06/27/11

6-27-11

  What a season so far!  We're about two and a half weeks into the strawberry season and there are still tons of berries in the fields!  While they are getting smaller this late in the season, the sheer number of them out there makes up for their size.  We anticipate having berries for another week and a half or so, though shortly we will be going to u-pick only as we do every year. 

Raspberries are coming along quite nicely now, and with today's much needed sunshine we hope to open those for u-pick in a week, though check back on the home page or Facebook page for a more exact date. 

The blueberries are loaded this year.  Like the raspberries we are now playing the waiting game and hoping the sunshine will hurry them along.  We anticipate opening them around a week after the raspberries, so sometime in mid July. 

6-4-11

The rain has finally let go of its strangle hold and we've had some beautiful, warm, sunny days to try and finish planting.  Believe me, we have taken advantage of it!  The downside is, believe it or not, we have needed to run irrigation because the berries needed water!  Well, not really a downside, at least we can control where, when, and how much everything gets! 

In spite of the generous watering that Mother Nature provided, all parts of the Patch are doing well.  Strawberries are on track for an opening date between the 15th and the 20th of June.  (Keep checking the web site or our Facebook page for the exact date.)  The early berries are beginning to go from green/white to pink with a few turning red.  Raspberries and blueberries are doing equally well and we have 2 plantings of corn in.  The peas are up; I've been picking rhubarb, radishes, spinach and lettuce.   We have had much better luck with our fields than our brother growers north of us.  As of last week, some have not been able to even plow because of the endless spring rains!

Speaking of growing, our family has added a new granddaughter!  Daughter Carrie and Son-in-Law Dave (the Pumpkin Man) welcomed Kaegan Ressa on Thursday, June 2nd.  Kaegan makes grandchild number 8 for Keith and I and we couldn't be prouder of our little Grand-Brood!

5/17/11

Rain, rain, go away.  I'm sure everyone is beginning to feel that way by now!  Fortunately, we've been able to get some things done in the breaks in the weather, though we are still quite behind.  Knowing we'd be behind, we've tried to get a little bit of everything in, rather than focus entirely on one thing at the expense of all the others.  So far we've been able to get all of the potatoes, shallots and raspberries in as well as make a dent in the planting of strawberries, onions, peas, corn, and various other vegetables.  We are once again playing the waiting game, as this week, while not being a total wash out, has dumped enough water that we haven't been able to get on any of the fields that we haven't already prepped.  Today, we're hoping to be able to get more broccoli, cauliflower and broccoli rabe in, as well as whatever other vegetables the weather allows us (i.e. cucumbers, beans, etc...).  

On the bright side, the plants already in the ground seem to be loving this weather!  Blueberries and raspberries need alot of water, so they are in heaven right now!  In fact, we already have tons of blueberry blossoms.  The strawberries too seem to be handling the rain well thus far.  We have blossoms in all of our early varieties as well as in some of the mid-season varieties.  Yesterday we found baby berries in 2 of the 3 early varieties!  Hopefully the rain stops soon and it starts warming up again or those berries will just sit there without growing.  The water has also helped the various plants we have been able to get in the ground.  The newly planted raspberries and strawberries have greened up nicely, and the raspberries are already putting out new canes.  

4/6/11

It's been an interesting spring thus far.  The snow melts, then it rains.  The ground starts to dry, and then it snows again.  Then the cycle repeats.  It's made it very difficult to get much done around here!  As such, we've been relegated to indoor work, unfortunately.  We started seeds last week and have had many of them come up already!  Broccoli Rabe, Cauliflower and Broccoli are all doing really well, while the peppers and eggplant seem to be taking a bit longer.  Last week, my son-in-law and daughter redesigned the back of my fruit stand and have given me a lot more space with built-in shelving!  I can't wait for the season to start so I can start filling it with berries!  Today I finally had the time to create a Facebook page, so if any of you are on Facebook, feel free to like us!  That page should be a lot easier to update than the entire website so you might want to watch for more frequent updates there!  The raspberry plants as well as some more currant plants arrived today, now if only the weather will cooperate so that we can get them planted!  The inch of snow on the ground isn't going to make that possible for now though!  In two weeks we expect half of the strawberry order to arrive so the weather had better change before then! 

2/16/2011

I know it's a bit early to be thinking about the 2011 season, but so many exciting things are (or have already been) happening this off season that I had to share!  In November, Keith and I attended the North Carolina Strawberry Growers Conference in Virginia and got so many great ideas that we can't wait for the season to start!  One of the biggest changes that customers will be seeing over the next few years, is the steady transfer to strawberries planted in raised bed format on plastic.  This will make picking easier, lessen the negative effects of the elements on the fruit, and increase the yield.  We are also introducing day-neutral strawberries, which will begin bearing in June and continue producing into the fall.  As usual we are adding a number of new varieties of summer bearing strawberries which we are very excited for you to try.  For those of you veteran pickers, this year will mark the return of the Jewel and Honeyoye varieties.  In addition to these two popular varieties we have 13 others to choose from this year, including the every popular Sparkles.  Here's to hoping they match their production from last year!

Due to the increased demand in red raspberries we are doubling our planting of them for this year.  Some will produce this year, while some you will have to wait until next summer to try.  Similarly to the strawberries, we are planting everbearing raspberries, that will begin to bear this year in July and continue bearing until frost.

While the season won't begin for another few months, the weather is steadily getting warmer and we are excited to be able to get outside and start preparing for June!  We'll see you then!