Freshman Farmer | New Organic Farms Set Roots

Posts Tagged ‘strawberries’

Winter is here

December 17th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Fall is an interesting time of year on the farm, days are getting shorter, weather is getting colder and much of the summer life and bounty is slowly coming to an end. I have been balancing my time between cleaning up the summer production area, planting, caring for, and harvesting off a new area where I have winter crops, selling these crops at markets, and getting cover crops in the ground in areas that I will be planting this spring. After a big push this last week I feel I am finally catching up and ready for winter.

Currently in the field I have one section (about 1/5 acre) planted with a diversity cool weather vegetables including lettuces, swiss chards, kales, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radishes, turnips, green onions, and fennel. This is what I will be taking to market the next couple months.

I added to my perennial herb and flower section, a small area bordering my field, with more sage, thyme, rosemary, sweet alyssum and some lavenders. My goal is to slowly add plants to this section over time and have it be a “pick your own” herb and flower garden for CSA members. I choose plants that are good for cut flowers, fresh and dry herbs as well as beneficial insect attractors and just plain old beauty.[nggallery id=242]

I have also been planting some bigger sections of stuff that I will harvest starting this spring and throughout next summer, including a block of strawberries (2500 plants), a block of garlic (5 150’ beds), a block of artichoke (about 1/5 of an acre), a block of onions (about 6,000 plants), and a block of peas and fava beans (about a 1/5 of an acre).[nggallery id=243]

Everything mentioned above takes up about half of my two acre field. The other half I have seeded with a cover crop mix that I will let grow through late February then till under and plant my first spring vegetables….the cycle continues…..enjoy…[nggallery id=244]

Tags: cover crops, garlic, peas, strawberries, fava beans

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Wait, what?!

June 5th, 2010
Coyote House Farm | Blog

This is incredible. It used to be that eating organic vs. conventional was good for taste, lower carbon footprint, support of local economies, and encapsulating the total cost of ownership in the purchase. But conventional agriculture is vulnerable to weak regulation and can very dangerous to eat. Methyl iodide is s…o nasty it is used to cause cancer in laboratory animals. If you have cancer in your family, you want to stay far back from this. What are the$e people thinking?

Click here.

Tags: strawberries, Methyl iodide, pesticide

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The 2010 Strawberry Patch is In!

November 12th, 2009
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

We just finished the last major project of ‘09! Though we’re still busy harvesting and we still have a myriad of small tasks to accomplish, it feels really good to have next year’s strawberries planted. Strawberries are (of course) super popular. Some of our CSA members and farmer’s market customers had never eaten berries picked at full ripeness, and they’ve been floored. Multiple folks mentioned they could never go back to supermarket berries, even organic… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: organic, strawberries, plastic mulch, varieties, flavor

Posted in: How-To Tips & Tricks

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Chipping Away at the Fall Projects

October 25th, 2009
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

What a month! On top of the still-abundant harvests, there is so much to do to get ready for winter. The crew, the interns, and I have all been working hard and making serious progress. We’re almost done digging potatoes, the winter squash is in, all of the outdoor fall/winter crops are planted, the garlic is in, beds are ready for next year’s strawberries, mulch & drip lines are out of the field, old crops are under, aisles are tilled, row-cover is on… But we’re… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: cover crop, greenhouse, harvest, winter, strawberries

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Market Season Winding Down

October 24th, 2009
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Today we were at 3 markets, just as it has been the last 20 weeks or so. We only have one more week of that schedule, and then we’ll be down to 1 market/week - Saturday mornings in Auburn. The markets went well - about 50% better than last week. The crops are still plentiful, the offering diverse. I felt like the grocery store this morning - beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, spring mix, arugula, celery, potatoes, winter squash, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, strawberries. That’s… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: garlic, markets, strawberries

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Quail in the Strawberries

July 25th, 2009
Honey in the Heart Farm | Blog

I’ve been getting some beautiful strawberries off the everbearing varieties (Seascape, Albion, and Shasta) I planted in the early spring. Not enough to give to CSA members, but enough for mid-morning snacks on the farm. However, I’ve been noticing large holes in them, right before they get ripe. The main suspects are the large families of California quail that nest in the blackberries surrounding the farm. Every morning when I open the gate at least 20 quail go flying out of the… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: strawberries, quail, bird netting

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Strawberries part deauxc

May 13th, 2009
Four Frog Farm | Blog

So, those 3000 strawberry crowns we planted a month ago…they were all dead on arrival. Apparantly the storage facility where they were being held had the temp turned down too low, so they got frozen. Well, we couldn’t tell the difference because they arrive as bare-root dead-looking things anyway. However, a week later we could tell something wasn’t quite right, and we were right. Anyway, we got our replacements a week ago and they are already up and sprouted. That’s… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: strawberries, bare root

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Strawberries

April 17th, 2009
Four Frog Farm | Blog

We are going for it this year. 3000 strawberry plants are going in the ground as we speak. I have to get back to planting. Andrew Read the rest of this article »

Tags: strawberries

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Planting our first rows!

March 8th, 2009
Honey in the Heart Farm | Blog

The rain finally stopped this weekend, and although our field is completely saturated we were able to plant our bare root strawberries. They were beginning to sprout and begging to be put in the ground. The rain is a blessing, as we are in a serious drought, yet it makes it difficult to get a head start on the season. Strawberries like well-drained soil, so we made sure to put in lots of composted horse manure in these beds. Our soil is mostly clay and heavy so hopefully the manure will… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: rain, strawberries, manure, clay, inoculant

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Three farms are starting from scratch.

They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.

Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.

The Farm Blogs

Freshman:
New Farms Coming Soon!
Sophomores:
	Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA
	Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT
	Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA
Graduates:
	Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA
	DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA
	Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA
	EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO
	Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA
	Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA
	Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA
	Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA
	Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA
	Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA