Farmer John in the Blueberry field

Farmer John is busy this morning! He's been seeding warm weather vegetables in the greenhouse, covering up the vegetables already in the field, working on an organic strawberry test plot with NCSU and now he's in the blueberry field! It's just 11:15am!

Broccoli

Here's a photo of the broccoli that was planted yesterday!

Cauliflower Follow-Up

Well, it's Thursday morning and we're back in the vegetable field. After talking with Farmer John, I've learned a little bit more about transplanting vegetables! These plants have been growing in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks. They've been in a nice controlled environment with moderate temperatures.

Yesterday morning, when they brought them out to the field, it was just about 30 degrees, NOT moderate! So after planting Farmer John was feeling quite disappointed, he could tell the plants were stressed from the harsh adjustment. He made a quick trip to Virginia to pick up additional row covers (like a blanket) to put on the plants to provide a easier transition.

This morning the plants are doing better, they're looking good! Here are a few photos of the early morning here on the farm. Farmer John, Billy & Benton are putting the row covers on. These will stay on until we're looking at a block of warmer weather and then it will be time to move them over to a warmer season crop like tomatoes.

Planting Vegetables

It's the last week of February and we're starting to plant our first spring vegetables. We have a great crew to help us. We use an old converted tobacco setter to put the plants in the ground. The plants have been growing in the greenhouses located in the Back Forty and are the perfect size for transplanting into the field.

This video shows Benton driving the tractor and Christina on the plant setter, putting cauliflower in the field. The rows are mounded up and covered in plastic. This allows better weed control, better irrigation and makes it nicer for picking! The setter pokes holes in the plastic. Christina is dropping a plant in every other hole to get the correct spacing for when the plants start to grow. You can get a quick glance of Farmer John in the background, he's writing some labeling for the different varieties of cauliflower!

Uncle Russell in the Ice!

Uncle Russell is in the field in the early morning after watering the strawberries all night. We use overhead irrigation to create ice on nights when the temperature is going to drop much below freezing. The making of ice actually creates warmth and insulates the berries.

With care like this, we should have berries on April 1st, no fooling!