Hi Everyone.  Well I’m back from my winter break and back to greenhouse grind.  This year I didn’t go anywhere too exotic, I spent my time visiting family and friends in Maine, New York, Vermont and California.   The time flew by. I did some snowy hiking in Maine,

Trees in Maine after an ice storm

went sailing in the San Francisco Bay, hiking in Lake Tahoe, I went to the San Francisco

Alpenglow in Lake Tahoe

Botanical Gardens, had some beach time and of course ate some really great food. It was amazing to see all of my family this year, which I don’t always make a lot of time to do.  I have no time for visits during the summer,

Lichen and moss covered tree Lake Tahoe

and often when I leave in the winter to go to some far off land, I want as much time as possible to explore and have adventures.

beach in SF

I got back last month and most of my time has been split between the greenhouse and the office.  I put the seed order together for the season, and I’m in the process of writing the crop plan.  As dreary and cold as it is outside, this is one of my favorite times of year.  Shopping for seeds allows you to dream of what could be.  You can picture in your mind’s eye where the plants will go and how they will look in all their mid-summer glory.

In the greenhouse I have started all of the micro greens again, and we are already 3 plantings deep.  February 10th I started all of the onion, shallot and leek transplants.  I like to start all of mine from seed rather than sets.  It gives me more choices on varieties, but it does mean that greenhouse work starts much earlier than it would otherwise.  Most other vegetables don’t need to be seeded before March.  I don’t like to start my transplants too early, because I think it stresses them to sit in the greenhouse in pots that are too small for them.  They become root bound and the shock when you finally plant them is much worse.  So my advice for the day; be patient spring is coming.

November 27^th

Wow November has been a really cold month. Much colder than the November we had last year. We have even had one night below 20 degrees.  That means almost everything, under cover or not, is dead, and my record of harvesting until Christmas is now blemished. Luckily I harvested all of vegetables before they actually died.

slug eggs hiding under a beet

spinach

The only things left in the garden now are beets, carrots and spinach. The beets and carrots will be harvested next week, as will the last cutting of spinach for this season.  After I cut the spinach, (carefully, so as to not damage the growth tip) I’ll cover it with straw for the winter.  I can pull the straw off in March and we will have a nice early crop.

I have spent most of my time this month cleaning up the garden and organizing the shed and greenhouse for the winter. I’m still producing micro greens, and we have bumped up production for the busy holiday season, so they are keeping me pretty busy as well. I planted the garlic last week and covered it with straw.

garlic clove waiting to be planted

And finally, we have been holding our end of the season meetings.  We use this time to sit down, farmer, cooks and Chef Patrick, and discuss both the failures and the successes from the past season. We also discuss potential new crops to try for next season.  There are quite a few interesting varieties coming out for next year.  I saw a daikon radish yesterday that was purple all the way through and a green when ripe cherry tomato covered in pink stripes.

I finished all of the harvest records and we were well over last year’s numbers with a whopping 8000 pounds of produce pulled out of the garden this year.  I was surprised as a lot of the heavy vegetables such as eggplant and peppers didn’t produce so well, but I guess we made up for it in cucumbers and sweet potatoes.  Over the next couple of weeks I will be spending my time still cleaning, organizing and getting the crop plan ready for next year.

Romanesco

November 1^st

Butter Lettuce

Well, we have had our first official hard frost.  That means that all of the summer vegetables are truly finished and almost everything else needs to be covered. So far our lowest night was 28 degrees.  Vegetables such as beans, peppers, and tomatoes die at 32, but many other vegetables can survive in lower temperatures.  They can freeze and thaw many times during the fall and early winter, and reserve their growth periods for when the weather is favorable.  

This makes growing really slow, but it can work in your favor, a garden that has been planted well can have tons of vegetables “hanging out” and waiting to be harvested. For example we planted 5 beds of carrots in early September; they have pretty much stopped growing by now, but can wait in the soil for another few months before they need to be picked. I’ll harvest a few at a time until Christmas.

Andrew with a cardoon plant

As the frost loomed, we harvested the last of the beans, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes.  With the tomatoes I pulled off all of the green ones as well as the red, and will ripen them in the shed over the next few weeks. I also dug up all of the sweet potatoes to cure, and cut down the giant cardoon plants. I harvested most of the lemongrass and potted up the rest in the greenhouse to plant in the garden again next year. We also lost the cucumber plants, which was a little sad. I was hoping to hold on to them for a little longer.

chickens enjoying a mountain of beet greens

Right now in the garden we still have lettuce, French radishes, Japanese fresh turnips and Pac choi under cover.  Kale, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, purple top turnips, celeriac, mustard greens, spinach, carrots, beets, cauliflower and romanesco are all exposed to the elements and happy to be so, though most of those will need to be covered or harvested soon.

