One Down...too many to go

The field planning for 2010 is moving forward. And, I'm proud to say that I have one figured out.

Mostly.

Out of nine.

Uh oh.

Actually, it isn't that bad. Several fields will not be planted much differently than 2009. So, the reality for those fields is that we'll make some little tweaks and proceed. And, actually, the field that has long been in need of some real work is the one I've been spending time on. It's all part of our incremental farm improvement. It's too much to ask for us to get everything fixed all at one time. So, we focus on something different to improve each year.

This year, we're trying to get the brassica/allium plot worked out. For the uninitiated, brassica includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kohlrabi. Allium includes our onions and leeks. Three years ago, we had a great year for brussels, kohlrabi and onions. Two years ago, it was broccoli, onions, kale and brussels. Last year, it was kohlrabi and... um. Well, we do have to remember that we have high standards, I guess....

Part of the problem is the simple fact that we have been working on succession planting (multiple plantings in one season to extend the harvest). The other part is determining which varieties we feel work for our fields and our needs. So, without further ado:

Cauliflower varieties for 2010: Amazing (op), Cassius (f1), Early Snowball (op), Fremont (f1), Snow Crown (f1)
Broccoli varieties for 2010: Belstar (f1), Calabrese (op), DeCicco (op), Early Dividend (f1), Gypsy (f1), Packman (f1), Thompson (op), Umpqua (op)
Kohrabi: Eder (f1), Kolibri (f1), Superschmeltz (op), Winner (f1)
Cabbage: Red Express (op), Copenhagen Market (op)
Brussels: Diablo (f1), Long Island Improved (op), Roodnerf(op)
Kale: Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch (op), Lacinato (op), Red Russian (op)

There will be 3 cauliflower successions, 3 kale, 4 cabbage and 6 each for broccoli and kohlrabi.

Wish us luck.