The field is almost completely planted. The corn is about six-inches tall. Most of the dried beans have sent up stalks with two bright green leaves. The pumpkins should be germinating soon. And the tomatoes still need to be staked. The last…
Crops love these long sunny days. The tomatoes are bright green and getting taller every time I turn around. I really need to get the stakes up so I can start trellising them. If this tomato season is anything like…
Now that all my tomatoes are planted, a quarter of an acre in total, I’ve moved my attention to another part of the field. The popcorn part of the field! I grow a total of a half an acre of…
Like most farmers I build on my experience from year to year with the hopes that this year will be better than the last. So I tend to grow many of the same crops and varieties that performed well in previous…
With all this sunny weather, I’m finally getting the tomatoes in the ground. Last Tuesday I transplanted 650 cherry tomatoes and later in the week I transplanted 370 heirloom tomato seedlings. I still have another hundred or so to get in the…
This spring is a bit of waiting game, it feels like you are at the starting line, standing by for the race that is the growing season to begin. You are focused and ready to run but you get jittery…
The weather is keeping us farmers on our toes this spring. Just when I thought sunny skies were here to stay, in blows another storm. Before this current storm is over we will get about an inch of rain, so…
The tomato seedlings have been enjoying their time in the greenhouse but these tiny tomato plants have grown up and they are ready to be welcomed into their forever home. So at Friday’s farmers’ market I had my full selection of 17…
I’m still sweating it up in the greenhouse. Potting up thousands of tiny seedlings into fiber pots takes a lot time. But it’s so rewarding to see how the seedling quickly gets comfortable in its new home. There’s more space…
Sprouts of summer crops are starting to fill the greenhouse. The various basils are teeny tiny. I’m still waiting for crops like cucumbers and summer squash to germination. While the eggplants and peppers are starting to grow their first true…
Things are heating up in the greenhouse. With the return of the sun, seedlings have been growing much faster than the previous grey rainy weeks. I have been busy potting up 6-packs full of lush spring crops that are begging…
This week I had the chance to attend the California Climate and Agriculture Summit. The day was filled with farmers, scientist, and policy folks. The various workshops and panels dealt with the effects of climate change and strategies to improve…