We were lucky enough to have Alex Voichoskie with KRVN 880 visit Ryan in the field on July 6! She and Ryan had a nice chat about everything it takes to get ready for a farmer’s market. Check out the video…

Hooray! Tomorrow is our first produce pick up for the 2021 Weekly Vegetable Subscription. Each week, we will share our farm and family with you, talk about the produce in the weekly vegetable subscription, and maybe even some recipe suggestions.

2021 Weekly Vegetable Subscriptions are again being picked up on the Farm, in Seward at Merle’s Garden Center, and in Lincoln at the Hub Cafe. Both Merle’s Garden Center and the Hub Café have been remarkable partners in local produce and we encourage you to visit their storefronts or websites for some tasty food and beautiful flowers!

About Pekarek’s Produce

For those of you who are new to the Weekly Vegetable, Pekarek’s Produce is run by my husband Ryan, and me, Katie.  Ryan earned a Master’s degree from North Carolina State University in Vegetable Production and began raising vegetables in 2004, while in college.  In 2009, we began vegetable farming full time.  All of the produce is grown on our farm, 12 miles north of Seward.  Pekarek’s Produce now raises over 50 varieties of crops on approximately 18 acres, 5 high tunnels, and 1 greenhouse.  With the help of a small local crew and our kids, we tackle the many aspects of farming: seeding, transplanting, watering, hoeing, weeding, harvesting and much more.   We have five kids (Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas and Grace), who as they get older, help out a little more each year.

Michael’s Popcorn

We are happy to be able to include Michael’s Popcorn in this week’s vegetable subscription. He worked with Ryan (Dad) to raise and then shell the popcorn.  Check out the video to see the fun we had getting this popcorn processed!

Online Ordering – Additions to your Weekly Subscription

Beginning next week (week 2), if you would like to have extra produce added to your weekly bag, you will be able to do so online.  Simply go online to pekareksproduce.com/shop and order by 11:59pm Tuesday night and we will add your produce to your regular subscription for Wednesday. 

As Ryan is generally covered in dirt, mud, pollen, or maybe grease, your newsletters will come mostly from me (Katie), but if you’ve ever met Ryan, you can be sure he’ll make sure to get his two cents in.  We look forward to a great season!

Have Questions?

We can’t wait to see you!  If you have questions, please call Katie at (402) 560-3110 or Ryan at (402) 641-3305.

Your Farmers,
Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, Grace, and Crew

We are excited to have our crew slowly coming back to us this spring.  We’ve really been fortunate to develop some great long lasting relationships with our crew and this is what really makes our farm work.

There’s a lot about the farm that is very cyclical – in spring, everything is new again and there is no rhythm.  Right now, Ryan is a bit frazzled – I think this is a spring thing and the cold doesn’t help. 

On The Farm

Much of the spring is for farm management activities like preparing beds for plantings, getting the plastic mulch ready, seeding, and making sure you have all the supplies.  But every time “the weather is right” we seem to do some random farm management activity – this week it was a controlled burn by Ryan, Jacob and Katie.  It’s one way to rejuvenate that plants you want to see and manage the weeds you don’t.

The greenhouse and high tunnels are all full to the brim!  On Monday evening, we moved plants from outside, back into the greenhouse to protect them from three nights of temperatures in the 20s.  Then we took row cover (a blanket for plants) to the field and covered the plants that were already up.  It was a bit chilly with a few snow flakes flying – it would have been perfect for a November day, but less exciting for April.

We’ve got more than 3,000 pounds of ‘spuds’ cut and ready to go in the field in the next week.  We’ve got six varieties of potatoes ranging from the popular Yukon Gold types to old fashioned Dakota Pearls and red varieties. Tomato plants will be leaving the greenhouse next week to be planted in the field. Radishes, spinach, lettuce, dill, turnips, and beets are all coming up in the field.

Drive Up Vegetables this Friday!

Veggies Available on Friday 4/23

Lettuce
Spinach
Radishes
Turnips
Popcorn
Tomato Plants

We will continue having Friday vegetable sales on the farm for the next four weeks.  For this Friday, we will continue to have drive up sales – pull up to the shed, we give you a menu, place your order, and we will bring vegetables to the car.  Online pre-orders will begin in May.  This week we will have Lettuce, Spinach, Radishes, Turnips, Popcorn… those stinkin 20s froze off the asparagus again. Plan for Asparagus on 4/30!

