Farm Season Wrap-Up

     We haven't posted very many updates throughout the year on how things at the farm are actually going. We had a very interesting Spring and Summer with new varieties of veggies that taught us lessons about both germination and growing. We doubled the size of our growing space which provided new challenges with just the volume of things to keep up with when we operate on a limited schedule outside of our normal jobs. That led us to try knew methods of cultivating, weed/pest control, watering, and harvesting. Some methods worked great, others didn't do so well.

Part of our farm during the summer

Garlic harvest at the end of May

     Since our first days of having a garden, we have always tried to keep pesticide use to a minimum. We would love to be able to grow every single veggie and herb without any pesticide, but in reality the bugs would eat everything. There are simply too many pests in our area. But we have learned ways to use less pesticide over the years and now only need it for certain plants and in smaller quantities. We had double the plants this season as compared to last season and used about 50% less pesticide, most of which was a completely natural variety. We were able to grow all of our ground plants like squash and cucumbers, all of our beans and all of our sweet peppers without any pesticides this year! It was a challenge, but we succeeded! We have been able to achieve this thanks to the use of row covers, changes in our watering schedule, diligence in spotting pests and increasing beneficial insects inside the garden.

Praying mantis on the peppers, a beneficial insect

     Many of our crops did better this year than even before. We had huge loads of both green and black beans, cucumbers and okra. Eggplant did not do well this year. We had difficulty germinating seeds from the very beginning and then the plants themselves were very slow to grow and hardly produced. Tomatoes did poorly all around our region. Our tomato plants produced less this year than in past years, but we were able to keep producing them for longer than anyone else in our area and, as a result, we got some new business from people in search of a good homegrown tomato. We had nice cabbage and, for the first time, corn, but the raccoons ravaged both of those. Apparently, they were tasty because the raccoons ate every bit of them. We tried winter squash for the first time this year and the squirrels ate our entire first batch of seeds that we planted. We made covers for the second planting as well as for our pumpkins. That kept the squirrels away and he plants sprouted and grew well, but we had limited production. Pumpkins have been our nemesis the past few years, but we will master them in time!

     New things we grew for the first time this year included kohlrabi, potatoes, corn, bulb onions, Swiss chard, sunflowers, beets, pepperoncini peppers, ghost peppers and scorpion peppers. We had tried bulb onions before with no success at all. This year's crop was nothing to brag about, but it was successful and something to build off of. Insects defeated us in our previous attempt to grow Swiss chard so we changed the time of year we planted and the cooler nights got rid of the bugs for us.

Our first sunflower

Ghost peppers were slow to grow, but they produced plenty from the small amount of plants we had.

     Hot peppers continue to be our most requested item. We have sent off loads of cayennes, poblanos, habaneros, ghosts, scorpions, jalapenos and Anaheim chilies to be used for rubs and seasonings. Our first batch of the year was bigger than all of last year combined! There were over 20 pounds of Anaheim chilies in that first picking alone. We had some good feedback this year as well. Customers said we had the most beautiful looking peppers they had ever seen, both in our hot and sweet varieties. On top of that, everyone said they also tasted great! That makes us smile.

Trinidad Scorpion Peppers

Our hottest varieties of peppers, Ghosts and Scorpions, ripe and ready for action.

Boxes ready to be delivered to our pepper buyers

     We were very excited to get to sell at our neighborhood yard sale back in July. It helped our neighbors to know just what we are growing back in the field and to know why they hear a tiller running most evenings. We still try to give away a lot of produce to our friends and neighbors, but most of our neighbors say our things are so good they are happy to pay for them. We have sold much more this year, but I still think we have given away more than we have sold.

Our set-up at the yard sale

     The yard sale was a huge success. We sold more in two half-days at the yard sale than all of last year. That success sparked the interest of a friend who offered up her yard to us for a roadside stand. It is a really great spot on the busiest road in our area so we get lots of interest and were able to sell even more of our produce. Thank you June and Steve McCormack for letting us use your space! We plan to be back there again next year.

First day of having our roadside stand open on Hwy 41A near Pleasant View.

     Shannon tried a new recipe of canning pickles and it was a huge hit within our circle of family and friends. They are made with our own cucumbers and she offers several flavor varieties. She sold a few jars at our yard sale and through her work. They were a huge hit there too, so they will likely return next year. Be on the look out for that in the future.

Making pickles with our own cucumbers

     We just want to thank everyone who helped us over the course of the year. Our output and income grew a lot and it was because of the help we had planting, weeding, watering, picking, selling and promoting. Thank you all for wanting to help our little farm grow!