the rest of the country. We went week after week with no rain, high heat and low humidity. It seemed that every rain storm pass above us or under us, and many even split around us. I remember last year we had six weeks of daily rain, what a switch. Massena and Potsdam got tons of rain, while we got dust bowl conditions. Many of the crops that we grow have drip irrigation. Some fruits fared better, some much worse. We have never had to water the raspberries, but that became necessary this summer. The younger plantings had to be watered several times to stave off being killed off from a lack of rain. We’ve turned the corner on the lack of moisture with several rain storms that netted over an inch each time, one of them close to two inches.
We want to welcome the newest members to our Fall CSA program, and thank each of the members who referred them to our program! We realize that we must be getting it right when we get so many referrals!
We got the hay in this weekend, and are just now finding time to sit down, update the farm web site and have some family time. I look forward to updating this more frequently.
Next post: We brought in 60 tons of compost….
24/7, crazy heat, no rain, weeds, bugs, wow, what a Spring. All that said, and we have been delivering Cherry tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cukes, zukes, tomatoes and the normal array of cool weather products in our CSA program. All of them before July. Never, have I had these products so early. Some of it is the weather, but our new growing methods, all organic, have made a huge difference. We decided to keep 25% of our production fields in cover crops,( a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner), this season and focus on the CSA program. It has always seemed short sited to spend so much time packing, driving and standing at Farmers Markets, when I could be out tending to the crops. We have doubled our CSA membership again this year, it’s so rewarding to hear the feedback from the members. Thank you all for your support!!!!!
I’ll try to find more time to post some notes to this page, I also have some recipe’s that members have given to us, for you to try.
