The interesting event at the farm this week was a nasty storm cell proceeding to rip the roof of the Peach greenhouse length ways about 75%… It is now flapping in the breeze, which means the peaches won’t be in a greenhouse the rest of this season. That actually is not bad for the peaches, since their window of risk of Peach leaf curl is back in February. It still means a fun job of removing a really large ripped plastic roof, and eventually replacing it. Farming is fun, we keep repeating that.
Meanwhile, this cold and wet (which should end here Real Soon Now) is helping delay budding of the orchard fruit. They should really pop out here in a few days, which causes the farmer optimism to rage and roar – The real rule is don’t count the harvest till it is in the barn. Or, in the CSA case in the box.
Every two days the poor little cabbage heads get squeezed to see if they are firming up yet. There are a lot of the heads, so the task flips between staring very closely and then gently pressing to see if the head is ‘ready.’ They are SO CLOSE… The Chard, Mustard and Spinach are doing well, but the Cabbage was/is supposed to be the centerpiece of the green season.
Meanwhile, the new planting of Kale is cautiously getting bigger. There will be some of the over-wintered Kale in the boxes this week, the new stuff is coming. If the weather people are right, the next couple of weeks should be ideal for the outside crops. It is really time to start setting things out – but it is off-putting to watch a hard batch of hail come through and think about those poor tender seedlings!
meanwhile, this week looks very similar to last week unless perchance there is a cabbage head in your future.
| Lettuce | Winter density short romaine and Cegolaine – there might be a scrap of Red Iceberg possible.. Beware the aphids! |
| Brassicas | Cabbage is, well, TBD. Some small leaf (overwintered) Kale, bigger leaf (new) Kale is probably not really ready. Broccoli and Cauliflower are sulking. |
| Roots | All out for now… check back in main season. |
| Greens | Arugula, Wasabi mustard, Spinach. |
| Herbs | Chives are great; Celery leaves are small but available (ask, in case it gets forgotten). Everything else is just thinking about being available. |
| Misc | …TBD when it happens… Watch this space… |
There are a LOT of beds to be planted, and LOT of trays to be set out. Still. No More Hail!
This week’s FarmCraft is a new effort – Cedar planters. Consulting with the FarmCraft guru, these 36″ planters with the really cool Cedar look are worth “between $100-15.” So, $100 I suppose. There are two just getting finished, and four of the $50 pots.
