This Week on the Farm
We finally got rain this week! The hot weather is gone and the rain helped out all of the plants immensely. It is supposed to rain again tonight, which is good since most of our fields are very sandy. The sand does not hold onto the water very well and it dries out very quickly.
It was a busy week as per usual here on the farm. This weekend we started direct seeding fall crops in several of our fields. We planted beets, kohlrabi, turnips, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. The broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower seeds are going in several weeks late since it kept getting pushed to the back of our very long to-do list, but we thought we would give it a try. We have never tried direct seeding these crops, so it will be a learning experience for the both of us.
We also weeded our loose leaf lettuce mix which is looking really nice. We are almost done weeding our second block of lettuce. Each block is two feet by one hundred and forty-eight feet. It takes a long time, but the rain made weed pulling a lot easier.
We would like to thank my parents, Bruce & Eileen, for coming down on Sunday and helping us weed the lettuce and weed whack the overgrown high tunnel and the fence around the near field. An extra couple of sets of hands helps out so much! We are definitely thinking about opening up a couple of worker shares for next year if there is any interest.
On Monday Tyler and our workers weeded in the squash field. The squash plants are starting to look a little sad, powdery mildew has appeared and is spreading fairly rapidly. 
Powdery mildew does not affect the quality of the fruit, but can decrease yield if in high enough concentrations where it causes a decrease in photosynthesis.
We can use copper sulfate to slow the spread of the disease in the cucurbits, but we haven’t used any thing yet. Another way we try to slow/prevent the spread of the disease is by not entering the fields until all of the morning dew has dried since the spores are carried by water splashing from plant to plant.
We also hilled the leeks. Hilling means covering a portion of the stem with soil. This will blanch the stem and turn it white.
Tyler started rototilling the area under the high tunnel. We are having problems with quack grass. Our plan is to till it and let it sit. Then in a week or two we are going to come through and weed it by hand. Quack does spread by rototilling, but we have reached the point where we are trying anything!
For those of you who like our kale, good news, the bugs that skeletonized the kale are gone and the plants are recovering nicely. They have put several new leaves on and should be ready to harvest again in a couple of weeks.
Our Apple Share order forms are now available. Sign-up is not limited to current C.S.A. customers, so let your friends know they can get locally produced apples delivered to our drop-off location.
We are so excited to partner with Lapacek’s Orchard to offer you the opportunity to eat locally grown apples. Lapacek’s Orchard uses IPM to produce delicious apples. For more information or for a copy of the order form e-mail kate@burroakgardens.com or call 920-992-3643 or 608-234-0674.