Beautiful crop of dandelions on a perfect spring day
This year's crew stepped up to the task and cranked through seeding the peas, potatoes, and the first field plantings of lettuce, spinach, boc choi, broccolini, Asian greens, salad turnips, escarole, radicchio, fennel, scallions, and cilantro. By the end of the week the soil was actually starting to get dry, so the showers and rain this weekend were welcomed, rather than sworn at, for a change. With all the rain early in the season, irrigation set up has been a very low priority.
The late start of the planting season will mean a delay for many of our crops at market, but at least we got them in the ground. The peas will be a bit of a crap shoot this year. Normally, they must be planted by mid to late April to have any chance of being productive. If the weather stays on the cool side, we may get something out of them, but if it heats up, it will likely be a loss.
Opening Saturday at the Saratoga Market
Farmer's market season started for us on May 4, so we have already had four of them. Opening day was a cold and rainy Wednesday, and a contender for perhaps one of the slowest markets I can remember in the past twelve years. Despite the awful conditions, we had a respectable showing of our most dedicated customers and we thank them for their enthusiastic support.
The later markets were a vast improvement in weather conditions and customer attendance. Our stand feels a little sparse since we have had to rely, solely on our limited production of greenhouse greens, but we have had some beautiful arugula, mesclun, and lettuce mix along with sprouts and an assortment of garden vegetable starts.
The new and improved stand set up
Our stand also looks a little different this year. We have struggled a long time to simplify our stand set up. We wanted tables that set up quickly with little fuss and displayed product well. This winter we took our ideas to our long time friend Ed Woods, who is a master woodworker. He magically brought ideas to reality, designing and building a prototype. The result is a series of folding tables with a lift-up slant top. So far we are very happy with the new design, although we are still trying to adjust to the new layout. Thanks Ed!
Come visit us at the market sometime soon. Wishing you all sunny days...and just enough rain to keep you hydrated.
