Big Week

Alright most the weeks round here are big. On Monday (yes I worked on Memorial day, I usually have to work on major summer holidays) I went and picked up our 6 Hogs. They have settled in to their life of eating, sleeping, rooting around, napping, snacking, running around, sunbathing, and eating some more. Oh the life of a Hog. if I had to be a Hog, I think I might pick here to live my life.
We of course had lot's of field work that got done. The second planting of Peppers/ Eggplant went in the ground, and it was so hot I had to give them a sun shade treatment so they wouldn't cook. The sun shade treatment is Kaiolin clay, white, very fine and will keep new transplants from cooking in very hot weather. It works wonderfully. I wish I had some for myself, as it was over 95F all week long, and the afternoons were pretty drippy. As in drips of sweat.
I started delivering Squash to my local store accounts and it's moving very well, which is really good as the yields are fantastic. It's really going gangbusters out there.
Then on Friday we had the start of our Harvest Fridays. With two Farmers Market's to pick for and wholesale delivery's it can get really busy here. But it's right now it's early in the summer season so it's a bit more "under control". We harvested Spinach, Giant heads of Romaine Lettuce ( some weighed more than 3#), Arugula, Basil, Onions, and Purple Radishes, as well as the normal daily Squash cutting. It was a well balanced day , and finished with a Yummy dinner of Farm raised Chicken, and Ceasear Salad with two kinds of home made croutons. Double Yummy.
Then as can be the norm for the first Market, I was only able to fall asleep for 10 minutes or so as I was so excited to go to the Grass Valley Market. Market up there was really fun, with my farmer friend Andrew setting up right next to my stall space. He's in his second year of Farming and he's gone from 1 acre to 10 acre's and I'm rooting for him. We had a nice post market conversation, and I do my best to give him tips of success. I drove home after a good market, unloaded the truck, then Angela got back from Chico Market and I found out that she had out sold me. Which is unusall, for I usally sell more produce at Grass Valley, but our local Chico folks are out there showing the Farm The Love and someday I have hopes of selling all I produce in Butte County.

Friday Fun

Friday was fun. It was our first day of harvesting for the summer. I started with the Spinach. Which has turned out to be a nice trial. I haven't grown Spinach for quite a few years and decided to see If I could. I seeded it at the beginning of April, and was blessed with wonderful weather and little predation. It has matured into a wonderful experiment, tasty, creamy, and ever so not bitter. I brought 30# to Farmers Market and it was wonderfully received. It will be interesting to see if it grows fast enough and dosn't bolt to cut it again next week. I do have another planting of it coming along and it of course will be an experiment/learning experience.
Then I was able to cut a bit of Basil, which is pretty early for us. At this point I'm shaping the plants trimming them ever so carefully so as to encourage them to grow lot's of branches. Again well received at Market.
And now Zucchini cutting has hit full on. We went from 3 boxes that we cut and immediately brought to Market, again pleasing our customers,to 6 today. I already have informed my wholesale customers of the impending arrival and will start delivery's tomorrow. Yippee!!!
It was fun on Friday to start harvesting spring plantings, and always nice to bring them to Farmers Market and have them be so well received. I Love being the Carrot Man but I also enjoy growing and selling a plethora of other vegtables. You see, I sometimes suffer from attention span disorder and multi-tasking is my second name. As a mixed vegetable Farmer it is a quality that serves me very well, and if I had to do one task all day I would lose it.
Here's an update on last Sunday's Slow Food dinner at Chaffin Family Orchards. It went extremely well even with temperatures of 100F. I was part of the volunteer crew and I enjoyed myself, setting up, tending bar and clearing plates. The only drawback was I didn't eat enough of the delicious food. I had a snack here and there but blew it and didn't put together a big plate to enjoy all at once. All the food was fantastic, and it was fun to take part and help, and also quite an education to see what it takes to feed 100 people at a sit down dinner.

