Thursday, July 10, 2008

Farming Update

Things have been hectic lately and the work is seemingly never done.

We are picking peaches and lots of them right now. Some days as many as 600 baskets. My Dad (75 years young next month), my 44 year old brother and our 75 year old uncle are the ONLY pickers. Most day they start by daylight and are finished by noon. The varieties this week are Red Haven, Bellaire, Jim Dandy, Bounty and Flaming Fury. Some of these varieties we are finishing this week and some are just starting.

We also are picking a few apples called Lo-di. They are tart, green apples. We are still picking several varieties of plums and nectarines, as well as blueberries. Mom has also been picking in her personal blackberry field.

The first planting of squash has played out and we started the second planting last week. The broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower have all played out. The first planting of cantaloupes have played out with a total of over 7,000 being harvested this time. We will start the second planting of those within the next two weeks.

Eggplant, zucchini, roma, regular, heirloom and plum tomatoes, jalapeno, sweet banana, bell and cayenne peppers are all being harvested on a regular basis.

The hours are looonnnnnggggggggg these days. The market I do on Tuesday from 2-6pm was a sell out. We were out of peaches in just under 2 hours. That was a record for us. It was 102* though and so HOT! You could not even breath for all of the people gathered around waiting to be waited on. Glad it's over, but it was a great day.

So, how are your gardens coming? What are you cooking and canning?

I hope all is well! Blessings!!!!!

8 comments:

Southerner said...

After the rabbits ate my peas and beans I was left with one squash and one zucchini and one spaghetti squash plant, a roma tomato, a Big Girl(?) tomato, a cherry tomato, green pepper, and cucumbers. I am getting two tomatoes a day, a squash and a zucchini about every other to every third day , cucumbers and spaghetti squash are still growing but none harvested yet. I have seed to plant a lot more but still need rabbit fencing! I am going to see if I can get him out there this weekend- he has finished tiling our bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Blessings to you and your family Marva, and we will be praying you stay healthy and strong during this busy and fruitful time of year for you! (also for your husband) We are out of town at the beach this week, DD is LOVING it, and I'm hoping we have ripe tomatoes, blackberries, and some bell and jalapeno peppers ready when we get back home. It has been a cool wet spring, so everything is a bit behind schedule.

Take care,
Steph

ADMIN said...

Marva, I made your pickled squash and am letting it sit in the fridge a few days before I indulge.
We finally picked the last of our apricots and have been eating them at every meal. the nectarines are ripening nicely and we'll be enjoying them and sharing with the neighbors.My tomatoes are coming along nicely as well. This year i planted them in containers and the fruit is nice and plump and untouched by critters. I can not imagine picking that much fruit on your farm! I bet you're in great shape as a result of all the work you've been doing. I hope that you have a great weekend and some fun family time with your guys.
Hugs, Mimi

Anonymous said...

Marva you are incredible!

Anonymous said...

My garden is coming along little by little, picked a mess of grape tomatoes today, got my first big boy tomatoe today and 1 green pepper and 2 cucumbers. I have over 25 bigs boys on the vine but not ripe yet and 25 or 30 yellow tomatoes not ripe yet. I have more green peppers starting to come up so it will probably all hit at once.

Vicki(wheezymom)

Kylie's Mom said...

Um...we had a bean plant on our window sill but it died, because I think the kids over-watered it.

That's it, that was my garden. How very sad LOL.

MyKidsMom said...

Peaches sound SO good right now. We still have a month til we can U-pick them here.

My garden isn't doing too well, and I've heard many local people say the same. Our rainy season just went too long, and my garden went in a whole month later than last year. Right now I'm just hoping to cut even on my money spent on supplies. Atleast it will be better than the produce I would get in the grocery store.

Have a wonderful weekend Marva:)

Nikki said...

I agree with blessedwithfive. I don't know how you do it.