first greenhouse seeding

for the past few years, we have been growing zucchini in the hoophouse in early april so that we can sell them when the farmers' market begins in mid-may. this year, we decided not to grow a large volume of zucchini. instead, we will grow a variety of crops in the hoophouse for the start up of market. this past week, we started several crops by seed that will be transplanted into the hoophouse in the following weeks... several varieties of head lettuce, scallions, mini-onions, beets, snap peas, bok choy and nappa cabbage.



we use soil blocks for most of our greenhouse seedings now. soil blocks are a way to cut down on using plastic trays and lessen the shock for the plants during transplanting. i am enclosing a few photos here to show you just what i am talking about!

WINTER RECAP

we spend alot of time on the computer this time of year.... preparing year end tax documents, composing our production plan, updating our csa brochures and more. all of this is mixed in with cleaning up around the farm, new building projects, tractor repairs and setting up the greenhouse for a new season of growing.

we are also very busy attending farm conferences and various farm related meetings such as the NOFA VT winter conference in mid-february, VT vegetable and berry grower's annual meeting, farmer's market board meetings and more. these conferences serve as social events and inspiration for the upcoming growing season.

another fun winter task is writing letters to students through the NOFA farmer correpsondence program. i write a letter each month to an assigned classroom to inform the class about the happenings on the farm. later in the spring, there is an opportunity to have the class visit our farm. i have been participating in this program for 4 years now. i have written letters to classrooms in shelburne, vergennes and bristol.

our seeds have arrived. putting the seed order together gets easier each year now that we have been farming in east middlebury for 4 solid years now. we are finding our place in the market and have a better sense of what we can grow here. we keep our records up to date which is also a great help at this time of year when we are making decisions for our future production.

that is it for now... oh, we are building a new csa pick up shed. we will have shelter! and a cooler along with a small upright freezer that was generously donated by an awesome csa member!

ABC'S of Farm Based Education

i went to a really fabulous farm conference last weekend at shelburne farms. i have been wanting to go for the past few years. this year they offered scholarships to vermont farmers so i jumped on the opportunity to go. it was two full days of learning. the conference consisted of two days full of workshops on marketing farm programs to local schools, exploring hands on activities that help children discover the natural world and so much more.

when we purchased the elmer farm through the vermont land trust's farmland access program, part of our vision for the elmer farm included a strong educational and community aspect. as we are getting our bearings with our production and markets, we are slowly growing the community aspects of our farm.

one way we are doing this is through our on-farm pick ups for our csa. people come to the farm on a weekly basis from mid-june through the end of october to pick up their vegetables. another way is with our various efforts of farm tours with school groups of all ages. we are in a convenient location which makes us accessible to the local schools including middlebury college. these are the first steps in building community on the elmer farm.

there is more to come ... annual potlucks, music, cooking demonstrations. after the conference, i am excited to incorporate hands on activities as well as self guided opportunities to explore elmer farm. the possibilities are endless.

heirlooms... rich in history, taste and beauty

the 2011 elmer farm growing season has officially begun. our first CSA member has signed up, the potting soil was delivered last week, our seed order is complete and this week we have been preparing the hoophouse beds for seeding mesclun.

i love this time of year when we are planning for the upcoming season and anticipating it's possibilities. i suppose this would be obvious. putting the seed order together is a highlight of the year for me. i am always ready to add something new to the elmer farm veggie line up. this year, we are going to bring back matt's wild cherry tomato and add the cylindra beet. both of these are heirlooms, seeds that have been saved for many years and handed down generation to generation in their original form. we grow many heirlooms. they often draw customers into our stand at farmers' market with their unique shapes and colors. for instance... rosa bianca eggplant is round with white and purple streaks and boothby blonde cucumbers are stumpy, oval and light yellow. heirlooms are rich in history, taste and beaty.

january update

heirloom tomato seeds order - check
payroll taxes - check
facebook page for the farm - check
direct marketing conference - check
csa survey through survey monkey - check
greenhouse endwalls - check
letters for farm to school program - check
potting soil order - check
contact for logo - check
hired 2 employees - check

work in progress:
production plan
set up meetings with wholesale accounts
2011 csa brochure
update website
w2's
high mowing seed order
taxes
nofa bulk order

it is a super chilly morning. -20 degrees. a good morning to get some more office work done! registering for the NOFA winter conference this morning. as always... so many great workshops to choose from. this year, it is all about flowers, flowers, flowers for me. there are 2 advanced grower workshops just on flowers....

dilly beans

i have been waiting for a rainy sunday afternoon forever. we have had some really great weather this summer. it has been hard to find the time to spend the day indoors canning tomato sauce, dilly beans and more. however, we have had two chilly, rainy august days which has been perfect for putting food away.

