Author: swfupdates

Farm Update February 25, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

I guess it is still winter; it was 29° this morning at sunrise. Good thing we covered the asparagus beds last night! We should have a few pounds at the markets this week. It is now starting to come up more rapidly. No roadrunner damage this week. I have seen it walking around in the field, but it has been leaving the asparagus alone.

Our labor shortage should be ending this week – two additional interns and one HelpX helper are scheduled to arrive soon. In the meantime we have had timely volunteer help from a few of our CSA members. Harper harvested the Tuesday before last and Jack & Ellie helped by harvesting all day in the wind last Saturday and also plan to help us this Saturday. Thank you so much volunteers!! And thank you Bobby (currently our lone intern) for all the extra work lately.

We plan to finish the high-tunnel this upcoming Thursday, if anyone is interested in helping. We will send you home with some fresh veggies. Please email or call if you are interested joe@southwindsfarm.org or 520-909-4903.

As a reminder, the Rillito market will open at 8a and close at noon again this Sunday due to the horse racing season. Parking will still be free for farmers’ market customers.

We’ll see you at the markets!

img_1178_swisschard-copy
Swiss Chard
img_1177_middleterrace-copy
Middle Terrace

Farm Update February 18, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

Another harvest day out here at the farm. We are once again racing to get as much done today before the weather sets in this evening and Saturday. The wind has already started to pick up. We are supposed to get a nice dose of free water from the sky!

Our asparagus is popping up rapidly now. We will have a little bit at the markets this week and more as the weeks go by. There should be enough to put in the CSA shares within a few weeks if we can keep the roadrunners away from the plants. It took me a couple of days to figure out what was snipping off the tender tops, but on Monday I saw our friendly roadrunner in the asparagus beds. I chased it away and then checked out the beds and there was fresh damage. Who knew that roadrunners liked asparagus?!

The broccoli is cranking now and should be for the next couple months. Our romanesco cauliflower is also heading up rapidly, as you can see in the image.

We are getting ready to plant seeds for tomatoes, chiles, peppers and cucumbers. We will grow these plants in the small hoophouse until it is time to plant them in our new high-tunnel.

As a reminder, the Rillito market will open at 8a and close at noon again this Sunday due to the horse racing season. Parking will still be free for farmers’ market customers.

We’ll see you at the markets!

img_1166_romanescocauliflower-copy
romanesco cauliflower
img_1165_babybabyromainelettuceheads-copy
baby, baby romaine lettuce heads

Farm Update February 11, 2017

swfupdates2 Comments

It is WARM out in the field today as we are harvesting! The temperatures are making a lot of the brassicas bolt (send up flower stalks). Some of the broccoli raab went from no heads to flowers in two days. The entire tatsoi bed portion bolted, as you can see in the image below. The yukina savoy is starting to flower.

We are continuing to work on the high tunnel and are making good progress. We hope to complete it within the next ten days or so. Then we will prepare the soil in it for our spring plantings of tomatoes, peppers, chiles, and cucumbers. We will put shadecloth on it for the spring and summer to lower the temperature inside the structure. The productivity of the summer crops should increase inside the high tunnel.

Starting this Sunday, Feb. 12, the Rillito market will open at 8a and close at noon due to the horse racing season. Parking will still be free for farmers’ market customers.

We’ll see you at the markets!

img_1153_yukinasavoy-copy
yukina savoy
img_1152_cilantro-copy
cilantro
img_1150_tatsoiflowers-copy
tatsoi flowers

 

Farm Update February 4, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

Yesterday we completed most of the frame for our high tunnel greenhouse. Many tasks remain to finish the greenhouse. As mentioned last week in the newsletter, we are seeking Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday volunteers to help with the construction for the next few weeks. We will start around 8a and work until around 4p. If you are interested in volunteering with the construction, please let me know.

We have had a few warm days this week and more are on the way, according to predictions. This is helping our crops to grow more quickly. Most of our bed space is planted out and we should see increasing production in the following weeks. That will be reflected in our market stands at Rillito and Green Valley.

We’ll see you at the markets!

img_1130_fennel-copy
fennel
img_1131_hightunnelframe-copy
high tunnel frame
img_1132_broccoli-copy
broccoli

Farm Update Janurary 28, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

The next few Saturdays (starting 28Jan) we will be completing the construction of our high tunnel greenhouse. We will start around 8a and work until around 4p. If you are interested in volunteering with the construction, please let me know.

It has been a week of chilly mornings – lows in the low 20s and one morning in the high teens. Consequently the plants are growing slowly and we won’t have any salad mix at the markets this week. We have two beds growing, though, and if we get the predicted warm weather next week, we should have plenty to sell in a week or two.

