Farmer Kurt’s Field Update June 22, 2024
June 22, 2024 Field Update
Howdy folks. Wow was it hot this week!
This is not normal by the way — this kind of heat so early in the year. And it’s stressful on the plants when they are still this young. All week long, my focus as been on keeping things watered. Unfortunately, those thunderstorms that flared up in the late afternoon skimmed by us without a drop. Thank goodness we have a well on the farm, and an irrigation system to help us.
Normally I don’t set it all up this early. But the night before the heat wave, I was out all night laying pipe, lay flat hose, pulling out the water wheel, and getting it hooked up so we could water our new tomatoes. The water wheel is a giant black hose that is unwound out into the field that needs to be watered. On the other end is a sprinkler gun. I set a timer and the water wheel slowly pulls the srpinkler gun towards the machine as it rewinds the hose. In the process the field gets watered.
The downside is that there’s a lot of work involved in moving the whole system once the field is watered. Every two hours I’m back out in the field, checking on things or moving the whole operation. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep all week, because I’ve had to get up every 3 hours to check on the reel. My boys were great — they help me unscrew the pipe and move it to the next area and reattach it all like a puzzle.
One of the big capital investments I made this year was an irrigation pivot. This will allow me to water a much larger area as the pivot essentially acts as a frame for dozens of sprinkler guns that move down the field. Unfortunately, by the time I finally committed to this big investment, it was a little too late. The parts have to be loaded onto a boat and shipped in containers from Europe, and I won’t be able to get that operational until mid-August. So until then, I’m still going to have some sleepless nights. But I can’t wait to show you the pivot when it gets here. It will be a game-changer.
Our tomatoes are woven between the twine that is supported by thousands of stakes.
This was also the week for staking tomatoes. Our tomato plants look great, but they were starting to bend over and lay on the ground. They really needed to get climbing on our tomato trellis. Every year, we stake about 2000 stakes every 4 feet. And I swear every year, it seems like this happens on the hottest day of the year every time. I broke it up into two days this year, because of the record temperatures. This is a really physical job, lots of upper body muscles working. We do about 2000 stakes, and that REALLY hurts after a while. So my team took turns, and lots of breaks. I fed them popsicles from my Popsicle Fairy volunteer. We finally finished on Thursday. Then they tied twine between the stakes, and wove the tomatoes between them.
Read Blog: The Great Tomato Staking: How to Keep Your Plants Healthy and Strong
Kurt and Asuncion pound the stakes into the beds.
We spent most of Saturday weeding. I was out there with them, giving morale support with my presence and setting the pace. I know that kind of job is hard to do, and I like showing them that I “get it.” Keeping a strong connection with my guys is really important. I’m their boss, but I’m also approachable. I think it makes a good work culture here. I am taking the crew to the beach this Friday at East Harbor. Looking forward to cooling off. I gave my guys half-days this week, letting them leave at lunchtime. We’ve been starting at 6 am, and still getting an awful lot accomplished by 9. I may stick to this new start time for the whole season.
Big news! Jed got his driver’s license this Friday. I still remember the day he was born! Do you? How quickly time passes. Before you know it, hell be gone — off to the workplace or into the service. I’m trying to soak up every moment I have left with him. He used his new-found freedom to drive his brother to the Perrysburg Pool on Friday to hang with his cousins. Speaking of Jed and Josiah, the boys are gone for the weekend in Dayton with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Dayton Air Show. The Blue Angels are flying. Boy are they excited! My friend Nick is visiting for 3 days with his girlfriend Trish. He’ll be framing out my new “cooler room” in the barn, so I can get it spray foamed next week. Soon we’ll be using that cooler for storing our fruit and Elmore CSA boxes. I’m looking forward to hanging out with them and Corinna.
Jed passed his driver’s test and got his license.
It was great seeing everyone this past week at the first CSA pickup! I thought it went pretty well for a first run, especially considering we had a brand new pickup site in Sylvania. Thanks for all the support and encouragement you send me and my crew. We especially love the LiquidIV packets and popsicles you’re dropping off for us. It keeps my crew hydrated and happy, and makes us feel appreciated. Thanks for taking good care of your farmers.
Until next week!