HEAT WAVE

it is going to be sooooo hot this week, between 90 and 94 degrees for most of the week. this is great news for tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, corn. these crops could use a little boost after a somewhat wet june with some chilly temps.

the flowers are really coming along. i planted 3 beds of perennial flowers along with about 6 other beds of annuals. this small field is just about 1/4 acre and is situated near the road and where our csa members park. so, it is both convenient for our members to cut their own flowers and beautiful for people passing by. this year, we are also growing herbs, scallions and peas in this field. it is a nice mix.

farmers' markets continue to take off. our business has been building continually over the past few years. we have a great spot at market and people recognize us. those who don't know us, are drawn in by the heaps of early season zucchini and hakurei turnips that we grow. this weekend was an all star market where we sold over 50 pounds of snap peas!

so much more to come.........

CSA WEEK 1

wednesday june 16th was our first csa pick up on the elmer farm. we offered our members the following:
head lettuce
garlic scapes
zucchini
beets (golden, chiogga or red)
haikurei turnips
kale
chard (swiss or rainbow)
broccoli
blue potatoes (2009)
black beans

we have a total of 18 members this year. we also partnered with a senior housing group in middlebury to offer 19 senior shares for a 10 week duration starting in mid-july.

black beans are looking great in the field. our best stand to date on the elmer farm. the flower beds are brigtening up with blooms of zinnias, snapdragons, cosmos, calendula and bachelor buttons. our first succession of snap peas have already passed and we are patiently waiting for our second succession.

we don't grow strawberries and haven't picked yet this year. i can't let the opportunity pass us by. we will try to pick this week.

A SNOWY APRIL DAY

nothing should surprise us about farming in vermont. not even a snowstorm on april 28th.

it's beginning to look alot like spring all around the farm

march 17th already! our csa brochures are finally ready to be mailed. i think this was a great first effort at creating an elmer farm brochure. next year we hope to come up with a logo that we can put on all of our materials but for now, we just used a few of our photos.

we have planted two successions of salad mix in our hoophouse. they have germinated and are growing, growing, growing. this weather has been really amazing for march. it has been warm and sunny for alot of the month which we hope will help to dry up the somewhat flooded fields. we also have some sandy soils that are dry enough that we could probably plant in but that would be quite a gamble. still too early. we all know the kind of april weather we could have... and even may has surprised us with unseasonably cold weather.

we built a new greenhouse this year. this house will be used to start all of our seedlings. so far we have sweet peppers, tomatoes and zucchini started. these crops will be transplanted in the ground inside the greenhouse in the following weeks. we also did a germination test for our onions and as we expected, it was terribly low. we had so much seed leftover from last year but unfortunately, onion seed just does not hold over. our new seed should arrive this week and then the seed starting frenzy will begin.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

farmwork never really slowed down as usual this winter. during the mild november, we were still harvesting carrots from the field for bunching. we had an opportunity to wholesale them at the middlebury co-op for a month. we had our largest sales to the co-op both during the preseason and extended fall season. maybe this is our niche as new growers in the area.

i would like to spend more time reflecting a bit on last year's growing season in some upcoming posts. for now, i am simply saying hello and we hope to make good use of our blog this season as we welcome new csa members and attract new customers at the farmers market.

WINTER WHEAT

just before we had this last run of rain, we were lucky enough to have the perfect conditions for harvesting our 5 acres of winter wheat. the combine ran well, we found a way to store it and it appears to be a good crop. now we just have to follow through with our plans to make and sell whole wheat flour. in the past, we have gotten to this point and then end up selling the wheat as cover crop seed to other farmers because that is the easier thing to do. we are really committed to turning this year's crop into a value added product for all those hungry localvores.

yesterday, spencer attended a workshop at butterworks farm where our mentor and friend, jack lazor, has a successful bean, grain and dairy farm (they make awesome yogurt!). this workshop was focused on growing grains for food. jack has really built he has an amazing set up for storing, cleaning and processing grains and beans. currently, he sells a half dozen varieties of dry beans including black turtle, jacob's cattle, vermont cranberry and the soldier bean that you can buy in bulk at many local coops. he also processes an heirloom corn to make cornmeal and mills whole wheat berries for flour. i should also mention two other amazing bean & grain farmers that have had an incredible influence on us and have been so helpful... ken vanhazinga (tio grains) and ben gleason (gleason grains).

this workshop was perfect timing to really motivate us to keep moving forward in our bean and grain venture. there is an incredible amount of demand and excitement to buy these items locally. i want to do it all... rolled oats, cornmeal, popcorn, buckwheat and whole wheat flour, beans and sunflower oil.

