Folks, did you know that we have carrots right now! Among the other goodies we have growing in the greenhouses and tunnels that should be ready in the next few weeks – we have carrots available right now!

And while it is joyful to have fresh, crunchy, sweet, delicious carrots in the early part of March, it is not as much fun to wash them. And although there are a few warm days here and there, it is inevitible that it will be cold and cloudy when we wash carrots. Oh – and machines don’t work as well in March as when they do in Spring. So here’s a picture for you: it’s 40 degrees out, cloudy, and Katie is covered in water while washing carrots. It sounds like a complaint, but it’s actually kind of fun. It’s nice to just have things growing and be working outside.

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Your Farmers,

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

This time of year, we often get the question: “what do you have growing?” And the answer is usually pretty conditional.

We try to get seeds started in the greenhouse around mid-February every year. But this year, like most, we got seeds going when there was a nice, sunny snap of weather and then we got a frigid snap. And while we heat the greenhouse, the furnace can only keep up with so much.

So, it’s Leap Day 2020, and of the 500+ cucumber seeds we started, only 130 or so are up. So we will seed some more today but give them a different starting home— the house.

Now, a lot of other things are growing: turnips, radishes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and onions. Some in the greenhouse, some under plastic (but not heated) in the high tunnels. Next week will work to fill the rest of the greenhouse with trays and plant more in the high tunnels.

As for the field, there’s a long time until we plant outside. In our experience, patience is a virtue…. and one cold day in March or April can wreak havoc on small plants. So we wait to plant, but there is oh so much to do besides planting – a story for another time.

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So I woke up this morning and the pain between my shoulder blades reminded me how thankful I am that i could help Ryan in the high tunnel. We were able to enjoy some of the nice sunny weather and get the high tunnel (we call this one “number 6) ready to plant.

After the last crop came out this fall, Ryan did some basic prep work to the soil – tilling, adding organic matter, etc. And now, we were able take our shovels, takes, and a nifty contraption that involves me carrying a cinder block, to build some raised beds.

It’s a beautiful picture right now, but it will be even better when the carrots, beets, radishes, and lettuce get come out of the ground.

We can’t wait to share all of this yummy goodness with you this spring! Only a few weeks and it’ll be here 🙂

It’s February 12th, and the weather is supposed to get really cold today! We’ve been spoiled by the sun and some warmer days, so we’ve been busy getting to work on the farm!

Well, the other day, I got a nice text and picture from Ryan that said “I planted you a salad.” If you’re like me and trying to eat healthy, just waiting for more fresh fruits and veggies that Ryan grows… you know how exciting this is!

Last week we planted a few trays of lettuce, spinach, radishes, and turnips for our family in the greenhouse. But this time he planted enough in the high tunnel for your families too.

We can’t wait to see all of our extended Pekarek’s Produce family again!

Wow! Just wow!

We’ve had a relatively mild winter so far, but the clouds and the constant sheet of snow with ice has started to make me feel the winter duldrums. We have enjoyed the sledding but I was so happy this weekend to get a couple of days with sun and warm weather! It’s amazing what playing outside does for our family.

It’s a little bit early for us to get moving in the greenhouse, but we just couldn’t help the feeling that we needed to go plant something. So we decided to plant a few trays of vegetables for our house. We got spinach, lettuce, turnips and radishes planted. These are pretty much favorites for my kiddos… especially the turnips.

The real reason though to get in the greenhouse, was to start playing with dirt! Yes, we grow vegetables, yes this was us trying to remember what spring is like, but it really was just about playing in the dirt.

Summer is Here!

Summer crops are arriving very soon with the warm weather. Tomatoes are starting to turn. There are small zucchini and summer squash hanging on the plants. There are even silks coming out of the first variety of sweet corn, called ‘Sweetness.’ Early sweet corn plants are almost comical – barely 3 feet tall with an ear shank that touch the dirt. Watermelon vines are reaching off the plastic and out into row middles.

The farm looks pretty good. We bought a new cultivator this winter – free shipping sale sealed the deal! I should have bought that thing ten years ago. It is a specialty machine called a basketweeder. Most of our other cultivators are repurposed from corn and soybean machines. This new one is really a gem.

The cauliflower and cabbage that was seeded last week is up and looking good. We will continue seeding more of these crops this week and in a few more days. Yesterday we planted our last eggplant and bell peppers for the year. The final seeding of muskmelon went into the ground. We also seeded more pickling cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, red beets, and orange carrots. There is a lot happening right now!

Your Farmers,

Ryan, Katie, Jacob, Margret, Michael, Lukas, Joe, Andy, Al, Ben, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Anthony, Caleb, Brayden, Parker, Larkin