Hello Folks!
Well good news folks – it rained last night! What a wonderful feeling. It was a nice slow rain that should soak into the ground and not runoff. Its good for the crops and good for the crew because it takes a lot of the pressure off of irrigating.
Today we will be planting cucumbers in the greenhouse and carrots in the high tunnel.
Crops in the field are plugging along like they should be. Broccoli in the greenhouse looks nice. It looks like every zucchini and cucumber we seeded two weeks ago is growing. Pickling cucumbers are coming along nicely in the field and it looks like we should have those again by the weekend. The majority of the pumpkins look pretty nice, especially the warty ones, and we plan to start picking those in the first couple weeks of September. I love pie pumpkin season!
Weed control is one of our biggest challenges on the farm. It’s probably why we all have terrible allergies right now J So guess what we are doing about weeds? Well we do many things, including the traditional “Christmas Method” for weed control – “Hoe, Hoe, Hoe.” But the best way to manage weeds is to take care of them early, so we got a new tractor this week! Now before you ask, how that helps, know that this tractor is a small tractor. It looks more like a praying mantis than a tractor and I can lift the front of this tractor from a dead lift. Why do I lift it, you ask – because I can…
We haven’t come up with a name for the tractor yet, but it will be our cultivating tractor. All of the work done from the tractor happens under its “belly.” This means you can watch the work being done under your feet. Hopefully this will help us get to the weeds when they are very small, almost like a white thread in the ground, and keep the farm clean. More to come on the tractor, but if you can come up with a good name for this little guy, let us know.
Don’t forget, the Pekarek’s Produce Farm Tour is set for Sunday, September 11 from 2 -5.
We’ve had our first sign ups for the Pekarek’s Produce Fall CSA. If you are interested, please let us know. We will give everyone a paper sign-up sheet next week, but a phone call or email will work as well.
Your Farmers,
Ryan, Katie, and Crew
What’s in this week’s box?
- Watermelon
- Yellow Pepper
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Potatoes
- Zucchini**
- Pickling Cucumbers*
- Green Bell Peppers*
- Jalapenos*
- Muskmelon*
- *Only in the Full Share
- **Only in Partial Share