Farmer Friday

It took me almost 3 hours to pick 8 pounds of cherry tomatoes. Good thing I had that many to pick. I delivered more than half to my customers in Superior. The rest will go to the Globe-Miami Farmers Market tomorrow. 

This weeks squash harvest was a measly 20 pounds. I over estimated how many days they could go between watering were getting and some of the plants were getting crispy when I got to them. 

I did pick lots of kale, both Scarlet and lancinata. 

I discovered 6 Black Tail Mountain watermelons had a dried up tendril and a yellow spot on the bottom.  I am amazed that the rodents have not bothered the watermelons.  That's almost 30 pounds of melon!

I only have a few rainbow carrots right now so I pull them on request. That yellow one is looking really nice. That tells me the soil is getting better. 

I pulled a couple of bunches of Albino and Golden beets. I experimented with planting onion seeds in Jan. they made very small bulbs but they are a great size for grilling. 

I picked a lot of herbs, flat and curly parsley, sage, Thai and Italian basil. The flowers this week are marigolds, zinnias, yarrow, a couple of sunflowers and some dahlias. 

I planted these collards plants and watered them the other day. Apparently not nearly enough water. I really poured it on and in a couple of hours it looked like most were reviving. This time of year is really hard. I will be working to automat and streamline a lot of my systems this year, especially water!

Farmer Friday; Peas in Overdrive

Snap Peas; the vines are loaded

Pea season in the desert is short, sometimes only 6 weeks, occasionally a little longer. Right now the vines are loaded. I have already picked 10 pounds this week from just three short rows (one row is about 18 ft, the other two between 20 and 25 feet). I picked peas this morning and when I was moved water hoses this evening saw more that need to be picked! However, they are predicting highs of 90 F on Monday, so pea season may be extra short this year. So I'll be seeding some melons and cucumbers next week to take their place as soon as the time comes.

Rainbow Beets

I planted some seedling beets in a hoop house late last fall as an experiment. They didn't do much until it warmed up, but now they are ready and delicious looking.

Summer Bibb lettuce

Photographs don't do the Summer Bibb lettuce justice, it is amazingly beautiful and very tender and tasty.

Scarlet Kale

The Scarlet Kale is a much deeper shade of red than the picture; in the shade it is almost purple.

Siberian or Red Russian Kale

The Red Russian kale is going strong but I see signs of bolting.

cut down Swiss Chard

The Swiss Chard has been trying to bolt for a couple of weeks. The nice thing about chard is that if you cut it down to the ground, give some good compost it will go back to making leaves again instead of seed stalks.  These chard plants are already over a year old.

the big hoop house today 4-21-2017

As I was finishing up this evening I took a moment to look back along the trail. I've done a lot of work and have accomplished a lot the past few years. There is a lot more to do but everyday I manage a little bit more. That bit of green along the trail here consists of Nanking cherry bushes, Arizona Pistache and Ash trees along with clovers and herbs like catmint, mugwort and lemon balm. Hiding out for now are newly planted zinias and marigolds. The bigger bushes farther along are burro brush and mesquite, which were about the only things here when I started. Oh and there's Tinkerbell, about ready to have her kittens pretty soon.