May 11, 2014
One of my favorite times of the planting season is seeing the heated greenhouse planted with “big beef” tomatoes and trellised. This is the beginning of their 7 week journey of growing, being suckered and then producing my favorite food of the season. One of the ways my days are fulfilled through the summer months is walking through the greenhouse, finding a ripe tomato, taking out my knife and coring, eating and then wiping the juice, which has dripped down my beard, with my hand or arm and continuing my day until my next venture into the greenhouse. As far as my being a tomato snob, it is very true. As the season goes along and the other varieties of tomatoes are planted in another greenhouse in late may, the crew and I always do a taste test. The other greenhouse will be filled mostly with heirloom tomatoes, with varieties such as Paul Robeson, our favorite tasting tomato on the farm, pineapple, the most beautiful, a yellowish-orange tomato with red variegation throughout the center,and numerous other unique tasting tomatoes.
The crew this year, Katy, Karen, Dwight and Liv composted, fertilized, planted and set up the drip irrigation system for what I consider, the best taste of summer!
With the soil temperature warming, drying fields and sunshine peeking through, the crew planted our onions, brussels sprouts, kale, chard and the first planting of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. The garlic barely survived the deep freezing of the winter, with many of the gloves pushed to the surface of the soil and killed, but most of the garlic did survive.
With the drying fields, I finally planted peas, spinach, beets, carrots and radishes. With the late planting of peas, there will only be one planting of peas this spring instead of two.