Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #6, 3/25/16

What’s been going on!

Another beautiful and productive week.  Started last Saturday, while Jennie and Betsy were at market I was on the tractor getting the last of the minerals spread on two fields and then disking them in before the rain, got done just as it started to come down.

Monday I had my Advanced Organic Crop Production class out to help move the last two sliding tunnels over the tomato beds and move the last Big Top hoops from one field to the field the main planting of tomatoes will be in this year, it was a tomato planting preparation kind of day.

Midweek saw a lot more cultivation, planting and irrigation set up and watering, just hot and windy enough to both kill weeds and to need to keep crops moving with water.  Yesterday we spent nearly the entire day working on more deer fence, we are now just 300 feet from finishing up what we wanted to get protected for this season.  There is at least another 1000 feet we would like to build but that will have to wait until next winter.

Most exciting is that today we planted the early tomatoes in the sliding tunnels, only two months until we can eat a real tomato!  With the cucumbers already planted and looking good and zinnias going in next week it is hard to believe we are working on warm season crops already.

Picture of the Week

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The long view from the very top of the farm, green green

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #5, 3/18/16

What’s been going on!

Very close to the first day of spring and still feeling very spring like until Sunday and Monday night when they are forecasting a low of 29 degrees, never be complacent in March!

Another busy and productive week.  Two heavy downpours on Sunday and Monday with a total of 1.5 inches in a very short time but the warm weather and a little breeze has dried things out well for perfect cultivation conditions and excellent weed killing.  Jennie and our newest staff person Tricia have worked over almost all the spring plantings, just in time as the rains and warm temperatures have really made the weeds sprout too.

Another 1000 feet of new deer fence is nearly done with about 600 feet more to finish up the big loop, this coming week for sure.  We did have to spend yesterday sliding one of the little tunnels over the early cucumbers and off the first lettuces.  Today we will get all the beds and trellises ready for the early tomatoes so we can slide those tunnels on Monday.

Another sure sign of spring is the start of the regular work schedule when the staff are here every day.  We are fortunate once again to have found another great person who has jumped right in with energy and a smile.  Lacey has moved on to other non-farm pursuits and we will miss her but Tricia is not missing a beat.  Its official, here we go again.

Picture of the Week

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End wall off, tractor hooked up, ready to pull the tunnel over new beds for cucumbers

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #4, 3/11/16

What’s been going on!

Shorts, sunscreen, wide brim hats, what happened to late winter?  With the warm temperatures we have been running hard the last two weeks and gotten quite a bit done.  Just wish it wasn’t quite so warm yet.

Jennie has single handedly pruned all the blueberries and while it will probably be a small crop this year due to the unseasonably warm December that caused some blooms to open and then be killed, the ones left should be large and on more open bushes.

We did get part of the deer fence finished around one field and will get back on the big loop next week but we got a bit side tracked cleaning up from the mess made by the backhoe/bush/tree removal.  Many days burning brush and hauling stumps out of the way so we could get around center of the farm again.  The new fence seems to be working great, no sign of entry in the young tender lettuce field.

Lots of planting going on including all the onions, two thirds of the spring vegetables, many beds of lettuce, the tuberoses and dahlias too.  Of course now that the rain spigot has shut off and the temperatures are rising we had to spend most of this last Tuesday getting the irrigation up and running to keep everything happy.  It’s either feast for famine.

Pictures of the Week

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The new fence around the lettuce field and partly mulched tuberoses

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Incredible Anemones and Jennie pulling Beets in the next tunnel

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #3, 2/26/16

What’s been going on!

Another 2.4 inches of rain but no wind damage from the storms on Wednesday, we hope that all of you also escaped with no issues.  Typical erratic move into spring- warm, cold, windy, dead calm, sunny, cloudy.  Last year on this date we had 7” of snow, at least that is not happening this year!

It did dry out just enough last week for us to get caught up with planting on Sunday, just before the rains came back in.  5 beds of lettuce, 4 beds of flowers seeded, 3 beds of Sugar Snap Peas and multiple beds of other vegetables put us back on schedule.  This coming week is one of the biggest planting periods of the spring with many beds of vegetables and flowers that need to get into the ground.  Once again we will be racing to get done before the next chance of rain on Wednesday.