Fall has arrived

So, the season seems to be wrapping up. I say this somewhat skeptically since we had 90 degree weather just a week ago. For the last 6 days it's been cold, blustery and wet, the perfect trifecta to herald the beginning of fall. There are still a lot of vegetables and a lot to do but the end is officially in sight.  The last few weeks have been spent planting lettuce, spinach, radishes and turnips to harvest until Christmas.  The weeds have slowed way down, but they are still growing, and still need to be plucked. The cucumber house is growing like crazy, and the vines are well over 10 feet, requiring pruning and tying up at least twice per week. Other than that I have spent most of my time harvesting, vegetables are coming heavily which is always a great way to end the season.

I have begun to assemble the harvest lists for the season and reflecting, it has been surprisingly good.  With the somewhat cool and wet weather we had this summer I expected the numbers to be a little grim, I’m glad to have been proven wrong. Here are a few highlights of harvest so far; 683 bunches of beets, 550 pounds of tomatoes, 200 quarts of shishito peppers, 1500 european cucumbers, 2650 pickling cucumbers, 300 pounds of French beans, 400 bunches of carrots, 856 heads of pac choi, over 600 heads of lettuce, and last but not least we have produced more than 250 pounds of micro greens this year to date.  I think these are some pretty impressive numbers. Last year we produced around 6000 pounds of vegetables, I’m interested to see what the total will be this year.

Harvest is still running strong and some of the true fall vegetables are already starting to roll in. On the list for this week we have sweet potatoes, celeriac, carrots, beets, French beans, radishes, turnips, cauliflower, romanesco, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, pac choi, all the herbs, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and of course micro greens.

The Facts About Stink Bugs...

So this posting I wanted to talk a little bit about Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (BMSB).  I have heard so many crazy theories about them during my time in Virginia, and I’d like to take the time to set the record straight. 

First though, I’ll share a few funny examples of things I've heard about BMSB.

“The government released the BMSB back in the 90’s to take care of the overpopulation of lady bugs”

“They were purposely released by the Chinese government as a form of bio-terrorism”

“Ladybugs and native stink bugs mated to create the super bug”

OK, those are pretty funny, especially to a bug geek like me.  But let’s get to the facts.

Here in VA we have over 13 native species of stink bug, a few of which are very beneficial in the garden.  For example the assassin bug (which I mentioned in a post last year) is a serious predator in the garden, using those sucking mouth parts to kill other insects. BMSB or Halyomorpha halys is native to China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, and is considered an agricultural pest, though the populations are not as high as they are here. It was first documented in the US in 1998 in Allentown PA, but was probably here before that.  Most likely the first individuals were stowaways in shipping containers. (We all know how they like to squeeze into small spaces) They are now found in at least 35 states though they may not be breeding in all of them. They were first documented in VA in 2004, and they had invaded the entire state by 2010. In VA they can have up to three generations per year depending on temperature. When they emerge from our houses, wood sheds and barns every spring they head out to the forests and farms.  They then feed and mate for about two weeks before they begin to lay eggs on the underside of leaves.  Each female is responsible for about 400 eggs.  They are laid in clusters and take between 3 and 7 days to emerge.  At this point they are in their first nymphal instar. They will go through 5 of these with about a week in each stage.  All of the nymphal stages are wingless; wings develop after the 5^th instar. When they are adults, and have wings, they become very mobile, moving easily between crops as some food sources are exhausted and more become available. There are over 300 different hosts for BMSB, including grapes, berries, tree fruit, tomatoes, eggplant, beans, and some ornamentals. Their feeding results in deformation and rotten blemishes rendering the fruit worthless. I couldn't find any comprehensive information on the agricultural economic damage these pests have done, but in 2010 farmers reported a loss between 25 and 40% to apples resulting in a 37 million dollar loss for that year.

