Farmer Friday

pea shoot

Yay it's Farmer Friday. We are having very much unseasonably warm weather here, bright and sunny and no rain in sight. That does not bode well for the future. In the meantime things are going along. The peas are beginning to sprout.

Extra Dwarf Baby Pak Choi

I picked some baby Pak Choi this morning. This has been a big hit with my customers and there never seems to be enough. I think I will start planting 4 trays of starts instead of just 2 at a time.

Fava beans and red Mustard

Under the row covers things are doing pretty well. Here's a couple of rows of fava beans and some Giant Red mustard. But I pick the mustard when it's small. Mustard is a hardy, fast growing green. Spicy raw, it has a totally different flavor when cooked.

red and green cabbage

One low tunnel was covered with old row cover which was beginning to disintegrate. So I pulled it off and replaced it with new cover. The red and green cabbages are doing well and just beginning to head up. I'm not sure how long it will be before they are ready to pick, maybe a month or two.

cilantro

Some cilantro, finally! Because it's been so warm and dry it has not been growing very well. It is a winter weed and likes it cool and damp. But I have a little bit for market tomorrow. I planted a few cilantro seeds between the cabbages when I set them out.

green cabbage just beginning to head

A peek into the green cabbage. You can see the new leaves are just beginning to curl up on themselves.

red mustard and cabbages

You can see more red mustard and the cabbages here, before I took off the row cover. I plant a lot of red mustard even though I don't sell a lot of it, because the chickens really like it. After pulling enough for a couple of bags for market I pull some more to feed to the chickens. If I was only growing for myself I would just pick the outside leaves and leave the rest of the plant to grow. It will keep going for several months that way.

scarlet kale

The kale is looking quit sad these days, I'm not sure if the plants are just too old or they haven't been getting enough water. I do have some replacements started and will plant some more. In the meantime I'll try to get them some more water and see if they perk up.

progress

I"m making some progress on the newish garden area. I'm almost done putting the hoops up, but had to quit first because the battery needed to charge on the driver and because I need to go pick things for market.

hatchery birds

The hatchery birds I bought this fall are doing well, tho a wee bit crowded. The cockerels are beginning to bother some of the pullets, so eggs won't be too far behind.  Those boys will be going to freezer camp pretty soon. As soon as I get done with this new garden space and get things planted out, I'll go back to work on the pen these birds need to move into. When I move them I will probably leave the boys where they are, then they will all have more room.

Farmer Friday

We had a little rain early in the week. The garden got a whole .1".That was the first rain I've had since September 10th.  Last year at this time we were getting snow. It is just now barely freezing at night. This is the weather I expected in October so winter is coming later and later. No rain in the forecast for at least 10 days. We really need our winter rain, everything is still dry and brown so it's been a real battle keeping things going. The sparrows and quail descend in hordes to gobble up any speck of green they can find. Sometimes they find their way under the netting and devour the seedlings despite everything I do to foil them.

frozen squash

I have cleared out the last of the frozen squash plants and replaced them with spinach. Now if I can keep the birds out......

covering the greenhouse

I got the greenhouse covered with plastic the other day. I hate using so much plastic each year. Plans are to replace these structures with more permanent ones that will have solid but openable siding so I can do away with the use of plastic sheeting. In the meantime it does help warm up the house and it does produce a lot of food and seedlings.

Avocado seedling

The one good thing about our milder winters, my avocado seedling is still alive and doing well on the back patio.

steamy compost

I turned compost this week, getting ready to make a new pile. The pile in the front has cooled off and ready to use.

Lancinato kale

The kale has been struggling with the warmer weather. It encourages aphids which I blast with cold water from the hose. Hopefully now that things are cooling off it will grow better. A new set of chard seedlings are waiting to go out into the garden, while the collards are growing well along with the mustard. I don't sell much mustard (don't know why, they are delish) but the chickens really like them.

Harvest Monday

8 pound Northern New Mexico Melon

Hales cantaloupe and Marketmoore cukes

Once again I missed Harvest Monday last week and I'm late this week. Go visit other gardeners around the world and see what they are picking, planting and eating.

N. NM Melon, Armenian and Marketmoore cukes

assorted squash

There have been cucumbers, squashes and melons to pick. the Northern New Mexico melon is an heirloom from the Pueblos. It was sweet and tasty.

Hales, Armenian and Marketmoore

Black Copper Marans cockerel

Olive egger cockerel

Black Copper Marans pullet

tree seedlings

The formatting is all whacky today and I can't seem to fix this page how I want it to display. Oh well, not wasting any more time.  My phone app already lost this whole post and then the PC needed a malware scan and had over 1,000 things. No wonder it's been funky.

