News RSS

Had trouble getting your tomatoes to ripen?  Do loads of plump green fruit hang on your tomato vines at the end of the season?  We've had this problem the last couple of summers too. The common misconception is that tomatoes love hot weather, and the hotter the better.  According to Purdue University though, when daytime temperatures stay consistently over 85 degrees, most tomato varieties have a hard time producing lycopene and carotene, the pigments responsible for the oranges and reds of fully ripe tomatoes.  Though there can be other causes of perpetually-green tomato crops, such as nutrient imbalances, here are some ideas for coping...

As an organic farmer, our arsenal against pests and diseases is limited. We choose not to use chemically synthesized pesticides to defend our crops against the pests and diseases which would damage or destroy our crops. Instead, we have to work with natural solutions to raise healthy and marketable produce. For us, this involves a combination of encouraging natural predators of pest insects, using pest exclusion techniques like row cover, and using naturally resistant crop varieties. The use of naturally resistant crop varieties saves us a lot of work and planning, and is one of the most elegant solutions to...

Cinderella pumpkin is a great edible pumpkin variety that is well suited to a shorter season like mine. The name couldn't be better suited to its appearance, which is nothing short of storybook ready. The deep orange color, smooth skin, and modestly lobed shape give it an old fashioned pumpkin look. The flesh is bright orange and smoothly textured. The flesh is solidly three inches thick. This is a great pie or puree pumpkin as the orange color deepens with cooking. Don't overcook it though, it turns super soft quickly. So far, mine have kept 4 months and are going...

Basically, at the first sign of the birds eating them! Birds will not eat unripe sunflower seeds, but one morning you will wake up to lots of birds showing interest in the seeds. That is the moment to harvest them, if you wait until that evening they will likely be all gone! If you cannot be as vigilant as a permanently placed scare crow, you will want to protect your sunflowers from birds by other means. Cut a small piece of row cover or re-may to cover the seed head and using a metal twist tie, bind it to the...

If you’re new to eating local and/or planning your meals seasonally, the winter holidays can be a perfect time to start! Usually we think of local abundance in temperate climates as being a summer and fall thing, but traditional holiday menu items are based on what was historically available locally this time of year. Just think of it- steaming, bright orange squash next to creamy mashed potatoes and corn bread. Whatever the specifics of your menu this year, it’s likely to include at least one item readily available at your local late-fall or early winter farmer’s market. Who wouldn’t want...