Inappropriate for Children

This morning somehow I either slept thru my alarm or the alarm malfunctioned, needless to say the first words out of my mouth were inappropriate for children. Up I jumped and in to action. The first words out of Lisa's mouth were perfectly appropriate and children should say them more often, they were "How can I help". I lucked out and woke up at the time I usually depart for Farmers Market so I loaded the truck and Lisa got everything else ready and I got to Market with no speeding ticket and enough time for converstation with the Baker/Potter coffee clache. This morning I was late on arrival but provided a wonderfull sumation of the Therom for the morning. However it probably is inappropriate for children.
Next subject: It's blazing hot now, and getting hotter tommorow but all should be well. Tommorow I get to play bartender at a Slow Food event, the forecast is for 101F so I hope I don't wither in the heat. I'm looking forward to it as it's held at one of my favorite farms Chaffin Orchards, they are doing a fantastic job at modeling a Pastoral Orchard system. They are located in one of the most beutiful spots in the valley and have a fantastic operation, give a terrific Farm tour and give away "secrets" to anybody who asks. Fantastic Farmers we need more like 'em.
Our produce is being included in two dishes, our Carrots are being cookedin one dish, and our Garlic Scapes in another. It chould be a fantastic event and I'll fill you in on all the details.

Makin' Rain

Today I'm making rain. As the temperature has recently turned to the warm side, today will hit 90F, I have to watch things and make sure I don't get behind in my irrigation. In fact when I'm done with this out I go to switch irrigation from the Squash and Tomatoes, to recently transplanted Tomatoes, Spring crops ( Lettuce, Beets, Spinach,Radishes,Arugula ).
This last week went very well with everything proceeding according to plans. Which in Farming can be quite a rare occurance. Last weekend we had almost 2" of rain, wetting the soil pretty well. So on Teusday when it was time to fertilize and till the rows for Cucumbers, Watermelons, and Sharlyn Melons, I was hoping the soil wasn't to wet causing clumping and soil structure damage. When I went through with the tiller the soil came out looking pretty good and ready for planting. So On Wednsday we planted Cucumbers then Watermelons and Sharlyn's on Thursday. And the weather has been pefect for them ever since with wonderfull soil temperature. Go seeds Go!!!!!!!!!!
Then on Friday we transplanted the second run of Shady Ladys and they are happy and the timing a perfect 30 days after the first run. These kind of weeks are occuring more frequently. Perfect timing, and excellent results. Something must be up.

Rain Rain Go-Away

O.K. I'm done with my little temper tantrum now. You see if I had it my way it would be sunny and warm, but it's not. So I live with it. Actually live in it. Actually it was quite interesting to see the effect the rain had on the Farmers Market today. It didn't totally kill the market but our sales and my friends sales were down quite a bit. We brought Carrots home. That means either I was foolishly too optimistic or somthin' funky's goin' on. The Market did have some competition today ie: parade, endangered species fair, and craft fair. So all in all it was interesting to see how many of our regulars came out and how many went to other events and how many simply just stayed home in the rain. And I'll give props to all those who came out. I just have a bit of empathy for my pal Nick who went home with way to many of the bomb, Organic even, strawberries. Those berries are a cruel mistress and thats why I don't be sleeping with her. One day everybody loves you, standing in line to get your berries, the next ( cause 3/4 of the mkt's strawberry volume is based on fair weather franks ) your tossin' berrys out with tears in your eyes. Ok that's not all the reasons why I don't grow strawberrys but I think it reads better that way.
But back to the first subject, Rain. My grassfed beef freinds are probably dancing a jig right now, cause an inch of rain in May is a Godsend, two is a miracle and we're quickly heading that way. For us on the Farm it means more work, and not the kind that does anything to further our goal of growing yummy vegtables, unless you count mowing weeds and grass as productive.
( Actually it is, and actually adds wonderful organic matter to our soil )
Today at Farmers Market many people asked me if the rain was good or bad for me, and so that's why the subject. I usually just take the weather with a cheery " it's the weather, I'm a Farmer, and if I stress on the weather I'm going to be a cranky old man."