OK, now for the good news. First: our native predators and parasites are already adapting to utilize this new food/breeding source. There was a study conducted in OH that started in 2005. They collected stinkbug eggs from around the state and found that about 5% had been parasitized by wasps that lay their own egg inside that of the BMSB. In 2012 they conducted the same study again and found that up to 29% of the eggs were now parasitized.  It has also been shown that native birds are feeding on these insects much more than they did initially. Second: there are a lot of people working on this problem from various different angles, and there is a lot of money being put into it. The US dept. of AG has classified the BMSB as the top invasive species of interest. The US department of Ag, the Land Grant Universities, the EPA and the USDA are all putting money and resources into finding the solution. Several universities are testing the possibility of releasing the parasitic wasp that is native to Asia and keeps the population there in check. (Parasitic wasps are nothing to be afraid of. They are tiny creatures that do not bite or sting humans.) Unfortunately it was recently stated that it will probably be three years or more before this is a possibility. There is also a group that is sequencing the genome for BDSM in the hope that they will find a key to an extremely targeted pesticide, or a key to their defense mechanisms. There are groups working on mass trapping projects using the bugs own pheromone as a lure. Most institutions agree that a biological (as opposed to a chemical) control is the best way to go. Let’s hope the solution presents itself sooner rather than later.

For more information on the current studies that even you can participate in regarding BMSB please visit www.stopbmsb.org.  

Who knew that chickens love watermelon?

Now, for the garden. It has been a pleasant few weeks; Great weather and a lot less rain. We have been harvesting quite a bit, and planting all of our greens for fall.  We put in kale, chard and mustard.  We plant lettuce, spinach and pac choi weekly. We have also been seeding French radishes and Japanese salad turnips every other week.  All of this work should keep us rolling in produce well past frost. We removed the shade cloth from the green houses and the plants seem to like it.  The second generation of cucumbers is coming along really well and started to flower this week.  Peppers eggplant and tomatoes have begun to slow way down, but are still ripening and doing well.  The king lima beans began to flower this week and it looks as if we should have quite a bumper crop. I checked on the sweet potatoes yesterday and they are coming along really well. The kitchen is already starting to experiment with them and yesterday I got to taste a sweet potato ice cream that was delicious.  

Our current harvest list includes; lettuce, spinach, radishes, summer squash, baby carrots, beets, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, haricots verts beans, okra, water melons, shallots. Edible flowers, herbs and micro greens.

What a summer!

The month of July has flown by.  We have been battling fungus. But, what can you expect when we have such ideal fungal conditions -- rain late in the afternoon, clouds all day and warm temperatures. Fungus thrives under these conditions and unchecked, can move quickly through the garden.

 The tomato blight showed up earlier than usual, but with careful pruning, and weekly spraying of serenade, (an organic spray equivalent to a probiotic for plants) it has slowed down quite a lot. We should have no problem holding onto the plants till fall, which is good because they are loaded with fruit and I would like to keep them long enough to harvest all of it. Blight is a yearly battle in Virginia. It splashes up onto the plants from the soil below.  Then, if you leave the infected leaves on the plant it will splash its way up every time it rains, slowly killing the plant as it progresses. There is no “cure” for blight, once it has appeared for the season; all you can do is try to slow it down. Neem oil and a copper fungicide spray can be used as a preventative measure in the war on blight, though once the plants start flowering it is best to stop, because the sprays may interfere with our friendly pollinators.  If you have had blight in your garden over the summer it is important that you do not till or mulch that space before the winter. Remove all plant material and burn it. (do not add it to your compost pile) The freezing temperatures can kill the sclerosia the  blight leaves behind but only if it is exposed.   Do not plant tomatoes or related plants in the same space for a minimum of 2 years.

           

Okra blossom

    Luckily we seem to have broken out of this pattern, and we did so with a bang.  The temperature soared up into the high 90s and stayed there for a little over a week.  The heat did cause some blossom drop in the eggplant, but I was happy to trade a few flowers for the drying power of the sun. I think it helped us out quite a bit, and for the most part the fungal issues (besides the blight which slowly lumbers onward and upward) seem to have cleared up. After the heat wave, we have been experiencing a fall preview.  Cool evenings and daytime temperatures in the low 80s make me feel as if it is summer in Vermont instead of summer in Virginia. I am not complaining, it has been lovely weather to work in, and the plants seem to be happy with it so far.

fingerling potatoes

               We have gotten a lot of work done in the last month.  All of the spring plantings have been harvested, and the beds have been re-composted and turned over for fall.  We have kept up with the weeds, a monumental and daily task. We harvested all of the onions, shallots and garlic.  We put them up on racks in the greenhouse and they seem to be drying quite well despite the humidity which is slowing their progress.

