Win some, Lose Some

You win some and you lose some.  This year we are winning at onions.  The crop hasn’t been harvested yet so it is perhaps too early to celebrate, but the onions are looking as good as they ever have.  We are winning at carrots, too.  This feels wonderful, because both carrots and onions were a bit of a bust last spring.  The beets are also having a banner year.

Potato disaster

Unfortunately, we are not winning at everything.  The potatoes are not looking good.  Potatoes are usually such a maintenance free crop!  We plant them, we hill them, and then we dig them.  I noticed browning leaves on many of the plants.  Our community of farmers on Facebook helped us identify the problem as potato leafhoppers.  These pests are so tiny they are practically invisible.  When they feed on the plant they inject a toxin that causes the leaves and stems to die.  Because of this, people often mistake the characteristic damage to be caused by a disease rather than a pest.

Now that I’ve identified the damage, I realize that I have seen it before.  We’ve always had a plant here and there effected.  But it’s never been bad enough that I even bothered to investigate the problem.  Why have the leafhoppers flourished in such numbers this year that they are taking down half the potato patch?  I do not know.  The Colorado Potato Beetles are also out in unprecedented numbers.  Our poor potatoes really have an uphill battle this year.  We’ve sprayed them with kaolin clay and neem oil.  Maybe that will do something, maybe it wont.  I’ve read that the damage cannot be reversed, so we may already to too late to save most of the potatoes.

Where’s the squash?

You might remember back in April when I was in a panic over not being able to get beds prepared.  We are starting to see the effects of that delay now.  Usually we would have squash and zucchini at the end of May.  Now I’m not sure our first planting of squash is going to produce at all.  The plants were stressed and stunted at transplant and are flowering even though they are tiny.  They should be putting that energy into growing big healthy leaves.  The second planting is only just now germinating after all the seeds got eaten by crows the first time we planted.  We usually put loads of squash and zucchini in the shares in June.   But every year is different.  As soon as we have squash and zucchini to share with you, we will.  I am trying to be gentle with myself about this year’s failures.

Time to plant sweet potatoes and melons

But it’s not all bad news around here.  Randy and the team prepared another 15 beds for planting this morning.  We should be getting our sweet potato slips today and we are on schedule to get our sweet potatoes and melons planted on time.  Tomatoes are still a ways off yet but the plants are looking good.  There is no where to go but onward.

Small Shares

• Muir Head Lettuce
• Kale
• Onions
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Kohlrabi

Full Shares

• Muir Head Lettuce
• Onions
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Kohlrabi
• Red Oakleaf Lettuce
• Collards
• Mustard Greens
• Hakurei Turnips