Week 18, 2019-20 Viral Changes

At Steed Farm we care about the health of our members.  That is primarily why we grow using organic methods.  We care about our community and the general welfare of our community. 

During this Coronavirus pandemic we are taking greater measures to safeguard our member's health.

We always wash our produce and then disinfect it with a peroxide wash.  All our hard surfaces (tables and trays) holding our produce get a bleach wash and rinse every Saturday pick up. 

One thing we will do is start bagging our member's produce at the farm instead of allowing everyone to pick their own produce.   This will minimize potential for cross-contamination from accidental handling.  We will also be doing curb-side service in order to minimize folks congregating at the produce tables. 

We will also implement not using recycled produce boxes immediately.  We will wash them in bleach disinfectant and then store them away for a few weeks to give any germs time to breakdown and then dip in bleach wash again before use in the future.

Our employees will be washing hands more frequently and if they are showing any symptoms refrain from showing up to work. 

As our logistic supply is being stretched at the supermarkets, I am grateful and honored that we can serve our community in one of the few things that is an absolute necessity; the production of food to sustain us.

We will get through this time with everyone doing the small things that will help us overcome. 

Week 10, Season 2019-20

The cold finally arrived and we got through it with little damage;  A few burned potato and tomato plants.  We took to the fields with frost cover and wrapped up the greenhouse to protect the crops. Thankfully the cold was just at the edge of danger.  It was however, nice to see some of the "bad-actor" weeds burned by the frost as well.  The weed scientist in me always smiles at weeds in peril, but alas, it will only be for a short while.

We have a few new crops for this season coming online: breakfast radish, butternut squash, snap peas, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, and baby bok choy.  Mandarin tangerines and lemons are going home with our members, graciously being provided by Mike and Shelly Sweet of Sweet Dream Amaryllis.  Mike has a nice little fruit block he shares with friends and we made the list this year.  If you are ever in need of amaryllis as a gift or for landscape improvements he is your guy.  They are breeders and nursery growers of some fancy bulbs you can check out    https://sweetdreamamaryllis.com/ at their online store.  They are located in the Bloomingdale area if you want to visit them.  They are great folk and know a ton about amaryllis.

Mike Sweet (Sweet Dream Amaryllis) posing with citrus and his young crop of amaryllis

The half way point of the season is quickly approaching and we are planting the last of the cool season plants; lettuce, kale, mustards, greens, arugula, etc. We'll switch back to the warm season stuff shortly.   Looking forward to corn and beans again!

Happy New Year 2020!

We have been rapidly moving through the season at Steed Farm. We are in our sixth week of the 2019-20 season.  We had a very rocky start with the weather at the start of the season. So much rain fell that we experienced flooding when we planted our sweet potatoes and squashes.  The weather has  now calmed and the crops are responding well.  We now have greens galore and more squashes than most members like to eat in a week!

We have had good growing response from a few new crops this year.  Choctaw squash, peas shoots, and Ethiopian kale have produced well.  The choctaws grew tremendous vines producing about
30 lbs of squash per vine.  The pea shoots are crisp and sweet like fresh peas;perfect as salad toppings.  The kale  tastes a bit like mustard, broccoli, and/or kale depending upon when I've tasted it.  Its is growing well in our warm winter.  We have a few new varieties yet to ripen and I will report on them in a later post. 


Over the last summer we added four pastured cattle to our farm and hope to have beef to sell in the fall.  Nate and I spent the summer "down-time" mending the broken south fences.  I've also spent a good bit of time getting our pasture in better shape for the calves; mowing, killing weeds, seeding, and fertilizing.  The cattle are doing well with the changes and are gaining weight (a good thing for cows).  Which reminds me to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  We hope that this is your best year yet and that you and yours are happy and healthy.  We will continue to strive to produce fresh organic produce to enrich your lives and add to your healthy choices.