For example, since we rotate crops every season, this requires the repositioning of irrigation lines as well as trellises and other growing bed related hardware. We also have to test and adjust the soil mix and makeup to insure it is appropriate for the crops we are planting each season. Of course there is always the general maintenance issues and general cleanup necessary after winter. Most of these projects aren't what one would call difficult but they all take time. Something there just never seems to be enough of.
The majority of the crops we grow are direct bed planted which we usually plant the first week in May. There are a few that we raise and plant from seedlings. These we usually start some time towards the middle to latter part of March, depending on the specific plant. Some seedlings take longer to reach optimum transplanting size than others.
Since the vast majority of what we grow are Heirloom crops (Non-GMO or Treated) and we usually harvest our own seeds for the following season and we generally don't have to worry much about having to order new seeds each year. Over the years, we have determined what seems to grow and work best for us. Each year however we do plant a couple of new test crops to see if they will give us better yields or are better suited for our location, so we do have to order seeds for these.
Generally, we have each upcoming planting well planned out by the first of the year and have any new seeds we do have to order already in house by the end of February. This allows us plenty of time for starting seedlings if we need to. If you haven't already ordered your seeds for this upcoming season, you probably should be working on that now.
This season we will be growing - Fordhook Bush Lima Beans, A Bush Variety of Cucumber, A Few Tomatoes - Tomatoes simply don’t grow well for us, Sweet Banana Peppers, Cascadia Snap Pea, Kentucky Blue Pole Beans, Blue Lake Pole Beans, Jenny Lind Muskmelon, Bountiful Stringless Bush Beans, Armenian Yard Long Cucumbers, Table Queen Acorn Squash, Golden Rod (Wax) Bush Beans, Early Prolific Straight Neck Squash and Golden Zucchini Squash. We also grow a small number of Herbs – We use these primarily in house. Some for consumption and some for use as pest control. Over the years we have found these crops have given very good yields and grow well for us thus allowing us the ability to help provide for the hungry in our community.
As I mentioned and as one might expect, the maintenance and upkeep of the place is always an issue. There is always something that needs to be done. One of the big projects each year is having to replace, change or add drip line irrigation materials and make growing bed repairs. It's just one of those things that comes with the territory. By the way, using a Drip Line Irrigation System uses 50% less water than conventional row & furrow watering. Less evaporation and water loss.
- Drip line irrigation materials are always something we are in need of so if you have extra drip line materials laying around you don't need, particularly 1/4 inch line & Emitters, we could sure use them. A few other things we can always use are:
- Usable lumber for repairs
- Suitable materials for composting - Even though we generate, at the end of the growing season, a lot of compost from each years crop left over, we can always use more.
- Weed control ground cover material - We use a lot of compost material but in some places ground cloth works better and is easier.
- We plan on expanding the planting area and are trying to accumulate fencing for that upcoming project.
- If you have livestock and would like to bring us a load of manure, we would certainly love that also. We are somewhat limited in the amount of manure we are able to pick up ourselves.
Of course we can always use help. Particularly during the harvest times. Some crops like Beans literally need to be picked on a daily basis because they produce so heavily. Other crops we only pick a couple of times a week. If you would like to help, please contact us at squashpatchfarms@gmail.com .
