News
12/20/00
We abandoned the green beans to the regular freezes that we have been
experiencing. Spinach is coming along well; we have been selling a
little for the past few weeks. Third planting is in. Early crops in
the next several months will be spinach, carrots, and onions. We may
put in some potatoes next month. Or February. Labor continues scarce.
We are finally getting some field preparation done.
12/6/00
We started picking green beans last week. There are very few; they are
freeze survivors that were sprinkled during the freezes.
We started picking spinach yesterday. There will be very little for
the next month or so. Labor is scarce.
Wet conditions have kept new field preparations to a minimum.
All farmers markets are closed for the season.
11/17/00
A freeze on the morning of 11/14/00 took much of the remaining stuff.
With sprinklers, we saved perhaps 1/2 acre of green beans, though they
had already been damaged by a frost the previous week. Cream peas are
gone; production was about 6,000 bags of the 15,000 to 20,000 that I
had planned/hoped for.
Spinach is doing fairly well. Some carrots, interplanted with spinach,
are up. Some onions are planted.
It remains too wet. We are not able to continue preparing blackberry
ground.
11/6/00
Six MORE inches of rain in the last few days. Even less hope for
tomatoes. Green beans don't look too bad; blooming; beans perhaps in a
couple of weeks.
11/3/00
Now we've had rain. Damp conditions have ruined most peas and
tomatoes. We are looking forward to the first spinach harvest in a few
weeks. Pea season is almost over; total production is less than 6000
bags. Target production was 15,000 to 20,000. My market schedule is
down to Georgetown on Thursdays and Round Rock on Saturdays. We have
been spending quite a bit of time preparing fields for winter perennial
planting. Plan to put in about an acre of blackberries and around 150
peach trees.
10/4/00
Cooler weather FINALLY. Still no significant rain. We've quit
planting peas and beans, perhaps half the area planted is up. We are
finally getting some peas, around 100 lbs per day. Planted the first
of the spinach a few days ago. There is around 50 boxes of pears left
that are in fair condition; several hundred boxes have gone to the
burros and neighbors cows. And neighbor's dehydration efforts. We
keep looking for "our" hurricane.
9/9/00
A REALLY horrible period! Nothing to sell. 112 deg temperature. No
grocery store sales. Extremely slow farmers markets. Grasshoppers
eating all peas and beans as they emerge. 1.25" of percipitation
(including hail) seems to have done no good. Burros are getting their
fill of pears.
8/31/00
Things have REALLY slowed down! Peas: 0-10 lbs/day. Almost no
cantaloupe and watermelon. We're desperately trying to get new
plantings watered up, older plantings watered, and weeds held at bay.
Pears are going bad in the coolers. Nine laborers to pay. Nearly zero
sales. ALL farmers markets have turned sour. No significant rain in
two months or more. BAH! Still trying to do Taylor, Sun City and
Weslake farmers markets.
8/16/00
Peas are finally producing; getting creams was well as some purple hull
and blackeye. Cantaloupe is still coming in well; watermelon picking
is nearly finished. All pears are picked, but there are plenty in the
coolers.
Green beans are struggling; may have to re-plant. Having a difficult
time getting enough water on them the get them germinated.
Beryl gave us no percipitation.
Finally gave up waiting for rain and started transplanting tomato
plants. It's a real chore to keep them watered.
Still going to markets: Taylor Monday afternoons, Sun City Tuesday
mornings, Killeen Tuesday afternoons, Killeen Friday afternoons,
Westlake Saturday mornings. Gonna try Threadgills again this Wednesday
afternoon.
8/2/00
A customer just sent me email reminding me that I had not posted an
update here in a while; I'm pleased that someone is reading this stuff!
Nearly all pears are now harvested and in the coolers.
We have been picking quite a few cantaloupe and, though they have
slowed recently, we have many more coming. I have sampled them
extensively and can say that I have not found a single one with less
than great taste.
We will continue to pick watermelon for the next couple of weeks; they
are also of very high quality.
Peas have been very sparse, but are now picking up. Only creams, no
blackeyes. Purple hulls in a couple of weeks.
Started planting "Green Crop" beans that were so much in demand this
Spring. About 60 days to harvest.
Hauled my first (and only) load of Fall tomato transplants; we will be
planting them over the next week or so. We have almost quit picking
the Spring/Summer tomatoes, including the yellows.
.15" of rain a couple of days ago.
7/21/00
We are now picking pears seriously. Europeans (Orient, LeConte, and
FanStil) and asians (Hosui and 20th Century). Europeans ripen best off
the tree while asians must be ripened on the tree, so we have for sale
asians that are ready to eat and europeans that need aging. We are
offering the europeans for $7 per 1/2 bu box at the farm. Appointment
only.
