Cornfed Farmers' Market: A Photo Essay

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 83F
Yesterday's low: 55F
Mood of the farm: Squishy

Getting Crafty With the Farm

Remember all that cilantro I was mad about because it went to seed? Well, I figured I ought to at least make something good out of the deal, so coriander it is. Also, Rosa and Maisy have been munching on something near the farm that makes them immediately drool and then vomit. Repeatedly. I'm hoping this is the cause, and getting it off the farm with also get rid of the dog antics.

The plants were ready for drying, so I cut them this afternoon, and hung them on my porch on a makeshift line. Yes, I use package wrapping ribbon for all farm projects. It's just a thing with me.

Then, I carefully crafted some highly technical, farm-specific devices to catch the seeds that fell. The one on the left wasn't dry enough to need a catcher (technical term) yet.
Now I just have to hope my neighbors don't think I'm up to some illicit activity and call the cops before these plants are done drying...

Somebody Call a Doctor.

I hope you're sitting down for this, because it's going to come as quite a shock. Not only has the Farm blog been somewhat neglected over the past week, but so has the Farm. The even more shocking part is the reason for the neglect: I have been working. Like crazy. See? I told you to sit down.

Well anyway, I went to the Farm this morning to do a closer inspection of things, and folks, it was not pretty. The zucchini plants have developed an unfortunate case of powdery mildew:



















And not to be outdone by the fungus, squash borers have invaded the stems. I know it mostly looks disgusting in there, but see where it's kind of orange and looks a bit like sawdust? That is where some ginormous moths laid their eggs, which then bored into the stems and now gross grub-looking caterpillars are growing inside and making a mess of things. Rather than gross you out with the details, here's another link you can click on to get a closer look if you're not in the middle of eating. Though I will point out that the "surgery" I need to do on the other plants is kind of like my two dreams, combined into one thing. Surgery! On the farm! It's going to be so much better than Wii surgery, I can't even tell you...



















The powdery mildew, as it turns out, is not that big of a deal for the plants. It mostly slows down their growth, which is not a problem around the Farm because N's taste for zucchini can't keep pace with the plants. What's the solution to preventing it? Surprise, surprise. Spacing, people. Spacing. Mildew doesn't like airflow and direct sunlight.

However, the squash borer situation is more serious, and that plant was in rough shape. Not to mention the fact that it had completely plugged up the entrance to the farm. So if you'll all join me in a moment of silence (see how I placed my flipflop in there for scale?)...



Pour one for the homie.







And now, a farmer can get into her farm without risking death or muscle injury.




















That's not the end of the diseases. The beans, as you can see here, are in rough shape. I'm pretty sure the holes are from flea beetles that used to feed on the unstaked pea plants (do not follow directions on the seed packets re: not staking!), and moved once the peas were staked and later pulled because of the heat. And after a bit of google research, I can tell you that rusty-looking stuff is just that. Bean rust. Yet another fungus.



















At this point in the summer, and since the beans are still making beans, I'm going to leave it untreated. Next time I have a farm, though, I'll have to keep a closer eye on things.


Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 79F
Yesterday's low: 57F
Warnings: We're in a drought, and the average first frost is exactly one month away. *Ahem* if you're a tomato plant, especially one with yellow fruit, please get your fruit in gear and ripen stat.
Mood of the farm: Sickly, much like its farmer.
Reason to consider a new career: Farmer has been earning perfect 10s, except for the occasional dozing-off-deduction, watching Olympic gymnastics, which if you've watched at all, have heard Elfie Schlagel et al explain four million times is no longer possible. If I hear them explain the A and B score one more time, I'm going to kill someone, and I hear it's real hard to get access to farmland from prison.

Say MiniChuck, How's the View?

In all honesty, we haven't seen the Chuck Family in weeks. But that doesn't stop me from asking it questions, apparently... Without further ado, here's the farm, complete with the most out of control tomato plants on the planet:




















In other news, even the albinos are starting to ripen!
(No this picture is not upside down--they're really growing like that)


















Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 78F
Yesterday's low: 62F

Catch Up

Since I last posted, I did this:


























Maisy did this:























And the farm did this!
























More thorough details coming soon...

Tomatoes!

I'm not the only one excited about the tomatoes on the farm. N and I tried a couple of red ones. They were full of flavor, but not quite as sweet as they should have been. I think a couple more days on the vine would have helped. We're circling in on how to do things on the farm, slowly but surely.


























The Farm is fending for itself for a few days while I'm in CA. And believe it or not, I'm not even taking my computer with me. Copious updates, of course, when I get back. Hopefully involving news of bright yellow tomatoes!

Say MiniChuck, What Does the Farm Look Like From Your Side of the Fence?

Here's the view. A few things to point out.
1.) The Wando peas have moved on to greener pastures due to the August heat. Next year: more Wandos planted closer together (shocking, I know) and much earlier, and staked right away. The watermelon has happily slid over to use some of that area. Check out the weird little watermelon thing that's growing. I'm not really sure what its deal is, but it's there. None of the others are growing. Odd.
2.) The Romaine is gone (and some of the leaf lettuce too) except for one little head, but you really can't tell because the cucumbers have grown right into that space. Next year: more Romaine and less leaf lettuce, all planted in a shadier part of the Farm and maybe not in rows. Gasp, I know.
3.) The zucchini is huge and flowering like mad as you can see. Next year: DO NOT PLANT ZUCCHINI RIGHT IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE FARM. It takes some acrobatics to get on the farm, and everyone who knows me knows that acrobat is not a word that describes me.




















Today, you're also getting a close-up of my albino tomato plant. What, you've never heard of an albino plant before? Me either. I have no idea what the deal is with this thing, but all the tomatoes it's growing (and there are many) all look like this, and it's from the same Super 100 seed pack as the rest of the cherry tomato plants. If you have ideas, let me know, because I'm really stumped. Speaking of the cherry tomato plants, I'm not sure how it happened, but it appears that no early girls made it onto the farm or in the pots near the farm. I'm really sad about this, but glad the lemon boys are at least growing some bigger tomatoes that could start getting ripe in the next week or two. Guess I can stop worrying about how the tomatoes "stopped growing." They're just all cherry tomatoes...


















And now, in order from least to most ripe, I give you the excitement of the farm this week!



































































Cucumber beetles are a real Trial for this farmer in so many different ways:













Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 85F
Yesterday's low: 65F
Warnings: Harvest alert.
Mood of the farm: dodging beetles left and right