I did plant red mustard and turnips in the bed recently vacated by the beans. While prepping the bed for replanting I discovered some tree seedlings. At least a couple are honey locust and so far no thorns. The others have similar but slightly different leaves so I'm no sure what they are. They are now in 1 gallon pots while I wait and see.

So totals for 2 weeks
Harvest for Aug 21-27
8-22
cantaloupe    5# 6 oz
8-23
squash          9#  6 oz
8-24
Big tomatoes   11oz
squash          2#  11oz
Armenian cuke 2# 8oz
beans         1# 8oz
8-25
flat parsley      4oz
rosemary         negligible
sage                1oz
Armenian     5# 9oz
Marketmoore  5# 0oz
Honey Boat delicata  2# 8oz
8-27
squash 30#
8-31
Scarlet kale    2# 9oz
Lancinato      1#  8oz
chard              1# 6 oz
Marketmoore 10# 8oz
9-1 (I can't believe it's Sept!)
squash 30#  0oz
cantaloupe 1# 13oz
N. NM melon  8# 2oz
cherry tomatoes  2# 4oz
Armenian   17# 9oz
Marketmoore   2# 4oz

TOTALS for 2 weeks
melons       15# 5oz
squash        72# 1oz
big tomatoes 11oz
cucumbers   43# 5 oz
beans        1# 8oz
herbs              5oz
delicata      2# 8oz
kale            3# 1oz
chard             1# 6oz
cherry tomatoes 2# 4 oz

TOTAL     141# 14oz

Farmer Friday

cleaning up

I cleaned up this bed in the creek side garden this week. I've been holding off planting a lot of stuff, waiting for rain. We got a good rain Monday night so time to get in gear. 

red wigglers

I was really happy to see s lot of earthworms in there. Worms are one of the biggest fertility boosters you have. 

planting seeds

 Later I planted a row of rainbow carrots, a row of turnips and half a row of red and green Mizuna mustard. I couldn't find the rest of my mustard seed so I planted the other half of the row to dill.  I sprinkled some radish seed in with the carrots. 

Scarlet kale

I planted out some Scarlet kale seedlings

Collards

And a few more collards. The ones that I planted before that got a little crispy are looking better. 

driveway bed with lime basil

The lime basil by the driveway has really taken off. I cut them all down to dry. 

bush beans under bird net

The green and yellow beans are doing well.  There weren't even a handful of pods to pick today but they are loaded with flowers and tiny beans. 

Scarlet kale

I picked lots of kale. Cherry tomatoes are way down this week. The plants are loaded with green fruit but there were a lot of splits in the ripe ones. 

erosion control

The storm Monday did some damage to the swale above the new garden so I worked in that a little bit. 

assorted summer squashes

The squash harvest was also down this week. But they are putting out new growth and I see a lot of tiny fruits coming on for next week. 

Market More cucumber

FINALLY!!! A little cucumber!

a bowl of herbs

Lots of herb orders this week. Thai and Italian basil, curly parsley, oregano and sage. 

new potatoes with herbs for roasting

I had some new potatoes set aside for us (sold all the rest already) and roasted them with fresh chopped parsley, sage, basil and oregano. So yummy!

Harvest Monday

Cherry tomato mix

Linking up with Harvest Monday, a great blog hop with gardeners around the world showing off their harvests. Lots of fun!

This week I finally had enough cherry tomatoes for both my Superior customers and our Globe-Miami Farmers Market.  I picked almost 10 pounds. I think next week will be even better. Next year I don't think I'm going to plant to tiny currant tomatoes. They just take way too long to pick. I am liking the Italian grape tomato call Pandorino. They are a nice size, good flavor and heavy producers, 8-10 fruit in a cluster. On the other hand I am not liking the Blue Cream from Baker's Creek. They are really splitting badly and don't want to come off the stem. I will not plant them next year. Besides I wasn't impressed with the flavor. I much prefer my old Snow White.

yellow scallop squash

This weeks squash harvest was only a little over 20 pounds.  I had a day when the plants wilted badly which reduced yields. But next week should be better as I've been trying to keep them more evenly watered. 

Black Tail Mountain Watermelons

Amazingly I have watermelons. So far nothing is bothering them so next summer I'm going to plant a lot more. I still have Hopi Yellow melons but they were planted later. They are new to me. I am thinking about covering my hoop houses in hardware cloth so I can plant cantaloupes in them next summer and actually get some!

