June 29

It has been an beautiful day. We got the first rain in five weeks this weekend, about an inch and a half overall. Handwatering just doesn't give the same effect as rain. The soil has been so dry, it was a great pleasure to be able to plant some things in it today and to see how loose and deep it still is. The rain has been so good - everything has grown visibly since last week.

Next big item up at the market after the salad mix is gone are baking potatoes and red potatoes. The very first one or two of the blackberries are just starting to ripen, too, so it won't be long!

Still planting more of everything, especially tomatoes - probably have about 200 feet altogether. The cherry tomatoes should start to ripen in the next couple weeks, closely followed by the early girls. Others that are coming along nicely are big beef, supersweet, and the other colors: orange, yellow, pink, striped; and the heirlooms: brandywine, cherokee purple, and others.

Other things are still quietly making progress. The corn tassels are just starting to peak out. The bell peppers are still small, but they're coming along. More things are going in the ground all the time - today I just planted more tomatoes for a late crop, including some of the Mountain series seedlings I've taken to the market. I want to see how they do too! The pump worked again today, after some repair work this weekend. My project this week is to keep ahead of the weeds, now that it's rained and they all want to come up, and to continue planting. I'm hoping to get a 100ft row of cukes in, more summer squash, lots more lettuce, and a second crop of wax beans. We'll see how far I get!

Have a great fourth of July!

June 11

Greetings from the Farm!

Third planting of corn is up. Interestingly, I put the drip tape on early this time, before any germination, and have not had a single crow in the garden trying to pull up the seedlings. Yes, most of the drip tape is on the crops (which is good), and we are back in battle with our very tempermental pump (which is not as fun).

My summer squash is starting to come in and is oh, so tasty!


Market Notes:
Wanted to let you all know I have decided to remain at the Flat Rock market. The decision has been agonizing, as I have many friends at both markets. Both markets are wonderful, but as much as I would like, I haven't yet figured out how to be in two places at once. I'll be keeping everyone in Tryon in mind.

Stay in touch,
Mollie

Memorial Day, May 26

A big thank you to Anthony's brother, Neil, who came down last week from a Yankee metropolis to enlighten us with an excellent lecture on how to improve our trifold brochure. There will be significant improvements, the least of which will be using a different type font than Comic Sans. (Neil threw us in "type jail" for an entire week for using it.)

We've replanted the corn and it's started to come up again. The crows pulled up the first crop of baby plants and ate the kernels.

There's going to be a bumper crop of blackberries this year, judging from the amount of flowering canes along the creek. Can't wait!

The tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and summer squash have all been transplanted. The summer squash is just about to start bearing. There's not much that slows them down (except squash vine borer, mildews, or beetles, and I've treated for those pests), so dust off your stir fry and caserole recipes.

I'm starting a second crop of all these, and still planting other vegetables and herbs every week. Still a bit slow on the start from such a cool April, but we'll be harvesting all these before too long.

This week, I'll be setting out the drip irrigation pumped from Forest Creek. I'm looking foward to that advantage over hand watering, and hope the pump doesn't give us any trouble. (that reminds me, I need to change the oil and clean the air filter.)

Market News:
1. This Thursday I'll be at the Flat Rock Market (the 29th).

2. Next week, look for us at Raymonds Garden Center on Kanuga Road in Hendersonville on Monday June 2nd, from 3:30-5:30. They've got a large variety of quality plants there, so save some time to look around!

3. As many of you know, the Tryon market has moved to Thursdays this year. They've also changed locations and are now in the parking lot next to the Japanese restaurant. I plan to go to the first market there next week (June 5th), so I won't be in Flat Rock next week. I haven't decided long-term just yet which market to do this year, but I'll let you all know when I decide. It is not an easy choice.

See you soon!
-Mollie

May 10

I'm still here! My computer has crashed, so unfortunately I've had limited time amidst the already busy planting season to keep updates going. Here's what's going on now, though:

Still trying to get as much in the ground as possible. For those of you who haven't seen our place, the picture shows the garden, with some of the area still in cover crops, waiting for beans and transplants like tomatoes, eggplants, and such that I'm hoping to all get into the ground this week. I've got a number of summer squash and zuchinni transplants as well, so it won't be long before I'll start having these items again. Also, my large-leaf and genovese basil is looking good, and will be ready to harvest before long.

My neighbor Tony and I are teaming up a bit this year. If you figure the linear feet of row we put in at his place on Wednesday, turns out we planted about a quarter mile of winter squashes of all types: butternut, hubbard, kuri, kabocha, delicata, among others. It'll be August before those are ready, but there'll be plenty to go around! He and Mert, the draft horse, came over to our place afterward to plant a few easy (for them) rows of sweet corn and okra. It sure was a big help, and so much faster than trying it myself with a hoe. It's amazing to think what a step up horse-power is.

See you at Flat Rock on Thursday! Also, tentatively, I'm hoping to start the market at Raymonds on the first Monday of June, which would be June 2nd. I'll keep you posted.

Stay tuned!
-Mollie

April 26 - wanted

If anyone has leftover empty 6-packs or 9-pack plant cells that they would like to reuse/recycle, feel free to drop them off at the market for the next few weeks. I am growing a number of seedlings for sale and could use them to give the plants a little more growing room.

thanks!
-mollie