We have started picking cantaloupe, Super 45 variety. Very high
quality.
We test ate our first watermelon this afternoon. We will give them a
few more days. We will have seedless red and seeded yellow watermelon.
Yellow tomatoes are rapidly declining and we have had no reds at all
for about a week.
The dryland peas are producing almost nothing and we are still waiting
for the irrigated cream peas to start. But they should be producing in
the next week or so.
7/19/00
The coming crop of red tomatoes looks very poor, they are not dealing
well with the heat. Yellow tomatoes are declining. Pears are still
just getting started. No cantaloupes yet, but soon. Watermelons
later. Main irrigated plantings of cream peas are near. Dry land peas
are suffering greatly; or worse. Downy mildew is solving my Tatume
problem. Figs are almost done. Our stock of red potatoes is almost
depleted.
7/15/00
Red tomatoes are gone. For three weeks or more; one more patch is
coming, but success is uncertain. Right now, we are in our yellow
patch; we have many yellow tomatoes. Figs are still producing fairly
well, we have been getting 1 to 3 gallons a day. Asian pears have
started and europeans will be not far behind. Tatume squash has made a
resurgence. Cantaloupe should start in just a few days. Watermelon in
a few weeks.
We have been very short on peas, especially cream. We are starting to
pick on the third and next to last blackeye field. More creams are
coming in 1-2 weeks. Perhaps some purple hulls in 3-4 weeks.
We've had 100+ deg afternoon highs for several days and it is very
difficult to get any work done and it is a struggle to keep everything
irrigated. No rain for three weeks or more.
Farmers markets are slowing down; it seems that customers are reluctant
to face the heat.
7/1/00
Tatume squash, just as we are having some success in selling it, is
slowing down. Second planting of blackeyes is picking up. Almost no
cream peas; no more expected for several weeks. New tomatoes coming
in, including yellows. Figs have slowed considerably. Almost no
blackberries. Seedless watermelon are setting well. Cantaloupe are
blooming well. Watermelon is five or six weeks, cantaloupe in probably
the same time window. Third and fourth pea plantings are in need of
rain. Starting to pick a few asian pears, Hosuis. Other pears coming.
6/21/00
Tomatoes are picking up a little. We have very few peas as we are
between patches. FIGS ARE STARTING! We are getting a good supply of
Tatume squash.
6/14/00
The rain has really curtailed production. A week ago we were getting
30-40 boxes of #1s out of 80-100 picked baskets every day. Now we are
getting 4-8 #1s from around 10 picked. There are plenty of tomatoes
out there and plenty of young plants that have not yet produced, so we
hope things will pick up. Peas are also slowing down. All this is
just un-heard of in mid-June.
6/11/00
RAIN! We've been wet for several days now. The wetness is hampering
harvest as well as ruining tomatoes; tomato production is way down,
from 30-50 boxes a day to 10-15.
We have lost a lot of peas due to insufficient labor and the second
field is about to start. The second and third fields are all
blackeyes, so cream pea production will fade until recent plantings
begin in about two months.
6/9/00
We've had a very good tomato week, grocery store sales have gone very
well. With available labor, we have not been able to keep up with the
picking of both peas and tomatoes; some have gone un-picked.
Because it is so difficult for me to make connections with my canning
tomato customers, I had instructed my tomato packer, who is in the barn
all day every day, on making canning tomato sales; canning tomato
customers can now buy every day from 7am-noon and 1pm-5pm.
I am long overdue for some spraying. The week before this, I did seven
farmers markets in six days as well as making daily delivery runs into
Austin and San Marcos. This week, wife Jean, did two Tuesday markets,
leaving me only five markets and a day to spend on the farm.
A few days ago, we got 2.9" of rain in about 45 minutes; we needed the
water, but it washed more soil than I would have liked. The second of
my dry-land pea plantings is almost assured of success, now, and the
third is well on the way.
6/2/00
Suprisingly, we are now getting a good fraction of #1 tomatoes. We are
being buried in tomatoes and the peas are getting ready to hit hard,
also; right now, we are picking just a few bushels a day. Canning (#2)
tomatoes are being advertised in a A/S classified; $10 per bushel, $8 for
ten or more.
Green bean are effectively gone.
Watermelon are finally planted.
Irrigating heavily.
5/25/00
We are well into picking tomatoes now. As expected, there is little
worth picking due to hail damage. Many #2s. And worse.
Green beans are winding down; a very nice crop this year, I look
forward to growing them again. Perhaps this Fall.
We are just a few days from starting to pick blackeye peas. I am
getting queries about cream peas. Right now, I have quite a lot of
blackeyes planted, but only a few creams. I will be planting mostly
creams for the next couple of months, which will put most of our cream
pea production in late Summer and Fall.
