Farm Blog

Today I was going to do equipment maintenance, but as with many days this year, the weather turned me back.  I took the round baler to my brothers farm so that I could do yearly maintenance on it in his shop but all I did was drop it off and head back home.  The wind is howling and the snow is blowing and drifting today, so instead of being out I've decided to research 2010's vegetables and also start researching the grasses and forages for grazing.  I pulled up last years vegetable spreadsheet to see when I started germinating our plants in '09.  It looks like I started germination for the first run of plants about the middle of March.  That gives me a little time to make this year's list and place my orders.  We're looking into working with a co-op this year and I kind of volunteered for summer squash and cucumbers.  I chose these two vegetables because they are the easiest plants to pick, don't take much tending and will save us something that we lack during the summer - time.  These two crops also work really well in our beds and mulch system.  So at the very least, we'll plant summer squash and cucumbers in quantity.  The other items will be sold as part of our product selection direct.  We tried the farmers market last year and found the time vs. return to be out of balance, so until something changes we'll probably continue to direct market our products.  The next step is to determine what our customers want in vegetables.