Just hatched butterfly

Sunday morning I saw a just hatched butterfly.  I think it's a double swallowtail, our Arizona State butterfly

before

after

Also on Sunday I spent a little while cleaning a weedy corner.  There is still more to do but it was getting too hot. The little bit of green left on that bed is actually carrots.

dried basil

I also spent some time stripping leaves from dried herbs and putting them in bulk bags until I have time to put them in smaller ones and label them for sale. 

I picked some green and yellow snap beans but forgot to take a picture.  

Albino & Golden beets, small onions

I pulled some Albino and Golden beets. They grow a little slower than red ones so I try to plant them in their own beds. 

I also had a few very small onions. One of my lists said plant in January. I didn't think that was right but tried a few. Very tiny bulbs. So will stick with Sept/Oct plantings.

I picked flowers too, sunflower, yarrow, zinnia, marigold. I don't think I got a picture of them tho.

This weeks harvests:

6-28

Cherry tomatoes 1# 4oz

Beans.                  1# 14 oz

Scarlet Kale.         1# 0 oz

Squash.                 3# 8 oz

6-29

Scarlet kale.         1 # 4 oz

Lancinata kale      2# 7 oz

Belinda potatoes.  30 # 0 oz

6-30

Cherry tomatoes.   8 # 4 oz

Sage.                            2oz

Italian basil.                10 oz

Thai basil.                    10 oz

Flat parsley.                 10 oz 

Curly parsley.                8 oz

Lovage.                         4 oz

Squash.                   20# 8 oz 

Black Tail Mt. Watermelon 29# 0 oz

Carrots.                     1# 0 oz

Beets w/greens.        2# 0 oz

Small onions.            2# 0 oz

5 bunches flowers

Harvest Totals Week June 26-July 2
cherry tomatoes       9# 8 oz
beans                        1# 14 oz
Kale                          4# 7 oz
potatoes                   30# 0 oz
herbs                        2# 8 oz
watermelon             29# 0 oz
carrots                      1# 0 oz
beets                        2# 0 oz
onions                     2# 0 oz
TOTAL                82# 3 oz
Harvest totals do not include all the things I ate while I was working!

Harvest Monday

assorted cherry tomatoes

It's been quite awhile, but I'm going to try to start linking back up with Harvest Monday Harvest Monday is a great blog hop originally started by Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions. She has passed the hat to Dave but still a great blog hop and great way to see what folks all around the world are harvesting.

For those coming to visit from Harvest Monday, I used to participate when I just grew veggies for myself. Now I have expanded a lot and grow for a couple of small farmers markets. So some things are coming in much larger quantities.

summer squash; I have 10 different varieties

Lancinata or Dinosaur Kale

I have a lot of summer squash varities; a generic zucchini plus, Black Beauty, Gold Rush, Mexican Grey and Tondo, a round Italian variety. Green and yellow patty pan plus one called Scallopini. Early Straight Neck. The Trombonccino haven't started yet as I got them in later than usual.

Right now I am growing 2 kinds of kale, the Lancinata plus Scarlet, which is a pretty red frilly one.

herbs and flowers

Marigolds and zinnias

I have a lot of herbs; most of them don't sell very well fresh, which is weird. People are more inclined to buy dry. So I take fresh ones to market and dry the leftovers. Four kinds of basil; Italian, Lime, Lemon and Thai. Curly and Flat Parsley. Lavender, Lovage, Oregano are all coming in now, tho the lavender is about done blooming.  I sell small bouquets mostly of zinnias and marigolds but also other things as they come along, like yarrow and calendula. I grew a lot of dahlias for the purpose but am still experimenting to see how to keep them from wilting right away.

So harvest totals from June 18-25;

6-21 squash 5 pounds 

         Leeks 10 ounces

6-22 Scarlet kale 5 pounds

         Lancinata kale 6 pounds

6-23 cherry tomatoes 3 pounds 4 ounces

        Squash 80 pounds 0 ounces

        Leeks 4 pounds 12 ounces

        Potatoes All Red 5pounds 10 ounces

                     Belinda. 8 pounds 6 ounces

                     All Blue 7 pounds 5 ounces

Totals:

Squash 85 pounds

Kale 12 pounds

Cherry tomatoes 3 pounds 4 ounces

Leeks 5 pounds 1 ounce

Potatoes 21pounds 4 ounces

Total Harvest 125 pounds 9 ounces