The last of the carrots and potatoes are dug and stored.
I have seedless watermelon plants ready to go out, just looking for
time and opportunity to plant them. Also have some more tomato
transplants to go out. We are planting cantaloupe, peas, squash, and
okra.
With tomatoes, all the farmers markets are picking up.
5/12/00
Well, the hail is but a fond memory. All plants are recovering well,
though the fruit is still dinged. Oldest peas are starting to vine.
Second (and last) planting of beans is in full production.
Blackberries continue to produce less than a gallon a day. Damaged
tomatoes are starting to turn red; normally, this would mean that
undamaged tomatoes are only a week or so away. We have about 3/4 of
the potatoes dug; we're putting them away in storage for sale later in
the season. There are quite a few carrots put away in the cooler,
too.
Recently, the farmers markets have been mostly disappointing. Sun
City, Westlake, and Elgin have declined. Taylor had a very slow
opening. The second Georgetown, OTOH, picked up. Squash, potatoes,
carrots, and green beans are selling very slowly at farmers markets.
5/5/00
HAIL! And I speak not of a greeting. Yesterday evening we had a
thunderstorm drop quite a lot of hail on us. In our best and largest
tomato field, 90-99% of the existing fruit is ruined; in another field,
50-75%. We will have a lot of scarred fruit to try to sell. We will
try to get as much fruit off the plants to encourage them to put on new
fruit.
I haven't looked closely at the blackberries, but I imagine that most
of them are gone. Same with pears.
5/4/00
I'm starting to get some phone calls about blackberries; here is the
story; In previous good years, we peaked at around 120 gallons in a
day. Last year, the peak was 16 gallons in a day. This year, probably
less than 16. I am committed to re-planting next year, but that puts
significant production in May 2002. For the past week or more, we have
been getting less than a gallon a day.
We've dug about half of the potatoes so far; volume and quality has
been very good.
We are in a lull between two bean plantings right now. Quality has
been very good.
We are still 2-3 weeks away from tomatoes. Perhaps 3-4 weeks from
blackeye peas.
Most of the Farmer's Markets are starting this week and next.
Georgetown, Round Rock, Elgin, Taylor, Bastrop.
4/28/00
Our last spinach pick for the season was two days ago :(
We are awash in green beans, picking 10-15 bu each day; this promises
to persist for 2-4 weeks.
Potatoes are ready to dig and we are doing a whole row at a time;
production is better than I have ever before experienced.
Blackberries seem to be 2 weeks or more early. The first pick (9
pints) went to last Tuesday's Sun City market. Will have a couple of
flats for tomorrow's Westlake market.
The Georgetown market will open this coming Thursday and Round Rock a
week from tomorrow.
4/20/00
We started picking green beans Monday for the Sun City market.
Monday's pick was about two bushels and Wednesday's was about four. I
expect 10 or more bushels for Thursday & Friday. We continue to dig
potatoes to meet the demand at Farmers Markets; we have dug about two
of the twelve rows.
The second Threadgill's market was no better than the first; I will
wait for improvement before I return.
Tomatoes are setting well. We will start planting a yellow variety in
the next few days.
We continue to get 6-8 lb of asparagus a day.
Blackberries look like they might be early this year, starting in
perhaps a week or so. The bad news is that the plants are looking
poorly still/again.
Cutworms have taken a bean field as well as the okra and squash fields.
I am looking for time to get okra and squash replanted.
Finally found time to start planting cantaloupe; our goal is to plant
about 1000' every week for about six weeks.
4/9/00
Missed the frost of April 4 and we have some danger of frost this
morning, but it doesn't seem likely. Recent cool weather has slowed
peas, tomatoes, beans, and asparagus. But, it has helped the spinach.
We've dug about 5% of the potatoes and will get serious about it in
another week or so. We have plenty of carrots with many more to pull.
We found the first set tomato a few days ago and quite a few beans are
set.
I did the second Westlake market yesterday; though very windy, it was
quite a bit better than the first which was rainy. This past Wednesday
was the first Threadgill's market and it was a disappointment, but, of
course, we hope for improvement. The first Sun City market was a
success and the second will be day after tomorrow. At these markets
for the next few weeks, I hope to be selling potatoes, mustard greens,
carrots, both purple and green asparagus, and spinach. It is possible
we will have some green beans in a week or so.
I have fields of okra and squash planted, but they are doing poorly due
to cut worm depredation. I'm looking for time and a location to plant
a field of cantaloupe, I just got the seed in a few days ago. There are
about three green bean fields and I'm contemplating planting one more.
We continue to plant tomatoes. The first of the yellow tomatoes should
go in in about two weeks. I have seedless watermelon scheduled to
plant about May 15.
