Freshly Cultivated Beds of Direct-Seeded Greens

The first type of transplant is for getting crops to harvest early in the season. We have Broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce and other cool season crops in the greenhouse waiting to go out into the field right now. The second types are warm season crops. Most in this category need to be indoors until the last chance of frost has passed because they are hyper sensitive to frost or even cold temperature. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants are great examples of this type of warm season crop. Even the slightest bit of prolonged cold will damage the plants and affect the future yield even though fruit may not yet be formed on the plants. The third type of transplant I’ll mention may be done at any time in the growing season and may be seeded or planted in the season when they would grow fine outside.

Tomato Plants in the Greenhouse

This is done in order to help us meet our time schedules and harvest schedules. A field may be completely full of crops but we anticipate having a few open rows on say July 1. We can seed plants in the greenhouse or directly in the field with the goal of transplanting them in the newly vacated ground the day after we harvest the current crop, so let’s say July 2. So we would harvest the existing crop, work up the ground and transplant the plants right back into the same place where we just harvested a crop.

Besides seeding and transplanting some crops are planted from root cuttings such as horseradish. Even a tiny piece of horseradish root will grow into a mature root if you plant it properly. Still other crops such as potatoes grow from tubers or cuttings of tubers. You’ve all seen a sprouted potato, right? Well all it takes is a piece of potato with eyes and a couple of sprouts on it and you’re in business.

I’m always amazed at how sweet potatoes are propagated.  Sweet potatoes have tiny little eyes much like a tuber type potato only smaller. About two months before the sweet potato “slips” as they are called are needed in the field you need to begin the process. First you must have seed sweet potatoes (which means they are grown to be used to make new plants for the upcoming season. They are selected to be free from disease which might make the slips sick or transmit a disease to the field when planted outside.) We then bed them in clean new sand (see photo) and cover them with 2” of additional sand. After that we place them in the greenhouse, water them in and cover them with a plastic sheet to keep the heat and moisture high. In about two weeks the potatoes will begin to sprout tiny vegetative growths that eventually rise up through the sand and emerge.

White Jersey Sweet Potatoes Bedded in Sand

Once they reach 6 to 8” tall they are literally pulled from the potato below. The most interesting part is the slip does not have a root at this point and the root only appears after it has been planted in the earth for about 2 weeks. In the greenhouse now we have a bed of Jersey Red sweet potatoes and a bed of Jersey Whites – both are outstanding heirloom varieties. To these varieties we will add at least one if not two more modern varieties so you can compare them.

Each day on the farm brings new projects, new adventures and new discoveries. No two seasons are ever alike – we expect this and in part it’s the challenge of farming that most growers enjoy. It’s never boring and there are never enough hours in the day or days in week at this time of year.

You may think that preparations for spring begin in the spring- right? While that may be the case for some farmers, it’s not true at FarmIndy.  We started to work towards this spring last October when we plowed (sometimes referred to as fall plowing) the land that we have now seeded in early greens, fava beans and potatoes.  Fall plowing allows plant material such as cover crops (in this case oats) to break down into beneficial organic matter for the upcoming seasons crops.  As ecological farmers we are focused on building our soil and improving it each and every year. 

Planting Fava Beans @ Needham Farm

Much like a parent anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new baby, farmer’s dream of spring all winter long and then all of a sudden it’s here.  No matter how much prep work you do to get ready, you’re never fully prepared.  There’s no such thing as a plan because as the weather conditions morph so do a farmer’s plans.

Fava Beans on the Plant

  What makes farming so challenging is that there are more things out of your control than under your control.  Some crops such as fava beans and potatoes need to be planted as soon as you can get on the ground and this year’s timing is perfect. The wrinkle in this year’s plan was we didn’t expect to get 2.5” of rain with a short period of time after planting which has crusted the top 1/8” or ¼” of soil.  For the crops that have already come up we’ll go in the field and cultivate the soil and break up the crust.  Cultivating at this point serves 3 purposes 1) we break the crust and make it easier for seedlings to come up 2) future rain will be more easily absorbed into the soil 3) we destroy any weeds which have germinated (yes, when it rains not only the crop germinates but the weeds do too). To date we have just over 2 acres planted in the field and some seedlings are already up.  The fava beans and potatoes have sprouted but have yet to poke out of the ground.  We’re expecting a lite rain tonight and tomorrow so I expect once we get the rain we’ll have a lot more things popping up.

There’s nothing better than eating seasonally.  If you’ve never had fresh favas beans you’ll be in for a treat in early July when we start picking them. And who doesn’t love new potatoes?  Once we get closer to harvest season the newsletter will contain seasonal recipes. We also encourage you to share your favorite recipes with us and your fellow CSA members by posting them on FarmIndy.com

What a March.  Everything seems to be jumping with the warm weather.  I can’t believe how far ahead we are for a typical spring.  Many of the wildflowers that normally bloom  in April have already passed, and asparagus is beginning to pop up.  Looking at last year’s fields, there were tomatoes germinating in the old summer plantings.  We typically have a few things that overwinter no matter how cold it gets.  Kale, spinach, and scallions will come back the next year no matter what, but this year was a little different.  In the old fall fields we had brussels sprouts, cabbage, beets, collards, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, and broccoli that overwintered.  Wow.  While these were not in marketable condition, it is amazing that they were even there at all.  

work done.  The Needham farm has been seeded with all manner of early spring veggies, and we got an acre of potatoes planted before the rain started on Friday.  Our wacky, 100 year old potato planter lived up to it’s quirky age, but got the job done.  We were even able to plow at the Danville farm, getting about five acres rough tilled to open the soil and kill winter weeds.The season is certainly coming together.  I’m going to take the warm weather and the fact that our flaky fertilizer supplier has inventory as good omen for the short-term.  The coming weeks look likely they’ll be full of road time.  There’s a potato digger to haul from Cleveland and a rollover plow down in Cincinnati.  As always, lots of little details to

Last pass in Danville

hammer out before the season gets rolling. 

