Farm Report

The only way you're going to get blog entries is if it rains. And, when it does (like 2.1 inches in one T-storm - remember the: Except Higher Amounts...), we have a chance to write several blog entries and let them roll out each day for a while!

Some of this may be dated by the time it is read, but here you go anyway - as of July 10:

Lettuce:
It's been a good year for lettuce thus far. Good taste, good crops. To give everyone an idea of what volume we talk about on our farm - here are the pick counts of the three top varieties through this date:
Crispmint: 499 heads - 293 lbs
Bronze Arrowhead: 282 heads - 158 lbs
Amish Deer Tongue: 87 heads - 35 lbs
Other: 67 heads
this represents about a quarter ton of lettuce so far for the season. That puts a neat twist on it.

to give you yet another perspective. It takes about 140 heads of lettuce to fulfill the 3 for large share, 2 for standard share and 1 for single share distribution on Thursdays. We can typically fit between 12 and 20 heads of lettuce per cooler. so, it is not unusual for 7 coolers to be dedicated to lettuce when we head to the pick up location.

Summer Squash and Zucchini:
Our first pick was July 9 this year. Last year it was July 15 and two years ago: July 6. 2007 was a good year - and we're looking like we're more on track for that picking curve than last years. the down side is that the germination rate of the first planting was lower than desired. The germination of the second planting is excellent, but it is 2.5 weeks behind the other planting. Planting 3 (our last) goes in as soon as the soil dries out enough to put seeds in.

Peppers/Eggplant:
Last year peppers didn't do much until September (very odd) and eggplants were the little steam engine that couldn't. This year, the plants look more like 2007 for pacing. Which puts the pick schedule around July 31 with teases starting around July 15 until then. We often call the early fruits 'scouts.'

Tomato:
The VERY FIRST tomato in 2008 was on August 2. It was July 23 in 2007. This year it was July 8. Hmmmmm. We had something similar occur a couple of years ago - causing us to feel as if we would be swimming in tomatoes before the month was out. But, again, these are scouts. What this does say is that we may start our peak a bit early - say about August 10 this year. It also says that our early varieties may actually fulfill their promise this season.

Here's hoping.