The other thing we are working on getting finished is a major reworking of the deer fence before there are too many tempting things for them to nibble on.  Our electric 3 wire fence has worked well for fifteen years or so but in the last few years they have begun to figure it out and particularly in the winter have had their way getting in to eat our lush cover crops.  So we are resetting the posts to support 8’ tall plastic netting behind the two electric wires.  We have tested this the last two years with great success so now we are trying to get all the way around the main planting areas but we are talking about nearly 4000 feet of fencing!

Just to add to the spring madness we also had a backhoe in last week to pull out hundreds of feet of row of perennial flowering shrubs that we no longer need and were beginning to grow up in undesirable plants.  We will need to finish the clean-up in the next few weeks before things really start to grow.

Picture of the Week

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A lot of brush burning in our future

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #2, 2/5/16

What’s been going on!

Busy few weeks but home for the rest of the winter.  We made it through “winter storm Jonas” with just a few inches of sleet and thankfully no ice at all.  We did sweep off the tunnels twice just in case the ice did fall but would have been fine not cleaning them off had we known that would be all we would get.  By the way, I hate that the Weather Channel has decided to name these storms, while this one was historic further north, generally they are just another big snow event, no need for the hysteria.

The icy roads did make it a bit hard to get out of town for the big SSAWG (Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group) conference in Lexington, KY.  I was gone for a whole week because of another meeting beforehand about some organic tomato breeding work that they are trying to do at UK.  They worked me hard at the conference as I taught 3 sessions including a day and a half short course and a panel discussion. It was the 25th conference and they really did a good job on the program.  Jennie came up for the main conference and gained some new ideas and met a lot of other farmers too.

Back home on Sunday and we jumped right into it.  Finally dry enough to turn over some beds, getting ready for the first spring plantings, I was on the tractor Monday.  Tuesday the groundhog cartel said that spring is just around the corner, I hope they are right this time.  We seeded the first tomatoes in the greenhouse so that is a true sign of at least optimism, if not spring.  My main task now is getting the end of the year books finished so we can get them to the accountant and finally put last year behind us.

Picture of the Week

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Freshly turned soil next to very healthy cover crop covered beds.

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #1, 1/14/16

What’s been going on!

Betsy says that we are already behind for the season.  It is only the second week of January, how can we be behind?  OK there are a few pressing things that we do need to get done like cutting firewood so we don’t freeze next month.  We also need to finish up the seed orders so we can get the seeds here to be able to start them in the greenhouse on time but first we have to make a plan.

Jennie and I have spent that last two days putting the finishing touches on the crop plan for the entire year.  Lots of time staring at the computer, sorting columns in the spreadsheet, comparing notes from last season, adding crops, losing crops (yes Celtuce is probably history), fine tuning planting dates and how much of each to grow.  When we are done there will be nearly 400 entries, each representing a planting or seeding of a single crop.  15 seedings of red radishes, 16 plantings of Little Gem lettuce, 11 seedings of carrots and so on.

This is the master plan, our marching orders for the year.  How many transplants do we have to grow, how many beds do we have to prepare each week, what field will the crop be in, do we have room for it all?  Years of refining our best educated guesses at all of those questions.  It is fun and educational and can make you go blind all at the same time.  It is fundamental to a successful season.

We did have fun in the last month too.  Christmas was warm but relaxed.  Jennie went north to visit family.  I had another good hiking trip to Texas and Betsy and I enjoyed ourselves last week in Tennessee at the Southern Foodways Alliance gathering.  Not really behind but time to get some work done, the greenhouse is filling up and this 35th growing season is already rolling.

Picture of the Week

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On a brilliant cold day, Conestoga wagon like tunnels protecting crops

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #34, 12/18/15 The Holiday edition

What’s been going on!

Hurtling towards the end of another season, this one certainly full of crazy weather swings that made one pause and wonder, like this recent amazing warm spell and yet more heavy rain to put us about 10 inches above normal.

Folks ask this time of year “how was the season?”.  Farmers say it with a sideways glance searching for some solace or comparison to how theirs went.  Non-farmers ask out of general interest or pleasant conversation.  If I didn’t know the exact details I would certainly say it was much worse than last year with all the difficulties and resulting various crop short falls but the truth is we are going to end with a slightly better year than 2014 at least on the income side, amazing to us.

