the rain will bring new harvests...soon

1/2" of rain this morning felt pretty good! Too bad it didn't lower the temperature or cut the humidity at all! And I hear we are heading for a mid-week heat wave! But, while I weaved twine around the tomatoes this evening I saw (in flowers and green tomatoes) how happy they are to have this heat. And I remembered, the first tomato sliced on fresh bread with a bit of homemade mayo makes it all worthwhile!

Next up on our harvest list is the garlic! I have been questioning whether it was ready (aka pushing it back on the to do list) and with this bit of rain and hot temps I think the time is now...well, after market on Tuesday perhaps. We will have more pictures and info on the garlic harvest later this week.

We are also starting to pull onions for sale at markets this week. We will have Gold Coin and Red Marble Cipollini onions. Try them roasted on the grill whole for a sweet. delicious treat!

I believe it's understood by most that this has been a tough year on farmers (throughout the whole country) with heavy rain and flooding delaying planting in the Spring and now a Summer void of rain. But these past few weeks have been really hard on me to see our crops just sitting in the fields waiting for rain. I know it is part of the learning process and to add to my experience, but this work is very intimate and all farmers feel tremendous pride over their work and harvests. So in a hard year, we have little choice but to take it personal. However, we will endure and put our struggles in perspective and rejoice in a bountiful harvest...eventually!

pictured above: NY Early onion, German Hardneck garlic, Cabernet Onion, My hat

I think it's time for a new hat!

pictures-long overdue

It has been a busy busy Spring for us on the farm! I don't remember being this tired last year... but I do romanticize the past, which, I think, makes me perfectly suited for farming. By only thinking positively about last season, I am able to charge full steam ahead into the unknown of another year. Facing the weather, the biting flies, the sore muscles and sunburns. I embrace it all and feel nothing but lucky to do this everyday.

Our first week of harvests and markets are behind us and we could not have asked for a warmer embrace from our Downtown Market friends. It was so great to see you all again and we are looking forward to another great year!  We are also so happy we joined the Regional Market and look forward to our early Saturday mornings!
We have added a new section to our website: Daily Harvest Newsletter, which we will update every Sunday evening to let you know what we will be harvesting for markets that week. Included, will also be some recipe links to get you thinking about ways to use up the harvest and prepare some delicious dinners.

Now for a week in pictures:

Mulching Winter Squash

We finally got the onions weeded!

We're Growing!

The garlic paid a premium for this view!

Tomatoes are enjoying their new field, we are enjoying the extra space!

The good and bad of garden bugs

As a beginning farmer, working on land that was planted to corn for many years I am constantly trying to build and replenish the soil. And we are also working very hard to encourage biodiversity on the farm. Just by growing a diversity of crops, we are easily enhancing the wildlife and insect activity on the farm. But we know we need to do more so we leave large sections of the fields uncultivated to allow for beneficial insects, snakes, birds and other critters to find homes. We plant companion plants to attract the types of insects we prefer, and that prey on the insects we farmers call pests.

One such pest that has given us a bit of heartache the last couple weeks is the Cucumber Beetle (shown here in stripes, but also comes in spots). It wiped out our first planting of cucumbers by infecting them with bacterial wilt as it fed on the young seedlings. This bacteria that lives in the gut of the beetles kills young plants instantly, making it necessary to remove plants to help control the beetles. We were very sad to see our first planting of cucumbers go but have successfully gotten 2 more plantings in and with the help of floating row cover have not seen another cucumber beetle. It is our goal for the farm to grow healthy soil that produce healthy plants that can stand up to and even deter insect damage, as pests typically only attack stressed or unhealthy plants. We are also growing companion plants that will attract beneficial insects to feed on our pests. Once the cucumber beetles were spotted I immediately planted catnip, dill, cilantro, fennel, mizuna, and crimson clover to attract the soldier beetle and other beneficial insects that prey on the beetle eggs and larvae.  In just a couple months we will be enjoying a delicious cucumber salad feeling like all our efforts were worth it!

The heat is back!

Today we experienced the first 90 degree day of the season. This time last year we had already had 8 straight days of this oppressive heat, so I feel lucky this is just a short heat wave. From the plants, I hear mixed reviews: The Spring crops that were planted late this year because of heavy rains are now getting a bit stressed in this heat. Peas, turnips, broccoli, and cauliflower prefer much cooler weather and could possibly go to seed before producing the harvest. However, the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash are extremely happy after sufficient rain and these hot, sunny days. As farmers, we often think we have the best made plan but in fact we have little control over our farms. We must be flexible, adapt, and learn. This is why we plant a wide variety of crops and make many successions of plantings. And we reassure ourselves that there WILL be a harvest!

One days like today it is important to be smart and not push ourselves through this heat. I like to get an extra early start and then take the hottest part of the day off to rest, stay cool, and drink an ice cold salty lemonade. My other favorite way to stay cool is to make cucumber juice. It is delicious and removes heat from the body. Then, the cool evening welcomes me back to the farm refreshed. The pace on these days is hectic but feels calming, efficient and productive.

April (and May) showers bring summer garlic!

Last November we spent a few beautiful days planting garlic around the farm. Laying on a nice straw cover, we tucked them in for winter and are anxiously waiting for the first scape and bulb harvest. Garlic has more benefits than we can list but it is strongly promoted for fighting the cold and flu and supporting heart health. It is also well known as being an aphrodisiac. (And garlic breath is not a problem if you both are eating it!)

We planted 4 varieties of garlic: German Red, French Red, Italian Purple and Ozark Soft Neck. I am looking forward to a blind taste test. And roasting whole bulbs of garlic on the grill!
But before we all get too excited, I should say this garlic will not be for eating...this year. We are growing it primarily for seed to provide our farm a beautiful future of producing yummy garlic. However, we will have a few of the smaller cloves to try at our markets this year. So, stay tuned and come visit us at market to learn more about our garlic harvest and taste the different varieties.
You can find us on Tuesdays at the Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market in Clinton Square and on Saturdays at the Syracuse Regional Market (Shed C).

Seedlings are ready but the soil is not

1000's of seedlings sit, ready to just about jump into the ground themselves. The soil is too wet to work, and we fear planting seedlings into this over-saturated soil will only lead to stress on the plants and possible crop failure. We will wait in hope that this weekend will bring sunny/windy weather to dry the soil.

Loads of broccoli, kale, cauliflower, swiss chard, leeks, and onion plants ready to be planted

***Stay tuned for information about garden seedlings for sale at our early markets. We will have all of our heirloom tomatoes and favorite varieties of cucumbers, peppers, herbs, and greens for sale soon.***

Drying out

It seems the soil is really starting to dry out-finally. I even got a bit of tilling done today. We are somewhat behind where we would like to be with seeding but we have had to wait for the soil to dry before we could work it. We are patient as are the plants: the greenhouse is full of onions, leeks, chard, and kale that would love to go into the ground. It looks like we are in for a bit of colder/wet weather this weekend, so we are hoping for a few big seeding/transplanting days next week.