Regular hours (updated on pekareksproduce.com) will resume in late May and we hope to invite you in the shed at that time. 

Weekly Vegetable Subscription

The weekly vegetable subscription will start in just under a month.  This is another one of those activities on the farm that is built on relationships.  We are thankful to everyone that is returning and glad to have new members too. If you’ve been trying to eat healthier and make some better food choices, this is really a great way to make it happen. Every spring, we have to reset our own eating habits on the farm and there’s no better way than with fresh produce. 

Consider getting your weekly dose of Pekarek’s Produce by signing up for the weekly vegetable subscription. We have three locations in Lincoln, Seward, and on the Farm.  

Your Farmers,
Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, and Grace

Great news!  On Friday, April 16 from 4-6pm, we will have a drive up vegetable market!  Yay 🙂  This first sale of April will be Drive Up only. Please pull up to the shed, we will bring you a menu, you make your selections and then we will bring a bag of vegetables back to your car. We will have radishes, lettuce, popcorn, spinach, tomato plants, and asparagus (if it doesn’t freeze too hard!)

Regular Farm Hours Start in May

Right now, we are still fighting some below freezing temperatures at night, so the produce is a little spotty.  We will continue to have share with you Friday drive up markets as the season gears up.  Regular hours (updated on pekareksproduce.com, where to buy) will resume in late May and we hope to invite you in the shed at that time. 

On the Farm

There’s a lot happening on the farm.  Ryan is making use of the lights on his tractor.  Onions are looking good in the field and in the high tunnel.  Tunnel crops are looking good – onions, radishes, kale, and of course peas!! Radish, lettuce, turnips, spinach and peas are emerging in the field.  Beets, carrots, and dill should be emerging any day.  As soon as these freezing nights go away we will take the cabbage, broccoli, and kohlrabi from the greenhouse to the field.  And if the fields firm up a little (dry out), we will get the potatoes in the ground. We burned of the asparagus plants on Easter weekend and hope to begin harvesting this week.  The radishes were pruned last week and should be producing in a couple weeks. The straw has been removed from the strawberries and the should bearing in about a month. Those yummy turnips should be ready in about a week!

Weekly Vegetable Subscription

Be sure to sign up for the weekly vegetable subscription soon.  We have three locations in Lincoln, Seward, and on the Farm.  Spots are filling up fast and this is shaping up to be a great year for vegetables!Sign Up for Weekly Vegetable SubscriptionSpring is just a great time of year for new things.  We hope you can get in the sun and enjoy what spring has to offer!

Your Farmers,
Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, and Grace

Ahhhh, it feels like spring. For the last several days you can hear and see geese moving north against the blue skies. The grass and dandelions are starting to show a little bit of green. The only snow left is hiding in the shade on the north side of a building. It’s been nice to go outside in the morning and not need a big coat, earflap winter cap, mud boots, and snow. The ground is firm enough, finally, that I can wear regular shoes and traverse the yard without moving around puddles or drifts.

During the last week of February, we started seeding.  In the greenhouse there are onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi emerging in trays.  Some of these will go into other greenhouses to grow, and some of these will go out in the field in early April.  Onion plants take a long time to go from a little black triangular seed to a nice green plant the size of a pencil.  Salads are also growing.  Yesterday, I could see rows of radishes, turnips and lettuce in one of the high tunnels.  Peas and spinach are starting to emerge, but these two take a little longer.  More salad will get planted early this week.  Also, this week we will seed thousands each of broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower (and a little kale). We will again be having farm hours and drive thru veggie pick ups. Or you can think about joining the weekly vegetable subscription.

I met a truck driver in Shelby, NE, Thursday night last week.  The truck was on his way from eastern North Dakota to southwestern Kansas.  The driver was hauling about 15 tons of seed potatoes.  We snagged about 500 lbs off the back of the truck.  I grew this variety a couple years ago but couldn’t find them for a couple years.  I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy….. and now I’ve got a really nice red potato!

We shelled and cleaned 550 lbs of popcorn.  Seventeen buckets full when we were done.  We used a sheller that is about 100 years old that was owned by one of our neighbors and bought by another one of our neighbors.  It takes a village. 