As we head into 2016 and our 35th growing season we have much to plan for and much to reflect on.  We know that there are multiple reasons we continue to have a successful business but foremost is all of you.  Without such a supportive and appreciative group of people who come to get our products week in and week out it would not be possible to do what we do, either financially or mentally, for that we are very thankful.

The other great luck that we have had is the excellent people we have been able to find and work with here on the farm, they make our days easier and more enjoyable.  With Jennie here we also know that going forward Peregrine Farm will continue to be innovative and sustainable.  We hope to be able to wish you all a happy holiday season on Saturday or at the special Christmas market on Tuesday, if we miss you, may it be full of warmth and fun.

Pictures of the Week

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Warm enough for this toad to do some insect control

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The miracle of a few Christmas anemones

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #33, 12/4/15

What’s been going on!

We hope that everyone’s Thanksgiving was warm, fun and full of great food.  Ours certainly was as we go over the my brother’s house for a leisurely gathering where we all share the cooking, eating and drinking duties and then can quietly slip home and sleep in our own beds.  What could be more simple and filling?

We have made it to another December.  It used to be that November was really the end of the produce season other than the odd collard and butternut squash and we would have to work to have good greens for Thanksgiving and then pack it in for the winter.  December would come in and clamp down hard, sure we would have a few warm days but the nights were consistently cold.   Not so much anymore.

While the days are still short so that nothing really grows much but with good row covers, unheated high tunnels and just a degree or two warmer it is now fairly easy to hold those crops and not have them damaged by cold.  December is now a fairly robust month at market and January is when the tables are filled with more durable goods.

Picture of the Week

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A brilliant December day after yet more rain

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #32, 11/20/15 Thanksgiving!

What’s been going on!

The big food week of the year coming up, hope you are ready, we are (I think).  This newsletter will cover both tomorrow’s market and the special pre-Thanksgiving market next Tuesday 3:00-6:00.  Jennie has been working hard while we were gone cultivating, protecting and harvesting some beautiful produce for the big Holiday eat fest.

Two years now without turkeys and I have to say it makes for a much less stressful week leading up to Thanksgiving.  There are times that we miss having the birds out there wandering around the fields but the daily grind of managing animals and then the final harvest adds so much more mental work to the program.  I salute those who raise and care for working animals year in and year out.

Betsy and I both had good trips, separately this time, quite unusual for us.  She went to northern Minnesota to just hang out with another old cut flower growing friend, talking, doing odd jobs around the farm, visiting neighbors, relaxing.  I was on the trail again in Southern Utah looking for cliff dwellings and rock art panels, great trip and beautiful weather.

We have a really busy early winter planned and you may see Jennie at market more than us.  I will still crank out a newsletter, it just may be irregular but we will definitely let you know what is going on.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Pictures of the Week

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A nice sunset after yet another big rain

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Vibrant vegetables, ready to be covered for the next cold snap

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #31, 11/6/15

What’s been going on!

One of those crazy busy weeks with many meetings and trying to get a pile of things done before heading out of town next week.  The three days of board meetings for the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) fortunately landed during the extremely wet days (another 3.2 inches of rain).  Extremely inspiring and critical work being done by their staff, I would love to talk with those of you who are able, about becoming an individual donor to their work.

Betsy had a Farm to Fork picnic committee meeting, yes the planning goes on year round to make it a great event.  This weekend is the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Conference in Durham so I am putting the finishing touches on my workshop presentation.

The last of the pepper trellis is coming down and Betsy got the anemones planted and mulched and we pulled one of the little tunnels over them now that they have been well watered in.  With all of the rain, the cover crops look awesome.  The best early growth in years!

We had a great visit yesterday from the folks from Jamaica who I worked with last year on the Jamaica Farm Sustainable Enterprise Project.  In country for a few weeks to both see more organic farms of all sizes and to make connections for supplies, expertise and funding.  They will be talking about the project at the CFSA conference on Saturday.

Picture of the Week

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Nkrumah Green and Nicola Shirley-Phillips in front of the tunnel they helped us slide over the anemones

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