 Most of the cippolini onions have already made their way to the kitchen and we may finish them before they have a chance to finish drying. The garlic crop was impressive this year with huge, healthy bulbs, and we have already pickled quite a few jars. I just hope they all dry before it is time for the shelling beans to come in. The brussel sprouts and the first two planting of cauliflower are in the ground, as well as the first planting of turnips. Fall is right around the corner.

               This week we are planting the last of the cauliflower and romanesco for the fall, and putting in the second planting of rutabaga and turnips.  We have seeded a few more fall veggies in the greenhouse; scallions, kale, chard, fennel, pac choi, watermelon radish, and fall lettuces. Other than that weeding and bug wars seem to be the predominant tasks. On the harvest list we have beets, carrots, onions, shallots, potatoes, french beans, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, okra, cardoons, melons, cucumbers, raspberries, lots of edible flowers and herbs.

Blue and Amerigo picking beans

               Here’s hoping it warms up some, and we finish out the summer with some more seasonable weather. Happy gardening.

Where did May and June go?

A sleepy Blue hanging out
at the Greenhouse

The month of May seems so long ago. However looking back on my records, that was the last time I wrote. This summer has been a slow whirlwind. Between record late frosts, hot days out of nowhere and rain storms that won’t stop, I admit I lost track of time.

May finished with a bang. We had a late pocket frost on the 24^th.  I ran around putting covers over all of the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc. that I had just planted the week previous. This basically meant the entire garden had to be covered.  Fortunately all of the vegetables came through. Unfortunately, the cherries had a lot of fruit and flower drop.  We lost almost all of the fruit for this season; a real disappointment after the bumper crop we had last year. Welcome to farming; one year can be so different from the year before. After the 24^th we had some nice, cool spring weather. It was perfect weather for the peas, fava beans and potatoes. Not so great for the sun loving crops, but they took their time and grew slowly. We had a great crop of peas, and the fava beans are plumping now.

June has been all over the map. A few hot days that soared into the 90’s, but mostly a lot of rain.  In the beginning I was happy for all of the new crops to have such an easy transition into life outdoors, but it became a bit much. We couldn't get things out on time because you can’t turn over wet soil. (Working with wet soil can destroy soil structure. This is especially true with clay soils like we have here.) In the end the weeds took over a little, and we had a few signs of early fungal development. The only plants showing long term effects are the potatoes.  Specifically the towers of potatoes, the wet soil caused some early blight on one variety, though the rest seem to be pulling through relatively well. The weeds have been mostly taken care of, and we put down about 40 bales of straw to mulch in the garden for the summer.

Early tomatoes

So far the tomatoes are doing really well. We have a lot of fruit development, and luckily no signs of early blight.  

The cucumber house has grown into a jungle. We had a few problems with aphids, so I did a ladybug release of about 5000 and they have cleared up the pests.

The vines are well over 12 feet long and we harvest more than 200 cucumbers per week. We have made a ton of pickles that we will be able to eat all year. The peppers are mostly doing well. One variety has succumb to phytopthera; a fungus that grows during periods of heavy rain and humidity.  We lost a few plants, but I started spraying Serenade (an all-natural fungicide) and hopefully the rest of that variety will pull through.  The shishito peppers have already started to produce fruit, and will make their way onto the menu very soon. Our seeding is all back on track and once things begin to come in we shouldn’t have any gaps.

Cucumber house right after planting

Amerigo working on the cukes 3 weeks after planting

Just a couple of weeks ago...

Today the vines are 12 feet high and still growing

This year we have had some amazing additions to farm staff.  We have Caitlin, who moved here from California with her husband. He is our new cellar master, and she is doing great work in the garden. We have also had a lot of volunteers this year. Quite a few of the cooks from the kitchen have been coming for a few hours in the morning before work. Amerigo has been our star volunteer showing up a minimum of four days per week!! It has been an amazing help.  I had all of the volunteers to my house for dinner and bocce to show our appreciation for all their help.

Amerigo

Kaitlin

Me!

This week we are staking the peppers, eggplant and flowers.  We are also putting down another application of fertilizer for all the long standing crops. We started seeding for fall a few weeks ago, and we continue to do so. This week we start the 3^rd generation of cauliflower, which we should harvest by the end of October.

On the harvest list this week we have: fennel, shelling peas, snow peas, beets, cucumbers, shishito peppers, carrots, cippolini onions, new potatoes, green tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and micro greens.