Some of the flowers available this spring

Some of the Vegetable Plants for sale

CSA's still available for 2009 growing season!

Today I'd like to talk about our CSA program. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. What it is all about is that customers buy shares into our operation in return for produce and products throughout the growing season. The money is non-refundable but guarantees the customer first opportunity at the products we offer without having to stand in line at the market, or showing up to farmers market late and the possibility of something being sold out. Our program I believe is unique from most other CSA's because we send a grocery list once a week via email to our customers and they return it back telling us what they would like. Then we package their orders seperately and have them prepared for pickup at market. This way the customer can pick and choose from our wide variety of produce and spend any amount they like per week. This way you can save the money put into the share for possibly larger amounts of sweet corn or tomatoes or anything else you may want in bulk later in the season. Most CSA's that I know of don't offer that kind of experience. They just bag up the same products for every customer and you spend the same equal amount every week whether you like it or not! We are also doing something different this year in spite of the economy. We know money is tight for everyone so instead of our $200.00 share for $200.00 worth of products, we are offering $100.00 shares. And for evry $100.00 spent you will get $10.00 free. This is to say thank you for choosing us at the local farmers market. If you are interested either contact us here or visit with us at the River City farmers market in Davenport, IA or the Tipton City Farmers Market in Tipton, IA.

Corn planting officially underway!

Well the title says it all. Yesterday my five year old son and I spent the afternoon in the cab tractor discing up bean stubble so we could start planting today. My dad was able to plant 15 acres of corn today and was also able to plant our first patch of sweet corn. I was able to disc up the next field and get it prepped for my dad to plant tomorrow. With our fingers crossed, we have had no break downs so far and the planter seems to be running smoothly with all our repairs we made preseason. In my spare time I have been painting the farm logo on the sideboards of my truck to get it ready for farmers market which starts in just one week! Hopefully this will help with being recognized a little better at market. We should have plenty of flowers available next week and will have pictures uploaded this next week. The first planting of lettuce has emerged along with the first sowing of radishes and green onions.

Planting season starting to heat up

This past week we have experienced beautiful weather. It really helped with planting the garden and doing field work. We mounted the duals on the tractor Thursday and started discing cornstalks that will be planted into soybeans this year. On high note I finished planting the onions and leeks on Thursday. This picture shows what over 3000 newly planted onion plants looks like. Friday we hooked onto the cultimulcher and used it on the big garden at the other farm and it suprisingly worked up the ground almost as good as the garden tiller. After that I planted four rows of Early Scarlet Globe Radishes, four rows of Early Wonder Beets, eighteen rows of peas, and six rows of Early Contender Green Beans. Today was cut short by rain but I was able to plant my second planting of green onions, two rows of Purple Top White Globe Turnips, and some Swiss Chard. With rain in the forcast tonight it is doubtful we will be getting into the gardens or fields until sometime next week. It's okay though because things have really dried up and the rain (in moderation) is much needed.

Just Some Garden Ramblings

Well it rained about 6/10 of an inch yesterday so today was rather slow. I had to go to a training meeting in the morning for farmers market related stuff. I just finished up for the night planting another tray of cabbage, a tray of cilantro and three different varieties of basil- Sweet Basil, Spicy Globe, and my personal favorite Italian Basil. This seed is imported from Italy, and has a larger leaf than many of the American strains and is stronger in flavor. This weekend was hectic though. Saturday we went and picked up our onion plants in the morning and was able to plant about one fourth of them that afternoon. Easter Sunday we spent the day hunting for eggs, going to church and visiting with family. In the evening when we arrived at home, I was able to plant three different varieties of radishes- Sparkler, White Icicle, and Early Scarlet Globe. I also planted Bright Lights Swiss Chard(yummy) and three packages of green onions. Hopefully tomorrow with the temps nearing 60 things will dry up enough I can finish planting onions.

Good Friday

And what a Good Friday it was! I was able to plant all of my russet potatoes today. I cut about 120 pounds of potato sets today. I hope to finish planting the red potatoes sometime this weekend. Along with the potatoes, I was able to plant my first crop of Watermelon Radishes today. These are a peculiar variety of radish I discovered last year that have a pink flesh and a white skin that resembles a watermelon rind, hence giving it it's name.

Spring fever

Today we were busy with all kinds of outdoor jobs. It is so nice to have the weather finally straighten around and be able to work outside. Yesterday we dug out the moldboard plow and filled in the washouts from the snow melt. While we had it out I convinced my dad to plow an even larger area for one of my gardens and now we have more than double the size garden on one farm that we used too. After putting the plow away again I tilled part of my other garden and planted Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Ruby Red Leaf Lettuce, a gourmet mesclun mix, and Nantes Carrots. Today I built a low tunnel to cover them in case of cold temps. We spent half the day pulling dead trees out of a windbreak. After many chain breaks, I am glad that job is done. The parts for the corn planter arrived today, just six days after we ordered them. Thank goodness it didn't take ten days like they said. So we spent a couple hours this afternoon putting the planter back together with all the new parts and I think it is about ready to go. My oldest son Evan who just turned five helped me plant some large red cherry tomato seeds in pots. He is so excited to help in the garden that I tilled up a little piece of ground for him to plant himself. All of this work really gives a person spring fever!

Planter woes

Another planting season is about to be upon us. That means the annual equipment check is in full swing. We are on our second full day today of working on the corn planter. Just when you think you've fixed everything you realize there is plenty more to be fixed. It all started by replacing three springs that were broken and a couple of gauge wheel tires that were cracked. Further inspection find we need to replace more parts and more gauge wheel tires. Not a problem right? Well it wasn't until we called the parts supplier and found out the parts we needed are on back order and won't be available for at least 10 days! That will sure be cutting it close to having the planter ready for the start of corn planting. Just another day in the life farming!

The Greenhouse

Everything is really taking off in the greenhouse. I have 2 types of cabbage, 2 types of broccoli, 12 different varieties of tomatoes including many heirlooms, 14 different varieties of peppers (hot & sweet), and 3 different varieties of eggplant. Only one varity of eggplant doesn't seem to be surviving (must have been too much water).

Rain delays

Even though the rain we had today was minimal, it may cause some delays in tilling the gardens and planting radishes and lettuce