Monthly Summary – June 2012

General Observations: Life on the farm is on-going and it’s nice to look back and find that activities are much the same this year as with last.  Last June, the grass needed to be mowed or whacked regularly, hay fields needed to be cut and baled.  With three weekly last year, we spent most of our hours harvesting and caring for existing crops and planting more.

Equipment 44 hrs: On the first of June, new beds were ripped in Veg. C South using the IH140. It took .75hrs for a single rip of 16 beds. Later in the month, the Kubota mower had a broken belt that was fixed, the new 265 wouldn’t start, so the beds that needed to be roto-tilled were done with the BCS instead, and the hay baler broke which involved an intense fixing process.

Administration 27 hrs:A rainy day on the 12^th provided the crew with a pie break and a discussion of future plans. Meanwhile, CH began working on the organic certification forms which were copied and filed away when complete. RCM worked on the June summary for 2011, and the website got an update featuring new crop availability and invitations to the Solstice party.

Infrastructure 52.5 hrs:The first major hay cutting occurred on 5/31 and took approximately 5 hours to complete the Mulch field SE, Veg D and 579 field N. Then on the 10^th and 11^th respectively, the cut hay was raked in Veg D and MSE, then it baled in Veg D until the “bushing shredded on plunge center.” In the market garden, there was a second cutting of hay from a cover cropped field on the 16^th. Mowing and weed-whacking of various areas around the farm happened every week this month. There was an on-going fox watch from May, and one day while stringing tomatoes KG spotted it in the chicken fields and the crew promptly cut off our strings and chased it out. KG and TH went on a reconnaissance mission and found the fox’s hole and (if my memory serves correctly) set a trap. One chicken was injured due to a laceration and put into a recovery home.

Greenhouse 16.5 hrs: Ralph’s house was cleared and prepped for tomatoes. Sungold, Brandywine, and Corsalo were all transplanted in. There was a general seedling clean up, and the 4^th succession of veggies, 2^nd succession of flowers, and another succession of tomatoes were seeded.

Composting 6 hrs: After ripping the beds in Veg C South on the 1^st, 8 of them were composted with 1.75cyrds ea. Totaling 2.35 hrs. The other 8 beds in Veg C S were composted later with the same amount. A couple big garden beds were composted this month as well.

Planting 125 hrs: BGBs were prepped and direct seeded with salad. Beets, fennel, basil and the rest of the 3^rd veggie succession got planted in Veg C S. Flowers were planted in the 579 field, though they were planted late. Other BGBs were prepped and seeded with turnips, carrots and transplants of scallions. 7 beds of Veg C S were direct seeded with beets, beans, squash and radishes. Veg C North received primary tillage with the chisel plow and was then roto-tilled.

Crop Care 215 hrs: Lots of time weeding, sometimes the soil was too wet and the weeds need to be cut instead of pulled to avoid pulling out clumps of mud. There was also a lot of trellising and stringing for the flowers and tomatoes, and cleaning out irrigation lines and other debris from Veg B. The Williams tool bar was used on the 265 to cultivate small beets, chard and kale. One major issue regarding the field tomatoes was that their trench was dug too deep and it wouldn’t drain so they got flooded with water.

Harvesting 249.5 hrs: 6/1- Salad mix 96.5lbs, 6/2- Strawberries, scapes, and various herbs. 6/6- salad, tatsoi, peas, chard, turnips, strawberries, beets. 6/7- Kale, chard, beets, tatsoi, peas, scapes. 6/8- Salad mix 67lbs, cut flowers. 6/12- Cut flowers. 6/13- Beets, kale, chard, salad mix, tatsoi, strawberries. 6/14- Kale, chard, radishes. 6/20- Salad mix, chard, kale, beets, turnips, carrots, flowers, hay. 6/21- Hardy greens, turnips, carrots, hay. 6/22- Salad mix 90lbs. 6/28- Hardy greens, carrots. 6/29- Salad 79.5lbs.

Handling 76.5 hrs: KG and RR handled/washed produce a lot this month.

Marketing 103 hrs:

Hopewell: 6/6- $422, 6/13- $459, 6/20- $302.5. 6/27- $530

WWCFM: 6/2- $1150, 6/9- $817, 6/16- $830, 6/23- $1019

Summit: 6/3- $1713, 6/10- $2220, 6/17- $2460, 6/28- $2130

Total June 2012 Market Income: $14,052.5

Special Projects 8.5 hrs: RCM delivered watermelon seeded trays, KG seeded first round of micro-greens, KG, RR planted tomatoes in “auxiliary tomato field.”

Weather:

Week 1: Thunderstorms early in the week with hail on the 3^rd, then clear skies

Week 2: Sunny and warm, but with heavy rain on the 12th

Week 3: Sunny and warm again, with promise of more

Week 4: Beginning of heat wave, soil “getting too dry”