Newsletter September 13-19 2009

Here's how i have been watering in seeds and doing most of the irrigation until i set up the drip system. Gear driven sprinklers connected to a 1" manifold, 6 gpm nozzles for established plants. 2.5 gpm for seeds. I tried to design the system to put out a lot of water quickly to minimize evaporation and fuel costs when i was still using the generator. The whole system was fairly inexpensive, and much better then lugging around hoses. All those 50 ft sections of 1" pipe are the perfect size use as drip manifolds with the new system.

Cucumber Blunder

We have about 200 feet of sumpter cucumbers ready to harvest. When they were turning yellow instead of growing long and green i did a little research and found out that I planted the most popular pickling cucumber variety rather than a variety developed for eating fresh like I had intended..ah well. This farm teaches me something new three times a day. Now I've got a lot of picking, and maybe pickling ahead of me. If these cukes don't get picked soon, growth hormones signal the plants to stop producing for the season. In a place where fresh vegetables are available year around, I wonder how many Co-op members are interested in making pickles at home? One good thing about these little cuks is that they are single serving sized. I could never figure out how to keep half a cucumber crisp in the refrigerator.

Tendergreen Wax Beans

Tender Green Wax Beans are beginning to produce. You can see some spots (anthracnose) caused by soil splashing onto the leaves. Switching to drip tape fixed that problem. These beans taste great picked right off the plant. Most people are reluctant to try them at first. Its awesome to see the look on their face when they discover how good fresh beans taste. Awesome.

The Shadehouse

Our greenhouse was built using PVC and rebar stakes. The sides are reinforced with salvaged plywood. We use shadecloth instead of plastic to lower temperatures while maintaining humidity and providing a slight wind break. Using this system we can get an early start on fall crops like lettuce and brassicas that prefer cooler weather to germinate. For now the greenhouse, blackhouse?, is passively cooled. When frost threatens we plant to put plastic under the shadecloth and use row covers to regulate temperature. Seedlings grown under shadecloth need to be watered alot less frequently. Even careful watering of seedlings can cause physical damage as well as increased succeptibility to pathogens so its best not to do it more than necessary.

Composting Area

This is a shot of the composting area. Aged manure from a local dairy is mixed with straw and wood chips to achieve ~30:1 Ratio of Nitrogen to Carbon. Consistent with OMRI standards, the compost is turned 5 times in 15 days before it is considered to be finished. This can be a heavy job without a tractor. We have been applying about 10 cubic yards of compost per week this summer. Soon I hope to produce more compost using green manure crops rather than relying on imported material.

This Weeks Box Includes:

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9/7/2009

Small Share:
Tendergreen Bush Beans
Red Russian Kale
Tatsoi Chinese Greens
Zucchini
Cucumber
Yellow Squash
Tomatoes (Ramona Grown)
Bell Peppers
Watermelon
Turnips

There are hints about cooking and storing your vegetables in the newsletter so be sure to take a look.