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While frosts are nothing knew here (I only go about 12-16 days without one), the real heavies have arrived. The 30F and below ones that last for longer than just 30-45 minutes before sunrise. Many crops like lettuce, kale, radishes, etc don't mind and the ones that do are kept covered every night and only uncovered once the sun rising over the eastern ridge has banished the frost for another day. The tomatoes are all tucked in their greenhouse and won't feel the frosts fingers for awhile, but the field protection only goes so far, mainly in lot letting the dew freeze on the plant but the cold will still get in. Each morning becomes a tally of how far the frost has creeped in under their covers. But there are new eggplants this week from the Dragon Dome and its fiery breath has kept the heirloom tomatoes growing and the cherry tomatoes ripening! There are also lots of flowers still blooming and available to brighten your home and hearth!  Frost damage on the squash plants. Even though they are snug under their tunnel, sometimes it just isn't enough and the edges get burnt.  The Nasturtiums (of Petal Power fame) stay nice and cozy under their tunnel but the edges are growing into the paths and they can't all fit under their plastic blanket.   The first eggplants among the tomatoes, Casper & Kermit (the tiny round, greenish one), would taste awesome in a stir fry or curry!  What's available this weekend?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm!
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It was one of those weeks where nothing much happens that is special, just a lot of little things. The heirloom tomatoes were all trellised and kept from sprawling to far onto the greenhouse floor. Some of the last plantings got in, with more to go. The flowers are still the largest daily harvest. And just when I thought all my trellising was done, I realized the peppers and eggplant need some support as well, so up goes more string in the greenhouse. Grasshopper season is fully on and any move sends the dozens around jumping for cover. This means the evening strolls of the chickens is spent with them suddenly sprinting in one direction only to stop and then sprint in another. The guineas have a more controlled approach of both walk abreast and grabbing as many within their reach before the little hoppers hop away.   The 'Before' of the Emerald Evergreen Tomatoes. It was a jungle!  Half of the dome. The tomatoes are so high and make enough shade that it actually keeps the greenhouse a little cooler than the outside high temp.  The other half of the dome. The eggplant are in the foreground. There are three kinds: a stripey purple kind, a white kind, and one the makes a tiny round green fruit that is called Kermit.  The Emerald Evergreens with a super smiley unripe fruit atop two ripe ones  Bouquet making in the barn. Sometimes things gets messy before they get done.  Hella is smelling pretty and smiling again after getting sprayed by her skunk 'friend' last week and getting a good rub down with some deodorizers after. And the skunks have stayed away since so all of us are happy again. (skunks can be a major predator for poultry so I was needing to scare them away soon anyway. Hella ended up doing it for me but getting hit in the process. Way to take one for the team, Hella!) What's available this weekend?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm! It's deep into harvest season (not that I don't harvest all season long, but once the tomatoes hit, it feels real). The fruits are ripening and some of the late summer/early fall crops are coming to market this week including the first few boxes of cherry tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic. The larger slicing tomatoes and some heirloom eggplants are close behind. This time of year also means a potential slowdown in egg production as the hens prepare themselves for their yearly molt. This is when they drop their current feathers and grow new ones in. It is a lot of work and takes a lot of energy so many hens lay less eggs or stop all together until their feathers return, which takes 1-2 months. There are still lots of flowers to enjoy as the days get ever shorter!  The cherry tomatoes are like little globes of joy wrapped in sunshine! Each box is a mix of orange ones, red ones, yellow ones, black ones, stripey ones and others as I have about 8 different varieties growing.  Group playdate! All the chickens, roosters, ducks, drakes, Hella, and even some nosy neighbors gathered together. Hella, the kitty, is the tiny dot in the middle keeping an eye on those neighbors.  Green thumbs may be a prerequisite for growing things, but when you are pruning & clipping tomatoes you get green hands, fingers, and thumbs!  The clouds have returned, which both me and my crops are happy about.  The snapdragons are stealing the show in the field now and it's hard to keep them all picked on time. Luckily, they bloom successively up the stem and have a larger harvesting window than most blooms.  It's a miracle what a little organization can do. This week I got my shelf unit and some motion sensor lights installed in my cool room. The buckets of flowers don't need to be spread out on the floor (taking up way to much space) and I don't need to leave the door wide open to see (wasting all that precious cold air). More shelves will be arriving soon to tackle the pile of veggie totes and eggs! What's available this weekend?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm! I'll be at the Kalispell Farmers Market, this Saturday from 900am to 1230pm! With the heat of recent days it may not seem that autumn is near but the first signs are there. A slight tinge of yellowness on the early changing trees. The receding daylight. The grasses and wildflowers making seeds before it is too late. It also means days where I might have a frost in the morning (meaning I have to wait to harvest) with the temperature quickly rising to 90+ by noon. This makes it hard to harvest veggies and get them processed before they heat up too much so it is a very light veggie week (there will be much more next week as radishes, lettuce, arugula, spinach, and more are just getting ready). But the heat really brings on the flowers and if you don't grab them when they are ready, that same heat makes them fade all too soon. This week I have many, many flowers and the first of the fruits (summer squash and possibly a box or two of tomatoes :) ) A few big projects were completed (widening the fence line & insulating the trailer). As they get crossed off the list, more things get moved up and the planning for the end of harvest and fall cleanup begins.   The fence on the main Field Plot has been expanded to allow Oscar, the tractor, easy access as well as to make room for my new...  High Tunnels!!! In farmer-speak these are Caterpillar High Tunnels. Just like the little tunnels that I use on individual rows but bigger. They can cover 4 rows and I can walk into them! There are two here, each my 50ft bed length. They will make growing and harvesting in a place where I get frosts all throughout the year much easier! Now I just need to get to work assembling them, but first I need to prep the new ground.   The young ducks are close to full grown and may be laying sometime in September (no promises!). They have yet to be let out to explore like everyone else so visitors have to come to them.  Hella, the kitty, tried to make a new friend. Luckily, the little skunk wasn't concerned with her interest in what it was and I made sure the playdate ended there. What's available this weekend?
The heat is here to stay and is both good and bad. Many flowers really love the heat and as long as their roots have enough water, the heat and sun really make them pop! Some flowers don't love the heat as much and it signals to them that its time to make seeds before the cold comes again. Tomatoes love it! Chickens don't really do. They can't cool off with a dip in some fresh water like the ducks so I make sure they have shade, cool water, and some cool treats like watermelon and crispy lettuce.  Each year, I promise myself that I won't let them turn into chaos, and each year they look like this. lol. There's always next year! Especially as this will be the last week of the sweet peas in bouquets. The heat is causing them to burst into bloom on ever shorter stems and I wanna give em enough time to turn those gorgeous, sweet smelling flowers into chubby, little round seeds!  Rosemary, one half of the Golden Girls, may be an elderly chicken but she knows special goodies when she sees em. Gotta put these outta her reach before she samples to test if they taste as good as they look.  The ripening begins! The first little cherry tomatoes in the dome are as good as gold!  While the cherry tomatoes are doing awesome! The bigger heirlooms have gone wild! (through no fault of their own) But I hack away at them little by little each day to tame and trellis this chaos before it envelopes the dome as they are currently tryin to do.  When harvesting flowers in the early morning, I often find a few slumberers waiting for the sun to warm them up. I like to imagine they like to hit the snooze button a few times before they are ready for a busy day. What's available this weekend?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm! I'll be at the Kalispell Farmers Market, this Saturday from 900am to 1230pm! |
AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
April 2023
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