Summer Bounty
Our first year of harvest almost has come to an end, and the fourth season provided quite a bounty! With the help of some hard working volunteers, we've surpassed our first goal for the amount of donated produce. This calendar year we've provided 5,683 lbs to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and other charities. Some of our donations included pole beans, "stoplight" peppers, watermelons and potatoes.
And tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. We've picked more than 2,700 lbs of them. We used three trellising methods - the Florida weave, hanging string, and cattle panels. The tomatoes on the cattle panels (16-foot long sections of fencing) were the clear winners. The stems were guided through the squares of the panels and had an extremely sturdy support system, although we did have to do some supplemental trellising with twine. And just as importantly, the plants had good air circulation.
There is quite a time investment in erecting and then taking down this kind of trellis and ripping out all those twisting vines, but it's worth it. One 100-foot row has produced more than 500 lbs of tomatoes - a wonderful variety called "Ozark" - and it's not finished yet! Here's a photo with Angela, who helped to drive the posts into the ground and attach the cattle panel.
Of the many open-pollinated tomato varieties we planted, the most impressive in terms of yield were Ozark, Brimmer, Neptune, Illini Star, Abraham Lincoln, Eva Purple Ball, Stone, Homestead and Brandywine (all slicers). Dr. Carolyn, a tasty yellow cherry tomato, was prolific as well.
Most of the tomato plants have stopped producing or their fruit is of very poor quality, due to fungal diseases including blight and anthracnose. Also, fruit worms and a plague of stink bugs really took over in the last few weeks. We've begun tearing out the rows out to make way for fall plantings.
The cool-season crops already in the ground are growing well so far, including these collards.
We farm workers have enjoyed witnessing nature's speed and bounty in these hot, humid months, but we sure do welcome cooler weather with open arms.
