“Severe Drought, Heavy Rains Hamper Pumpkin Crop,” read the headline in one of the ag papers we get. Steve pointed it out to me, “That about sums up farming right there.” Our pumpkin crop did fine here, though, and the cows and goats are now enjoying what’s left of the jack o’lantern pumpkins. The rain we did have last week was about perfect – a nice soaking to help our cover crops and the pasture grasses along, but not a gulley washer. Now we just need it to continue to rain like that once a week or so through the winter.
The rain did put a cap on the 2014 strawberry season, however, so this week we are taking out the strawberry beds and taking the plastic mulch and drip tape to the recycling center. The starter plants we ordered for our 2015 strawberry patch have been dug and will now get a few more weeks of “chill” in the cooler before we get them into the ground. Strawberry plants are typically grown from runners off of a mother plant, so that all the plants of a given variety are from one original plant. Varieties are bred for qualities specific to particular climates and conditions and also to the way they will be grown and harvested. We grow varieties that do well with organic production techniques and that taste great when harvested ripe. They tend to be softer but sweeter than varieties developed to withstand shipping and storage after harvest. In support of the ongoing effort to make organic starter plants available to growers, we are also purchasing 2000 organic plug starts being grown as a trial this season.
Large blocks of the farm that had winter squash and other recently finished crops are now going into cover crop, and we managed to transplant a block of kales, collards, broccoli and cabbage out before the rains started last week–probably our last field planting of the year. We immediately covered them with row cover to try to fend off the bagrada bug. Inside our high tunnels we still have tomatoes ripening and we are trying to make room for direct-seeded crops like bok choi, spinach, mustard greens, and arugula which we will plant in the coming weeks.
We also have quite a few new things in the field that are just coming ready to harvest. Broccoli always matures better in cooler weather, and the broccoli that some of you will receive in your boxes this week is no exception. The heads stay tighter and grow large with nice whitish-green stalks instead of the dark, purplish stalks that broccoli can have when it is under heat, water, or nutrient stress. Like most things in the brassica family, broccoli also tastes better when it matures in cooler weather. The beans this week are from the last outside planting of the year. We also have a late planting of beans in one of the high tunnels to see if we can extend the season for these.
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