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Long time no see!

We're back. I'm not going to say anything like "we're better than ever," even if we are. Winter's gone, and boy did it seem to linger this year. I guess I feel that way every year.

So...what's going on at the farm? What isn't going on at the farm. First the important news items.
  • We've joined the Certified Naturally Grown program this year. And no we can't use the 'O' word. It's the law. That said, we follow the NOP standards to meet our CNG certification. We just don't have the government to answer to.
  • There's going to be a tiny and "somewhat useless as a farm hand" addition to the farm family come October. No..not a toy poodle. Sheesh...Do I have to spell it all out for you...A BABY!!!
  • Allis Chalmers D17 is back from the shop and she's taking names now and asking questions later. It runs so well, that I wonder if it's running better than the day it was new. Sadly, it is a gas hog.
  • Allis Chalmers G is getting ready to make it's debut as well. This tractor is going to be our cultivation tractor. We have a sudden embarrassment of riches in the tractor department. I guess this means we're out of excuses until next year (see point about baby).
OK..now to the far less interesting stuff. What follows is the boring minutae:

  • Garlic is coming up (just shy of 4000 bulbs this year)
  • Peas are planted
  • Onions are planted
  • Spinach is planted
  • Our out of cycle fields are either plowed/disked/planted with cover or just plowed (did a bunch today)
  • A ton of stuff is started in flats. I guess I'm done being specific.
Also, thanks to our neighbor I learned the correct way to plow a field. There's a pretty good post on how here.

 
 

New Site...and yes...it's autumn

Not that anyone noticed, but the site is all newish. OK...maybe it doesn't look quite as spiffy as it did, but I'm trying. I decided to move away from Apple's iWeb (no link provided) to blogger. It's a lot easier and I'm not tied to a specific machine for publishing.

OK other news. Here's a not quite new pic of our winter squash just after we had pulled it all in. Most of what you see is long gone. In the case of the butternut, Skidmore College was our primary consumer. Pumpkins went here and there...including a bunch of elementary school kids.

And the most exciting news (for me at least). Allis Chalmers D-17 is healthy again and ready to roll for next year!!! I've got plans for that old tractor. I'll post pics this weekend.

 
 

More news from the farm

Big happenings with us...First and most importantly, our garden grows quite nicely.

My fingers are crossed, but I haven’t seen a cucumber beetle yet this year. The only downside is that we planted a LOT of hubbard squash. We did this because the cucumber beetles love the hubbard. The intent was that we’d attract the beetles to the hubbard instead of our precious cucumbers and summer squash. In the process we anticipated losing a lot of the big blue squash. Oh well. Lots of pumpkin pies for us.

In other news, our house in Greenfield (nope, we don’t live on the farm...yet) is going on the market this week. If you know anyone who’s looking for a nice house, we’re moving to the farm...

Lastly, we’re skipping the Thursday market because we don’t have enough to sell right now. We will be there Saturday and anticipate having the following:
This week:
Red Romaine Lettuce
Peas (hopefully shelling, snow and snap)
Sprouts (3 varieties, mild to hot)
Radishes
Garlic Scapes (last day)
Catnip
Thyme

 
 

Market Begins

We haven’t written anything in a long long time, but we've been super busy! Above is a picture of the edge of one of our fields. We’ve got a lot more this year than the last which brings us to the Ballston Spa farmer’s market.

Here’s the scoop on that:
Ballston Spa Farmer’s Market
Wiswall Park, Front St. Ballston Spa, NY
Thursdays 3-6pm, Saturdays 9am-noon
June 14th-September 29th

I’m going to try to update weekly with what we have growing and what you can expect to see at our booth. That said...it’s always a slow start in June, but the squash and tomatoes will be here before we know it!

This week:
Spinach
Snap Peas
Sprouts (3 varieties, mild to hot)
Radishes
Catnip

 
 

Blueberry Trimming


In addition to starting a ton of seeds, our other big spring task is to get the blueberries and raspberries in shape for the summer.
Step 1 for the blueberries was getting them mulched. We have a problem with Mummyberry. No it’s not some sugary kids cereal, it’s a fungal disease. To oversimplify it...the berries shrivel up, fall, and become next year’s spore packs. Thanks to our out of town friends, we got the straw down last week.
Today, Kathleen and I worked on pruning (step 2). A lot of the bushes haven’t been pruned in years but we’re finally catching up. We’re also not nearly as timid as we used to be about cutting out a “good” branch or two in the interest of keeping the plant healthy and productive.
As a side note...It is in fact April 7th. The picture of Kathleen above illustrates how cold it was today. We may even get snow this week. I like winter, but we’re soooooo ready for Spring. I want the ground to thaw enough so we can get our peas in!!

 
 

Turkeys in the Straw

We had some good friends visit this weekend (2 from Boston, 1 from Minneapolis). As is customary, we took them out in the fields and put them to work.*


As it goes this time of year, ground was too soft, so we walked out to the blueberries. Once we got there, there were 32 bales of straw waiting (strategically placed by me) to mulch the bushes. All the extra hands helped us get the straw down a lot faster, though in the end we only used 22 bales. Ostensibly, they’ll be refreshed with the rest in a few weeks.

*-Note to our friends, we’ll only make you work as hard as you want...We’d love to see y’all this summer!

 
 

Seeds are starting...Truck got Stuck

Here we are at the end of March already. It’s not going out like a lamb just yet as we had lightning tonight along with downpours. That said, the rain ought to finish off the snow.
Speaking of snow, I (Paul) managed to get both the truck and the tractor stuck in it. The tractor was an easy fix (a little bucket maneuvering/pushing). The truck was another story. Still, with Kathleen’s expert advice we got it out one day later.
On to the seeds. So far we’ve started Onions, Leeks, Celeriac, Celery, and Peppers. This weekend, many of our Tomatoes will be started. It’s all officially underway!
I’m also going to start working on a mySQL database to get a better handle on planting times, harvests. I’m working from the inspiration/ideas provided by the Crop Planning Spreadsheets that Brookfield Farm sells. Their sheets are set up for a CSA. We’re primarily farming for a small farmer’s market, so our needs are slightly different. Still, there’s a lot of great stuff there. It will probably take a few years for me to get it right, but hopefully, I’ll have something I can share once it’s developed. Stay tuned.