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

Pandorino cherry tomatoes

Harvest Monday is a great blog hop to show case what you are harvesting and doing in your garden each week. Host by Dave over at Our Happy Acres it's a lot of fun to visit the other gardens, even if I can't go there in person.

I picked 11 pounds of cherry tomatoes last Friday. I am really enjoying the Pandorino, a grape tomato from Italy. They make large clusters which almost all ripen at once, making for very easy picking. They also taste good. Will be planting more of them for sure next year.

Lancinato Kale

Scarlet Kale

I picked  a good amount of  kale, which is  a staple seller at market.Some customers look for the Lancinato, aka Dinosaur kale and others like the Scarlet. I will probably try some new ones this fall. I also picked a small amount of chard, but didn't take a picture. I used to wait and let the chard grow large and put it up in bunches but most people like the smaller baby size leaves.

Albino, Golden and Ruby Queen Beets

green onions

I picked some beets, the Albino and Golden beets grow very slowly compared to Ruby Queen and Chioggio.  I also picked some green onions.

Straight neck, Gold Rush zucchini

I picked a lot of squash this week, this was just one crate full. I have 10 different kinds and pick the patches clean on Friday, so generally even the largest ones are only a week old. Even a lot of the large ones still have very thin and tender skins.

something eating the melons!

Still some good ones!

Until recently nothing had bothered the watermelons, but now something is eating them. There were still some good ones to pick though. I am really disgusted with things though. It looks like I won't get any cantaloupes. Now the birds and squirrels are eating them before they are hardly half grown. Seriously considering pulling all the melon vines out as soon as the last watermelons are ready to pick and planting something else.

Black Beauty and Black from Tula tomatoes

I picked some ripe and almost ripe large tomatoes. Bird pecks, squirrel bites, blossom end rot, growth cracks, they were sure ugly and only about half were edible. But they sure tasted wonderful. I'll be brainstorming over the winter how to protect them better next year from all the wild life.

herbs and flowers

Of course I picked herbs and flowers. I don't sell that many fresh herbs so bring them home and use them myself or dry them. I am still trying to figure out how to keep the flowers longer, especially the dahlias. By mid morning at market the stems are turning black and the flowers are wilting. I am wondering if it's because I tie the bunches together and maybe the stems are getting crushed. I think next week I'll try just making the bunches in individual containers and not tieing them up and see if that helps. I also think the heat in my house is not helping. I sure need a walk in cooler!

On Sunday I picked all the apples off a small tree because the birds were attacking them like crazy. Out of the 19 pounds about 2 pounds were half eaten. I saved them to make vinegar out of.

This weeks harvests:
7-5 Cherry tomatoes  1# 13 oz
      Large tomatoes     3#  6oz
7-6 carrots                  1#  2oz
      lancinata kale       2# 8oz
      green onion          4# 10oz
      scarlet kale           4# 7oz
      beets                     6# 0oz
7-7 curley parsley             8oz
      Italian basil                 4 oz
      Thai basil                    2oz
      Cherry tomatoes   11# 0oz
      Watermelon           20# 10oz
      squash                    67# 0oz
      chard                            12oz
7-9 apples                     19# 4oz

TOTALS
cherry tomatoes         12#  13oz
large tomatoes             3#    6oz
carrots                          1#     2oz
kale                               6#   15oz
green onion                    4#  10oz
beets                              6#     0oz
herbs                                       14oz
watermelon                   20#  10oz
squash                           67#   0oz
chard                                      12oz
apples                            19#  4oz

GRAND TOTAL    143 # 5oz

Lazy (for me) Sunday

I got up late this morning, about 6 so was off to a very slow start. 

Hauled a load of dry, very dusty load of manure. Even managed to get the inside of the cab covered in dust. This was goat manure mixed with some ground up alfalfa hay. 

I cleaned up some spots in the back garden, including harvesting 3 plants of Red Romaine lettuce that had gone to seed. I spread some of the manure with the most hay mixed in as mulch under the kale and collard plants. I also coated an empty bed with it. The mulch will encourage the earthworms and help keep the soil moist. 

I did some watering. A lot of the chard and kale seedlings have disappeared to the slugs, grasshoppers and birds.  I have more started and need to get them potted up.  Need a screen house to keep seedlings in during the summer. 

This is how hot and dry it's been this year. The potted tomatoes which if protected sometimes produce until December are badly infested with spider mites. They will be coming out but it got too hot to be that energetic today. 

The birds were driving me crazy getting into the apples so I picked the tree clean. I didn't sort or weigh them yet, just put them in the fridge. 

The cucumber and melon plants on the trellis beds need tied up again. No cucumbers yet but a lot of male flowers. 

There is a lot to do in the garden but the clouds blew away and the sun got hot.  So time to take a nap.  

EDITED TO ADD

My nap was rudely interrupted by very loud claps of thunder and Giotto barking insanely. He is terrified of thunder so I had to get up and let him in the house. 

After my nap I did chores at moms then raked up the aisle in the barn. The young birds are molting (babies go through three molts before they are grown) and most of the older hens.  The barn is looking like a pillow factory exploded out there. 

Then I went to my house to turn off the hoses and collect eggs from the chickens over there. I sorted and weighed the apples while I was there.  The bird pecked ones I'll make into vinegar as soon as I find a clean jug. 

Then I came back and ate dinner. Time now to lock up the free range chickens and sort the eggs then a shower and off to bed. 

Farmer Friday

Well it seems I'm pretty late for Farmer Friday. My Friday was off all day. I got up at 4:30 so plenty of time, but it seemed all of the chickens were out of water and the ducks too. That took sime time along with a couple of other small chores so I didn't get out to the garden until almost 7.

I picked 11 pounds of cherry tomatoes. 

Lots of squash in most sizes and kinds. 

Lots of squash, not as much as some weeks, they are still recovering from the wilty day last week.

Bird? Squirrel? I don't know

Grrr simething is eating the melons!  Not sure if this was a squirrel or birds. One is as bad as the other. 

some melons escaped pecking

There were some good ones to pick though they are on the small side. 

herbs and flowers

Herbs and flowers. Sage, Rosemary, parsley, basil for herbs.  Marigolds, dahlias, zinnias, yarrow for flowers. 

spaghetti squash is growing

Spaghetti squash are coming along.  There are some Trombonccino, a Honey Boat Delicata and Red Kuri down towards the end.

Just waiting for rain. It is so hot and dry things are getting crispy no matter how much I water. Had a few drops on Thursday but it barely hit the ground before it evaporated. We have chances of rain this week, but it remains to be seen if it actually makes it to my house. I do know I need to try and get a well in place before next summer.

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!

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!