We definitely have had our share of rain and cool temperatures this spring. As I drive around the countryside crop development is approximately two weeks behind. Everything in this area looks pretty good but as you get west of 35 there is nothing but potholes of...
June is a great month to practice your swing. I like to think of this on a golf course. Although I do not get out as often as I would like, I practice in my mind when I am out hoeing weeds in the middle of the field.
Well, what hasn’t floated away is looking pretty darn good. One thing about Mother Nature, it never gives you a chance to rest. We started harvesting some items for the CSA program and things are going great.
July brings yet another month of change in our market building. We make room for the farm fresh produce that begins arriving from our fields. What could be better than a farmer’s market every day of the week! Our produce wins the taste test hands down. Your family’s health will benefit from the wide variety of our delicious and tasty fresh vegetables and fruits.
A total of approximately 80,000 man hours were spent raising and harvesting our vegetables. The farthest we shipped anything this year was Houston Texas and the closest was Apple Valley Cub Foods. We shipped close to 16 million pounds of fresh produce around the upper Midwest and Canada with sweet corn being the leader. Cabbage was second, winter squash was third, pumpkins fourth, and peppers (green bells, jalapenos, serranoâs, habaneros, anaheims, poblanos and red fresno) were fifth. Cucumbers would have been fifth in order of most pounds shipped, but unfortunately our cucumbers were wiped out by the hail storm that came through in August.
This past year was perhaps one of the most difficult years to raise a crop from start to finish in this area. Spring time temps were cold and wet, followed by 6 weeks of no rain. The only saving grace was the nice fall through October which allowed the maturity of some of the crops that were planted so late in the spring. Next year will be here soon so we can forget about the past and look to the future and start the process once again.
By Gary Pahl
