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| 2012 peas at powisset! |
Taking Down the Peas
Today on the farm our Monday team, led by Jen, took down the
pea trellis in our pick-your-own field.
To me, this act signifies the real start of summer! Ok, that action, paired with the fact that
it’s been in the 90s for so many days!
Peas are the first crop that we sow into the ground in March, when the
fields are empty of crops and weeds and people!
It’s always a hopeful act—a way of saying, we are doing this again! As those first peas flow out of the push
seeder and are tucked into cool spring soil, I am in still warming up to the
idea of taking on another growing season.
By the time we are taking the pea trellis down, we are at the beginning
of our seventh week of our CSA distribution, picking the first few ripe tomatoes
of the season, irrigating melons, and already planting crops for our winter
CSA.
A farm season moves quickly.
One moment there are blank fields and visions of a simple farm
plan. The next moment there are heads of
broccoli to be harvested, weeds to pull, and every inch of the farm is filled
with rows of crops, often no where near where we wanted to plant them.
Taking down the pea trellis brings with it one additional
treat! We now get to mow down the weeds
that were clinging and climbing on those peas!
Just like plowing in the spring, mowing in the summer is one of the
greatest gifts to a farmer. To get to
clean a patch of weeds by mowing instead of pulling—that is a true delight!
It’s on to picking beans and cherry tomatoes—adios peas!
Until next year, when we do it again!
See you out in the fields,
Meryl (on behalf of the Powisset Farm Crew)
What's in the share this week:
Up in the barn: lettuce, cukes, squash/zucchini, carrots, beets, leeks or onions, potatoes, basil,
tatsoi or mizuna,
Pick-yer-own: green and yello beans, chard
Late Blight at Powisset
A few years ago at Powisset Farm, we had a season without
tomatoes. That was 2009, when our farm
and most around us were hit with “Late Blight,” a disease that causes problems
for potatoes and tomatoes. Under wet
conditions, this disease can swiftly take down entire crops of tomatoes, and
render potatoes un-fit for long-term storage.
We have seen some indications of late blight in our tomato fields this season
and have begun to spray a copper fungicide on our tomatoes, as a way to
suppress the late blight spore from rapidly taking over our entire field of
night shades. You may be able to see the
blue hue on our tomatoes; that is the copper residue you are seeing.
We will continue to spray once per week until the picking
begins, in order to avoid loosing our entire tomato crop, as we did in
2009. We are fortunate that we have the
tools, and know a bit more about this disease than we did in the past. Spraying copper fungicide, currently an
organically approved fungicide, is the only tool that we have to help prevent
the spread of late blight---so we will continue to do so.
We will post a sign at the greenhouse, letting you know when
we sprayed—so that you are aware of what is going on in the fields. Please feel free to talk to any of us about
late blight or the copper applications.
If you have late blight in your garden, please take precautions and
throw away those plants and change your shoes before visiting the farm.
To read more about late blight, please visit:
go tomatoes!
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