Farm Notes
It was cold and rainy all day, which was a great excuse to get some “computer farming” done! Computer farming is my term for all the planning, estimating, calculating, ordering for the farm that often happens while staring at a computer screen. I’m someone who likes detailed plans and organized spreadsheets… even though my best laid plans can often go out the window once the growing season gets rolling!
Today my computer farming consisted of finalizing the quantities and varieties of all the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant that we’ll grow this year. I’m working with a few local farmer friends who will be starting these seedlings, and believe it or not, seeding for these plants will need to begin in the next few days! A note that if you’re planning to start your own seeds, but haven’t purchased them yet, now is the time! Due to extraordinary demand this year, most seed companies (my favorites are Johnny’s, Territorial Seed, High Mowing, and Southern Exposure) are really delayed shipping out orders, and lots of seeds are sold out. If you can’t find what you’re looking for online, try visiting your local farm/garden store, as they will likely have seeds available for you.
Here’s a rundown of all the tomato, pepper, and eggplant varieties we plan to grow this year (which will get planted in early to mid April):
TOMATOES – A note that we grow the majority of our tomatoes inside our 50 foot caterpillar tunnels, as tomatoes like to be warm, but they don’t like to get wet (if they are constantly wet, they’re susceptible to fungus). We do usually grow a later succession of tomatoes outside, but we have the best luck focusing our energy in the tunnel.
Cherry Tomatoes
Sakura
Sungold
Black cherry
Blush
Juliet
Heirlooms & Slicers
BHN 589 (slicers)
Brandywine
Caiman F1
Copia
Cherokee Purple
Marnouar
Striped German
Valencia
Paste Tomatoes
Plum Regal
Roma VF Paste Tomato
PEPPERS – We like to grow a variety of peppers – from sweet, to sometimes sweet/sometimes hot frying peppers, to super hot. We’ll grow some of these in our caterpillar tunnels (especially varieties that take a long time to ripen and are prone to rot if they get too wet), but most will be grown outside. Peppers require a lot of patience, as we plant them in mid-April and often don’t get ripe fruit until July or August.
Sweet Peppers
Assorted colors of Corno di Toro Peppers
Assorted colors of Bell Peppers
Banana Peppers
Frying Peppers
Jimmy Nardello
Padron
Poblano
Shishito
Hot Peppers
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Serrano
Thai Chili
EGGPLANT – While I love eggplant, I’ve learned that most of our customers don’t want eggplant every week like I do! So this year, I’ve scaled back the number of varieties (and quantities) of eggplant that we will grow. Here are the classics that we’ll have this season:
Globe
Asian
Kitchen Notes
Tonight we’re enjoying leftovers from yesterday’s #sundaysoup, which was a simple beef chili inspired by this recipe. I was able to use corn that we grew here last year and stashed away in the freezer, which added some summer brightness to a cold and dreary winter night!
TODAY’S STATS
Low temp: 36F
High temp: 45F
Sunrise: 7:23am
Sunset: 5:37pm
Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous
Additional notes: Cold and rainy all day.