Today the tractors will get spring maintenance.  Oil and filters are changed.  New air filter.  Blow the dust off.  Check air in the tires.  Working on steel is not my favorite task, but this one means spring is coming.

Enjoy the weather while it lasts – see you soon.

Your Farmers,
Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, and Grace

It’s Vegetable Farmer New Year and we want to thank you all for being part of our farm family at Pekarek’s Produce!  

I don’t know exactly when the Chinese New Year is, but it is almost Vegetable Farmer New Year. The farm doesn’t exactly follow the normal January to December calendar, so we consider the start of the new year to be when we finish delivering last year’s storage crops and begin planting anew in February. 

The last of the butternut squashes, spaghetti squashes, and sweet potatoes were shipped off last week, ahead of the major cold snap. There are a few bushels of potatoes and carrots that will go in the next couple weeks – but we have effectively wrapped up for the year!

Typically we would already have things in the greenhouse, but this year we will wait for late February, after the thermometer returns to double digits. We will begin by seeding what I consider salad crops; radishes, lettuce, spinach, turnips, carrots, and beets. These healthy veggies go directly in the ground in the high tunnels, then  – BOOM – salads in March and April.

Also in February, we begin seeding onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers in the greenhouse. These are grown into small plants that get “set” into the high tunnels. We don’t typically plant any food outside until early April. That is a lot of snow and many many degrees away. 

Most of the work now is in the office. Plans, maps, counts, taxes. I am slowly working on putting together a team of farmers to do all the heavy lifting around here. We employ about twenty people in some capacity between sales and production and packing. It takes a village to raise a meal. We are making website updates and getting ready for the weekly vegetable subscription!

Otherwise, I am trying to find some time to relax. Sitting by the fire place in the evening. Occasionally, a basketball game for one of the kids. It is currently too cold for much else. Most of the outside work consists of moving snow from point A to point B, flat on the ground to pushed in a pile and of course harvesting the lettuce, spinach, and kale from the high tunnels.

We look forward to providing you with good food. Stay warm. Stay safe.

Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, and Grace

FINAL WEEK: Week 18 of Pekarek’s Produce Weekly Vegetable Subscription

Today is the day.  It’s the last week of the 2020 Pekarek’s Produce Weekly Vegetable Subscription. We have really enjoyed this year’s subscription and getting to know you along the way.

On The Farm

To us the end of the weekly vegetable subscription truly signifies a change in the seasons as much just as picking pumpkins. Ryan often gets asked what he does the rest of the year and I’ll give you an idea…. we try to harvest 11 months of the year which means most years we are still harvesting crops into December. The first fall broccoli harvest doesn’t even begin until late September and we are just about to start into other goodies like sweet potatoes and Kale. Last year we had multiple carrot harvests in the snow!

Once December hits though, things change even more. It becomes time to deep clean the shop, take machines apart and do maintenance, and do some more prep for next year. This pretty much goes on daily until we get to spring and wonder where the time went and why we didn’t get it all done!  Ever feel like that? By January Ryan is ordering seed. Maybe some gets ordered earlier, here and there. This takes weeks. He pours over his notes from the last season (and the 15 before that), works with many companies and rotates every crop around on the farm – planning where everything from university trials to kids’ popcorn crops will go. Crop rotation is key for healthy soils, disease resistance and pest management.  Then when he has his orders ready to place he CALLS them in. Inevitably some seed that was advertised has an epic failure and he’s offered an alternative.

Visit us this FallThis is the last week (9/23) of the weekly vegetable subscription. But that doesn’t mean that healthy eating or even visiting with Pekarek’s Produce has to end. The Lincoln Haymarket Farmer’s Market on Saturdays goes through the end of October, the College View Farmer’s Market on Sundays goes through November with some holiday markets, the Farm will have hours through the fall and by appointment, online ordering is available for socially distanced farm pick up. The Fall 2020 Vegetable Subscription will begin November 4th. It has a fun variety of fall crops and includes so much more than “just squash” – although squash is one of the fun parts of fall.  If you are interested in learning more, please visit the Pekarek’s Produce Website.

Thank you.  We can’t say it enough. Your support of the farm always means a lot, but during this strange time where our wholesale sales to restaurants and schools are down because of coronavirus, your membership in the weekly vegetable subscription has been even more important.  Thank you. We hope to see you again soon, Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, Grace, and Crew