Well, we needed rain, but over 7 inches in less than a week is more than we would like to have for the entire summer. The raised beds we plant in helped keep most of the plants above the flooded areas, but it will be a good while before we can move machinery easily in the fields and the high winds we had even before Tropical Storm Elsa came through have blown over a few rows of plants.
Not all is lost though, there are many plants that are enjoying the extra water, including celery that should be ready in a few more weeks as well as one of the best crops of onions that we have seen in a few years! We have continued to put up plastic tunnels to cover the heirloom tomatoes so that the continued rains will not spread as much disease when the leaves are wet. We have a good number of green tomatoes on the vine and some of the cherry tomatoes are starting to show color. Japanese eggplants are coming on fast now and some peppers will probably be ready this week too. We have pulled a good bit of garlic and once it is dried and sorted, we will have that in shares as well.
As for the rest of the veggies, some the green lettuce is fading away, though the red leaf varieties tend to hold out a bit longer. The much needed rains have been watering the weeds as well as the plants so as soon as it dries, we will continue to be working round the clock on getting weeds cleared from some of the later season harvested plants such as winter squash and sweet potatoes. Melon vines are running, and the Irish potatoes are putting on flowers. Cabbages are balling up and should be ready in another week or two.
We keep planting more seeds in the greenhouse and have put leeks, beets and more successive plantings of squash and cucumbers in the ground along with winter squashes and carrot seeds. Green beans are coming slowly and a few purple beans may show up soon too.
One of the things you may have noticed in our photos or if you come to the farm for pick-ups is the black plastic rows into which the plants are planted. This is called plastic mulch and we use it on some crops and fields for several reasons. Most notably, the mulch reduces the need for costly manual, or fossil-fuel intensive mechanical weeding. In the beginning of the season, the raised beds that are held together underneath the plastic are warmed faster by the spring sunshine, thus raising soil temperatures to speed up germination and growth of early plantings. A video showing some of the process can be found here.
We have also taken a tip from an onion farmer, and learned that if we can put the mulch down and wait for a week or two before planting into it, any weed seeds that were under the plastic will have already germinated and died. So when we poke holes to plant small things like onions, we will spend less time and expense weeding the small spaces around the plantings. There is a line of “drip-tape” that is buried within the bed which allows us to irrigate only the roots of the crops when needed, thus reducing water usage and minimizing the waste of watering the weeds in between the rows. Keeping the leaves and fruits of the plants off of the muddy soil also helps to reduce disease and pest pressure on the plants, while producing a cleaner crop.
At the end of each season, the beds and tape are lifted up and removed from the fields. We use plant-based plastics whenever available and continue to use the other strategies mentioned in last week's newsletter to reduce the amount of waste as much as possible.
Some of the produce you receive today has been rinsed from the field, but like all fresh produce, should be thoroughly washed and often, refrigerated by you at home.
The weekly Pinterest page for the farm has plenty of recipes too.
