Samantha's Produce

Planting is Underway

2012-03-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

Today I got our potato crop in the ground. I got Yukon Gold and All Blue seed potatoes at the store and I had some mixed fingerlings and Adirondack Reds left over from last year that we decided to plant as well. Those potatoes just happen to be ones we harvested from leftover potatoes we were given in 2011. So if they turn out well, it will be really interesting because they're essentially our own seed potatoes. We are trying the potatoes under biodegradable plastic mulch this year. Hopefully it will break down enough by harvest as to not get stuck in the digger.

In the greenhouse things finally show up on the camera when I take a picture. Most everything is up and growing, but we've got some more flats to be planted of herbs and other odds and ends. The celery still refuses to germinate two weeks in, but I'm still hoping we get some. Our heater has been working well with the only almost-disaster being a windy day when the power cord came undone. The greenhouse is staked down, but it was still managing to move over a foot side to side during the gusts. Luckily I found the problem during a late night check and managed to fix it.

The hydroponics system is going better than I ever expected. I haven't done much except change the solution once a week and increased the number of floods from 2 to 3. The system is really simple and just floods the tubes with nutrient solution when the pump gets turned on by the timer. There's an overflow so the extra solution runs down to the tank before coming out the growing sites. When the timer turns the pump off, the water drains out a valve at the bottom that drains slower than the pump can fill. Everything seems to be doing well, though the lettuce has perhaps responded the best.

The hydroponic system, and some other coming announcements, will be at the Fair Food Philly's Philly Farm and Food Fest. You can buy a hydroponic system like the one we have in the greenhouse from me! I make them and they're a lot of fun. Plus, you can garden at waist-height and even put the system in your sunporch over the winter and have fresh herbs, lettuce, and other things all winter long. Send an to info@samanthasproduce.com or call (717) 306-9096.

Greenhouse is up and running!

2012-02-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Our new greenhouse is up and running. I was going to opt for a "professional" greenhouse but decided it was more economical to just use the high tunnel design I came up with that I've used for our field-based starting houses before. In fact, the frame of this greenhouse is recycled from a high tunnel used in 2010 at the farm. The greatest addition this year is gas heat which means I don't have to light the coal stove every day!

There are 2,000 cabbage plants started and a number of leeks, tomatoes, cucumbers, Asian greens, lettuces, and herbs. We're off to a great start so far. The hydroponic table is also set up out there and the plants are loving it.

2012 Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention- Heirloom Watermelons Presentation

2012-02-03T12:13:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to a PDF version of the presentation from the MAFVC in Hershey, PA on January 31, 2012. The PDF copy is $2.50 and payments can be made through PayPal. You will receive a password to open the document.

J. L. Hudson, Seedsman

2012-01-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

I ordered some of our seeds this year from J.L. Hudson, Seedsman, out of La Honda, California. The company has a modest website which features mainly text-based navigation and descriptions. Placing an order means filling out an old-fashioned order sheet or emailing variety names and amounts, and then calculating the shipping based on the number of packets and the weights of all the heavier items. In the age of one-click online ordering, this seems archaic. There's not even a phone number by which the company can be contacted. If this sounds a bit different, well it is. It's what I imagine ordering from a mail-order catalog must have been like back when my grandparents were my age.

However, any prospective customer should have no reservations about ordering as that part was perhaps better than those companies with fancy websites. It was only a day later that my package was shipped (by which an email informed me) and then within 3 days the package was at my doorstep. Inside a USPS Priority bubble mailer awaited something that really made my day:

The packets are typewriter-labeled, and the catalog looks like it is from almost a century ago. To me, this was really interesting. I enjoy the old-fashion look, and the time and effort it took to neatly craft all the small details. I am very pleased with my order, and I can't wait to try the seeds!

2012-01-01T03:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to 2012 and our new website! Here you will be able to stay up to date with the newest blog posts and information on the home page. By visiting the other links at the top you can navigate to find out more information about us. We wish you and yours the best in this new year!

Popcorn!

2011-09-10T11:19:00.000-04:00

About the only successful corn this year was the popcorn. I took it off about 3-4 weeks ago right before we started having rain practically every day. We peeled back the husks from each ear and then hung it to dry. The ears were in the room with our onions, which have also been drying with the help of a dehumidifier (these are getting stored for the winter).

It seems that the optimal time to begin popping is when the kernels split from the ear with relative ease. If the ear still seems gummy when you're trying to pull them off, it's too wet. You should see little flakes come off too. Three of the ears turned into about 1/3 cup of kernels.

