June 28 field report

Leafy greens are growing well, and not suffering too much pest damage. Arugula and baby salad greens are all thriving, despite some competition with the weeds. All five varieties of kale are ready for harvesting, and Swiss chard will be ready in a week or so. I'll be harvesting the RAFT heirloom lettuce ('Forellenschuss' a.k.a. "Freckles") to sell at the market this week.

New insects seem to be showing up daily, so I have my pest ID books handy. Tarnished plant bugs, potato leafhoppers, squash bugs, Colorado potato beetles, Japanese beetles, asparagus aphids. Who's next? 

Cucumber beetles have arrived (how did they all know I was here?) and are wreaking havoc on the cucumbers and squash plants, but my earliest planting is looking good, and I'll be harvesting my first squash in the next couple of days. The winter squash is my real worry. Cucumber beetles are selective about winter squash; they clearly prefer certain varieties over others. So, the Butternut plants are not suffering too much damage, but the Kabocha are getting devoured.

Onions, leeks and shallots are growing well, but the weeds are starting to overtake the plants, so weeding the onion beds has become a top priority. There's no way around it. My fields are pretty weedy. This is the major downside to planting into a new field that's just been plowed for the first time in - well, for as long as anyone can remember. The straw mulch is helping a little, but the grass really just wants to grow back. 

We've been thoroughly enjoying big green salads, with lots of arugula. It's great to finally be filling the fridge with stuff from our own fields. Last night, I made scallion pancakes -  a great recipe from the Willow Pond Community Farm recipe blog.

arugula, anyone?

At the Exeter Farmers' Market this week, we'll have ARUGULA! - plus baby salad greens, several varieties of kale, and purple and white scallions. Hope to see you at the market!

Click here to follow the Exeter market on twitter!

to market! to market!

Stout Oak Farm will be at the Exeter Farmers' Market this Thursday, June 17th.  We'll have salad greens, spicy mustard greens, 'Red Russian' kale, scallions, garlic scapes and a few seedlings for your garden.

The Exeter Farmers' Market is open on Thursdays from 2:15 - 6:00pm on Swasey Parkway. For more info, visit www.seacoastgrowers.org.  See you on Thursday!

June 1 field report

Rows of green things (other than grass) are starting to become more visible out in the field.  The onions are starting to look like more than just skinny blades of grass, and long rows of dark green potato shoots are finally poking through the crusty surface of the soil.  The baby greens are almost ready for the salad bowl, and of course the radishes are looking good too. Sometimes I think I grow radishes just for the self esteem boost.  They make me feel like I'm doing something right - they all germinate perfectly and they grow really fast - faster than the weeds, actually.

The flea beetles haven't found us yet! These are the tiny black beetles that usually devour the arugula, radishes, and everything else in the brassica family. I know this won't last, but it's one nice bonus of growing vegetables in a new place. Eventually the flea beetles will find me, and then the only way to prevent them from making millions of tiny holes in the leaves of brassica seedlings will be to cover the crops with floating row covers. For now, there's one less thing to worry about.