Monthly Summary – July 2012
July 9th, 2013 | Posted by in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off on Monthly Summary – July 2012)Logs reviewed and summary prepared by Owen Spath, July 9, 2013
General Observations: The month began with a heat wave reaching an unbearable 102* by the 7th. The heat and dryness continued harshly throughout July killing our crop of fennel as well as some of our chickens in the coop. Midway through the month people from NOFA NJ stopped by to film tools being used for a video to raise money for tools for the incubator farms at Duke Estates. With multiple days of heat over 100*, and only three days of rain at the end of the month, July was very irrigation dependent month for us at North Slope Farm.
Equipment 11.5 hrs: There was not too much use of equipment in July. A broken sprayer hose left KG smelling terribly while MR rechiseled the Veg C North and then rototilled it. 7/25 KG and RR tilled planted and cultivated Veg C NorthThe month ended with KG mowing production fields, edging two fields in the Veg Field; while MR chisel plowed Veg A’s and B’s which were the 1st succession field for 2012.
Administration 31.5 hrs: KG presented on his special project of growing micro-greens in which he discussed farm sponsorship vs. individual venture. MR requested that KG publish a special projects proposal as well as accounting for every step accurately and completely. On July 10th MR began working on the Juyly 2011 summary and works on payroll and bills. 7/19 the crop availiblity was updated on the website, and documents were prepared for a Workman’s Compensation Audit.
Infrastructure 55 hrs: About half as many hours were spent on infrastructure this year as there were in 2011. On the 4th irrigation and fertilizer were put on the kale. 7/11 two chickens are found dead at different parts of the day, both of which look like they could have been killed by the heat. Ocho was found in the hoop house maybe assisting with the rat problem, while Diez remains hidden in the seed shed frightened. On July 12, while driving down rt. 31 to make a recycling run the fuel gauge went to completely empty and the gas light of the truck suddenly turned on, eventually the light went off and the gauge returned back to ¾ of the way full. Contiunally irrigating even into the late evening we had trouble keeping up with the heat and dryness. Chicken coops were cleaned and moved on the 17th, 24th, and the 31st. Also on the 31st the fruit in the walk-in cooler was mouse-proofed.
Greenhouse 36 hrs: With most of the seedlings planted the work in the greenhouse was minimal in July. KG and RR thinned chard and kale seedlings. On 7/18 CH seeded the early fall succession of herbs which included parsley, dill, bee-balm, lavage, mt. mint. July 24th the 5th succession of kale, chard, leeks, scallion, fennel, zinnias, sunflowers, and beets were finally seeded.
Composting 12 hrs: On 7/4, 6 cyds. of compost was spread on Veg C North 1st bed. 7/17, 19.5 cyds. were spread on Veg C North finishing the bed, 7.5 cyds. were spread over the Big Garden Beds, and 3.5 cyds. were spread on miscellaneous furrows.
Planting 64 hrs: On the 4th of July the poorly germinated beet beds were renovated and basil, beets, and nappa cabbage were planted. 7/5, Veg C North was planted with basil, chard, and parsley. On the 6th the Big Garden Bed’s; 8 West and 8 East, were seeded with the next succession of salad mix. 7/9, the 3rd planting of parsley was re-planted. On 7/12, MR and RR went out to find a spot for late tomatoes and winter squash along rte. 579, the beds were then mowed and ripped while KG planted the remaining succession. 7/13, zinnias were planted in the 579 bed, and a short bed of wrigley’s spearmint was also planted in the Corner Garden. On 7/18 KG and RR direct seeded two beds of field salad, two beds of carrots, and a partial bed of turnips; RR then planted two rows of winter squash in Veg B South. On the 19th with a small amount of rain the night before 13 beds remained to be direct seeded: beans, beets, chard, cucumbers, and summer squash. 98 plugs of sweet william were planted in the corner garden also on the 19th. 7/25, was filled with planting new girl tomatoes in the new 579 beds and in the farm house gothic, as well as planting chard, kale, leeks, and scallions in Veg C North finishing the planting for July.
