Winter Update
Hello all,
Here is a little winter update about the farm and where we are headed and how we ended the season. Since the cancellation of the Harvest Moon Camp out we were still able to complete many projects. Though unable to reschedule the Camp out we did build our little green house, seed tables, root washing table, repair a barn door and build our Rabbitry which now houses our three starter stock, two (2) does and one (1) buck.
We have successfully put our farm to bed, laid out our various cover crops of grains, pollinator plants and garlic. Though we still have a few growing crops as we move into the winter season they are not of market value. Never fear we are feeding our families and friends from these slower growing and hardy veggies. We are so excited to keep growing our farm, we have sat down and created projections and cost analysis as well as developed our CSA ready for release near the beginning of December. Following is a list of successful plants from this years 2017 summer/fall season, some difficult plants and some plants we hope to grow so that you have an idea of what to expect our offerings to be. I have left pricing and unit type intact so that you can view the value with which we attribute our time, quality of produce and energy for each item.
Successes!!! This is a list of plants that we grew, in quality & quantity, enough to sell that has fed our drive and built our confidence to keep building the farm business. The plants in BOLD were our top sellers and producers that we were able to offer. Cherry Plum actually only sold once but the tree is so healthy that I hope to get a post up on how to maximize this heritage fruit leveraging it's unique flavor.
Blackberries$3.00pintBorage$4.00clamBroccoli$2.50lbCherry Plum$4.00lbChives$2.50bunchCollard Greens$4.00bunchGreen Tomatoes$3.00lbHungarian Wax Peppers aka Banana Peppers$4.00lbRed Russian Kale$3.00bunchTomatillo$3.00lb
Almosts: Here are some plants that were successfully grown in quality and quantity for market sale but who's consistency or one time appearance on the availability list left some questions about how we can improve our harvest. Though I have a Swiss Chard plant from June that is still growing today, we never grew enough of this plant to truly offer it for sale. The lettuce was also a successful grower we just didn't quite get the growing pattern down to plant it in succession all season long. The tomatoes grew wildly, that we had a huge harvest but lacked time to properly maintain the plants which is why it is on this list. Though we did manage to sell some bell peppers their growth was extremely underwhelming.
Bell peppers- green$4.00lbCucumbers$2.00eaEdible Flowers Mix - Cilantro, Borage, Calendula, Basil$4.00clamHeirloom Orange Brandy-wine Tomatoes$4.00lbLeaf lettuce bunches$2.00eaMixed Cherry & Pear Tomatoes$3.00pintSwiss Chard$2.50lb
I'd like to list a few plants under this category that we did not offer for sale but with which we had huge success with and handed out to friends and family and canned.
ApplesNasturtiumsBok ChoyOnionCarrotsRadishesCauliflowerStrawberriesMarjoramCascadia PeasMint Green Cherry Toms
The Difficult Ones: We planted these plants with high hopes and instead our hopes were replaced with lessons. Maybe we planted them in the wrong place or at the wrong time or both. Maybe these plants were planted in the back acreage where the water had a hard time reaching and the well drained twice and shut down water to that location. Maybe we didn't care for them at all (Potatoes) or maybe we cared for them a lot and the laws of distribution and resale or ambiguous (Apples). Or maybe some critter is filling up on crocuses. At least I can say we identify 90% of what the problem is and time, energy and money are all we need to remedy these snags.
ApplesLavenderArtichokeOreganoBasilPotatoesBeansRaspberriesBeetsRosemaryBlueberriesSaffron CrocusCabbagesSageCeleryTarragonCornThymeDaylilliesWatermelonEggplantZucchini
The Wishlist!!! Here is a wish list of plants we would like to experiment with in the coming season! Many of these choices are edible flowers! BOLD are plants we actually grew but with little attention.
AmaranthEcanaciaPansyArugulaGreen OnionPumpkinBachelor ButtonsGround CherryRhubarbBorageHibiscusRomanesco BroccoliBread PoppyHyssopRutabagaButternut squashJohnny Jump UpSpinachCantaloupeKohlrabieSunflowerChamomileMarigoldsTurnipCilantroMustardVioletsDillNasturtiumYellow Crookneck Squash
We hope you are interested in trying these foods out, and we look forward to hearing your requests and suggestions and seeing if we can incorporate them into the field plan, if not this year the next for sure!
