Spinach, we are happy that we have been able to germinate some beds. It has been tough this fall. I think it was a little too warm and maybe I should have bought fresh seed. We used some we bought in the spring. At $400 a bag you can imagine I was keen to use what we had. The seed may still germinate well, but what matters after that is vigor. How strong it is in coping with heat or other adverse conditions, so that it emerges through the soil surface. This picture is using fresh seed and even then, we have only about 80% germination. Coming soon to your boxes, Spinach!
Our lettuce beds are looking good. We plant three varieties on each bed, four rows of Red in the middle with romaine and a green crisp lettuce in the other eight rows. We know how much you enjoy the lettuce and hope to have that in the box in the next couple of weeks.
Our bulb onion crop is coming to an end and then we will move onto fresh green onions planted in August. We plant onions at three different times; in the spring for the bulb onions in your box today, in August to have fresh green onions through the winter, and then in late October to have fresh green onions in the spring and a few bulbs in May to June. In this way, we can have onions all year round.
We have a bed in the field with six rows of Bok Choy and six of Mei Qing Bok choy, pictured on the right. It seems that the birds prefer the Mei Qing as those rows have been decimated leaving the regular Bok Choy untouched.
We have very little damage on our crops from birds. They love the mulberries and when they are finished, move on to the table grapes, which is a real problem. I have been talking to other farmers about how to deter them from the grapes. Most use propane guns to scare them away. That would freak out our laying chickens, so we cannot use them. This is one of those challenges that we are working on.
Have a great Thanksgiving. Nigel, Lorraine and everyone at Eatwell.