Expo East

Last week I returned from Maryland where I was attending the Natural Products Expo East. This huge trade show was packed with over 1,000 companies big and small showcasing natural and healthy living products. I spoke on a panel about sharing…

Still Summer

The days are hot but a change in the season is happening. The sun comes up later, and sets earlier. There is a coolness in the morning with that unmistakable scent of fall. The tomato production is going strong currently at…

Bountiful Bounty

The end of the summer and early fall is a time of great bounty. Summer crops are at their peak and fall crops are just starting to be harvested. Right now I can fill a ten pound box of heirloom…

Handling Heirloom Tomatoes

School might be back in session but the days are still sunny and hot. The farm fields are full of summer bounty, which at Quarter Acre means tomatoes. Big ones, small ones, multicolored ones, and they all need to be…

Cheerful Cherries

I have been spending lots of time with cherry tomatoes. Their red and orange sparkle welcomes me to the farm everyday. I am harvesting the productive plants at least three times a week. This equals many hours in the tomato rows,…

Popcorn Update

The popcorn is growing very well. I can’t wait to pop it on the stove top and eat a huge bowl, but it still has a lot of growing before that happens. This past week the tassels started to appear. Corn produces individual male…

Looking Ahead

The field is looking green and lush, from corner to corner there are crops growing. Some crops like the cherry tomatoes are currently being harvested while others like the dried beans are coming into their final growing stages and will be mature…

Anticipation

Last week I found myself staring at all my crops thinking, why won’t you grow faster! It’s not that the plants stopped growing, it just feels like the popcorn has been thigh high forever and that the large heirloom tomatoes have…

Tomato Love

The tomato harvest is slowly starting to roll in.  The various cherry tomato plantings are all starting to ripen.  Even though, back in January when I was working on my crop plan I scheduled the plantings to be weeks apart…

Harvesting Begins

The summer harvesting has begun. As I prepared for Thursday, which is my harvest and farmers’ market prep day, I knew I would be picking the first blackberries and tomatillos. I’ve been watching both of these crops closely.  Playing the…

Summer Maintenance

Last week was filled with general summer field maintenance tying tomato rows, patching drip tape that animals have chewed on, mowing the edges of the field, moving flash tape to keep birds away from the wee popcorn, and of course weeding.…