| What is rain did to the fields in the month of August.
The Field Crops
The rain from the storm caused a lot of different things to happen this month.
The rain set back the successive plantings of green beans so we were one planting behind and did not have green beans for a couple of weeks in August. We also lost tons of tomatoes. Ton is hardy an exaggeration. It has been 3:1. Three tomatoes get trashed and one is saleable out of every four tomatoes picked. The rain pronounced doom on the cabbage that was not picked as those in the field split.
The very hot and dry weather before the storm caused the black raspberries to develop too slowly for a second crop this year. The heat also caused the tomatoes to slow down on flower production so now there are less tomatoes then normal.
The good news is the peaches and nectarines were already picked before the storm and most of the plums. The red raspberries did not seem to mind the heat or the storm. They are producing well for the second crop. Surprisingly the figs are coming on strong and they will probably have the best year yet. This seems odd to me since figs do so well in Mediterranean climates which seems dry with low humidity. We are looking for good fall crops of spaghetti and delicata squash very soon. The grapes will be picked next week. We are still getting cucumbers, sugar cubes and watermelon plus zucchini.
We have turnips and Diakon radishes planted, but they went in late because the fields were too muddy to get the planter into the fields on the right time. We also have carrots and beets planted as well.
The Tunnels
Because it was very warm and rainy we got a dose of downy mildew in the tunnel where the cherry tomatoes are. We are still dealing with this. There is a lot of new growth, but it may be too late in the year for them to recover. We are still pruning them weekly. All the mildewed leaves need to be cut out and this does not leave very much green leaf for photosynthesis to occur. .
The early tomato tunnel has been cleaned; the the ground cloth installed and lettuce and spinach plugs were planted last week. This spinach and lettuce should carry us through the markets in October, November and December.
Greenhouse Seeding
Seeding has been minimal in August. We seeded the spinach and lettuce for the tunnel and the kale and chard for the winter tunnels and also the first planting of winter lettuce and bok choi
CSA
The CSA is on week 13 now. We are still having summer vegetables and fruits. We should be able to keep the summer produce going through September. We will have good winter squash, apples and pears for October and November.
Canning, Gardening, Grilling and Preserving
I made a very good recipe last week with eggplant. I got it from a friend in Alexandria. I cut an eggplant into 8 1 inch slices and put them into an 9 x 13 pan. I mixes together 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 TBLS of crushed cumin seed and 3 cloves of garlic minced and 1 TBP of sea salt. I spread 1 tsp of basting mixture on each slice. I turned the slices over and and spread another tsp on each. Bake it in the oven of 20 minutes. Flip each slice and return to the oven for 15 – 20 more minutes. It was delicious and a pleasant change from the traditional fried eggplant that I usually make.
I made several peach pies this month and lots of blueberry muffins. I still have about four pint of blueberries to use. I think I will make a peach/blueberry pie this Saturday. I grilled a couple times this month. I have not had much time to cooking because of the cherry tomato debacle and I have been canning. Last week I canned 20 pint of green beans for the winter months. I am planning to can some tomato sauce this weekend. I was not able to can any whole tomatoes yet, because the tomatoes are not nice enough. Hopefully there will be some in September for whole tomatoes. The second tomatoes are great for sauce and paste. I do not usually add spices to my sauce. All my daughters make pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce etc. I use to do this when I had a lot of children at home, but now that it is just Gregg and me, I just can plain saucer. I still have several jars of tomato juice from last year and I also still have ketchup canned from from last year. I am gearing up for the grapes in the first two weeks of September.
The flowers are looking lovely. I enjoy getting to work with them. I allow every Saturday just for flowers or yard things – No farming – no tunnels- no weeding vegetables – just flowers. I planted the flowering kale for picking in October and November. I love the sunflowers right now. I planted a lot of different kinds and they are all wonderful. It is hard to look at a sunflower and not smile!
Farm Stands and Markets
The St Luke’s Farm Stand is open every Saturday from 8 – 1 pm . Come out and support the local farm on Saturdays!
The Belle View Condos Farm Stand is open every Thursday from 2 – 7 pm
The East Columbia Library Farm Stand is open every Thursday from 12 noon – 6 pm
The Fairfax Community Market is open every Saturday from 8 am- 1 pm.
TUESDAYS
St Luke’s Farm Stand – every Tuesday through September 24 from 12 – 6 pm
Come out and support our farm in one of these locations.
Have a Great Day!
Louise
Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm, Inc
Gregg and Louise Keckler
Oliver and Lizzie Keckler with Isabelle, Remington and Cassidee, also
Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm, Inc
1410 Goodyear Rd
Gardners, PA 17324
717-486-4653
www.orchardcountryproduce.com |
