This Week on the Farm 9/18
Well there are at least two nights this week where frost is a possibility. Tyler and I are not looking forward to the nightly ritual of waking up every hour on the hour to check the temperature outside to see when we need to go and fire up the irrigation system.
In addition to the middle of the night work, each evening we have to close up the high tunnel and pull the frost blankets into place. Then, each morning we have to uncover everything. It takes up a lot of time, especially on harvest days when there is already so much to do, but it is well worth it to get another week or two out of our crops.
Monday we finished up our fall seeding list. We planted two types of radishes and we are now finally done seeding for the year. This planting of radishes should be ready in time for the final box. Hopefully this year our fall radishes are not as hollow as our fall radishes were last year. If we get an even amount of rain for the remainder of the season that will help prevent that from happening.
Monday afternoon I weeded our first fall planting of looseleaf lettuce. It looks really tasty and we think in the next week or so we will be able to start harvesting. The planting in the high tunnel is a week or two behind, so we should have a nice rotation between plantings. I noticed today that some of the lettuce seed germinated in the walkways in the high tunnel. Some of that will have to get tilled up so that we have room to walk. It is always depressing to have to till under perfectly good looking plants in order to keep the weeds under control.
Tuesday morning we got the frost blankets out and got that arranged so we are ready for when the frost comes. We also put the plastic on the high tunnel. Anyone passing by on the road would have had an entertaining view as we struggled with the plastic in the wind. We finally were able to get it tied down. In a normal year we wouldn’t have tried to put the plastic on when it was as windy as it was that morning, but we had to get it on the high tunnel before Tuesday evening.
The squash field is looking very full. Tyler was surprised how productive the plants have been given the summer we had and the number of plants that didn’t make it due to the drought. Probably by next week we will start putting squash in the boxes. The Delicata and Spaghetti squash are almost ready to go, but need another week to make sure there are enough ripe squash to go around.
This box means we are three quarters of the way done with the season. It also means that next week is the last flower share delivery. We would like to thank Kit Schmidt for all of her hard work putting fifty flower bouquets together each week, especially given the drought conditions this year. The bouquets are always beautiful!
We decided that due to low response we are canceling the Harvest Potluck that was scheduled for September 23. We hope that next year there will be more interest in on farm events. Hopefully we will be able to schedule events at more convenient times throughout the year. Also, hopefully we won’t be in the midst of a drought right when we plan on having a pickling party!!
Remember to bring back your blue totes!