Use caution, hot oil! Once shucked, heat at least 1 tablespoon of coconut oil over medium-high heat (6-7 on our stove) in a saucepan with well-fitting lid. Add the 1/3 cup of popcorn immediately lest it send hot oil everywhere, and then cover. Shake lightly to distribute the oil and then wait for the popping, perhaps agitating the pot every 30 seconds. Once it starts popping, try not to move the pot much. Watch with awe as the pot fills with popcorn and then when the popping starts to die down (2 minutes?), remove from the heat. You won't pop every kernel, and if you wait too long, you'll burn it. Wait a minute for the residual popping to stop, and then pour into a bowl. Add salt to taste. You'll end up with what looks like the stuff that's left over in the movie theatre popcorn bag (small pieces, not Swedish Fish), but it's still tasty.

Mid-Summer and it's just like 2010

2011-07-18T21:09:00.000-04:00

Where is the rain? I think the Lebanon Valley is prone to some sort of precipitation shadow. It's dry and dusty down almost a foot I would expect, and the storms just keep missing us, much like the snow usually piles up in the counties all around us in the winter. The corn is looking pretty parched even.

Speaking of corn, it looks like ours is over. Thank the groundhogs, deer, and racoons for that. As is all the years prior, their bad behavior has led to a near total loss in all of the stands of sweet, indian, and pop corn. We got a few dozen of an early yellow variety off, but I don't think there will be any more. There goes a good chunk of money lost on seed, and the loss of a lot of space that could have been used to grow something productive. I know I should stay away from corn, but I can't help that it's all everyone wants, and most people won't even stop if there's no corn.

The watermelons are piling in following a good two weeks of harvesting cantaloupes. The icebox types are good, though the Golden Midgets turned out to be interesting but utterly flavorless and bland. They've become compost in the field. But the other types are sweet and some are over ten pounds. The cantaloupes will soldier on for at least another month I expect as other sections ripen and the French melons start to bear. The French melons are slow as usual, but well worth the wait. The honeydews set extremely well and should provide a great harvest of delicious fruit in about 2-3 weeks.

Tomatoes are slowly rolling in, with perhaps enough to fill boxes on Wednesday. Red, yellow, and orange will be the first varieties, with the heirlooms at least a month away. The pepper plants have some small fruit, but are being attacked by the deer, so it's anyone's guess as to how they will turn out. Down in the potato patch, things look pretty poor, with something killing off the plants and no sign of edible potatoes this season.

Near the potatoes is the disastrous carrot jungle. Should have used plastic mulch and I knew it, but was worried about the seeding rate (I had problems in the onion patch on plastic where they all went to one side). Well, some carrots would have been better than no carrots. There will be some orange carrots, but only a small fraction of what we really planted. A huge loss that probably could have been minimized.

Onions on the plastic look great. So do the kohlrabi. The squash patches might actually turn out this year. The zucchini are finally running out of steam along with the cucumbers. The lack of water isn't helping matters.

Despite the loss of some big revenue items (carrots, green beans, peas) and sales outlets, we're on track to eclipse last year in earnings. And despite being a larger operation than last year, the whole farm has been within my ability to handle for the most part. That's a big improvement over last year. Many of successes this year are a result of taking knowledge earned last year and applying it to this year. All of the failures are a result of not sticking to the lessons learned last year, and, in many cases, repeating failures from last year.

Unfortunately, despite my desire to sow some fall crops, I'm prevented by a lack of precipitation. Another problem carried over from last year, and one not able to be solved at this location. I had hoped for more rain, but what can I do? At least we picked a fair amount of drought-tolerant crops.

Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference 2011

2011-02-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

Another great three days at the MAFVC. As always I came home with a bag full (well actually a box full) of information about new products, protectants, and techniques. Speakers from across the USA came to discuss the findings of recent studies, and farmers gave lectures regarding varieties and practices that are working really well for them. Last year over 1,000 growers came to listen to these sessions, and this year probably wold have been the same if the weather had held up. In the exhibition hall, vendors from around the world were there to present their new containers, machines, seeds, and chemicals. Koppert had their clear bumblebee hive set up like last year. In the next booth was IPM Laboratories which had biological insect control products on display. These 'products' are actually little critters that attack pests in the field or the greenhouse. Some of them come loaded in refrigerated cards, some in little take home containers, and others in shakers.

I learned a lot again this year, and this information will definitely help as we get ready to start plants in about a month.