Monthly Summary – July 2009
RCM; Logs and records reviewed, and summary prepared 11/10

General Observations: We start off this month remembering that we are in the full swing of summer, with a 100+ degree day, I thought it would be a good time to sit in the air-conditioning to do the monthly summary for July.  Last year at this time we were just coming off of one terribly rainy June and getting quite excited for the warmer, dryer conditions (ironic because this summer we are wondering when the rain will come and cool us down).  There was also dreaded news of Late Tomato Blight in neighboring farms, creating quite a challenging month.
Equipment 20.5 hours: Kabota and backtold had to have burned out belts fixed along with fan/alternator
Administration 39 hours: Monthly summary, bills, payroll, farmland assessment, quarterly return
Infrastructure 88 hours: Re-fencing and rat proofing chicken coop and run, mowing of water diversions and fields, repairs to sub main west irrigation, greenhouse exhaust fan fixed, walk in cooler door worked on
Greenhouse 27 hours: Watering, cleaning out greenhouse of seedlings and weeds and shutting down growing for the summer in prep for tea drying
Composting 19 hours: Areas prepped for food scrap drop off from Nomad Pizza, composting beds, clearing weeds from wind rows, building compost piles
Planting 54 hours:
Week 1: seeded lettuce and radishes
Week 2: beets and zinnias, summer squash, scallions, chard, peppers, flowers
Week 3: eggplants
Crop Care 115 hours: Thinning of sunflowers, stringing tomatoes, irrigation (laying tape and running), rototilling, trellis cucumbers, weeding sides of tomato beds in preparation of mulching and irrigation, ralph house clean up, weeding, weeding and more weeding: everything from tea beds to garden beds and north veg field beds.
Harvesting 339 hours:
Week 1: red and gold beets, swiss chard, field salad, heliopsis, kale, purslane, rudbeckia, summer squash, turnips, teasel, yarrow, zinnias.
Week 2: basil, red and gold beets, swiss chard, field salad, garlic, heliopsis, kale, pulled peas and trellis, rudbeckia, summer squash, yarrow, yellow dock, and zinnias.
Week 3: basil, beans, red and gold beets, Echinacea, swiss chard, field salad, kale, and summer squash.
Week 4: basil, red and gold beets, swiss chard, apples, pears, field salad, heliopsis, kale, summer squash, sunflowers, teas, cherry tomatoes, and zinnias.
Week 5: basil, red and gold beets, swiss chard, fennel, field salad, kale, radishes, summer squash, and cherry tomatoes
Handling 102 hours: Ordered a new salad spinner to increase efficiency of salad washing, washing, garlic curing and topping, topping beets, stripped teas
Marketing 144 hours:
Hopewell:7/8 $685, 7/22 $690,  incomplete logs only give a total of $1,375
West Windsor: 7/4 $1080, 7/11 $1335, 7/18 $1400, 7/25 $1350, Total = $5,165    Summit: 7/5 $1700, 7/11 $2190, 7/19 $2390, 7/26 $1720, Total = $8,000
Special Projects 4 hours: Preparing the next chicken area for rapidly growing chicks
Weather:
Week 1: Getting hot and dryer but rain still persisting and hindering work
Week 2: Finally getting some dry conditions, allowing tractor tillage to occur
Week 3: Sunny weather, hot and humid
Week 4: Rain came again with some thunder storms making it wet with cool nights
Week 5: heavy downpours lead to some power outage and poor conditions for planting, hot again