All week there has been a friendly roadrunner hanging around the farm. It will come up quite close to us if we hold still long enough.

Our first succession of broccoli plants all have heads now, as is the cauliflower and broccoli raab; we should have these at the markets. The parsnips are finally getting decent-sized roots. These were planted in September and take about 120 days to mature. We are really excited to have these available – looks like about 2 weeks until the first ones are large enough to harvest.

Thanks again supporting sustainable agriculture in southeastern AZ !

img_1115_napacabbage-copy
napa cabbage
img_1113_hakureiturnips-copy
hakurei turnips

Farm Update January 21, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

Another weekend and another winter storm. The wind blew through here at gale force around 2am this morning. Some minor damage occurred in our field, a few broccoli leaves broke off, some of the rowcovers blew off and many of the supporting hoops are bent a little, but nothing major. We had a little snow blowing around late in the evening mixed in with the rain, but no snow accumulated.

As a reminder, the delivery this weekend marks the beginning of the second half of our winter CSA season and the second half payment is due for those shareholders who chose to pay in 2 installments. Thank you for the half-season payments already received.

We’ll see you at the markets!

img_1092_winterstormclosinginonthewhetstones-copy
Winter storm closing in on the Whetstones

Farm Update January 14, 2017

swfupdatesLeave a comment

We are harvesting rapidly this morning, trying to stay ahead of the rain predicted to start this afternoon. I hope the rain doesn’t keep our customers away from the farmers’ market. We will be there!

On Thursday we planted many Iitoi’s onion bulbs, so you should be seeing them in the markets in a couple months. We haven’t had them in awhile, so I will be excited to have them available again.

We are seeing a lot of javalina activity at the farm. It started about a month ago and has been increasing. They can’t get into our field because it is fenced, but they have been visiting every night and last night they knocked over one trash barrel and scattered trash everywhere. It is definitely time for a more secure trash can.

img_1077_hakurei-copy
next succession of hakurei almost ready
img_1078_broccoliheads-copy
broccoli starting to form heads
img_1079_redrussiankale-copy
red russian kale

Farm Update January 7, 2017

swfupdates2 Comments

Happy New Year !

As I write this, I can hear the wind picking up a bit. It is a blustery chilly day out here, but there is plenty of sunshine and it is warm in lee areas.

Our crops grew nicely during our market and CSA hiatus; we have lots of variety to take to the markets. Within a few weeks we will have rutabagas, parsnips, collard greens and broccoli raab available and in the CSA shares. We also have been planting during the break and have several new beds of vegetables on the way.

As you may know this is the time of year that seed catalogs start to appear in our mailboxes. Of course we have been poring over the pages and thinking about our late winter, spring and early summer planting. Please let us know if you have a favorite vegetable or variety that you would like us to grow and we will put it on the wishlist along with everything else. We don’t guarantee that we will grow everything requested, but nearly every season we end up adding something interesting that is suggested by our customers and CSA shareholders.

During end-of-the-year break, two of our interns moved on as planned. Thank you Maryanne and Cameron for you help last fall! Two more interns arrived yesterday. We are back to a crew of 4 (Whitney, Drew, Bobby and Justin), so we are getting a lot done on the farm. You will have a chance to meet everyone as they begin working at our farm stand in the markets in the coming weeks.

img_1061_-spigariello-copy
spigariello
img_1060_lacinatokale-copy
lacinato kale
img_1059_curlykale-copy
curly kale

 

Farm Update December 17, 2016

swfupdatesLeave a comment

What a difference a couple of days makes! Two days ago our high was 82° and this morning we are seeing precipitation in the form of little snow pellets. A howling wind came through early this morning ahead of the cold front and flattened many of our low-tunnel hoops. After the harvest today, we will be fixing the hoops and doubling up the rowcovers in anticipation of a 20° low temperature tonight.

The markets this weekend and next Wednesday will be the last ones for us for two weeks. We will not be at Rillito on Christmas nor New Year’s Day. Likewise we will not be in Green Valley the Wednesday between those two holidays nor the Wednesday after New Years.

We hope you have some fun and relaxing holidays!

Thank you for your support this past year and we look forward to providing you delicious vegetables in the New Year!

img_1018-copy
double rainbow over the field yesterday morning
img_1023-copy
flattened rowcovers

Farm Update December 10, 2016

swfupdatesLeave a comment

We have been transplanting many seedlings the last few days in the waning days of fall. These transplants include fennel, red Russian kale, red cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi, and broccoli raab, among others. These will be harvested in the months to come.

Soon our high tunnel will be complete and we will be able to plant out the beds inside it, which will improve our productivity of greens in the winter.

We will see you at the markets!

img_1011-copy

img_1010-copy