I started out the week irrigating the farm for two days. Then the farm got 2 inches of rain from the hurricane. Luckily I planned ahead and had our crew preharvest for the CSA boxes a day earlier than usual. That kept us from slogging through the mud and messing up the fields. Corinna always…
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Watch out weeds. Here we come. This week, we trialed our new Flamewerks Flame Weeder on the back of our tractor. That’s right. We fight weeds by burning them. Want to see how it works? Watch this: Three burner units or baskets are mounted on the back of a steel frame, which hitches up to…
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In a few weeks, I’ll have cucumbers coming out of my ears on the farm. I get kind of tired of them after 2 weeks — not gonna lie. And my plants just keep producing. But then I always long for them during the winter. Then I learned you can freeze cucumbers. It’s true. The…
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This week was “Weeding Week.” Our guys spent a whole day weeding peppers, basil, and eggplant up front. They spend a half day weeding the leeks and kale in the back block. Purslane, red root, and lambs-quarter are our biggest problems — with purslane winning the contest by far. Ironically purslane is a superfood, highly…
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Did you know there’s a fast, easy way to dry your fresh herbs using the microwave? Then you can store them in a Mason jar and use them all winter! Every summer, I plant a few key herbs that I use a lot in my cooking — like thyme, sage, parsley, basil, lemon verbena, mint,…
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Well, well, well. What a week. Let’s start out with the BIG news: I got into an accident this week with the CSA delivery truck on my way to the Perrysburg pickup site. It happened around 4:30 PM. I was about 3 minutes away from the church (near the Burger King on Rte 20 at…
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This past week, Kurt drove out in the dead of night to meet up with a mysterious visitor to our farm—the beekeeper. Every summer, we rent a pallet of beehives from our brother Airk, the beekeeper and owner of Benches Bees. This year, we have seven hives in all. That’s right! We rent bees! They…
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Honey is a delightful, natural sweetener that can add flavor and health benefits to a variety of dishes. However, if you’ve ever found your honey turning into a gritty, solid mass, you’ve encountered crystallized honey. Our brother Arik Bench is a bee-keeper. (We actually rent his bees every year for our vegetable fields). We often…
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June 22, 2024 Field Update Howdy folks. Wow was it hot this week! This is not normal by the way — this kind of heat so early in the year. And it’s stressful on the plants when they are still this young. All week long, my focus as been on keeping things watered. Unfortunately, those…
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This week, our crew focused on staking and twining the tomatoes. But what exactly does that mean? Why Staking is Important As tomato plants grow taller, their weight can cause them to fall over. If the tomatoes touch the ground, they become much more susceptible to diseases. To prevent this, we provide the plants with…
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