If you've been by the farm lately you've seen the big barn project we've undertaken. Tony, who has served Oak Spring in so many ways over the years through many projects, was ready to take on the barn. We knew it would be a big deal but it had to be done soon or some of the aging would not be reversible. We have discovered some pretty major damage over the past couple of weeks and we are reassessing the cost and breadth of this project but we have to admit it was now or never. Not the first now or never project of 2020 (remember the new well?). So we persevere and keep on keeping on to keep this farm healthy and able to produce nutrient dense food and knowledgable farmers for years to come.
The San Marzano (heirloom plum) tomatoes are coming in this week to join the beefsteak (from Siwik Organic farm) and cherry tomatoes. We hope you can use these to preserve some of the tastes of summer for your winter meals. I love to oven roast the San Marzanos whole and pack them in quart freezer bags with olive oil for later use. OF course you can preserve with a pressure canner but I find it's easier to freeze small batches.
As you know we've had drought conditions this summer followed by hot, humid weather...
Drought can cause issues in family Solanaceae one of them called blossom end rot. Plants like tomatoes & peppers need calcium to produce healthy fruits. While transplanting we amend every hole with a balanced fertilizer and gypsum which provides necessary calcium and sulfur. When the weather is hot and dry the plants can't take up calcium from the soil. This can cause the bottoms of the fruit to develop rotten spots. The red & yellow sweet peppers, bell peppers and 2nd planting of tomatoes had this issue. We had been very careful with watering this season but we still had issues. We consulted Fertrell, the company where we buy our organic fertilizer products, on how to keep our plants healthy. They advised us to feed the plants an organic liquid calcium and seaweed extract each week. We started doing this and we are seeing some improvement in our peppers & tomatoes. WE use a backpack sprayer and are spraying the plants with a Calcium Magnesium solution. One goal we have for next year is to implement 'fertigation' where we add the liquid nutrients through the drip irrigation system. This way we can start providing extra calcium & seaweed earlier next year to head off issues before they start. Another goal, more costly, is to keep all the tomatoes and peppers under cover in Caterpillar tunnels to protect them more from air borne diseases, pests and to control the water they receive. Too much water is as detrimental as too little water. Consistency is the key to fine tomatoes and peppers.
So there's that!
Bread share will be a small Multiseed loaf this week with Large Country and small Rosemary Orange Zest as extras.
As far as fruit share goes we have some lovely melons coming in and then...
it's apples from here on out so get your pie recipes ready!
