2007 Notes....
June 2007:
Here we Grow Again! Weekly Community Supported Farm Deliveries - Start Week of June 4th!
Our weekly harvest season has begun. To review your delivery sites pick-of-the-week & Catalpa Ridge News - just click here to bring you to our blog on Blogger. Links to recipes too!
<<< Our newest CSF members puddling about in our pond:
Crops in the Greenhouse & Fields:
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These photos taken about 2 weeks ago in one section of one of the greenhouses & a field behind the greenhouse.
Notice the hoses for irrigation. There was VERY little rain in May.
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April 2007:
4/8/07: Notes from the Field - This latest cold spell has really set Farmer Rich back on planting in the fields. It was 15-degrees the night of April 6th and the ground was re-frozen in the morning. He is being delayed transferring the transplants from the hot greenhouse to the cold greenhouse due to this cold snap. 
He likes to transition the plants from the hot greenhouse, then to the cold greenhouse, then to the field. This hardens them off so they have better survival in the cooler spring mornings. Here is a photo of horseradish and onions covered with remay cloth (used for frost protection) in the cold greenhouse. The bench to the right is usually filled with broccoli, chard, kale etc, but they are still in the hot greenhouse waiting for it to be safe to be transferred. We hope it will warm up soon!! Where is all the global warming talk (more on that later).
<<<<<<The Green Garlic that was planted in the autumn is up & doing well and will be in the first deliveries. You use the green garlic just like garlic in all your favorite dishes, but it is nice & FRESH garlic!!
The hot greenhouse is filled and here is a photo of a small portion showing the various stages of growing plants. The large green plants on the left are some of the broccoli >> plants we talked about earlier.
4/1/07:
The Heirloom Tomato Transplant Sales are just around the corner!!! We currently have 80 varieties of Heirloom & Hybrid Tomatoes, including a limited number of the variety Ramapo. We received from Rutgers University, some Ramapo Tomato (heritage hybrid) seeds. This variety was known as the “true Jersey tomato” 30 years ago. A lot has been mentioned about heirloom tomato varieties, but there are also some excellent hybrid varieties that have gone by the wayside. This will be our first year growing the Ramapo Tomatoes and we look forward to your feedback on this an our other heritage hybrids. Farmer Rich has also started plants in the greenhouse for our Community Supported Farm deliveries and is looking forward to planting in the fields this week. He usually has fava beans & peas planted by the 3rd week of March, but this year's late snow storm set that planting back. With the warmer weather here, field planting will be starting this week. I requested he take a few pictures to post so check back later for some current photos.
March 2007:
Farmer Rich is in full swing! We purchased a larger tractor in 2006 which has enabled Farmer Rich to rework the fields. The weather was absolutely gorgeous from November to January and Farmer Rich was able to accomplish a lot in the off-season. Farmer Rich & friends retrenched and reworked the fields to create one large field instead of multiple small fields. This should double our capacity and hopefully increase our harvests.
Deliveries are scheduled to start the first week of June to our CSF members in Jersey City Hamilton Park, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West, Mahwah/Ramsey, Vernon Valley & on-farm pickup. Click on this link to go to our weblog & see the contents of our past weekly deliveries as well as our newsletter & recipes: Blogger link
The May Heirloom Tomato Transplant Sales are scheduled. The first one will be in Ramsey on May 19th and we hope to have one in NY on the 20th. Then on May 26th & 27th at Olde Lafayette Village. We have 70 different variety of tomatoes this year! We look forward to our Heirloom Tomato Tastings in the summer.
2007 Harvest Season is right around the corner...
The first CSF delivery will be starting the first week of June. A full crop report of what is up & growing will be posted on the CSF link.
3/11/2007:
The seedlings Farmer Rich has started in the greenhouse are doing quite well. He also has been cleaning up the farm during the winter, especially those warmer days in December & January.
A new farm tractor was purchased in 2006
New fencing is slated to be installed in the spring to extend the field.
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Greens harvester has been purchased with gift certificate from Hoboken CSF members
The garlic planted in October is sprouting but still covered with snow. He peeks at them periodically.
The onions & leeks are up (over 2800 plants)
The horseradish plants are really doing well!
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All the Seeds ordered have been received and are being started in the greenhouse.