A friendly reminder that CSA sales are ongoing.  We still have ample space, but some of the pickup points are getting closer to capacity.  Zionsville, Fishers, and Goose the Market are better than 70% full.  You can find details about the program on the FarmIndy website or just go to the Signup Page. Whatever the weather, get out there and enjoy it.  

Eat and be well,

John Ferree & 

The Farm Indy Team ]]> http://farmindy.com/?feed=rss2&p=1273 0 http://farmindy.com/?p=1270 http://farmindy.com/?p=1270#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:36:38 +0000 John http://farmindy.com/?p=1270 This March has been unprecedented for us in both dryness and warmth. We’re well ahead of normal for early spring plantings at the Needham Farm, and hope the early start is a good omen for the year.

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Food and gardening terminology can be confusing.  Most people today say they want to move towards more sustainable food choices.  To some this means growing their own food and knowing what’s been used in producing it while to other’s they prefer to support local farmers.  Everyone from large multinational chemical companies to the farmer down the road claim to be sustainable- what’s the difference?  What does this mean to you the gardener and consumer?  Who should you believe?

Both John Ferree and Todd Jameson, owners and operators of FarmIndy,  agree that the food world in Indianapolis is changing for the better as evidenced by the growth of the Slow Food Movement, the growth of local farmer’s markets and peoples renewed interest in vegetable gardening.  People are becoming increasingly interested in connecting with the farmer who produced their food and more importantly knowing how that food was produced.  People are becoming more aware of the connection between what you eat, how you feel and the environmental impact agriculture can have.   Ferree said, “food has a story and that story should connect the farmer and the eater in a direct way, an informative way, a way that teaches and is empowering.” 

FarmIndy is located in Danville and Neeham, Ind., and specializes in Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, flowers and herbs. FarmIndy’s mission is to produce and distribute fresh, quality produce using organic techniques while serving as an educational, sustainable and social network for the surrounding community. For more information, please contact us.

Location: Late Harvest Kitchen 

8605 River Crossing 

Indianapolis, 46240 

Keystone at the Crossing area in The Shops at River Crossing 
The Indianapolis Food scene is evolving and turning greener at a rapid pace. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of GMO corn and soybean farms and Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) local sustainable vegetable farmers John Ferree and Todd Jameson say some progressive changes are happening within our food system and around our city.
Come hear these veteran vegetable growers who operate Farm Indy, a new way to directly connect farmers and your families table, talk about “The Top 5 Things to Know About Local Food”. They will teach you about the” Real Cost of Food”, the need for transparency within the local food community and other timely topics. There will even be a fun Q & A session with the first to answer correctly receiving a dozen free range eggs or a free appetizer- your choice!
Known extensively from their previous farming operations, John Ferree’s Seldom Seen Farm and Todd & Kathleen Jameson’s Balanced Harvest Farm, the two families are now combining their efforts to bring Farm Indy to the greater Indianapolis marketplace. Farm Indy, a new farming concept which combines two trusted farms, two highly experienced growers who have joined together to transform the way we grow and share food in Indianapolis.
The venue for this meeting will be Late Harvest Kitchen, the new creation of renowned Chef Ryan Nelson. Chef Nelson is a major supporter of local sustainable agriculture. Located at the Keystone at the Crossing area in The Shops at River Crossing this will be a not to missed opportunity.

Sunflower Shoots. . . . in addition to Pea Shoots
Salsify
Atomic Red Carrots
White Satin Carrots
All manner of potatoes, normal, purple, and fingerling
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Snack Peppers
Massively Increased Yellow and Orange Sweet Pepper Plantings (Because they did amazingly last season)
Kabocha Squash (We’ll see. . . Todd says he can pull it off, John has failed multiple times)
Spaghetti Squash
Costato Romanesco Zucchini is back (yay)
Diakons are coming back
Tomatillos too
Cardoon
Sorrel (SSF customers)

One thing that the new, joint venture shares is an addiction to rusty old farm equipment.  Much of the new stuff these days is either way too expensive, way to big, or both.  Either way, new organic farming equipment isn’t particularly practical on a small farm that only uses a tool for a couple days a year.  So we scrounge classifieds and auctions for deals on hard to find pieces.  (I’m still kicking myself for missing an opportunity on a fresh bean sheller a few years ago – $100 — $100! for a $1k sheller!  My fingers couldn’t dial fast enough.)

This unit is from upstate New York where they used to grow a great many potatoes before it was cheaper to haul them in from Idaho.  Despite it’s age, it seems to be in good order. . . unlike some of the stuff we have laying in the weeds.