Start Fall Crops Now!

Just when you thought it was safe to sit back and watch the tomatoes ripen, it’s time to start planning and planting your fall garden.
While some fast-maturing summer crops can still be planted–I’m thinking beans and basil, summer squash and cukes–you’ll want to start thinking about what you want to have quantities of for winter [...]

CSA Newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 11

Flying Tomato Farms News
A newsletter for members of Flying Tomato Farms C.S.A.
Vol. 4, Issue 11
GARDEN NEWS:

Gadzukes! Cukes! While last week was close but no cigar, this week brings abundance on the cucumber front—and the second planting hasn’t even started bearing yet! I am picking 7 or 8 fruits every day now off [...]

Gadzukes! Cukes!

Guess it’s obvious what’s going in deliveries today! Good thing, too, because I’m running out of room for them in the fridge. The shorter ones are “Mideast Prolific” from Seeds of Change. I’ve grown these for a number of years, and if the cuke beetles don’t get them, they bear nice, sweet [...]

The Great Toad Migration!

Around the farm these past few days, the baby toads are hopping. They’re pretty much all heading south–to the Vermillion River? Or just to find a good place to burrow down in the moist soil and eat bugs?
We’ve had to be mindful of our feet, as they’re just about everywhere, and I am [...]

Taking the Good (weather) with the Bad…and the Ugly

Just returned from a trip to Brookings, where I visited the famed McCrory Gardens. On the way back, I had one of those encounters familiar to those who have driven for any length of time on the Plains–the, “Uh-oh–what am I driving into?” experience.
A big, draping curtain of clouds, with attendant swirls and curlicues [...]

Wild Garden! (Kales and Cukes)

Today’s garden project was somewhat tedious–besides the watering, which I’ve been doing every day in different parts of the garden, I watered, weeded, thinned, mulched, and dusted the wild garden kale I’d seeded between the romaine heads (which are now all harvested except for one or two that didn’t mature along with the rest).
I’m excited [...]

CSA Newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 10

Flying Tomato Farms News
A newsletter for members of Flying Tomato Farms C.S.A.
Vol. 4, Issue 10
GARDEN NEWS:
Close, but no…cucumbers. I was a couple short of a full load for deliveries this week, but it looks like they will be a sure thing for next week, barring unforeseen disaster. I will have to bring the [...]

Ginger-Peach Preserves and Pepper Season Begins!

A friend made a weekend trip down to Texas last weekend, and brought back a few fresh tomatoes and a load of fresh-picked peaches. She shared a bag of them with me, and after eating just one of them, I figured I’d better can something before the rest went to waste (it was too [...]

A Singular Agenda

Some days, there’s only one thing on the agenda down in the gardens–this morning it was water.  The leeks, broccoli, beets, a row of the heirloom tomatoes, the pole beans, summer squash, winter squash, wild kales and purple carrots all got a dose of water.
I woke up at first light, and by the time I [...]

CSA Newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 9

Flying Tomato Farms News
A newsletter for members of Flying Tomato Farms C.S.A.
Vol. 4, Issue 9

Deliveries Ready to Go in Susan’s Handmade Bags!

GARDEN NEWS:
Lots of little cukes forming—I’m projecting next week for the first delivery of those. Tomatoes are maybe three weeks away—peppers are pretty close—maybe two more weeks for good-sized bells and fryers. [...]