Current production : 1/12/00 The acorn and butternut squash, peppers and red 
okra are all gone now due to the cold weather we've had since Dec. But the 
mustards, turnips, radishes, broccoli (very sweet), and spinach (very tasty) 
have all been producing since mid-Dec. Also the greenhouse tomatoes and basil 
are producing and are in fine shape. Everything is available at the South Austin 
Market and a few items are in a couple of stores. Our current (11/99) 
vegetableproduction is very slim. We started harvesting some acorn and butternut 
squash about 2 weeks ago, and thanks to the grasshoppers, there's not much left. 
We have planted broccoli, carrots, collards, mustards, turnips, swiss chard, and 
radishes outside along with tomatoes and sweet basil in one of the greenhouses. 
All of these items are expected to begin production in mid Dec. We are still 
picking some peppers (hot and sweet), some red okra, and then we always have a 
steady supply of pesto's, pickles, hot sauce, dilled okra and dilled jalapenos 
that we process in our health certified kitchen. 7/23/00. We have been extremely 
busy since our last posting. We managed to get all of the summer crops planted 
and most harvested since then. We had a lot of rain in April and some in May and 
June that carried the plants through until it stopped in mid-June. But along 
with helping the plants, it also brought on a lot of weeds. So much so that we 
plowed up the 1.5 A. of green okra because you couldn't even see the plants. The 
red okra was almost as bad, but we left it and have been picking it 3 X week. It 
desperately needs a good rain. We also have had a great run on cucumbers, both 
slicers and picklers. The slicers are finished now, but we did pick more than 
3200 # from 1400 plants over a 6 week period. The picklers are still putting out 
a few, but over an 8 week period so far, we have picked about 6000 # from 1700 
plants. Beans didn't do well for us because of the weeds. Tomatoes and peppers 
are still in the field, but the grasshoppers have chewed on them where they 
haven't produced very well. Peppers will continued to be watered, but the 
tomatoes are beginning to get spider mites and I will plow them up soon. 
Zucchini and yellow squash also did very well for us. We planted transplants and 
started picking 26 days later. We had 1300 # from 1000 plants of Zucchini and 
3100 # from 2000 plants of yellow squash. They would have continued a little 
longer if it weren't for the grasshoppers. We did have a great crop of sweet 
corn (about 3/4 A.). The ears were small, but they were very sweet. We did 
manage to put a good bit in the freezer for us to enjoy later. We also changed 
our planting plans due to the rain and lack thereof. We cleaned up the okra land 
and planted field peas (dryland) but have not had a drop of rain to get them to 
germinate. On July 4, we planted 2 varieties of cantaloupes and 2 of watermelons 
that look very good and healthy now. They should begin production in mid-Sept. I 
also replanted 8 rows of okra that I have been watering and it too should begin 
in mid-Sept. Just today, I planted some yard long beans that will be ready in 
Oct. Next week we will plant some winter squash for the fall/winter. And in the 
coming weeks from now till Oct., we will plant more fall crops to carry us 
through the winter. The new greenhouse was put on hold because we were picking 
the summer crops. But we are going to continue work this week and try to get it 
done by Oct. We have already started some tomatoes to be planted in one of the 
older houses to be able to have some around mid-Oct. and then come in with a big 
production from the new house in Dec. The South Austin Farmers Market is going 
well and we are in the process of putting together a web site devoted to the 
market and it's members and supporters. Look for the address to posted in the 
near future. 

1/12/02  It has been quite a while since our last posting, partly due to our busy schedule and partly due to the difficulty I have in mastering the computer.

But finally after 2 years of planning and constructing, the new greenhouse is finished and planted with 2159 tomato plants. Production began Dec. 24,2001 but has really gotten underway last week with 600# picked. They should continue to increase to about 1000#/week and last till June.
The plants are in beautiful condition now at 8' - 10' in height and full of tomatoes.

We have also managed to plant 100 plants each of peppers and cucumbers in another greenhouse along with 1000 1gal. pots of sweet basil. We have already begun harvesting off the sweet basil; cucumbers should begin around the first if Feb.; peppers may begin around March. This is our effort to try to make a living during the winter months and take some time off during the summer.

On 14 of our 16 certified acres, we have managed to plant cover crops of hubam clover, austrian winter peas, and hairy vetch. They aren't doing much right now waiting for a warmer spring to grow where they will become nectar for the 50 bee hives that are on the back fence.

As of this week, our tomatoes are available at Wheatsville and the two Central Markets, as well as the South Austin Farmers Market on Saturdays.

Pictures of the new greenhouse and tomatoes, the peppers, cucumbers, and basil will be posted on this website soon. And coming soon will be a South Austin Farmers Market website.



2/3/02   Wow what a difference a few weeks make. We have managed to pick 1200 # of tomatoes two weeks ago and over 1500 # last week. More importantly, they are all sold to HEB stores in the austin area and one in San Antonio. The biggest one yet has been 26 oz. with many weighing in at 20 oz. We believe that this greenhouse will surpass our expectations as far as production and ease of use(climate controll and water are all controlled by computer)

The cucumbers are beginning to set fruit and the peppers will do so soon. The cukes are fairly simple to figure out on how to manage and grow, but the peppers are a little confusing as to how to train and trim. I think I have a handle on them.

The cover crops have begun to grow and green up due to some rain and sun and warmer weather.

We also managed to plant onions and some seeds of spinach, turnips, beets, carrots, swiss chard, radishes, mustard grens, and cilantro. And lots of herb seeds are growing in the small greenhouse to be potted up later. 

I'm still working on the SAFM website, but you can take a look at http://home.att.net/~p2organic
and tell me what you think of it.