Wed, Sep 03, 2008 · Filed under Farm lab (research!), Planning, Summer, Veggies
This isn’t the first time I’ve pondered the question of variety on TFB, but the consideration recurs, so here’s another take… It would seem to be all around easier to grow just one variety of each veg crop, but that wouldn’t be any fun! One round, red beet, one big, round, red tomato, one shell pea, and so on. That’s the standard approach for most of the other full market garden growers at our small farmers’ market. There is SOME variation: green and yellow snap beans, maybe French Breakfast (red and white) radishes along with the standard round red ones, a few types of winter squash… Which is cool. Why bother growing three or more types of orange carrot, let alone orange (Nelson), purple (Purple Haze), and white (White Satin, for the first time this year)? I dunno. By growing several varieties of each veg crop, I’ve learned a bit, like the performance difference between hybrid and open pollinated varieties (in general, the OP tend to do better when field conditions get a little extreme, but that’s not a….scientific conclusion!). It’s not to be a novelty act, the guy at the market with the purple carrots, golden beets and round, yellow cucumbers. Or the round Eightball zucchini (below). If efficient tiny farming was the sole goal, I don’t have a really compelling…justification for all of the complicating seed ordering, transplant organizing, and extra direct seeding work it takes to grow as many different crops as I can, and numerous varieties of each. On the other hand, growing and offering variety, choice, and the non-standard make tiny farming so much fun. Which sounds good to me! It seemed like the thing to do from when I first pored over a seed catalog six years ago, and nothing’s changed my mind since! :)
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Tue, Sep 02, 2008 · Filed under Building & Fixing, Summer, Tools
The deluxe outhouse—deluxe because this converted ice fishing hut houses a slick new composting toilet—has been sitting out in the field for a month now, nestled behind the drive shed, just inside the gate at the top of the market garden field. It’s all clean and shipshape, but the interior decorating plans bouncing around back in early summer haven’t come to pass. No whitewash, no Tibetan prayer flags, candles, incense, or other deluxe fittings and accessories, just single-ply toilet paper and a small bucket of peat moss, for tossing in, a handful a day. No frills! The toilet is equipped with an electric heater and fan for dealing with high traffic—up to eight people, three times a day—but I haven’t plugged it in so far, as I’m the only regular client. So far, in fact, there’ve been only TWO other takers to pass through the door. Oh well, if you haven’t experienced convenient, in-field evacuation, without plumbing…you haven’t tried it all! No odor, no flies… It’s great!
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Mon, Sep 01, 2008 · Filed under Summer, Veggies
Parsnips, at last! This is a crop I’ve tried to grow almost every year, but until this season, it’ hasn’t come through. Parsnips take a while to germinate, a couple of weeks or more, right in the middle of the spring planting-out rush. Weeds would start to take over, parsnips weren’t a priority, and I’d never find the time to save them. This year’s warm, wet spring made a difference. Germination was quick and the seedlings surged ahead of the weeds! Nearly four months later and, even in dense, unthinned rows, the parsnips are thriving. Yay! Today, I dug up about 6″ (15cm) of a row to check ‘em out. With the crowding, there’s a motley assortment of sizes, but overall yield looks good. Another month in the ground, a little post-harvest sorting, and it’ll be parsnips for all!
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