summer crops

Farm Update July 1, 2017

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As you may remember, this weekend there will be no CSA distribution at Rillito and Green Valley/Sahuarita. We are taking a week off from the CSA for the Independence Day holiday weekend.

We will still be selling at our farm stand at the Rillito farmers’ market on Sunday, July 2. Please stop by if you need anything on our availability list.

We will not be at the Good Shepherd UCC on Monday morning.

We are looking for farm workers and for volunteers on harvest and other days. Please contact me at joe@southwindsfarm.org or 520-909-4903 if you are interested or if you know anyone who would like to intern or volunteer.

Our summer crops are getting closer to being ready to harvest. I have eaten the earliest few ripe tomatoes and there should be more soon. There are tiny cucumbers on the vines and the peppers are blooming and starting to form. The purple and Romano flat beans in the first bed are nearly ready to pick.

Have a great Independence Day holiday!

We will see you at the Rillito Farmer’s Market this Sunday!

Tomatoes!

Farm Update June 3, 2017

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Yesterday a very strong dust devil ripped off and shredded a portion of the high-tunnel cover. We will remove the remainder of the cover and attach shade cloth for the summer months. In the fall when it cools off we will put on a new cover.

Our tomato plants are growing really fast now. Many have blossoms and a few have tiny green tomatoes. This weekend I hope to get them trimmed and trellised in preparation for continued rapid growth.

The summer squash that we are planning to grow on a trellis are also growing quickly now. We will see how they take to being grown vertically. If it works, it will save a lot of space in our field.

We’ll see you this Sunday at the market and Monday at our Green Valley/Sahuarita CSA drop off.

Farm Update January 30, 2016

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As I mentioned last week, we are thinking about and planning our spring and summer planting. For early spring we are planning red potatoes, romaine and buttercrunch lettuce, as well as snap peas. The current summer list includes, green beans, tomatoes (medium slicers and plum), corno di toro and lunchbox peppers, jalapeño and poblano chiles, patty pan and Mexican gray squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, and Persian cucumbers.

I am also considering some flowers – likely decorative sunflowers, zinnias and maybe a few other varieties.

This is only the initial list. It will grow as we continue our planning.

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Farm Update January 23, 2016

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The warm weather of the last several days has finally awoken some of our plants from their “long winter’s nap.” Thanks for your patience with our production lull.

Along with the changes in the field, we have some changes in personnel at the farm. Gentry, our farm manager is moving on to other endeavors. He has been with us since early December 2014 and helped greatly in the development of the farm and our markets. We wish him the best of luck in the future !

Two new people started a few days ago and one more is on the way on February 1; more about all of them in upcoming newsletters. Those of you who attend the Rillito market will be seeing all of them in rotation as we move into the late winter.

Also, we are now seeking applications for summer interns ñ so if you know any hearty souls who love working in the summer heat (!), send them our way or ask them to check our our ATTRA website internship listing.

With the promise of spring on the horizon, we have been poring over the seed catalogues and planning our summer crops. We will be putting together a summer seed order soon, so if you have any favorite summer vegetables or varieties that you know to grow well, send along your suggestions and they will go in the mix for consideration.