Farmer Kurt’s Field Update August 3, 2024

August 3, 2024

Well howdy everyone. We got some much needed rain this week. I haven’t had to irrigate quite as much. The birds are really bad right now in the sweet corn patch. My dad is getting frustrated. Those birds are looking for water, and they will land on the corn and peck on the tips of the ears to get that moisture from the top kernels. That’s all it takes to ruin the ear for sale.

This week my big project has been finishing up the cooler inside the barn. Glen, Jed, and I have all taken turns putting up the siding inside on the walls, attaching tin, mounting the cooling units, and even installing the big heavy cooler doors. These doors were a big investment — each door costs $2500! And I spent the better part of one day to drive up to Cleveland to get them. They look great. And it’s all coming together just in time. Since I sold my other garage cooler, I really need to have this one done! This cooler will be spray foamed on Monday and needs to be operational by that evening! We’ll be moving our Elmore CSA bins into this cooler after pack nights on Mondays. It will also house our fruit share product when it first arrives from the Orchards.

There are actually TWO cool rooms in this new space. The first area is the cooler I just mentioned, but behind it is a separate area that won’t be quite as cool. We can store things like tomatoes in here and get them off our wash bay to open up precious space. I also love that we have all our product on the same concrete. It makes it easier for my pack crew to move stuff around between buildings.

Beets coming off the wash line.

Many thanks for the surprise gift last week. Cadie Jardin showed up at the Sylvania pickup, turned on her camera phone, and started taking a video of her announcement that she had collected money to buy us a Blackstone grill. Corinna and I have been talking about getting one of these for a while now — ever since we saw our brother-in-law Derek using one. We are really excited, and I want to make sure I said thank you to everyone who contributed to this idea.

Summer crops are in full swing now. Peppers and tomatoes are coming on. Melons are ready. (Watermelon is very close!) Sweet corn is between plantings, so we may be a bit lean here for this week. But man is it hot! And muggy! I lost a row of fennel to some critters this week. Not sure what is nibbling on them, but hopefully they’ll bounce back.

I pulled all the onions this week. They are now curing in the greenhouse — along with the garlic. Speaking of garlic, I just got my quote for garlic seed for this fall — $9000!! Wow. I’m really thinking hard about whether to do that or not. We may just take a year off from buying garlic — and use what we have this year for seed. I’ll let you know soon.

The second batch of melons are arriving this week in the fruit share. Our first batch didn’t do so hot. I missed a spray window to control the cucumber beetles, which attacked the plants and ate alot of the foliage. That affects the size of the melons, and they even messed up the melons themselves. Don’t worry, I used organic approved pest sprays — it’s all safe. But remember, organic farmers do spray their crops — just with different OMRI approved ingredients.

Uncle Torsten was here this week to visit the boys. They were out flying their planes, showing off, and working on projects together. We had hoped to go to the Combine Derby this Friday, but it got rained out. We’ll be heading to Mom’s place today to celebrate Heidi’s birthday and play some games.