Week 9 update

The season is progressing well. We planted our spuds two weeks ago and will be planting some more this weekend. We are trying the red LaSoda potato. It was bred in the Louisiana breeding program and is a standard red for Florida. We had some initial success on our third season growing potatoes once we figured out that ants were eating the older tubers and boring into the stems. We are going to plant a little more this year and hopefully we will harvest in a few months.

Carrots, and bunching onions are sizing up and are a great addition to the weekly pickup. I planted three weeks of Broccoli and used two different varieties and it seems that it all came on at the same time. It can be a really large challenge to plan the season out ahead of time with so many changing variables especially counting the weather.

The arugula is starting to flower which will take it out of production, but I planted a back up that will be maturing later on.

The large tomatoes are shutting down but I planted seeds for a spring crop last week. It was interesting to see Uncle Matt's wild tomato take a breather this week. The plants had a growth spurt for the last two weeks with new growth and a bunch of flowers showing. There will be gobs of cherry tomatoes in a few weeks when they all ripen up. I also planted peppers and eggplant again for this spring. I placed an order for some sweet peppers, corn, and a few beans I am hoping to trial this year. I was also reading one of the bloggers I follow and he mentioned a squash called costata romanesco as a good producer as far as disease goes so I thought that I would give it a trial. I almost thought about planting for the spring and summer this weekend but with near freezing weather this week I figured I would wait another week.

There were three eggs in the coop today. Looks like the girls might be getting ready to lay again.

Pest Control Operations

I have always thought that the most important thing a farmer can put on his crops is his/her shadow. In other words being observant to what is going on in the field is extremely important when you are limited to a handful of organic pesticides. In an operation like ours there is no easy way out in dealing with pests. We can't just mindlessly and indiscriminately spray our fields with insecticides. Being observant is crucial to understanding what and when things are going on with pests and their predators. I've noticed during the fall and into the spring small flocks of little migratory birds fly across the fields generally moving east or west and stop to pick insects off the plants. I have watched them pick off aphids from the leaves and then hop to the next plant to do the same. It seems that we are in a major flight path for these little predators. I've also noticed that they tend to fly to a spot that is higher than the surroundings in relative terms.In this picture of my freakishly large red bok choi that I am waiting to save seeds from there is one leaf that is taller than the surroundings and it attracts many bird stops. You can see it sticking up on the top picture. Apparently to the birds it is a great lay over spot. The next picture supports my observations. With having a small farm we have the benefit of being able to increase the biodiversity of the farmed land to enhance the productivity. I had the idea that maybe I could get the flight path changed somewhat. I thought that I might place little roosting posts around crops that typically attract pests to see if I can slightly deviate the flight path to our benefit and the benefit of the birds.

I will place the roosts this weekend and observe what happens. The picture above is the bird in action in the bok choi/leek row. I believe that it is a palm warbler. Earlier in the year we planted mulberry trees along the edge of the vegetable plots to offer cover to birds that might hang out in the fields a little longer. It seems that if there is no structure they tend not to linger in the open. I am also hoping to build some fertility to the ground with planting deciduous tree crops and gain a little shade for plants that stress out in the summer heat such as lettuce. We will also be able to harvest the berries when they are ripe. Hopefully it will be a win, win, win, win solution.