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; Potatoes, Pak Choi and More

New Potatoes; White Creamers & All Blue

More potatoes this week, mostly White Creamers and All Blue. The main planting is fairly protected, inside a weld wire fence which is inside an electric fence. But some were planted in the front yard where the old pallet fence was falling down. And of course the dang javalina found their way in.

javalina destroy part of the potatoes

pallet fence in the works

So working on replacing the fence became a priority; there is still more to do, but I closed up the main gap the javalina were coming through.

that *was* about 30 lettuces just 2 weeks from cutting

So then the next day I discovered a squirrel  had eaten the next lettuce patch. To the ground. Barely even a stump left. I was not happy to say the least. And I have been watching for it to come back.

squirrel eaten tomato

To add insult to injury it also took off with the biggest green tomatoes.

baby beets

beets & potatoes for dinner!

The beets are starting to come in and they are so sweet and delicious! Roasted with a little olive oil and seasoning they are as sweet as candy. And all the colors are so pretty together.

Baby Pak Choi

The baby Pak Choi was starting to bolt, so pulled it all, 3 pounds from a small patch and all spoken for as soon as I let the word out.

time for the peas to be gone

The peas have given less and less the past couple of weeks. We've had some cooler weather so they aren't too sad looking yet, but they aren't producing enough to be worth the water. So out they are coming, to be replaced by cucumbers.

Fall Might Be Here Finally

Rainbow Carrots

Fall was certainly in the air this morning as I loaded produce for the last farmer's market of the year. I'm always a bit sad at the end of market and wish we could have one year round, or at least into November. Perhaps someday, I know there are some plans in the works for new things for the market.

Rainbow beets

I've had a lot of fun growing the rainbow beets and carrots this year. However, from an efficiency stand point it might be better to order the colors and grow them separately. This is because some colors grow faster and are ready to harvest before the others.  If they were grown separately then I could clean out a complete section and replant sooner. For a home garden however, the mixtures are great.

extra large Gold Rush Zucchini

The big yellow Gold Rush Zucchini have been pretty popular at the market over the summer. Some of my customers also liked the green and yellow patty pans, but those plants did not do well once it got really hot. Neither did the green zucchini, whereas the Gold Rush really kept on going.

tomatoes

The cherry tomatoes are still going strong. Some of the large fruited tomatoes have a lot of green fruit on them yet. Hopefully they will have enough time to ripen up before our first freeze, sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

mini bell peppers

The rainbow mix of mini bell peppers have done really well considering they were only in 2 gallon pots and wilted frequently in the heat this year. Looking forward to seeing what they can do planted in the ground next year.






I am already working on plans for next year as January (when I start tomato seeds) will be here before you know it. I am really excited about the book I just got in from Amazon, The Market Gardener. It is providing some missing links for me, especially when it comes to planning and organizing the garden. I am really looking forward to implementing this new information in the coming year and seeing what a difference it will make,  not only in the garden, but in my bottom line.
(yes this is an affiliate link which means if you click on it and order something from Amazon in the next few days I will get a small commission for  your purchase)

Farmer Friday

BOxBR hen about 4 years old

My oldest hen is about 4 years old. Poor thing is about half naked from molting. So are most of the other hens. Egg production has dropped to zilch. The compost chickens haven't laid in a week or more and even the younger hens in the barn dropped from 8 eggs a day to 3.

I tried to get lots of chicks hatched in January so they would start laying by July and August to take up the slack but luck wasn't with me.

hello baby tarantula

I disturbed a baby tarantula hiding in the manure pile when I was getting some for the garden.

Some people pick them up but not me, scooped it out with a stick and let it go.

pretty pink Four O'Clock flower

sunflower

I didn't think that sunflower was going to make it. It was real puny for a long time. Even now it's only a couple of feet tall. Just tells you how bad the soil is.

tomato jungle, that's my shirt!

Some of the tomato plants are really getting their second wind with cooler weather and a little rain. Even a bit jungly out there. That's my shirt, looking towards my feet in the lower right corner of the picture.

cherry tomatoes and mini bell peppers

I picked produce in a drizzle this morning, getting ready for the farmer's market tomorrow.

rainbow carrots

The carrots that I planted a bit later are doing much better than the first batch. They got some potash fertilizer along with more water.I also redug those beds and sunk them into the ground.The carrots are growing a lot faster than in the older raised bed.

rainbow beets

I pulled the last of the rainbow beets from this bed. But I forgot to take a picture of them. They are so pretty, yellow, orange, red, pink! Just like the Rainbow Carrots. Next week this bed will be redug and sunk into the ground and planted to carrots.

hello Tinkerbelle

Tinkerbelle is a really sweet cat. She's funny, Lil' Bit is loud and noisy but Tink doesn't really meow, she just makes funny little squeaky sounds.

The back garden

The back garden, you can see all the weeds trees around the patio and invading it. The will be a winter job, getting the cut and dug out of the way.

You can't see the house because of all the squash vines. It is very dark and shady under there!

Then some beds of rainbow carrots. They have been a lot of fun to grow, with all the different colors.

back garden another view

beet seedlings

The beets seedlings I transplanted are doing well. They are covered with fine netting to keep bugs and birds out of them.

radish seedlings

The kale transplants are doing well and the French Breakfast radishes have sprouted.

These are under an old screen door and a really old piece of shade cloth. Soon to be replaced by fine netting.

luffa and pumpkin vines

At Mom's house the Luffa and Jack Be Little pumpkin vines are really taking off. By the end of summer they will probably completely cover the front of the barn. I love the cheery look of the lemon yellow luffa blossoms.

bumble bee in a luffa blossom

The bumble bees like them too!