Crop Care 196 hrs: Because the month was so dry irrigation became a very large part of crop care in July with 53 different entries in the systems log. Weeding in the Big Garden Beds began on the 3rd as well as the stringing of tomatoes and the brewing of nettle compost tea for 6 beds of tomatoes. On 7/10 Ralph’s house was weeded and trellised and the newest carrots, Veg C South tomatoes, and 579 basil were hand weeded. On 7/12 the dreaded weeding of the strawberries took place, after that the west and east bed of asparagus was weeded. After a Field Moisture Test with the soil probe on 7/16 it was found that every major area of production needed irrigation. The month of July continued and passed with constant trellising, irrigation, and weeding.
Harvesting 417 hrs: Basil 38 bn, beets 168 bn, beets 442 lbs, carrots 200 lbs, chard 392 bn, eggs 102 doz, field salad 276 lbs, cut flowers 103 bn, kale 137 bn, micro-greens 45, mint 5 bn, nappa cabbage 86 lbs, parsley 26 bn, scallions 16 bn, summer squash 378 lbs, strawberries 94 pp, sungold tomatoes 164 pt, cherry tomatoes 54 pt, turnips 88 bn, turnips 130 lbs. On the 12th of July we harvested our Negovia carrot trial, with 80 days the carrots had medium germination, and decent growth however there about 1/3 of the crop that was subprime with many multi-branched carrots and many rodent chews on the tops. On 7/26 we harvested our first cabbage which was fairly eaten. Small salad plants on the 27th kept us from harvesting salad mix.
Handling 71.5 hrs: On the first day of July our second batch of Echinacea was stripped and stored. 7/13 the harvested garlic was cut, sorted, and put away by RR and TH. On 7/24 the first cutting of L. Verbeva was stripped and stored. The rest of the month’s handling time went to washing station where throughout the month of July the harvested hardy greens, salad mix, and root vegetables were cleaned.
Marketing 119 hrs: On 7/1 after a very hot but still profitable market in Summit, we received the map of the layout for the market move on July 22nd. The first market of the month in Hopewell was moved to Tuesday July 3rd, and was very slow, it was here that KG trained TH on filling out harvest sheets. 7/7 was the first sale of the micro-greens which sold slower than expected due to the fact that people did not know what to do with them. At WWCFM on 7/14 even with the market seeming busy and no other vendors having salad mix we still came out with only $844.
Hopewell– $170, $433, $348.50, $404, $382.50; Total: $1,738
WWCFM– $815, $844, $, $1,130, $1,140; Total: $3,929
Summit– $2,230, $2,030, $2,310, $3,150; Total: $9,720
Total July 2012 Market Income: $15,387
Special Projects 17 hrs: On July 5, a new special project was started, headed by KG, to introduced micro-greens into our selection at market. KG wrote a special project proposal and was asked to account for work hours, materials cost, handling description, an established wholesale value per unit, materials that have been already purchased. Micro-Mix seed $15/ #1/4 estimate seeds 10 trays; seed cost=$1.50 per tray. 7/6 the first succession of micro-greens was harvested, it was noted in the log that the trays need to stay level. On 7/8 KG planted his 3rd succession of micro-greens and created a data sheet for the seeding dates, yields, etc. On 7/23 MR presented at the NOFA Twilight Meeting on the NSF Training Program and Farm Tour.
Weather: Very Hot and Dry with Heat-waves threatening both crops and chickens, only three days of rain.
Week 1: Heat-wave all week +95*, 102* on Saturday.
Week 2: Dry conditions cause crop lose due to insufficient irrigation.
Week 3: Heat continues, dryness continues, high need for rain. Rain finally comes overnight 7/20, .9”.
Week 4: Still hot, rain 7/27-28 equaling 1.75”.