People regularly ask about the blackberries. I put the third and final
copper fungicide spray on them a few days ago. Most of them look
better than expected. If they continue to look good and if I can find
a sales person, I will try to open for pick your own sales one or two
days a week. Starting in late May.
We will have very few peaches due both to lack of chill and the
advanced age of my trees. I have been suprised to hear of prospects of
a "not bad" crop in other areas. The dormancy breaking chemical
"Dormex" was approved for use in Texas this year and has been widely
used with good results.
4/3/00
Great growing weather! Though there is some danger of a frost in the
morning. :-( We have been irrigating, but we got about an inch of rain
out of the recent wet weekend. Some peas were planted about a week ago
and they were up in five days. I joked to my wife that we will be
picking them next week. My pea seed supplier, Jim Priddy of Anton Seed
in Lockhart, tells me that it is time to plant peas when you start
sleeping uncovered with an open window. We have started digging some
potatoes and carrots. Some green beans are set and we should be
picking in two weeks or so. Tomatoes will be setting any day now.
Blackberries are looking much better than expected. Brazos and
Rosoborough are well set and their primacanes are waist high. We are
working on mowing, weeding, and pruning them.
Some time ago, I planted some Tyfon as a cover and forage crop. I find
that it is quite good as a green and am selling it at farmers markets
and to some grocery stores. It is a type of mustard.
Two days ago, a rainy Saturday, the Westlake Market opened. Needless to
say, the crowd and sales were a disappointment. I will be going to the
first Sun City Market tomorrow and the first Threadgill's Market the
next day. Offered will be asparagus, carrots, new potatoes, and
mustard greens. We will be out of spinach for a few days. We have one
field left and it is just starting to produce. If the weather
cooperates, we will have spinach for another two to three weeks.
3/21/00
FREEZE!
We had a light frost this morning; at this time there seems to be
little tomato damage, moderate potato damage, and more serious green
bean damage. We had to delay spinach picking for a couple of hours.
New land spinach harvest is going very well; we are not quite half way
through the first field. Rain day before yesterday was disappointing,
we had .15" and are starting to irrigate again. Just planted two more
fields of green beans; may have to replant frosted ones, but will decide
in a few days.
3/7/00
Spinach on old land is doing very poorly; some is bolting due to
unseasonable temperatures and the disease White Rust is running
rampant. The new land spinach, on the other hand, is doing very well;
we started harvesting the first field yesterday. Production is around
400 bags a day.
We have about 3500 tomatoes in the ground (waiting for our April
freeze) and another 3000 waiting to go out. Two fields of green beans
are up and looking good. Potatoes are up and growing well. Carrots,
interplanted with spinach, are growing well; we should be pulling some
in 2-3 weeks. Asparagus is producing well despite my fear of drought
damage last summer.
The starting dates for several local Farmers Markets have been set;
check the link on the main page.
2/15/00
Spinach is coming along well. We are producing about 250 bags per day.
We will be making the final spinach planting in the next two weeks.
And new land preparation is going well. One spinach patch is two to
three weeks away from being pickable. Another spinach patch was
planted about a week ago and is coming up. The water piping system is
incomplete, but we are using well water over there to flood irrigate.
I planted about 1/2 acre of red potatoes over there about two weeks
ago; they are not yet up. I plan on planting an acre or so of green
beans in the next few days.
Next week, I will be making my first trip of the season to haul tomato
transplants out of San Antonio; barring cold weather forecasts, we
should be planting the first of the tomatoes week after next.
Unless something develops, we will not be making many farmers markets
this year. Ray Menke, who last year did Killeen, Sun City, and
Westlake, will not be doing farmers markets for me this year.
1/25/00
First news post of the year!
We are doing a fair amount of spinach after having endured difficulty
getting plantings up due to lack of moisture and significant freeze
damage. A few weeks ago, we got down to 18 deg after two weeks of warm
weather. The first planted spinach is starting to bolt, but many more
plantings are on the way.
I finally got the first planting in on the new land, about two acres of
spinach. We are pretty close to having nearly ten more acres ready to
plant over there. I don't have any water over there yet, but I'm only
lacking a well pump. Installing irrigation pipe is an ongoing project.
I intended to get some more blackberries planted this dormant season,
but may not get around to it. Right now, the existing berry plants
don't look too bad and I intend to get a copper fungicide spray on them
as soon as they start growing. For those new readers: I have a very
troublesome anthracnose infection in most of my blackberries.
The warm winter that we have had insures a peach crop failure, just
like last year. Last year we had about seven boxes of peaches, as I
recall. This seems to be a good time to be reducing reliance on
peaches, as we are. I may still plant more peaches in future years, but
it seems that our chilling may be declining so that 300-400 hour
varieties may do better than our traditional 500-700 hour varieties.