ZINNIAS, SUNFLOWERS, POTATOES, ZUCCHINI

just a few photos i took around the farm the other night. the close up of the sunflower center looks a little strange because it was kind of dark and i used the flash. it is still a cool photo though.

just a note on sunflowers, we are growing quite a few different varieties of sunflowers. we planted one and a half acres of a variety specifically for pressing the seeds for oil, another 50 plants for saving the seeds for eating, and then about 600 sunflowers including about 12 varieties for cut flowers. $1.00 a stem at the market.

it always feels like summer officially starts when i eat my first tomato from the farm. this morning i made an egg sandwich with some fat slices of tomato and a handful of fresh basil. it was fantastic. maybe tomorrow for breakfast we'll make some buckwheat pancakes and add a bit of shredded zucchini just because we now have that too. there are many jokes about zucchini. have you ever heard the joke about it that goes like this... in the summer, be sure to lock your car doors when parking or else someone may fill it with zucchini. yes, zucchini can be abundant and for some, it is tiresome vegetable. i never seem to get bored with it. one of my favorite ways to use it is to shred a lot of it and add to homemade black bean chili to thicken it up.

markets are going well. we enjoy the pace and are meeting some great people both customers and other vendors. i imagine in a few seasons, we'll really feel at home. we just learned of some exciting news... both burlington and middlebury will be adding winter farmers markets. i don't have many details about the middlebury market. the burlington market will be held once per month from november to march. since this is only four markets, we'll probably go and just bring a ton of black beans. we have a lot of friends and family in burlington, it would be fun to catch up with some familiar faces at this winter market. hopefully, these two winter markets will have different dates and we will be able to make it to both of them.

AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

the time is quickly approaching to harvest our first crop of winter wheat on the elmer farm. we have 10 acres planted and spencer is excited at how well it has grown. the winter wheat always did well in the intervale on the rich river bottom soils. it is good to know that we can have a great harvest here too. however... we have to get the combine started and running. we didn't use it last year. the last time we ran it was in december of 2006 when spencer drove it from burlington to middlebury... a 5 hour adventure involving bill smith, jesse guertin, ben dana and another john deere.

BOSTON GLOBE

remember, a woman from the boston globe called spencer a few weeks ago for an interview? here is the link for the article sited in the rutland herald today. enjoy!

CROPS UPDATE

feel free to read this entry. it is more of a note to give a record for how the crops have done thus far.... the good and the bad.

first, the good:

• good germination on most direct seeded crops including: radish, haikurei turnip, arugula, cilantro, broccoli raab, spinach


• transplanted golden beets look good - no leaf miners (yet), could have been a few weeks earlier


• greenhouse tomatoes & peppers look amazing- good fruit set, great vegetative growth but not too much


• potatoes are surviving the colorado potato beetles very well (we have been picking them just about daily), plants are full and lively, flowers on the red norlands and the green mountain varieties so far


• no complaints about our heat-loving crops that are covered with hoops and row cover (field tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, cucumbers) we'll see how they produce


• scallions, fine... good amount planted; more successions next year


• spinach, nice plants, good harvests, bolted with unseasonal 4 day heat wave


• sunflowers... a new crop for us. all varieties of the sunflowers are doing well... for oil pressing, cut flowers and saving seeds for eating.


• flowers in general are doing well in the rocky soil. added a fair amount of compost in this garden, makes a noticeable difference


• 3 varieties, started out very well, customers love it... didn't plant enough the first time around; starting to bolt & yellow


• broccoli raab & arugula, didn't cover with remay... flea beetle damage but ethan saved us. thanks ethan for putting these holy crops on the flatbreads


• garlic, scapes were super popular, only two varieties have sent shoots up so far, plants great, mulched well, not too weedy, just waiting


• winter squash, aside from no germination on our first two seedings of delicata, plants went in the ground on time and look good so far, i am hoping for a plentiful harvest.

now, the bad:

• biggest disappointment, onion root maggot. never even heard of this pest, common to land that has been in sod. flies seek out alliums by scent, lay eggs, bury into root and destroy. we lost over 1/2 of our onions.


