I think everyone agrees that we have had enough rain these past few months, unless you are a duck. Record amounts of rainfall in our area of the metro has wreaked havoc on the progression of harvesting vegetables.
News from the Field
Muddy Dog Days of August
The dog days of August turned into the muddy days of August. Usually you get a few steamy days in a row with a shower or two in between but this August was very trying on the nerves.
A Proud Farmer
Jane Pahl will be honored at the 2016 Exceptional Businesswomen Awards on Thursday, March 3rd. This award recognizes women who impact their communities and professions while working in Dakota County.
June News from the Field
The average Growing Degree Day (GDD) for this time of year is 281. The growing degree units this year is 368.5, which is significantly above the average. GDD’s are calculated each day as maximum temperature plus the minimum temperature divided by 2, minus the base temperature of 50 (I use 50 because that is the temp that sweet corn will start to germinate).
May News From the Field
With April showers out of the way, May comes in with a bang. It is the busiest month for planting our main season crops and with due diligence and the help of the man upstairs everything will germinate and prosper in the field.
Time to Sleep
November is always a month of being thankful and rejoicing that the growing season has come and gone. Planning has already begun for next year and multiple pieces of equipment are fixed or being retrofitted for the coming year. As we all know the years seem to come and go quicker with this year’s fall being no exception. As I sit and write this month’s newsletter we are loading our last cabbage to be shipped and we shipped our last squash last week.
October News from the Field
Fall is in the air. When you start picking squash and pumpkins you know the weather will be turning cooler soon. In the field these days we are busy harvesting many fall items along with peppers and all of our specialty peppers. Fall is my most favorite time of year. The cooler temperatures make it easier for the crew harvesting, but the shorter days make it a time cruncher on getting everything out of the field.
September News from the Field
It is hard to believe summer is coming to a close. Well for all of you maybe, but we have a lot of work to do before we get going with the fall crops. This tends to be the most difficult time of the year because we are still handling all of the summer crops plus now we start harvesting all winter squashes… acorn, buttercup, butternut, spaghetti, sweet dumpling, delicata and soon pumpkins, gourds, mini pumpkins, Indian corn etc.
Wet Notes from the Field
You would think that after the long harsh winter Mother Nature would give us some reprieve. But NOOOOO, it keeps testing our patience to no end.
April News from the Farm
Spring is finally upon us with the days getting warmer and longer and yes the snow piles are diminishing! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Man that was a long cold winter, but we all survived thanks to all the winter activities that we do to keep us in shape (our men’s over 50 team finished a solid 4th out of four teams in our hockey league).