• carrots, didn't germinate well, spotty. then lost in the weeds by the time they were big enough to hand weed. lost two entire successions. try again with fall carrots. ordered a flame weeder. this will give the carrots an upper hand on weeds in the future.


• lettuce. 5 successions total. not really growing, some yellowing and recent storm damage with flash flooding. never harvested "tom thumb" variety. side dressing would help, also planted in the shadiest spot. still no harvest.


• broccoli, 3 successions - WOODCHUCK & HEATWAVE, did not stand a chance


• radish - wire worm and not enough water


• haikurei turnip: huge huge huge disappointment, roots totally eaten up by millipede. can't believe it. usually, millipedes aren't a problem. we had a massive infestation


• dry beans started out great, now they are swamped, literally, from our flooding and continuous rain. starting to rot, yellow, not good - not sure that there is anything we could do differently accept plant in a different part of the field not as wet


• calais flint corn - totally disappeared: BIRDS


• popcorn - nearly all disappeared: BIRDS


• peas, o-k germination but too shady, great first two harvests then nothing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

today is my mother's birthday and summer is just around the corner. the summer solstice marks a new season and i am sure it is my mothers favorite. what a gift. here is her grandson picking a flower in honor of the occasion. calendula is one of my new favorite flowers/herbs. i love its fragrance, the seed is easy to save and it is hardy. i am growing it this year because i am hoping to use it to make salve. a farmer friend once gave me a tin of homemade calendula salve and it was the best!!!

NEWS FLASH

when we left the intervale to farm in east middlebury, i never thought we would really have to worry about flooding again. well, we had a flash flood here this weekend. a very isolated area among ripton and east middlebury received 7 inches of rain on saturday night. we happened to be in east montpelier for the night and were shocked when we arrived home sunday evening. we checked our rain gauge in the field and it was full, maxing out at 6". there were mini canyons through our slightly sloped field where water eroded away at the plants leaving little islands of head lettuce and basil. at the bottom of the field, soil settled onto our remay covered cabbage seedlings like lava running from a volcano. the rushing water and soil erased all of our footprints and tractor tire marks from the field. it looked as if we never stepped foot on the field to do any work. it really was a shocking discovery. there was an obvious stream of water still flowing nearly 24 hours after the rain had fallen. all of this happened ,while nearby burlington received a mere .38 inches of rain and rutland to the south of us received 2.45 inches.

some crops have suffered but most survived just fine as far as we know. we are lucky that this field consists mostly of our transplanted crops like cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, chard, and tomatoes. all of our direct seeded crops are planted in the north meadow in a half acre parcel with much less slope and sandy soils. the force of the rain was rough on our greens but lucky for us we never had a chance to direct seed our carrots, cilantro and beans last week. so, it doesn't appear that any germinating beds were washed away. and to top it all off... another inch and a half of rain today in a massive thunderstorm.

FAREWELL, ELMER

today was a terrific harvest. morning temperatures were chilly which makes great weather for gathering greens. our harvest today included... more spinach, kale, cilantro, beautiful rainbow chard, italian flat leaf parsley, broccoli and snap peas. it is always nice when we can offer more than greens, greens, greens. customers are always chomping at the bit for the more substantial, popular summer vegetables... green beans, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas.

this was a big work week for us. some of our tasks included: trellising and pruning our greenhouse tomatoes, planting winter squash & pumpkins (about 125 plants total), brushog mania and weeding nearly the entire farm... especially the wheel tracks between the beds. there is still a lot of planting to be done in the field over the next two months. we are close to finishing up with all of our major greenhouse work. we will seed more successions of basil, lettuce, scallions and zinnias. we are starting our second succession of cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash and seeding a bunch of trays for fall broccoli.

we had a heat wave earlier this week with four days over 90 degrees. wow! the best part of a hot day of farm work is a rewarding trip to our local swimming hole. amazing. we can't wait to share this gem with farm visitors.

oh, we got a phone call last night from a reporter for the boston globe. she is writing an article about grain growers in vermont. spencer had a good conversation with her. it is amazing how many opportunities we have had for interviews on this topic. it is all about the localvore movement. we have come into farming at the right time and in the right place.


i would like to close this entry by saying farewell to elmer, one of our three barn cats. he was hit by a car sunday night. elmer was a fun cat, not known for his hunting skills rather his endless need to be at your feet, his playful demeanor, and those crossed eyes.